Good Cow Names

Skemps are excited to host Angus sale

After attending medical school and serving as a urologist in the U.S. Navy at Camp Pendleton north of San Diego, Skemp returned home in 1964 and moved his family to the farm. They tore down thewood-framed house he used to stay in when he worked there during summer as a high school student, and built the home he lives in today.He and his first wife, Patty, raised seven children there.

My Definition of a Good Day: Cow Parsnip for Breakfast, Dinner and ...

I woke up yesterday morning and cooked my very first quiche, in which the principal ingredient was—you guessed it—cow parsnip! We had it for breakfast; we had the leftovers for dinner; and then we had cow parsnip candy sticks for dessert. For me, there is simply no getting tired of cow parsnip.

I tell my friend Butter that I’m learning to cook through wild edible plants, and not the other way around. She uses fancy cooking words like “duxelle” and “frittata,” meanwhile I’m clutching my head and she has the nerve to say that she eschews recipes. OMG if I didn’t have the recipes I’d be lost! Of course I usually can’t be bothered with measuring cups and most of my “principal ingredients” are not in cookbooks anyway, but a little guidance is always good for discovering, for example, that eggs are important to quiches. 

Cow Parsnip Quiche  

The quiche-for-breakfast idea came up as I was trying to think of a way to serve Gregg the king bolete ( Boletus edulis

Gregg wouldn’t have the opportunity to eat the fresh bolete for a day and a half after our find. I wanted to prepare it at the earliest possible convenience, however, and that turned out to be breakfast. But what breakfast food could be so delicious as to go with a king bolete, supposedly one of the best mushrooms ever, sought after by mushroom hunters world-wide, known to common folk as porcini? Then the pie crust Gregg’s mom gave us hit me upside the head and the idea for quiche along with it. 

Cow parsnip quiche involved painting the pie crust with an egg yolk per the instructions in the Joy of Cooking, that I didn’t want to throw out), 1 cup milk, ½ cup buttermilk (because I didn’t have cream), 3 cups cow parsnip (after boiling for 5 minutes, straining, and squeezing out some of the liquid), and some chopped onions sautéed in olive oil with garlic until soft. I baked it at 375 degrees for 45 minutes until it set, which probably takes longer here at 11,000 feet than anywhere else in the world. 

The quiche—wow—it was awesome! I thought so and so did Gregg. 

But heed this warning: If you hope to replicate my results, do not follow the recipe exactly, as it is not to be trusted. Try to tap into your inner hunter-gatherer food sense and deviate intuitively as necessary.

The King of Boletes Taken Down by Worms  

Don’t hate me, Butter, but I found the bolete to be less wonderful than the quiche. First, the worms had at the better part of it, and it was all I could do to salvage a few pieces. Then there was some dirt we couldn’t get off that ended up as grit in my teeth. The taste was there—but the experience of eating it, not fully yet.