If you don’t know Annie Starke, now’s the time. A self-taught cook and food obsessive, Annie’s show The Mountain Kitchen (available to stream on The Magnolia Network, MAX, & Discovery) is both binge- and drool-worthy.
When we started brainstorming The Fine Line’s Montana Issue, Annie had just helped us pull off and incredible dinner that we co-hosted with SEA New York. Someone asked: Is there a textbook Montana food? And we knew that the person to ask was Annie. Here’s what she created in celebration of a state where we’d all rather be sleeping out under the stars.
CAMPFIRE TOAST W/ GRAPES, RICOTTA + HONEY
Ingredients:
1 Heaping cup dark grapes, such as concord or red
1 Tablespoon olive oil, plus an extra tablespoon for bread and garnish.
Smoked salt + smoked pepper (regular pepper works fine, too.)
1 Container good quality ricotta
1 Sprig rosemary, leaves separated
3 Tablespoons of good quality honeycomb
2 Tablespoons hazelnuts, toasted and roughly chopped
1 Sourdough country loaf or any bread of choice
Directions:
1. Preheat your cast iron skillet until very hot. Meanwhile, toss the whole grapes in a bowl with olive oil, smoked sea salt and a few cracks of smoked pepper. Sauté the grapes until they start to burst and char, then take them off the heat.
2. Meanwhile, cut the bread into pieces, brush with olive oil, and toast until slightly golden.
3. Smear each toast with a hefty tablespoon of ricotta. then top with the grapes, rosemary, smoked salt, smoked pepper, runny honeycomb and toasted hazelnuts. Serve immediately while the grapes and toasts are warm.
