Q+A with Melina Hammer of Catbird Cottage
New cookbook forages, utilizes invasive species, pantry staples to elevate local flavors
I am not the most confident cook. Pasta, I got. Toast, I burn regardless of how many times my wife says to lower the burner. But after meeting the delightful Melina Hammer and flipping through her debut cookbook – “A Year at Catbird Cottage, Recipes for a Nourished Life,” out on May 31, 2022, and full of 100 recipes for seasonal, locally sourced, and foraged dishes that Melina not only cooked up, but beautifully photographed herself – I feel a bit more confident, armed with her resourceful approach, a food processor, and a lot of invasive garlic mustard in our backyard.
“Living in the Hudson Valley has brought me closer to wild foods of every season. I am able to literally walk out my door and discover what I might incorporate into the day’s meals, or what projects I might plan for preserving the season. ”
I recently caught up with Melina, a food stylist and photographer who runs the Catbird Cottage B+B in the Ulster County hamlet of Accord, to talk daily routines, pantry staples, what she does when she’s not in the kitchen, and how-to easily turn that invasive garlic mustard into a vegan pesto* to top on everything from “pizzas, pastas, beans, slather it on toast, serve it with fried or custardy eggs.”
Read from our Q+A below, and celebrate the launch of “A Year at Catbird Cottage” with Melina on publication day, May 31, at Rough Draft Bar & Books in Kingston starting at 6:30pm. The book signing and meet-and-greet is free with seating on a first-come, first-served basis. RSVP here
1. What’s a typical day for you at Catbird Cottage?
At this time of year, I start the day feeding the birds. We have resident Rose-Breasted Grosbeaks, Goldfinches and House Finches, Catbirds, Cardinals, Baltimore Orioles, Northern Flickers, and Red-Bellied Woodpeckers, amongst many others, and restocking the various seeds, jelly, suet and nuts is an event. The intrepid chickadees, along with a few titmice and nuthatches hang near so they can be assured access before the bolder birds return. I check in on the gardens, watering seedlings and transplants to ensure everyone will flourish for the day ahead... and whenever possible, I also sneak in some "quick" weeding. At this early hour I harvest tender veg and herbs that will be used for the day's meals.
If we don't have guests, I connect to any commissioned work I must produce: get to prepping ingredients, assess the mood and props, then cook, style and shoot them. If we do have guests, I’ll make a stop at The Green Cottage in High Falls to select from among their exceptional flowers for bouquets - they have a wonderful sense for curating compelling blooms of every texture and color. As the season evolves, I'll be able to supplement bouquets with more and more cut flowers from our cottage gardens, including a variety of poppies and dahlias.
Once back home I make various floral arrangements, put the finishing touches on the master suite, and generally make sure the cottage feels sparkling and beautiful. There is a kitchen sideboard that always has an array of seasonal produce on platters and in bowls, juxtaposed with a tray of homemade infusions. Beckoning in their bottles, there is often shiso brandy, nocino, and a pear-anise bourbon I serve with the dessert course. I like stocking all of it for inspiration (and future dishes) and it makes a lovely scene as guests pass through to the master suite. Once everything is ship-shape, I return to prep food for guests’ coursed dinner. Resolving the final cadence of the meal - rich-followed-by-uplifting dishes for a nourishing rather than heavy experience, and, which tender ephemeral elements will be added from the garden. I often harvest those just prior to dusk, so they are bright and perky - ideal for topping each dish.
2. How has living in the Hudson Valley influenced your cooking?
Living in the Hudson Valley has brought me closer to wild foods of every season. I am able to literally walk out my door and discover what I might incorporate into the day’s meals, or what projects I might plan for preserving the season.
On these spring days, I make field garlic “sour cream and chive dip”, Caesar dressing, field garlic oil, and shower finely chopped field garlic onto all manner of beans, grains, and to finish seared fish or meat. I pull whole bunches of invasive garlic mustard and make batches of a vegan pesto I’m wild about (featured in the book). I dollop the pesto on everything: pizzas, pastas, beans, slather it on toast, serve it with fried or custardy eggs, and so on. Soon honeysuckle will bloom, filling the air with its fragrance, and I'll get to work bottling that aroma in a fermented, effervescent cordial.
3. What is your go-to dish?
My go-to dish is either a pot of beans or brown rice, mostly because these ingredients are always in my pantry and both cook passively once I've added stock and aromatics to the pot, freeing me for the other food projects I regularly juggle. To either, I add a punchy radish and herb salad or homemade zippy kraut, or fermented green garlic (each appears in the book). As I dole the fragrant mix into bowls, finishing it with a custardy egg makes for a feast... Extra lovely if it’s an egg from my neighbor’s hens. Other times I add cubed potatoes and onions directly to the pot so all can simmer until tender and creamy.
I try to make a practice of using every last bit of a thing, and so in this version, I add leftover pickle brine and any lingering spices at the bottom of the jar. These impart oomph to the otherwise mild elements, little pops of big flavor.
4. What are you cooking tonight?
I am cooking and recipe developing for a variety of events I’ll be hosting once the book launches, so dinner is a mix of testing and leftovers.
Thankfully, the leftovers are an umami-packed shrimp salad showered with fresh dill, and, I've been developing a beef recipe from friends Catskill Wagyu for an upcoming Hilltop picnic, cocktails, and book signing, so I'm eating succulent seared meatballs that will be paired with wild mushroom escabeche, harissa, ramp salt (and more) from the book. [if the post date follows this event, we can modify the content here]
5. What’s been inspiring you lately?
I’ve found new inspiration from the many wild ingredients around me, considering what “conventional” recipes I can adapt wild ingredients towards. That’s how the field garlic Caesar dressing came to be, producing a grassy, sweet-garlicky version of the dressing. So good!! I find inspiration from the natural world all the time. How perfect, clever, and whole it is. That there is no waste. How plants thrive - especially the "weeds", in their often evasive resilience. When I get down low to the earth to see how things work on a micro-scale, it’s pretty phenomenal.
6. If someone wasn’t the most-confident cook (ahem, hello!), what dish from the cookbook would you suggest?
For a less confident cook, there are plenty of dishes to wow and succeed. Staple recipes such as the Tomato Confit, Garlic Mustard Pesto, and Moroccan Pickled Carrots are great additions to so many things. You can toss either confit or pesto into pasta or rice, or generously spoon them on top of toast or beans for a fine meal. The Blueberry Compote is straightforward and lovely with yogurt, of course on the Pillowy French Toast as it appears in the book, on cereal, and more.
If you can fry an egg, the Spring skillet: duck eggs + crispy brown rice is pretty fool-proof and a good anytime meal. The Spring Fling Salad in Green is divine in its layers, but it's really just a variety of green, springy ingredients and a simple (and also knockout!) dressing. Maple-Gochujang Ribs sound so much more involved than they are – cooking them is easy, and they are SO good. The accompanying pickles and cornbread are pretty straightforward too. The Wild Mushroom, Potato, Onion tart is terrific (uses store bought puff pastry) and can be eaten for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. And, the Pasta Puttanesca is an under-the-radar simple/amazing dish. Made with pantry ingredients, which makes it even easier!
7. What do you like to do when you’re not in the kitchen? Any favorite places or things to do in the HV?
When I’m not in the kitchen, I love bike riding through my extended neighborhood. The varied hilly terrain is an excellent way to work off some of the more indulgent eating, the scent of the air is invigorating, and the sights are always inviting. Seeing neighbors and waving hello, passing rolling hillsides populated with crimson clover, winding through woodlands and experiencing their cooling effect - it's such a charge for the spirit. And, I'm always on the lookout for ripening wild foods.
As an avid lover of great food it’s nice to treat myself and either get takeout, or dine out on a less busy night (since I recognize we’re still in a pandemic). Worthwhile foodie splurge - Silvia in Woodstock or Food Studio in Hudson. We also love Ollie's Pizza in High Falls - get the Roman "Grandma" pie for its lush, extra-savory sauce; Hash in Stone Ridge for their reliably delicious grass fed burger on toasted brioche; and Lunch Nightly in Kingston - get their super ultra turkey club on focaccia and thank me later.
