Blistered radishes with parsley from &quot;The Nourished Kitchen.&quot;
Blistered radishes with parsley from "The Nourished Kitchen." (Photos by Jennifer McGruther, Provided by Ten Speed Press)

CRESTED BUTTE — Long-simmered broths, whole-milk yogurts, buttered vegetables, tender roasts and freshly baked sourdough breads are taking center stage in a rapidly growing movement that favors balance and moderation over restriction, making the case for a return to back-to-basics, traditional foods.

The traditional-foods movement calls us back to the kitchen, to real home cooking, and offers an opportunity to weave the connections between the food on our tables, the time we take to prepare it and the farms that produce it.

This technique-centered approach to food explores the dietary importance of old-world basics: mineral-rich bone broths, wholesome fats like butter and olive oil, sour-leavened whole-grain bread and stews made of soaked or sprouted legumes such as beans and lentils.

Bone marrow custard with black pepper and parsley.
Bone marrow custard with black pepper and parsley.

I prepare food like Great-grandmother might have, salting cabbage to prepare true sauerkraut, baking breads from scratch and slathering them with fresh, vitamin-rich butter.

Fermented foods like kombucha — a wildly popular tea that has lined refrigerated cases of health-food stores for years and is just now creeping into supermarkets — yogurt, kefir and sauerkraut represent a culinary path that emphasizes simple, artisanal techniques.

Fermentation not only preserves foods, but also increases their B vitamin content and enlivens them with beneficial bacteria that support digestive health and the immune system.


Traditional foods challenge conventional dietary assumptions, recognizing the inherent value that accountably raised animal foods and sustainably grown fruits, vegetables, grains and legumes can offer to the table.

With a nose-to-tail approach and a waste-not, want-not philosophy, liver is turned into luscious pâté, while marrow-rich bones transform into silky custards and broths.

Strawberries in minted honey syrup.
Strawberries in minted honey syrup.

Vegetables fresh from the garden partner with golden butter, and whole grains are soaked overnight to form creamy porridges or transformed into airy sourdough breads with crackled crusts.

This approach leads us to small-scale regional farms and ranches that produce grass-fed meats, milk and cream from pasture-raised cows, and fruits and vegetables grown without synthetic pesticides and fungicides.

When raised outside on a species-appropriate diet such as grass for cattle and sheep, and forage for chickens and pigs, animals raised for food yield more nutrient-dense meat, milk, cream and eggs.

Eggs from hens raised outside on pasture yield a third less cholesterol, two-thirds more vitamin A, three times more vitamin E and seven times more beta carotene than the eggs of hens raised in confinement, or even those hens who simply have limited access to pasture.

The milk of pasture-fed dairy cows yields higher levels of vitamin A, beta carotene, and healthy fats like conjugated linoleic acid and omega-3 fatty acids than the milk of grain-fed cows.

Holistic-livestock managers say a planned approach to grazing that honors the complexity of nature and the role of herd animals in their environment is a practical and effective approach to reversing desertification and restoring grasslands.

Potherb and goat cheese pie with potato crust from &quot;The Nourished Kitchen.&quot; (Photo by Jennifer McGruther, provided by Ten Speed Press.)
Potherb and goat cheese pie with potato crust from "The Nourished Kitchen." (Photo by Jennifer McGruther, provided by Ten Speed Press.) (Jennifer McGruther, The Denver Post)

The Boulder-based Savory Institute ( advocates for techniques that keep the animals on fresh rangeland in a way that it says improves soil ecology and biodiversity.

The Weston A. Price Foundation (, an organization dedicated to educating the public about sustainable farming practices and traditional foods, has 14 chapters in Colorado that help residents connect with local growers who practice ecologically sound methods.

Many chapters also offer cooking workshops focused on traditional foods, including information on preparing sourdough breads, fermented foods, homemade yogurts and kefir, mineral-rich broths, offal, and grass-fed meats.

Look for locally produced, artisanal foods including microbrew kombucha, small-scale fermented vegetables and farmstead cheese at farmers markets.

Potherb and Goat Cheese Pie with a Potato Crust

I like to serve egg-rich vegetable pies for lunch or for a light dinner. I place heaping wedges onto plates with a scoop of fermented vegetables. I sometimes substitute thinly sliced potatoes for a floury crust. It makes for a charming, rustic appearance, and the potatoes grow tender and soft as the pie bakes. My favorite of these pies includes greens and herbs—particularly chard, kale, parsley, and thyme—though mustard greens make a nice substitute for either chard or kale. From "The Nourished Kitchen" by Jennifer McGruther, serves 6.


1 bunch Swiss chard (about 12 ounces)

1 small bunch curly kale (about 8 ounces)

¼ cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves

4 Yukon Gold potatoes

2 tablespoons clarified butter (see below)

8 eggs

¼ cup heavy cream

½ teaspoon finely ground unrefined sea salt

4 ounces chèvre


Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Trim the Swiss chard of any tough stems or veins, then stack the leaves on top of one another, roll them into a cigar, and slice them crosswise into strips about ¼- inch wide. Tear the kale leaves away from the tough stems and into small pieces no bigger than ½ inch; discard the stems. Put the torn kale in a bowl with the Swiss chard, parsley, and thyme.

Keeping the skins on, slice the potatoes crosswise into 1/8-inch-thick rounds.

Melt the butter in a 10-inch ovenproof skillet over medium-low heat. Swirl the skillet so that the butter lightly coats the bottom and sides. Turn off the heat and carefully arrange the potato slices along the bottom and sides of the pan to form a crust. Tightly pack the greens and herbs into the potato-lined skillet.

Crack the eggs into a mixing bowl and add the cream and salt. Beat them together until uniform in color. Pour the egg mixture over the vegetables, filling the skillet to within ½ inch of its rim; you may not need to use all the eggs. Drop the chèvre a teaspoon at a time into the eggs and vegetables.

Transfer the skillet to the oven and bake for 40 to 45 minutes, until the center of the pie no longer wobbles when you gently shake the pan. Allow the pie to rest for 5 minutes before slicing into wedges and serving.


Clarifying butter deepens its flavor and color and concentrates its butterfat by removing its milk solids. The process also helps to extend its shelf life. Store clarified butter at room temperature out of direct light, just as you would store olive oil, coconut oil, or any other concentrated fat. Once you've removed the milk solids from the butterfat, there's little risk of spoilage. You can apply high heat to clarified butter in ways that would cause regular butter to scorch. Makes about 12 ounces.

Place 1 pound unsalted butter in a wide sauté pan set over low heat. Allow the butter to melt slowly. As it heats, froth and foam will gather on top of the liquid butter. Skim this off and discard it. Continue heating the butter until it becomes perfectly clear, about 10 minutes.

Set a fine-mesh sieve over a bowl and line it with a double layer of cheesecloth or a single layer of butter muslin. Pour the melted butter through the cloth and into the bowl. Discard the milk solids in the cloth, then pour the clarified butter into three 4-ounce jars or one 12-ounce jar and cover tightly. Stored in a cool, dark space, the clarified butter will keep for up to 1 year.

Blistered Radishes with Parsley

In spring, when milder and more tender radishes begin to arrive at area farms, I prepare this dish from little Cherry Belle, Pink Beauty, and elongated French Breakfast radishes. From "The Nourished Kitchen" by Jennifer McGruther, serves 4.


16 radishes

1 tablespoon unsalted butter

¼ cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

Freshly ground unrefined sea salt


Chop the radishes into ¼-inch dice and set them in a bowl while you prepare the remaining ingredients. Melt the butter in a wide skillet over medium-high heat.

When the butter foams, decrease the heat to medium-low and stir in the radishes. Cook the radishes in the butter, stirring frequently, for 8 to 10 minutes, until their skins blister slightly. Sprinkle them with the parsley and season with salt to suit your preference. Serve warm.

Bone Marrow Custard With Black Pepper And Parsley

Long leg bones from beef steers provide delicious, buttery marrow. Purchase them precut, or ask your butcher or rancher to cut them 1 to 4 inches thick to make scooping out the marrow a little more manageable. While you can remove the marrow from the center of a raw bone, roasting the bones significantly improves the flavor and makes it easier to remove, too. From "The Nourished Kitchen" by Jennifer McGruther, serves 4 or 6.


5 pounds beef marrow bones, cut about 1 inch thick

5 eggs

2 cups heavy cream

1 teaspoon finely ground unrefined sea salt

1 teaspoon finely ground black pepper

1 tablespoon minced fresh flat-leaf parsley


Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.

Put the bones in a single layer in a roasting pan and roast for 30 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven and let the bones cool until they are comfortable to handle.

Decrease the oven temperature to 325 degrees and grease six 4-ounce or four 6-ounce ramekins with a bit of butter.

Extract the marrow from the bones with a spoon and drop it into a bowl, discarding the bones. Whisk the eggs and cream into the marrow, then pass the mixture through a fine-mesh sieve set over a bowl to remove any coagulated bits of marrow or lumps of egg. Whisk in the salt, pepper, and parsley.

Pour the mixture into the buttered ramekins and place the ramekins in a large baking dish. Fill the dish with enough hot water to reach halfway up the sides of the ramekins. Bake for 45 minutes, or until the sides of the custards are set but the centers remain a touch wobbly. Serve warm.

Peas and Carrots with Cream

Peas and carrots, sweet hallmarks of spring, make a nice marriage, particularly when gently steamed until their flavors bloom without becoming muddy from overcooking. From "The Nourished Kitchen" by Jennifer McGruther, serves 4- 6.


1½ pounds carrots, peeled and cut into ¼-inch dice

1 pound English peas, shelled (1 cup)

2 tablespoons heavy cream, preferably raw

½ teaspoon finely ground unrefined sea salt

¼ teaspoon ground white pepper

2 tablespoons chopped fresh mint

1 tablespoon chopped fresh curly parsley


Pour the carrots and peas into a steamer basket and steam them over rapidly boiling water until crisp-tender, about 10 minutes. Transfer them to a serving bowl, then stir in the cream, salt, white pepper, mint, and parsley. Serve warm.

Strawberries in Minted Honey Syrup

The soft floral flavor of strawberries pairs nicely with the bright, grassy notes of mint. I like to marinate them in a honeybased syrup spiked with fresh spearmint or peppermint. We serve them for breakfast, with a bowl of yogurt or for dessert with whipped cream. From "The Nourished Kitchen" by Jennifer McGruther, serves 4.


1 cup water

1 cup honey

2 pints strawberries

1 small bunch fresh mint (about 6 sprigs)


Bring the water to a simmer in a saucepan over medium heat. Pour in the honey and whisk it into the water until it dissolves fully. Continue simmering over medium heat for 5 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and let the syrup cool to room temperature.

Hull the strawberries, cut them in half, and set them in a bowl. Pluck the leaves off the stems of mint, tear them with your hands, and drop them into the bowl with the strawberries. Pour the cooled honey syrup over the strawberries and mint, then cover the bowl and transfer it to the fridge. Allow the berries to marinate for a day, and then serve them with their syrup.