MissoulaFoodie

By GREG PATENT for the Missoulian
Huckleberries are the one wild summer crop I always wait for. The season is only a few weeks, and in that time I make the most of them. I bake them into pies, muffins and scones, sprinkle them over buttermilk pancakes as they puff on the griddle, use them in [...]

By GREG PATENT for the Missoulian
The most popular item on the menu of the Asian restaurant chain P.F. Chang’s is Chicken Lettuce Wraps. It’s a seasoned mixture of cooked chicken you spoon into Iceberg lettuce cups, top with some hot or mild sauce, roll up, and scarf down. I keep wishing a franchise would open [...]

By ALISON LADMAN
For The Associated Press
No need to travel to Hogsmeade (or to Universal Orlando) to get a taste of Harry Potter’s butterbeer. Universal isn’t giving out its recipe, but we’ve created an easy version of the formerly fictional drink made famous by the young wizard.

Start to finish: 1 hour (10 minutes active)
Servings: 4
1 cup [...]

By GREG PATENT for the Missoulian
Agave (pronounced ah-GAH-vay) is a sweet syrup from the same plant that tequila comes from. It’s just now making headway in Missoula, but when I can find bottles of organic blue agave in Costco, I know it’s become mainstream. Agave’s been known for thousands of years in Mexico, where it’s [...]

A county in California is cracking down, Officer Big Mac-style, on childhood obesity by banning the cheap toys that drew countless children such as myself to pester their mothers into the McDonald’s drive-through. The Associated Press notes that the ordinance doesn’t cover many restaurants, so kids will no doubt be driven farther to get their [...]

A Boise, Idaho, restauranteur got tired of lining his Dumpsters with customers’ leftover food, so he set up composting bins in the basement of his Red Feather Lounge and Bittercreek Ale House. The complete story from the Associated Press:
By REBECCA BOONE
Associated Press
BOISE, Idaho — For eco-restaurateur Dave Krick, it’s not just about where his food [...]

Learn to cook Mexican or Mediterranean cuisine this summer from American Culinary Foundation-certified chefs at the University of Montana College of Technology.
COT still has openings available in several culinary courses that will be offered during May, June and July.
The courses, which are open to the public, are offered as noncredit courses. For an additional fee, [...]

By GREG PATENT for the Missoulian
Now that spring has actually arrived, I wanted to celebrate its welcome arrival with a light main dish of shrimp, vegetables and noodles.
I’d cook the noodles first and toss them with a little oil and let them stand until needed. The shrimp, wild caught, needed only to be peeled and [...]

Sometimes, you have to try the seafood, even in the heart of bison country. This weekend, I took a trip to Gardiner and Yellowstone National Park. My travel companion, a local, assured me that the 45-minute or so drive to the Pine Creek Cafe, was worth it. Past miles of ranches, the cafe’s neon sign [...]

Tips for making pizza at home. The expert’s advice on the dough? Just buy it.
By PERVAIZ SHALLWANI for the Associated Press
NEW YORK – In recent years all manner of unassuming foods have endured high-end makeovers. Mac and cheese was spiked with lobster and truffles, hamburgers got serious slider treatment, and cupcakes morphed into an industry [...]