Hunger and Thirst

Smoked Salt and Pepper

noreply@blogger.com (Butterpoweredbike) — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 23:58:00 +0000

To kick off smoke month at the Wild Things foraging recipe challenge, I'm going to give you a very simple tip regarding how to add flavor to wild foods. You don't necessarily have to worry about setting up elaborate hot or cold smoking operations to add smoke flavor to your favorite wild foods. You don't even need to grill or barbeque. Sometimes, all you need is to have smoked salt and smoked pepper in your arsenal.

Wild foods are often best prepared simply, so as to let their unique flavors sparkle. A bare dusting of smoked salt, or smoked pepper if you aren't looking to add additional salt, can elevate wild-caught fish, game meats, foraged vegetables, and even feral fruit, from tasty to sublime. The trick in using smoked salt and smoked pepper is to use a light hand when seasoning, so that your dish hints at being haunted by fire. Use too much, and you risk having your food taste as if you actually dropped it into the campfire ashes.

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Wild Things is a challenge, and you are invited to participate! For the month of February, use a wild wood or plant to add smoky flavor to food. Alternately, use smoke to cook forage or game. Recipes for wildcrafted medicinal smokes and incense are also welcome. To join in the reindeer games, just send your link or typed recipe to wildthings.roundup@gmail.com by the end of the month (but sooner is always nice). Both new and archived posts are welcome.

Wild Things in February - Smoke

noreply@blogger.com (Butterpoweredbike) — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 22:14:00 +0000

Welcome to Wild Things in February! If you are new to the Wild Things Round Up, have a look here to read what it is all about. The short version is that Wild Things is a foraging recipe challenge meant to inspire more people to get out there and wildcraft food and medicine with the plants that grow abundantly all around them.

Normally, a featured plant is selected for each month, and you are challenged to go find some, create something wonderful, then share your recipe. However, since the cold winds are still blowing, and it would be difficult to select a plant that is widely available in many climates, I've decided to go with another unusual theme for this month.

Like last month's alcohol theme, this month the challenge will be to make something great using a particular medium - smoke. This is a chance to get really creative! You could use a foraged plant or wood to add smokey flavor to a particular food. Or, you could use commercial wood chips to smoke wild plants or game meat. This month would also be a great time for my friends in the herbalist community to share plants which are medicinal as smoke. Finally, I would very much like for my herbie friends to share a recipe for the incense they've all been making this winter.

Have fun with this one! Let's make some gorgeous recipes. If you've got an archived post that would fit the bill, feel free to use that. If you don't have a blog, just send in your recipe, along with a few words about why you made it and how well you liked it, and I'll include that in the round up. Please send your entries to wildthings.roundup@gmail.com by the end of the month (or sooner, if possible).

Wild Things Round Up - Alcohol

noreply@blogger.com (Butterpoweredbike) — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 04:00:00 +0000

Sometimes I get ridiculously jealous of people who are able to forage well throughout the winter. And by jealous, I mean that I have the urge to fly across the country/globe, knock them unconscious, and steal all of their hard-earned harvests. But most of the time, sanity reigns, and I'm content to kick back and enjoy the off season. Of course that also means digging into some of the foods that I put up throughout the high growing season.

When I first started preserving, I turned every food into some form of jam. As I've gotten older, my pantry has evolved to contain more foods preserved as pickles or in alcohol. Between my food preserved in alcohol and my experiments with herbal medicine, I've got an astonishing amount of alcohol in my house. Laissez les bons temps rouler! I've got a drink, medicine, or gift for just about any occasion. I was especially well-prepared for the Wild Things Round Up in January, where the theme was wild food + alcohol.

I'd like to send out an extra big thank you to all of the herbalists who shared their experiences and recipes this month. I feel very strongly that foraging for food and medicine are two sides of the same coin.

On that note, let the fun begin. Drink, be merry, be well!

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Curious as to the whys and hows of alcohol in herbal medicine? Start your reading here, with this post from Mario at Artemis Herbals. Once you've finished studying that, be sure to drink up some of his favorite recipes using wild foods and alcohol, including Spiced Brandy, Goldenrod Hemlock & Rose Elixir/Tincture, Rosehip/Ginger Elixir, and Cherry/Spicebush Liquor.

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Have you heard of the Sardinian liqueur called Mirto? Hank Shaw, author of Hunt, Gather, Cook made his own mirto with myrtle berries from a friend's hedge. He describes the taste as sweet, heavy, and herbal.

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Hank also enjoys making Elderberry Liqueur with fresh elderberries and vodka. He claims that the resulting drink tastes similar to tawny port.

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If you live near a mimosa tree (a popular ornamental), I think you'll want to try this recipe for Mimosa Elixir, created by my friend and fellow cyclist, Kristi Shapla. This plant has anti-depressant qualities.

Mimosa Elixir

Mimosa trees (Albizia julibrissin) have become naturalized and even
invasive across North America. Originally from Asia, this leguminous
tree has become a favorite ornamental species here. Which is good
news for us, because this is exactly the medicine a lot of us need!
The flowers and bark of albizia have anti-depressant qualities that
alleviate insomnia, anxiety, and stress. Although I have never tried
it, pfaf.org says the young leaves can be eaten as a potherb and the
leaves can be dried and used as a tea substitute. Here is what I HAVE
tried, and absolutely love. The flavor turned out to be reminiscent
of fresh off the vine muscadine grapes.

Fill a quart jar with those beautiful, silky, pink flowers that look
like something from a Dr. Suess book. Not too tightly packed. As
Susun Weed says "Make a fairy bed." Add up to a cup of honey,
depending on how sweet you like things. Fill the rest of the way with
brandy, vodka, or whatever your favorite 'poison' may be. Shake it a
bit when you think of it, and try to keep it out of direct sunlight.
After about 4 weeks, strain.

My favorite way to enjoy this is to put a shot glass amount of it in a
tea cup, and pour some hot herbal tea over it. This is especially
good to chase away the winter blues!

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Herbalist Rosalee de la Foret has shared her favorite mead recipe, St. John's Wort and Cherry Mead. Can you imagine being greeted by the cheerful color of this drink after it has matured?

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I've said it before, and I'll say it again. My friend at the 365 Kitchen is a genius when it comes to mixing cocktails. I like to go foraging under the guise of "teaching." But let's face it, I've got ulterior motives! Just look at what she whipped up with some of the amazing foods we picked last fall - Wild Apple Margarita, and Wild Grape Tonic.

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Still curious about meads? Perhaps you could be tempted by this delicious and deeply healing Rose Hip Mead from Under Root Healing. Much like me, he has taken inspiration about brewing wild plants into delicious potions from Sacred and Herbal Healing Beers by Stephen Harrod Buhner, and Wild Fermentation by Sandor Elix Katz.

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In the mood for something fruity, offset by the deep earthy flavor of nettle? Try this Stinging Nettle and Strawberry Guava Cordial Recipe by sherkhanchan.

Stinging Nettle and Strawberry Guava Cordial

7 Tablespoons stinging nettle leaf, remove stinging hairs
7 Tablespoons strawberry guava fruit, slightly mashed
4 cups sugar (can reduce if you're not a fan of sweetness....but no
less than 3 c. or it won't ferment properly)
3 Tablespoons fresh squeezed lemon juice
16 oz fresh, warm water

Add the sugar, lemon juice, and water to a large saucepan. Heat to 60
degrees C. Add the leaves and fruit and remove immediately from heat.
Cover and leave for a week, stirring daily. Strain and bottle. I
normally dilute each jar with with a ratio of 3 parts cordial to 1
part water. Refrigerate. Will keep about 3 months once opened. I
normally mix this with soda water or ginger ale, as it is pretty
strong flavoured, and slightly syrupy.

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Herbalist Virginia Adi shared this:

"Any of the lovely native sages of california can be foraged when they are in flower to make very nice, simple elixirs. A handful of flowers, gently rinsed to rid them of ants and put in a small jar covered first with honey and the brandy added to taste. Leave them for several days to let the flavors brew. My favorite this year however, was Salvia apiana flowers mixed with agave nectar and tequila. A lighter brew can be made with flowers, vodka and sugar to bring out the sagey tastes a bit more. It is fun to experiment with different sweeteners and different alcohols. These can be combined with fruit syrups and added to soda as well. S0 many ways to play!"

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Do you enjoy root beer? Perhaps you'd like to try making Sassafras Beer like the 3 Foragers. After that, go really wild and try their Japanese Knotweed Wine.

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My friend at the Dyhanaverse shares my love of stinging nettle, and also my gluten-free diet. Whether you drink it for it's tonic qualities, or just as an enjoyable gluten-free beer, give Stinging Nettle Beer a try.

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My favorite foraging buddy, Wild Food Girl, has run a few wild foods meet alcohol experiments, including making bathtub "gin" from juniper berries. But her house favorite is Wild Black Currant Brandy.

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Evocative of the citrus scents of the desert, Lastisha of HerbMother has created a gorgeous Orange Blossom Elixir. She advises that this drink is so good that it's worthy of a fancy bottle and a gathering of friends. I agree.

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If you are still short on ideas, try one of the six recipes shared by Traci at the Fellow Workers Farm Collective, including Mexican-Style Chocolate Liqueur, and a charmer called Ruby Slippers.

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My own personal favorite tincture is one made from hops. I reach for it at night when I need to sleep, and also when my tummy flips out due to nerves.

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Like a lot of people out there, I know that I'd feel a little nervous if I didn't have Elderberry Elixir in my house because of it's ability to help the immune system do its job. I give it as a gift to most everyone I know (the rest I force to make their own).

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Last week, I was lucky enough to find crab apples fermenting on the tree. I did my best to make a tasty cocktail from those rare winter treats, the Crab Apple Sparkler, made with gin.

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Once again, thank you to everyone who participated in, and was inspired by Wild Things. Just look at what is possible! I'm looking forward to sharing more with this community next month.

I'm sharing this collection with Real Food Wednesday, and Pennywise Platter Thursday.

Crab Apples Fermented on the Tree

noreply@blogger.com (Butterpoweredbike) — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 19:00:00 +0000

I once dated a guy who liked to climb up on his high horse and announce, I don't need drugs or alcohol to alter my mind. Now, this is a blog, so I'm not sure you could properly hear the tone of that statement. The claim was always accompanied by the tone. You know it, the tone of moral superiority.

Why is it that the sanctimonious schmucks are always the first people you'd like to give a frosty tallboy? I'm pretty sure that's one of those laws of nature.

Speaking of nature, do you remember a few months ago when the drunken moose got stuck in a tree? That critter was proof positive that even animals, when given the chance, will indulge in the fruits of ferments. And let's face it, humans, throughout history, have tried to turn just about anything they could get their hands on into hooch.

All this is not to say that I'm not aware of the ills of alcohol. I'm only one degree of Kevin Bacon away from that reality. But relaxing with a nice drink in good company can bring some of the finer moments in life. I've had quite a few of those moments in the last year, after having fallen in with a circle of food-lovers. From great wine pairings in restaurants, to special-occasion bottles, to the creations of the cocktail genius at the 365 Kitchen, I've had many occasions to raise a glass in celebration of sweet life.

Last week, I struck out foraging with the aforementioned Cocktail Queen of the 365 Kitchen (seriously, the girl has mad mixology skillz). Being January, there wasn't much to be found. As we walked along, we came across a few crab apple trees. Even in the dead of winter, I couldn't resist plucking fruit from trees to taste. Most were bland and mealy after months of exposure to the wind, snow, and cold temps.

When we examined a tree down by the river, I was a little surprised when I squeezed one it's apples between my fingers and saw tiny bubbles surface. But I knew what those bubbles meant. The fruit had fermented on the tree, transforming it into the zingy supercharged version of crab apples. Like the drunken moose before me, I knew better than to let a good thing go to waste.

I used part of the harvest to make a crab apple folk wine. That has been set that aside to mature for a few months, and I will report back if it turns out to be delicious. For more immediate drinking pleasure, I did my best to emulate my cocktail guru with this little creation.

Crab Apple Gin Sparkler

3 parts fermented crab apple juice
1 part gin
2 parts sparkling water

Blend well. Serve over ice. Enjoy with friends, or while watching a skybluepink winter sunset.

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This post is a part of the Wild Things Round Up. Wild Things is a foraging recipe challenge, and you are invited to participate! January is wild food + alcohol month. Do you have a favorite recipe? Send it along to wildthings.roundup@gmail.com

Winter Tea Blend

noreply@blogger.com (Butterpoweredbike) — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 02:00:00 +0000

Not unlike a lot of people, I'd say my biggest influence in the kitchen is my Gran. However, she's not the one who taught me to cook. I could probably count on my fingers the number of times we cooked a meal together. But my relationship with her nudges up against every aspect of my existence, no less so in the kitchen. Her influence upon my cooking is unmistakable, just not quite so literal.

Unlike a lot of people, I don't search for resemblance in the faces of my loved ones, asking do we have the same eyes, does my smile turn to the left like hers? Instead, I recognize my family by their hands. I've always found myself studying them - my dad's chubby mitts, my mom's long fingers, my aunt's tender touch with babies, the odd dexterity of my musical cousin, each so distinct. I'm entranced in their presence, looking first at their hands, then my own, thinking about the curious turns of genetics.

These days, as my fingers pluck winter berries from twigs, as I rearrange my pantry preserves, as I quietly chop food on the cutting board, I find myself contemplating hands, especially those of Gran. I can only remember her hands as they were in old age, feathered by age spots, knuckles swollen with pain. Even so, they weren't hands to pity. Gran's strong grip was the first I sought out when I needed a jar opened. Her hands were also conduits of the greatest love. Crippling arthritis didn't stop her from wrapping them around my shoulders or feet, and bestowing comforting massages.

Our favorite form of communication was walking. Gran and I walked endless miles together, in the cemetery that bordered her country home, in the mountains where I thrive, on vacations, after good meals, in whichever neighborhood we found ourselves. When I was small, she'd hold my hand as we walked. As she aged, she'd curl her hand around my elbow for balance. Both burned marks of love so deeply into me that I can still feel her fire, even now, as I walk without her.

I was lucky enough to know my Gran both in my childhood, and as an adult. As a kid, she was the perfect grandma, the type who baked birthday cakes, and listened to me like I mattered. As an adult, it never slipped my mind that our time together was enchanted. I got to know her as a person, to meet her eye to eye, to see how imperfections added to her character, to hear her schoolgirl giggle, to have a window into her dreams. I've no doubt this is why she still holds such a spell over me. I knew her well, I loved her completely.

There's a faded picture of the two of us sitting on a rock next to a roaring stream. She's still young enough to have some color in her hair, I'm preschool precocious. Most would look at that picture and see the happy time reflected in our faces, the ease and joy of being together, the sun shining upon us. What I see when I look at that picture is Gran's hand. Despite the serene expression on her face, there is no mistaking the fact that she has a fierce grip on the back of my tiny shirt.

This morning, sitting in the tilted light of winter, gazing at the cup of hot tea nestled between my palms, thoughts of her hands swirl with the wisps of steam. She haunts me this way. My fingers are longer than hers, my nails are shaped differently. I wonder, in time, will these hands come to resemble hers? Is the bond I feel with my grandmother deeper than mere genetics? When I shell beans, or strip leaves from a vine, does the fact that she is literally a part of me mean that somehow the sensation in those nerves is able to reach her, whatever that means? Even now, can those hands which offered me endless guidance and protection sense the world through me, feel my melancholy mood? I don't have the answers.

How does a legacy pass from the hands of one generation to the next?

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Well, let's mull that over a cup of tea together, shall we? Here's my favorite tea blend, at the moment. It uses foraged nettle and elderberries for their tonic properties, and orange peel and cinnamon for their warming touch. I like to brew this in a quart jar. The first glass is tea, and by the last cup, it has become a nicely medicinal herbal infusion. Both ends of the spectrum taste delicious. The cinnamon emerges more with time.

Butter's Favorite Winter Tea Blend

handful of dried nettle leaves
8-10 dried elderberries
4 small pieces of dried orange peel
piece of cinnamon the size of the end of your finger

Place all of the herbs into a quart jar. Cover with boiled water, let steep at least 10 minutes before serving.

If you'd like more ideas about which herbs to use in your own tea, have a look at Beks' post on herbal infusions.

I'm sharing this recipe with Real Food Wednesday, Pennywise Platter Thursday, and the Living Well Blog Hop.

Cream Puffs with Goat Cheese and Ponderosa Pine Cream

noreply@blogger.com (Butterpoweredbike) — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 05:10:00 +0000

There is a special form of communication that takes place when food nerds have a gathering. Initial hugs and greetings are swiftly followed by a flurry of action, as hands reach into bag and cross to exchange food gifts. This is how we communicate, how we show affection. The exchange is a direct extension from the heart of our kitchen to the hearts of our friends.

Just this sort of exchange took place the other day when I met a few of my fellow food geeks for lunch. The bemused host at the restaurant where we met noted, you guys always come with... accessories.

Among other lovely things, I was bestowed with a jar of sweet raw cream from my friend Kat. That girl knows how I roll. Turns out, that cream was just what I needed to break free from my uninspired, mid-winter kitchen blues. Suddenly, I found myself daydreaming about the oddest of things - dessert. I, the gal with a nearly absent sweet tooth who is most days too lazy to bake, desired cream puffs.

It was surprisingly easy to create a gluten-free version of cream puffs. I've not made these since I was in high school French, but I think this gluten-free version is very good. In fact, I strongly feel that the resulting pastry is indistinguishable from the version made with wheat. This is very good news for the future. My mind is already dancing around ways to fill these shells with all sorts of foods, from cold trout salad to barbequed beast.

The unfilled pastry shells freeze well.

Gluten-Free Cream Puffs

1 c. rice flour
1/2 c. sweet rice flour
1/8 tsp. xanthan gum
1 tsp. sugar
1 tsp. salt

1 c. water
1 c. milk
6 Tbsp. butter

4 eggs

Cream Filling

1 c. heavy cream
2 Tbsp. goat cheese
2 tsp. ponderosa pine elixir* (or vanilla)

Chocolate Drizzle

2 Tbsp. chocolate chips, melted
1/2 tsp. olive oil

In a bowl, combine the dry ingredients for the pastry.

Meanwhile, in a medium pan, bring water, milk, and butter to a simmer over medium heat.

Reduce heat to medium-low, and stir in the dry ingredients with a wooden spoon. Keep stirring for a few minutes more, until a good ball of dough forms, and a film forms over the bottom of the pan.

Remove from the heat, and beat in one egg at a time.

Drop large spoonfuls of the dough onto a parchment-lined baking sheet (makes approximately 24 shells). Bake for 15 minutes in an oven which has been heated to 425 degrees (F). Reduce the heat to 350, and bake an additional 30 minutes.

Turn the oven off, open the door a crack, and let the puffs remain inside for another hour as the oven cools.

Remove the puffs from the oven. Cut a slit in the side of each to further aid the escape of steam. Let them cool completely on a rack.

In a large bowl, beat the cream, goat cheese, and Ponderosa pine elixir to stiff peaks. Place the flavored cream into a bag, cut off a corner of the bag, then pipe the cream into the center of each puff.

Using a spoon, drizzle the filled shells with chocolate. Finish with a few flakes of good sea salt.

*Ponderosa pine elixir is quite similar to the Ponderosa pine honey in this post. Fill a jar with bits of the most fragrant Ponderosa pine bark you can find. Eyeballing it, cover the bark halfway with honey, then fill the remainder with brandy. Let sit 2-6 weeks before straining out the solids, and using the resulting ambrosia in recipes.

Foraging for Snow

noreply@blogger.com (Butterpoweredbike) — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 06:00:00 +0000

Who would've thunk it? That closing the door to one great big black hole of a person could open up so many others? I mean, I sort of thought it would be a one for one exchange of doors, at best. I had thought that last year would be irreparably tinted by all of the surprise, sadness, and anger of my break-up. Instead, it was, by a long-shot, the best year of my life. Good people, jobs, and happiness rained down upon me like nothing I've ever experienced.

When you are blessed with the opportunity to rebuild your life from the ground up, the world is fresh with dew. I feel like the luckiest person on earth to have been blessed with so many new career opportunities, all having to do with my passion, foraging. Last year was the year that I started foraging for restaurants, working with chefs, combining my love of the outdoors, my obsession with wild foods, and my desire to eat well. At the same time, I was surprised to have been offered a job to write for a magazine on the same subject. One door closes, an infinite number open.

Yesterday, as I stretched out in a big puddle of wintry sun with the kitteh, I took count of all the scars I obtained in 2011. There is the scar on my hand from a cooking mishap. A few scratches from cats and bushes and weeds and fences. I've several scars from my monstrous six week run of poison ivy. There is also the scar from where I fell down the mountain while mushrooming, and gashed open my shin. That one is purple, and it seems it will forever remind me of king boletes. Then, I suppose it bears mentioning, there is the scar etched over my heart.

Actually, it's not worth mentioning. That is my past. The ghost has been exorcised. Goodnight moon, goodnight ghost.

What is worth mentioning is my present, my delicious happy present. After I fell down the mountain and was all busted up, I was exhausted and a little defeated. My friends rallied around me. They took me aside, and told me in no uncertain terms that they would be my ICE (in case of emergency) contacts, and that I was required to tell them where I went each and every time I headed into the hills alone. As an only child, as a single girl, I cannot even begin to express how it felt to know that those people were willing to stand up for me, even in a life-threatening emergency. Honestly, it colored my whole world.

I've no doubt that my greatest blessings in 2011 came in the form of people. I can only explain it as magic, as infinite open doors, that so many amazing souls came into my life. I'm telling you, it's far beyond mere chance, the sheer number of dear friends who entered my life, and just when I needed them most. I needed them to re-educate my soul as to what it meant to be genuinely and unfailingly supported, I needed them to remind me what it meant to have faith in humanity, I needed them to fill my heart to the brim with love. My doors are wide open.

Sigh. It is January, and this place were the high desert prairie meets the great Rockies is brown and snowy, with a little more brown thrown in for color. I'm spending a lot of time hibernating with the cat and contemplating life, and very little time foraging. So be it. For every thing, a season. I'm enjoying the view out those open doors.

Grownup Snow Cones

I have, however, been harvesting quite a bit of snow lately. Go ahead and snigger, all of you Pacific Northwest fat hogs who are rolling around in mushrooms at the moment. You win.

A few weeks ago, my friend Laura mentioned that she had been enjoying grownup snow cones/ slurpies. That is, liqueur poured over snow. That was a facepalm moment for me. Why hadn't I ever thought of that?

So much of the fruit that I put up during the growing season got preserved as liqueur, so why not finally enjoy it? I've been happily tasting my way through the pantry. Takes quite a bit of work, foraging for all of that snow.

Here's the skinny. Take your favorite pint mason jar, and pack it with snow. Really cram it in there. If you need to be warned not to eat yellow snow, perhaps you aren't yet ready for grownup snow cones. Next, pour on your liqueur until the snow looks to be about 1/3 saturated. Stir, slurp, enjoy!

My three favorite grownup snow cones so far - coffee, elderflower, and snowgaritas.

Cheers! Let's raise a glass to even more open doors in 2012!

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Speaking of booze... have you combined something wild with alcohol? Beer, wine, mead, infused-alcohol, tincture, or elixir? Excellent! You need to share the goods with the Wild Things Round Up. Simply send your recipe to wildthings.roundup@gmail.com by the end of the month. Everyone is invited to join in the fun! Wild Things is meant to inspire those who might otherwise be too afraid to forage, so please, share your happy experiences and recipes!

Wild Things in January - Alcohol

noreply@blogger.com (Butterpoweredbike) — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 20:02:00 +0000

Pop a cork and join in the fun! This month for the Wild Things foraging recipe challenge, instead of highlighting one plant, I'll be featuring a medium. In my neck of the woods, January means slim pickings in the foraging department. There has been snow on the ground here for two full months. Even if I were to pick a specific plant for the round up this month, I'm not certain as to how widely available it would be.

So this month will be another wild card, of sorts. I'd love for you to submit your best recipes combining wild plants and alcohol. In addition to seeing recipes for infused alcohol, beer, wines, and meads intended for food and drinks, I'd really like to encourage the herbalist community to share their best formulas for tinctures and elixirs.

If you are unfamiliar with the Wild Things Round Up, please read the introduction and guidelines for participation. All wildcrafters are invited to play along, whether you are a pro or simply enjoy using the weeds that grow in your yard or local park. Wild Things is meant to inspire people to learn how to utilize and enjoy wild plants. You've until the end of the month to submit your recipe or link to wildthings.roundup@gmail.com

I'm really looking forward to seeing what you've got this month. Have fun with this one!

Wild Things Round Up - Wild Card

noreply@blogger.com (Butterpoweredbike) — Sat, 31 Dec 2011 20:00:00 +0000

Welcome to the final Wild Things Round Up for 2011. This is the year that foraging really took a foothold, from the mainstream, all the way to the world's finest restaurants. People are beginning to have a widespread awareness and appreciation of wild foods. It seems that just about everyone is taking a second look at the feral plants right in their own backyard, and are wondering how to cook with them.

As you know, this is how Wild Things was born. Wild Things was created as a way to inspire people to take baby steps and learn to add a few wild foods to their kitchen repertoire. This year, Wild Things has featured herbs ranging from conifer tips, to rose petals, to acorns. And each month, real life people who pick and cook with these foods have shared their creations.

To finish off the year, Wild Things in December is a wild card - any ingredient goes! This month's round up includes each contributor's very best recipe from the year. I hope you enjoy this collection as much as I have, and return to it again and again as each food comes into season.

Since it is a busy time of year, I hope you don't mind that I haven't included my usual description with each entry. I'll just let the recipe titles and pictures speak for themselves.

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Venison Braised with Chili, Chocolate, and Wine from Artemis Herbals.

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Elkslip Green Curry from Wild Food Girl.

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Sumac Mashed Potatoes from the 365 Kitchen

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Spaghetti Squash Gratin with Chanetrelles from Cindy Bodnar.

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Homemade Wine from Penniless Parenting.

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Coconut Prickly Pear Sherbay from Herb Mother.

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Dock Roll from the Dyhanaverse.

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Stuffed Yucca Blossoms from Formation of a Foodie.

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Puffball Piccata from the 3 Foragers.

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Sweet Cicely Marzipan from Wildman Steve Brill.

Sweet Cicely Marzipan

Here’s a version of this German confection enhanced with a hint of the
licorice flavor of sweet cicely.

3-1/2 cups almonds
2 tbs. almond oil
2 tsp. almond extract
1/2 tbs. vanilla extract
2 tsp. clear liquid stevia
2 drops bitter almond essential oil (optional)
1 tsp. powdered ginger
1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup silken tofu, drained
2 tsp. sweet cicely root, finely chopped, or ½ tsp. star anise, ground
1/2 cup carob powder, or as needed

1. Grind the almonds into a fine meal in a food processor.

2. Add the almond oil, almond extract, stevia, vanilla, ginger, and
salt, and process again.

3. Add the tofu and sweet cicely and process into a paste.

4. Roll into balls 1 inch across and roll the balls in carob powder.
You may chill the paste before rolling it out into balls to make
rolling easier, if desired.

Makes 3 dozen

Preparation time: 45 minutes

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From Auburn Meadow Farm, My Haw! (hawthorn fruit).

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Nettle, Sage, and Sweet Potato Biscuits from Intuitive Integral Healing.

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From Cauldrons and Crockpots, Black (Tea) and White (Fir) Cake.

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From my friend Knuckles, a delicious wild meal.

Gilded Ramp Spoon Bread...

melt 1/4 pound org butter
saute a grip of ramps, cut into small pieces.
add apx 5 cups stock, (NO SALT if store bought)
check seasoning and add salt and ground white pepper to taste. easy on the pepper at first.
add apx 1 cup organic, stone milled, corn meal
whisk vigorously as you add
let simmer for about 10 mins, stirring
fold in about 1/2 cup organic parm type cheese
fold in 3 organic eggs.
place in baking dish of appropriate size, no larger than 2 qt.
Bake 25 min at 350
Serve hot and stand back...it's gonna go quick.

Porcini Consomme... or, what to do in January with those killer shrooms you foraged and dried over the summer. Any shrooms will do.

(all organic)
roast apx 8 pounds of bones (beef marrow and or chicken) until brown and yummy (you will see the meaty pieces start changing colors. do not turn them black, but you can let the tomatoes and vege start to turn black.)
reserve 1# of ground meat (matching the bones)
about halfway roasted add the below:
3 stalks chopped celery-chopped
3 carrots-chopped
3 onions -chopped
10 roma tomatoes- cut into med pieces
1 leek- cut
1 head garlic cut in half

place all into a stock pot or large roaster
add
4 bay leaves
1 T black peppercorns
1 oz fresh thyme
1 oz fresh rosemary
4.5 qt water

bring to a boil
remove bubbles or scum carefully.
simmer overnight without lid (partially cover to be safe)
do not let it reduce more than a bit
strain, place container into sink of ice water to help cooling
put in fridge
next day
soak 4 oz of home dried (crushed), wild foraged Porcini in just enough boiling water to cover. Let sit 1 hr.
remove fat cap,
pour the porcini water in the pot
add 6 whole eggs to the ground meat (fresh minced stock vegetables and herbs are a plus)
add this mix to the stock pot
add the egg and ground meat mix
place pot onto medium heat(pot must have a heavy bottom or it will burn)
cover partially to get it started and do not stir
the mix will slowly cook and clarify the stock as it cooks
it will rise as it cooks
after it has risen to the top, simmer another 10 mins
carefully strain the stock-slice part of the raft and carefully flip out of the way onto the other piece of raft
use a ladle to remove the stock and strain through a strainer lined with coffee filters
season your, now, consomme with salt and ground white pepper
any garnish needs to be steamed or poached, if you saute it, it will leave oil drops on the consomme
serve and enjoy
I find just some freshly cut chives (paper thin) are the perfect garnish

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From Survival in the Wasteland, Mint and Purslane.

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From Wild Blessings, Wild Yummy Eggrolls.

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From Born in the Wrong Century, Rose Hip Ketchup.

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Warm Bacon and Dandelion Salad from Boulder Locavore.

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From Kate at What Grandmother Knew, Potage Bonne Femme.

Purslane is common in most gardens and looks like a low growing, spread out Jade plant. It is very high in Omega 3 fatty acids, and vitamins A, C, and E and is considered a 'power plant' for those in the know! Recently, some diversified farmers markets have started to carry it, and I found it in bundles at a Farmers Market in Ojai, CA. There are many tasty ways to serve purslane: in sandwiches instead of sprouts, in salads, as part of a stir fry, and sauteed with other vegetables. It is also pickled by some, and used in Fatoush in the Middle East. Here is an easy French soup that incorporates both purslane (Portulaca oleracea) and sorrel (Rumex acetosa). Sour grass or wood sorrel (Oxalis acetosa) may also be used in place of Rumex acetosa. It looks like a clover leaf but tastes quite lemony and also grows all over the place.

Potage Bonne Femme

1 Cup each Purslane & Sorrel (or 2 Cups of Purslane), chopped
1 Leek or a small onion, chopped
4 TBS Butter
4 Cups of stock (chicken or vegetable)
2 medium Potatoes, peeled and diced
3 TBS Cream
Salt & Pepper to taste
Fresh Purslane to garnish

Sautee purslane, sorrel, & butter in a covered pot until onion is translucent. Add potato and stock and cook covered until potato is tender. Mash with a potato masher, rub through a sieve, or puree in a blender. Stir in cream and garnish with fresh purslane. Serve either hot or cold.

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From Eat Weeds, Sea Purslane Pesto.

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And finally, my own best recipe of the year, Chicken Livers with Highbush Cranberry Sauce.

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Sending out a great big thank you to everyone who participated in Wild Things this year. Hope to see you back next year! Happy foraging.

I'm sharing these lovely wild recipes with Real Food Wednesday, and Pennywise Platter Thursday.

Best of Hunger and Thirst 2011

noreply@blogger.com (Butterpoweredbike) — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 21:00:00 +0000

Butter picking stinky sock berries

These were my most popular posts of the year. If you didn't get a chance to see them the first time around, I hope you'll enjoy them now.

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Since it is once again that time of year, it is appropriate to revisit this post. It is my rant against exercise. Yes, you read that correctly. I said against. If your curiosity has been piqued, please read Exercise Sucks, and Oh Yeah, Diets Do Too: Start the New Year with a Resolution for Joy.

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I used to be an avid gardener. But in the last few years, I've moved away from traditional gardening. Here's why. More Wildcrafting, Less Gardening. More Joy, Less Stress.

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I'll admit the writing in this one is a little over the top ~blush~. I had just gotten back from foraging in high summer, and my head was buzzing with bright happy light and the scent of wild herbs. Sometimes we write goofy things when we are crushing. Here is my love letter to my home mountains and wild oregano - Wild About Mondarda Fistulosa.

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No contest, this is my favorite post of the year. Do you agree? If you are a mushroom hunter, I think you will recognize the obsession in Stalking Boletus Edulis - Or How Mushrooms Caused Me to Engage in All Seven Deadly Sins.

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The latest in my series - An Unabashed Open Love Letter to Evan Strusinski. I wonder why he hasn't called me yet?

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This post won me a few angry emails. But, for the most part, it was well received. In Defense of Lowbrow Chow.

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Let me know what you think. I'd really enjoy your feedback. And if there is a particular food with which you'd like me to cook, or a topic you'd like to see addressed, please mention it in the comments. Also, check out my list of Top Foraging Posts of 2011. It includes recipes for Tempura-Style Cottonwood Catkins, Nettle Paneer, Stonecrop Wild Garlic Dill Pickles, and more.

I'm sharing these posts with Gallery of Favorites with Premeditated Leftovers.

Rice Dumplings with Highbush Cranberry Elk Filling

noreply@blogger.com (Butterpoweredbike) — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 23:00:00 +0000

Some wild plants are easy to love. It's not hard to appreciate the virtues of roses, raspberries, and currants.

Other plants are ugly ducklings. Or in the case of highbush cranberries, stinky ducklings.

You see, highbush cranberries have a very particular scent. You know the smell of a teenage boy's socks, having been shut in a closet on a warm summer day? Yeah, kinda like that, which is why I call them stinky sock berries.

So, I know what you are thinking. Why on earth would I want to eat something that has earned the nickname stinky sock berry? Well, here's the scoop. Even though they aren't actually related to true cranberries, highbush cranberries have a similar tart flavor which can take on tones of citrus after a few good frosts.

Highbush cranberries are a complex fruit, which makes them very interesting to work with in the kitchen. I enjoy their unique taste and the challenge of manipulating that flavor in the kitchen. I know some like to try to use them in sweet dishes (stinky sock ice cream, anyone?), but I prefer to offset the funk of highbush cranberries by pairing them with offal and game. My all-time favorite thing to make with highbush cranberries is a glaze for pan-fried liver.

After picking highbush cranberries this year, I decided that I'd like to use them to make something similar to the steamed barbeque pork buns served at dim sum restaurants. The only hitch - I can't eat wheat flour. Rather than embark on my usual journey of haphazard kitchen experiments, I did a little internet research to see if it was possible to make gluten-free steamed buns. It seems many have tried, and most have failed. One blogger described her resulting buns as serviceable. As long as I've got a choice, I'm not settling for food which is merely serviceable. A site dedicated to all manner dumplings wisely concluded that if there was a way to make this type of bun out of rice flour, the Chinese would have figured it out long ago.

Fair enough. Enter Plan B. Even though I couldn't manage to envelop my highbush cranberry filling in a tender pillow of fluffy dough, I could still riff on the idea. I decided to instead wrap the filling with sticky coconut rice. The resulting dumplings evoke all of the taste-memories of steamed pork buns, but have their own unique texture. Rice dumplings with highbush cranberry filling are the perfect blend of sweet/tart/savory, and make for a deeply satisfying meal on cold winter days.

I've used elk meat in this recipe, but you could just as easily substitute beef, pork, or even dark meat chicken.

Rice Dumplings with Highbush Cranberry Elk Filling

3/4 c. cooked elk meat, cut into very small pieces
4 Tbsp. highbush cranberry jam
1 Tbsp. (gluten-free) soy sauce
1 small clove garlic, finely minced
2 green onions, chopped
1/2 tsp. grated ginger

dock leaves (collard leaves, banana leaves, and corn husks would also work)

1 c. sticky rice (also known as glutinous rice)
1 1/4 c. water
1/4 c. finely shredded coconut
1 tsp. coconut sugar

1. Place rice and water into your rice cooker (alternately, you could cook the rice on a stove top). Let stand for one hour.

2. Add coconut and sugar to the rice. Stir to combine. Turn on the rice cooker. When the machine switches off, let the rice steam for an additional 15 minutes.

3. In a small pan, combine the elk meat, highbush cranberry jam, soy sauce, green onion, garlic, and ginger over low heat. Let the mixture bubble for two minutes, then remove it from the heat and let it cool back to room temperature.

4. Dumpling size will vary depending upon what type of leaf you use to roll them. Place a small flat layer of coconut sticky rice near the end of your leaf. Center a spoonful of meat atop it, then top it with more rice. Use your hands to gently mold the rice around the filling. Then, tightly roll the rice dumpling up inside the leaf, burrito-style

5. Cook the dumplings in a steamer basket over boiling water for 15 minutes. If you've used edible leaves such as dock or collards, you can choose to serve the rice dumplings with or without their wrapper.

I'm sharing this recipe with Fat Tuesday at Real Food Forager, Real Food Wednesday, Pennywise Platter Thursda,. and Fight Back Friday.

Grapefruit Juniper Curd

noreply@blogger.com (Butterpoweredbike) — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 20:19:00 +0000

It's been noted that I like to eat butter on everything. And it's true. I do actually think that butter makes everything better. With thick tart-sweet custardy curds, I even get the chance to have butter with citrus fruit. Genius!

Yesterday, a friend and I celebrated our first annual Harold & Maude holiday. Slippers, a warm fireplace, and three drowsy hounds made for a cozy viewing of the best film ever made. I knew that I'd be good to go with a big bowl of salty popcorn. But I wanted to make sure my sweet-toothed buddy could satisfy her cravings as well, so I whipped up a small batch of grapefruit juniper curd.

Of course lemon curd is the traditional incarnation of this dish. But curds can be made with a large range of fruits, once you've mastered the basic premise. Blood orange curd is one of my favorites. I've also made both rhubarb and sumac curds.

On this occasion, I decided to pair ruby grapefruit with juniper berries. Perhaps this sounds like an odd combination, but just imagine a sparkling grapefruit cocktail made with gin, and you'll start to get an idea what grapefruit juniper curd tastes like. The juniper berries I forage from the local low-lying bushes as surprisingly sweet, with a definite taste of fruity pear in addition to the usual gin high notes. This makes them particularly nice in sweet dishes. If you'd like to read more about juniper, have a look at the November Wild Edible Notebook, written by Wild Food Girl.

Grapefruit Juniper Curd

6 Tbsp. butter, room temp
1 c. sugar
2 juniper berries, finely ground
2 eggs
2 egg yolks
2/3 c. grapefruit juice
1 Tbsp. lemon juice
1 tsp. grapefruit zest

In a mixing bowl, cream together sugar, juniper, and butter as if starting a batch of cookies. Slowly add in eggs and extra yolks, and mix until well combined. Stir in the grapefruit and lemon juice (the mixture will look curdled). In a heavy saucepan, cook the mixture over med-low heat, whisking constantly so that you don't end up making scrambled eggs, until it's thick enough to coat the back of a spoon (about 170 degrees F). Remove from heat, and stir in grapefruit zest. Chill before serving.

Hawthorn Guajillo Chile Sauce

noreply@blogger.com (Butterpoweredbike) — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 23:13:00 +0000

A few weeks ago, my friend Kate, of the 365 Kitchen, mentioned that she had searched my site for hawthorn berries, and hadn't found any posts. This was rather surprising to me, since I like to cook with them every year. I guess I've been making entries in this blog long enough now that I'm forgetting what all I've written about.

It's a shame that I haven't mentioned hawthorn berries before because they are a wonderful food. Hawthorn shrubs are most easily identified, not by their serrrated ovate leaves, but by the long thorns that adorn their branches (and also, their flowers that reek of corpses in the springtime). Being a relative of apples and roses, hawthorn berries bear a strong resemblance to crab apples.

Several of my guidebooks describe hawthorn fruit as being mealy and tasteless, but I disagree. I have found that there is a great amount of variation from one hawthorn shrub to the next, so part of the trick is in finding a tasty one. And like many of the fruit to which it is related, hawthorn becomes more flavorful after having taken a frost or two. When sweetened by frost, hawthorn berries taste like a combination of crab apple and rosehips, possessing a rich floral fruitiness.

If you are interested in herbal medicine, you'll be fascinated to know that hawthorn berries are also excellent medicine for the heart. To learn more, read Hawthorn -Faery Guardian of your Heart by herbalist Darcey Blue, and Hawthorne for This Little Heart of Mine by herbalist Rosalee de la Foret.

If you've found a yummy hawthorn shrub, you can use its fruit from the time they ripen, through the frosts, and up until they fall off the branches. I'll admit that I take a certain measure of joy in using the shriveled fruit of December, and making something delicious of them.

In this sauce, the earthy sweetness of the hawthorn berries pairs beautifully with the fruity heat of guajillo chiles, and is brightened by roasted garlic, allspice, and citrus. The drooling carnivore in me says that this sauce is perfect with meat - either as part of a braise, or as a bbq sauce. Most recently, I used it with deer tongue in tacos, and it was finger-lickin' good!

Hawthorn Guajillo Chile Sauce

1 c. hawthorn berries
1 dried guajillo chile
6 dried ditch plums (or 2 Tbsp. raisins)
3-6 cloves garlic
1 tsp. dried monarda fistulosa (or other green herb such as thyme)
3 allspice berries, crushed
1 tsp. orange zest
juice of 1 orange
juice of 1 lime
1/4 tsp. salt
(multiply recipe as needed)

You can stem your hawthorn berries if you really feel the need. I've found it unnecessary because I run the sauce through the food mill. But you can do so if you choose. Do give your hawthorn berries a good sorting, and remove any that look rotten or have too much bird poo or other weirdness on them. Then give them a good wash in cool water.

Stem and de-seed your guajillo chile (save the seeds and add them to your pepper flake jar). Tear the chile open so that it is in one flat piece. It should be supple, like a piece of fruit leather.

Heat a small dry cast iron skillet over medium heat. Place the cloves of garlic in the pan, unpeeled, and let them sit there until soft (it is ok if their paper turns black). When the garlic is soft, place the guajillo chile into the still-dry skillet, pressing it flat with a spatula, for about ten seconds on each side. It should turn slightly bubbly brown and stiff, and become quite fragrant.

Place the hawthorn berries, dried plums, garlic, toasted chile, allspice, and dried monarda fistulosa into a saucepan. Add water until it is about 3/4" above the level of the ingredients. Bring to a simmer over medium-low heat, and let the mixture bubble for 15 minutes. Turn off the heat, and let the whole pan come to room temperature. This gives all of the fruit time to become rehydrated.

Pass the contents of the pan through a food mill (or press through a sieve). The skins, seeds, and other tough bits will be strained out, and you will be left with a smooth puree of seasoned fruit.

Stir the orange zest, orange and lime juice, and salt into the puree. If the sauce looks too thick, you can add a touch more water. It should have the consistency of barbeque sauce.

I'm sharing this post with Fat Tuesday, and Real Food Wednesday, Pennywise Platter Thursday, and Fight Back Friday.

December - Joker is Wild Things!

noreply@blogger.com (Butterpoweredbike) — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 07:01:00 +0000

Fresh on the heels of November's acorns, the most popular Round Up of foraged ingredients yet, welcome to Wild Things in December! Wild Things is a foraging recipe challenge. It is meant to inspire both the experienced wildercrafter and the newb to get out there, collect delicious wild edibles, and cook with them.

In an effort to get everyone out there participating, December is a wild card at Wild Things. You get to share your favorite recipe of the year 2011 made with foraged foods. Anything goes, just share what you loved best. Please send your entry to wildthings.roundup@gmail.com by the end of the month (but earlier is better, please). Pull from your archives, pull from your cookbooks, pull from your experience and your love of foraged foods. Let's inspire others to look beyond the grocery store, to tap into primal urges, to look into their backyards, their neighborhoods, their cities, their fields, their meadows, their forests, and cook with what is already growing there, wild and weedy and delicious!

If you have cooked with a foraged food this year, you are absolutely invited to join in on the fun. Don't be shy! All recipes are welcome, from the basic to modern cuisine. This month is a celebration, and you are the honored guest.

In case you missed it, please send your favorite recipe made from a foraged ingredient in the year 2011 to wildthings.roundup@gmail.com . Thank you!

Wild Things Round Up - Acorn

noreply@blogger.com (Butterpoweredbike) — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 23:00:00 +0000

A friend recent told me about how a day came last month when she had no food in her house with which to feed her family, save some bones for stock. Even though she is an experienced forager, it was the first time that she had to strike out into the woods to forage by necessity. She fed her family well that day. I saw the pictures. It was a meal that made my mouth water.

As terrifying as that experience was for her, my friend told me that it was also very empowering to know that she had the skills necessary to survive.

Even when you don't need to forage to keep from going hungry, making meals with wild foods taps into a bit of that deep primal satisfaction that comes in knowing you have what it takes to survive - to build a shelter or a fire, to feed yourself and your family.

And aside from all of that, foraged foods can make for some darned tasty victuals! So without further ado, here's a mind-blowing collection of recipes made from acorn. If you need to know how to collect and prepare acorns, so that you can make one or more of these great recipes, check out this introduction.

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Hank Shaw is author of Hunt, Gather, Cook, which is a fantastic resource for people who are interested in trying wild foods. If you don't already own it, you can buy it through his site Hunter, Angler, Gardener, Cook. Hank has written quite a bit about cooking with acorns on his blog, and he's sharing several of his recipes here. In this post, he wrote a great primer on collecting and using acorns, and included a recipe for acorn pasta, which can be used as noodles or shapes

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Hank has also come up with a recipe for Acorn Cake here, but the best reason to read this post is to read about how acorns are used by people the world over.

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Hank told me that this Acorn Soup flavored with porcini mushrooms and brandy is so good that it'll give you Jeopardy Face.

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Hank Shaw also came up with this recipe for Acorn Flatbread based upon an Italian recipe for piadina, which is like an Italian wheat tortilla

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Kiva Rose, herbalist and editor of Plant Healer Magazine is an acorn fanatic. Apparently, the acorns in the canyon where she lives are so sweet as to not need leaching. One of the first recipes of hers that I used was that for toasty acorn-infused butter. In the same post she includes a recipe for a rich brewed acorn tea

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Kiva and Loba came through again, here with a whole avalanche of sweet acorn recipes. Prepare to drool as you visit this link because you are going to see recipes for Simple Acorn Syrup, Cranberry Acorn Compote, and Acorn Cheesecake.

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Ken Albala is a food historian and author of several books, my favorite of which is The Lost Art of Real Cooking: Rediscovering the Pleasures of Traditional Food, One Recipe at a Time. I owe Ken a great big thank you because I made nearly all of the acorn recipes on my blog this month with acorn flour he sent in exchange for some of my sumac. He used the same sweet white oak acorn flour to whip up acorn abelskivers.

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Forager Robin Harford, who authors the blog Eat Weeds shared his recipe for Spiced Pickled Acorns patterned after pickled walnuts. This recipe in season with warming black pepper, allspice, cinnamon, clove, and ginger.

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The 3 Foragers offer up their acorn cupcakes with wild grape cream cheese frosting. Watch out world, the cupcake craze just took a step on the wild side!

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Ian of Frequently Found Growing on Disturbed Ground wrote a great guide to harvesting and processing acorns in this post, as well as a simple recipe for acorn Good Times Bread

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Ellen, from the blog Down & Dirty made a full meal of acorns with her Acorn-Molasses Brown Bread and Acorn Mushroom Soup. If you are a soup lover like I am, I've no doubt you'll want to try this recipe.

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Wildman Steve Brill sent a recipe for his acorn bread. If you haven't already, check out both his site and his app, Wild Edibles Full which is where the bread recipe comes from. I had a chance to play around with his app on a friend's phone the other day, and it is really quite nice and full of useful info.

"Wildman's" Acorn Bread

Acorns give this bread a wonderfully soft texture, dark color, and an
overtone of nuttiness that fit perfectly with the blend of herbs,
whole grains, and my radical innovations for making vegan breads. The
result is one of the tastiest breads I’ve ever come up with.

To Blend

3-1/4 cups lukewarm almond milk or other non-dairy milk
2 tbs. yeast
1/4 cup lecithin granules
1/4 cup olive oil
2 cloves of garlic

Dry Ingredients

1/2 lb. each acorn, barley, oat, and sweet brown rice flour
2 tbs. flax seeds, ground into 1/4 cup meal
2 tsp. guar gum
2 tsp. rosemary, ground
1 tsp. marjoram, ground
2 tbs. caraway seeds
2 tbs. Vege-sal or 1 tsp. salt

Other Ingredients

2 tbs. olive oil
1 tsp. paprika

1. Mix the yeast into the almond milk and allow to dissolve 5 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, mix the dry ingredients together

3. Purée; the ingredients to blend in a blender along with the almond
milk mixture.

4. Mix 1/3 of the dry ingredient mixture with the wet ingredients and
allow to sit, loosely covered, in a warm place for 1 hour.

5. Mix in the remaining dry ingredients, transfer to 2 oiled bread
pans, shape into loaves, smooth the top surface with a spatula, brush
on the remaining olive oil, sprinkle with the paprika, cover loosely,
and keep in a warm place for 2 hours.

6. Bake in a preheated 350º F oven, along with a pan of water to keep
the bread from getting too crusty, 55 minutes, or until an inserted
cake tester or toothpick emerges clean.

7. Cool on racks

Makes 2 loaves

Preparation time: 30 minutes

Rising and baking time: 4 hours

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Lisa, of Lil Fish Studios made a sweet acorn bread using a recipe she found using a recipe she found from Amber Dusick. Acorn is so versatile that it can be used equally well in both sweet and savory dishes.

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You had to know that Beks and her famous sweet tooth would come up with a sweet treat with acorns. Apparently, even her hubs approved of this recipe for Acorn Chocolate Chip Cookies

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The October edition of Wild Food Girl's Wild Edible Notebook is all about acorns, and contains some stories about collecting and using acorns, as well as recipe ideas. All you need to do to read it is sign up (it's free!).

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Wild Food Girl also created a Acorn and Pumpkin Soup inspired by Hank Shaw's acorn porcini soup recipe. Acorns combined with pumpkin make for a creamy nod toward fall.

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Wild Food Girl and I have a foraging friend we have dubbed Shirley Acorn because she has such a knack for working with acorns. Shirley Acorn is also mention in Wild Food Girl's October Wild Edibles Notebook, which is mentioned above. Here, Shirley shares her recipe for tangy yummy Sour Cream Acorn Sugar Cookies.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

INGREDIENTS:
3 cups sifted acorn flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup butter
3/4 cup white sugar
1 egg
1/4 cup sour cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

DIRECTIONS:
Sift flour, baking powder, and salt. Cream butter with sugar, beat in
egg, then stir in sour cream and vanilla. Stir in flour mixture 1/3 at
a time.

Drop teaspoonfuls of dough on an ungreased cookie sheet. Dip the
bottom of a jelly jar in sugar and use to flatten to approximately 1/4
inch thick. Bake at 350 for 15 minutes.

These cookies hold their shape nicely. They're meant to be a rolled
cookie, but my cutters and rolling pin are all packed away.

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If you are interest for a delightfully simple and easy to make acorn recipe, have a look at this one for Acorn-Rosemary Johnnycakes from herbalist Ananda, who writes the blog Plant Journeys, and also creates herbal potions and self-care products at Amrita Apothecary. I'm especially excited about this recipe because it contains another of my favorite wild foods - dock seeds!

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My fellow foragers at Survival in the Wasteland shared their recipe for acorn crust. I've made something similar, and I've gotta say the taste of acorn is the perfect match for most pies.

for those who like precise recipes this one will be a nightmare, for
those who can impromptu, this one's for you...

take one batch (approximately 2 cups) of cold leached acorn meal,
pounded or ground to flour like consistency,
cut in a quarter stick of butter or coconut oil, (this really depends
upon the amount of oil in the acorn, some are very dry, some are very
oily, adjust accordingly- on super oily ones you can get away with out
any oils... cheers.)for a savory crust you can add any herbs/spices
that will compliment th' dish, or bake as is- for a pumpkin pie or
other sweet crust, add a measure of cinnamon and 1-2 tablespoons of
maple syrup-
spread evenly into pie pan from one eighth to one quarter of an inch
thickness, we like 'em thicker th' better- bake in a pre-heated oven
at 350 degrees for 10 minutes-
remove from oven and fill with pie filling, then bake according to pie recipe...

If you have more acorn flour left over, bake it just as above, but
instead of topping it with a pie, eat it like crackers.... mmmmm

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One of the points I try to make with the Wild Things Round Up is that you don't have to be living in a cabin in the woods in order to forage. Little Homestead in the City illustrates this point perfectly well by making Acorn Pancakes with acorns foraged from Pasadena, California.

Here's the recipe.

1 cup (minus 1 tablespoon) flour
1 tablespoon acorn flour
1 teaspoon sugar
2 teaspoon baking powder
1 egg
1 cup milk
2 tablespoon oil

Mix together dry ingredients. In separate bowl beat egg then add
milk and oil. Add this liquid mixture to dry ingredients. Do not
over mix. Mixture should look a little “clumpy.” Serve warm with
honey, apple sauce or fruit syrups.

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In honor of the Wild Things round up, I re-posted my recipe for Acorn Macarons with a Boozy Buttercream, which also utilize Kiva's acorn-infused butter.

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If you want the ultimate in acorn luxury, try out my recipe for Acron Blini. Just don't tell anyone that they're actually just little pancakes.

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I don't often make desserts because I'm not into sweets. But these Acorn Frangipane Tarts struck just the right balance for me. Frangipane is usually made with almond, but I found the acorn to be even more delicious in the recipe.

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I'm a lazy celiac, and don't often bother with bread. But once I tasted deep, dark, molasses-y acorn, I just knew that it would make an amazing Acorn Mock Rye Bread perfect for creating a deli-style Reuben.

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If you are looking for a very simple recipe to make with your precious acorn flour, then try my
Acorn-Crusted Rabbit. This crust would work equally well with a large variety of meats, from pork, to chicken, to fish.

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I'd like to send out a great big thank you and some bear hugs to everyone who participated this month, and made this the most successful Wild Things yet. Check back soon to find out what is in store for Wild Things next month. I promise, the theme is one that will have everyone wanting to share a recipe.

I'm spreading the word about wild food love via Food Renegade at Fight Back Friday. Follow the link, svp!

In Defense of Lowbrow Chow

noreply@blogger.com (Butterpoweredbike) — Thu, 24 Nov 2011 08:00:00 +0000

Excuse me, would you mind passing the cranberry jelly? Yes please, that one which is shaped like a can.

Gasp!!! What? You would never let such an abomination pass your lips?

Well, that's a shame.

Let me break this to you gently. You are a food snob.

And don't go and pat yourself on the back for it in a smug moment of self-righteousness.

Have no doubt about it, your sneering attitude is bad food karma. It makes this world a bit less fun, and is contributing to the tailspin of our collective relationship to food.

You know me well enough by now to know that I live largely upon wild foods. My day to day meals consist of wild meats, vegetables, and fruits, supplemented by store-bought starches and good dairy. Sometimes I combine these things into fancy dishes, but most of the time they are simple and rustic. I am a huge champion of wholesome home-cooked meals, and sustainable ways of eating.

So how is it, you ask, that I am defending lowly canned cranberry jelly?

First off, let me say that tinned cranberry sauce is delightful. It adds a unifying texture and delightful tang to every part of a Thanksgiving meal. Delicious stuff.

Ok, you honestly don't agree with me. That's fine. There is plenty of room for a range of opinions and tastes when it comes to food. And in a way, that's precisely my point. Eating is a highly subjective experience which is colored by so much more than just nutrition and our five senses. Nostalgia, heritage, comfort, and communion are also a part of the experience of eating. Think back to your best food memories. Are they soley about the food, or do you also remember the setting, the people you were with, the climate and the mood of the moment?

So, what if I were to tell you that my fondest food memory is of canned cranberry jelly, of sitting at my Grandmother's knee at the Thanksgiving table - fullness, family, food, warmth permeating my every cell? If that were true, how do you think I would feel when you turned up your nose at that cranberry sauce, and made disparaging comments? Well of course I'd take it personally, because it would chip away at the shine of those memories.

This is why a huge segment of the population bristles when foodies and food police start in on one of their rants. What you are eating is horrible, it isn't nutritious enough, your children will be deformed, it's going to give you heart disease and cancer, and you will be pumped full of medication and die sick and alone! It is personal, and there is a stinging undercurrent of judgment and elitism. It makes people feel reactionary and defensive. They dig their heels in, sing la-la-la, and vow to go on eating frozen meals, margarine, and fast food.

When it comes down to it, the fear factor isn't going to get people, as a whole, to eat better. Instead, it's going to be a shared enthusiasm about greatness in food. Honesty about what tastes good, and respect for all palates, are what will open up a dialog and make it possible for a greater segment of the population to feed themselves well.

We've forgotten how to indulge, how to celebrate, how to share the pure love of the experience of eating.

A few years back, a bunch of big studies came out about how dark chocolate is good for you. And now, how often to you hear people declare that every day, they let themselves have one square of dark chocolate? It's ok to say it out loud, even to be proud.

Oh see, it's still deep inside of us, that yearning to let go and just revel in food, but the shoulds keep pulling us back. And so people let themselves have their square of chocolate, not because it's what they truly want (and I'm not saying that there aren't people who genuinely like chocolate), but because someone has given them permission, and they wear their badge with pride.

This constant push and pull, the cycle of punishment and reward is insidious. I've gotta say that I'd far prefer to see you tilt back your head and pound a few squirts of Cheez Whiz with absolute relish than I would see you post a status update about your sanctified square of dark chocolate.

An attitude of fear surrounding diet, even if it is dressed up in the guise of nutritional-correctness, is far more toxic to a body than a happy bite of lowbrow chow.

Mark my words, it ain't the political activists that are gonna save the food scene, it's the hedonistic food geeks. It's the people who strip eating of rules and that sour-tasting Puritanical ethic. It's the people who will take a bite of roasted pastured chicken and simple farm-fresh vegetables, roll their eyes back in their head, let out a scream of ecstasy, and offer a bite to anyone who is nearby. Those are the people who are gonna take wholesome real foods back to the masses, back to the people who are stuck between the hard rocks of economics and nutritionalism.

So on this holiday of gratitude, respect all tastes. Don't be a turkey, let your enthusiasm for delicious food be infectious. And while you're at it, could you pass me some of that yummy canned cranberry jelly?!

I'm sharing this post with Gallery of Favorites.

Acorn-Crusted Rabbit

noreply@blogger.com (Butterpoweredbike) — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 20:00:00 +0000

I took a friend out to look for acorns yesterday. I had a few neighborhoods in mind from which I've collected acorns in the past. Alas, those trees didn't produce this year. But I'm sure we made an amusing site - him driving at a snail's pace down the street, with me hanging out the passenger side, scouting the gutters and sidewalks for acorns. At one point a cop car passed by. My friend said to me, "He didn't seem too interested. But if he had stopped us, I would have told him you were looking for your contact lens." This pleased me immensely. I consider a good cover story to be a hallmark of excellent foraging instincts. After all, a forager must protect their best spots.

If I should happen to lay in more acorns and put away some flour, I'll be reaching for this recipe often. Here, I used acorn flour as a simple crust on rabbit fillets. It was rich and nutty, but the flavor didn't overtake the meat, sort of like rabbit McNuggets. I think an acorn crust would be lovely on any mild meat, from chicken to fish.

How to Make an Acorn Crust for Rabbit

In a glass pie dish, combine acorn flour and arrowroot (or any other flour or starch) in a ratio of 5:1. Sprinkle in seasoning of your choice. In this case, I used onion powder, mustard powder, cayenne, paprika, and monarda (aka wild oregano). Also add salt and pepper. Be sure to taste a little pinch of the flour to make sure it has enough salt.

In a bowl, whisk an egg with a tablespoon of water.

Pound out rabbit fillets to 1/4" thickness. Season on both sides with salt and pepper. Dip the meat first into the egg wash, then in the seasoned acorn flour.

Heat a heavy-bottomed skillet over medium. Add enough lard to generously cover the bottom of the pan. Fry the acorn-crusted fillets until meat is cooked through, approximately 2 minutes per side. The acorn crust will turn a deep chocolate-brown.

I served my acorn-crusted rabbit with a sauce of lemon, butter, and capers. But if you've got kids or picky eaters in the house, I think they'd be great served with honey mustard.

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Looking for more info about how to process acorns for food, or the Wild Things foraging recipe challenge (you are invited to participate!), please follow this link.

I'm happy to share this recipe with the Hearth and Soul Hop, Real Food Wednesday, and Fat Tuesday.

Acorn Mock Rye Bread

noreply@blogger.com (Butterpoweredbike) — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 00:31:00 +0000

From the first time I tasted a recipe made with acorns, I've had the idea rattling around in my head that they would make an excellent mock rye bread. After all, acorn flour is dark and rich and has a deep molasses-like character. Being that I'm a celiac, it's been ages since I've had real rye bread, so the very idea of creating a mock rye with acorns had me very excited.

But, being gluten-free creates its own set of challenges, especially when trying to come up with a bread recipe. Nonetheless, I succeeded in creating a dense mock rye using acorn flour. The loaf holds together beautifully, which of course, made it the perfect substrate for sandwich-making. I couldn't help but whip up a reuben to celebrate my acorn bread success.

Acorn Mock Rye Bread

1 c. acorn flour (see the Wild Things acorn intro to learn how to process acorns)
1c. buckwheat flour
2 tsp. yeast
1 tsp. salt
2 tsp. yeast
1 tsp. cocoa powder
2 tsp. caraway seeds
1 Tbsp. molasses
3/4 c. warm water

Mix together all dry ingredients, then add wet ingredients. Stir well to combine. The dough will be dense and slightly sticky. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and leave in a warm place for 2 hours.

Dust counter with a bit of buckwheat flour and knead dough for a minute or two, so that it forms a nice cohesive ball.

Divide dough into two pieces, form into logs, and press each into a greased mini loaf pan (3.5x5"). Cover. Let rise in a warm place for an hour.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees (F). Brush the top of each loaf with melted butter and turn oven down to 350 degrees. Let loaves bake for 45 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Cool completely on a wire rack before slicing.

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It's your turn! Wild Things is a foraging recipe challenge. If you've got a great acorn recipe, please mail it to wildthings.roundup@gmail.com by the end of the month, and it'll be included in the round up of acorn treats.

I'm sharing this recipe with Pennywise Platter Thursday, and Fight Back Friday, and Fat Tuesday.

Acorn Frangipane Tarts

noreply@blogger.com (Butterpoweredbike) — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 00:31:00 +0000

I'm slowing getting used to the fact that the seasons have changed, and that I can no longer spend every free minute foraging. Fortunately, this has freed up some time for me to play in the kitchen. It's been a while since I've had enough time to roll with my creativity. Thankfully, the featured ingredient for the Wild Things foraging recipe challenge this month is acorn, which is providing me with lots of inspiration.

As you might expect, acorn tastes rather nutty. But what makes it truly special is a dark molasses-like sweetness, at once delicate and rich. I've got about a zillion ideas about things to make with acorn meal. Hopefully I'll be able to try most of them. I suspect the real trick in working with acorn lies in not masking its special flavor. But really, that's true with all delicacies, isn't it?

Today, I decided to take acorn to sweetsville, and use it in place of almond in a frangipane tart. The acorn frangipane filling is fluffy and lightly sweet, and plays well with seasonal fruit. I've used apples here, but use whichever fruit you enjoy, pears would be nice. Also, be sure to serve these tarts with a big scoop of either whipped or ice cream.

Gluten-Free Pastry Dough

1 c. millet flour
1/2 c. arrowroot powder
1 tsp. xanthan gum
1/2 tsp. salt
pinch baking powder
1 Tbsp. palm sugar
10 Tbsp. cold butter
1 egg
2 Tbsp.+ water
1 tsp vinegar

Combine all dry ingredients. Cut in the butter until pieces are the size of small peas. Combine the egg, water, and vinegar, then add to the dry ingredients. Stir with a fork until the mixture starts to stick together, adding water one teaspoon at a time if the dough needs more moisture. Pull the dough into a flattened ball, wrap in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for one hour.

Divide dough into four pieces. Roll each into a circle, 1/8" thick. Gently press the pastry circles into four small tart pans, trimming any extra from the edge of the pans. Poke holes in the pastry with a fork, then bake in a 425 (F) oven for 10-12 minutes.

Let cool completely.

Because I was winging it with the recipe, I ended up with extra pastry dough. But I happily wrapped it up and tucked it into the freezer to use another day.

Acorn Frangipane

1/2 c. acorn flour
1 Tbsp. maple syrup
3 Tbsp. softened butter
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla
1 Tbsp. arrowroot (or any other flour)
pinch of salt

Combine all ingredients well, until the mixture is thick and creamy.

Acorn Frangipane Tart

Fill pre-baked tart shells with acorn frangipane, stopping 1/8" below the rim of the tart, because the filling will puff slightly when baked.

Peel, core, and thinly slice an apple. Fan out a few slices of apple on each tart, brush with butter, and sprinkle with a little sugar.

Place the tarts on a sheet pan, and bake at 350 (F) for 40-45 minutes, or until the acorn frangipane puffs, and the fruit takes on a touch of brown.

Heat 1 Tbsp. of whatever light-colored jelly/jam you have on hand, such as apricot or apple. Brush the fruit atop each tart with the melted jam to give it a bright shine.

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I'm pretty famous for not having a taste for sweets. But I find this recipe to be outstanding. I like the acorn frangipane so much that I intend to put a layer of it beneath the custard in my pumpkin pie this year.

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Are you ready to make something yummy with acorns? Send a link to your recipe to wildthings.roundup@gmail.com before the end of the month to see it included in the round up.

I'm sharing this recipe with Fat Tuesday at Real Food Forager, the Hearth and Soul Hop, and Real Food Wednesday.

Acorn Blini

noreply@blogger.com (Butterpoweredbike) — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 19:49:00 +0000

Sometimes being a forager and lover of wild foods means that you have to deal with an embarrassment of riches. Case in point - I ate acorn blini topped with creme fraiche and homemade caviar for breakfast.

When I'm out wildcrafting, especially in the city, I routinely get mocked and called crazy. Often loudly.

S'all good, though. I'm happy for people to continue to think I'm nuts, that I'm scraping by eating weeds and twigs and berries. It simply means more good eats for me. Just look at that picture, and tell me I'm not crazy like a fox.

If you decide to collect and process acorns, I highly recommend making these blini. These little pancakes are the perfect way to highlight the dark sweetness of acorn. They taste reminiscent of bread made with barley malt.

Acorn Blini

1 c. acorn flour*
2 Tbsp. melted butter
1 egg
3/4 c. milk
1/4 tsp salt

Combine all ingredients well. Let batter sit for 10 minutes to absorb the moisture. Add additional milk, if necessary, to make it the consistency of cake batter.

Drop small spoonfuls onto a griddle set to a medium-low temp. Let the blini cook on the first side until they dry up slightly and bubbles start to come through. Flip, and let cook on the second side until lightly browned.

Trout Caviar

At this time of year, many of the freshly caught trout that make it into my kitchen have eggs, and I don't pass the chance to make caviar. Since I only ever process small amounts, I simply strips the eggs from their skeins with my fingers, then give them a light sprinkling of equal amounts of sugar and salt, and let them cure for at least an hour before serving.

Creme Fraiche

Pour a cup of cream into a mason jar. Add a tablespoon of buttermilk. Cover, and let it sit at room temperature for 24-36 hours, or until slightly thickened and tangy-smelling. Refrigerate.

*I'd like to send out a big thank you to Ken Albala for sending me his delicious white oak acorn flour.

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So, are you feeling inspired to cook with acorn? If you whip up something yummy with acorn, and would like to see your recipe included in the Wild Things Round Up, please send it to wildthings.roundup@gmail.com by the end of the month.

I'm sharing this post with Pennywise Platter Thursday, Fight Back Friday, and Real Food Wednesday. Follow the links for more lovely recipes and tips.

Acorn Macarons with Boozy Buttercream

noreply@blogger.com (Butterpoweredbike) — Sun, 06 Nov 2011 20:00:00 +0000

I'm reposting this honor of the Wild Things foraging recipe challenge. Our featured ingredient for the month of November is acorn.
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I wanted to get in on some of the acorn action after hearing of people picking buckets of acorns. But oaks don't really grow in my immediate area. There are scrub oaks in the mountains, but those have tiny acorns. I asked all of the old timers, and none of them could point me toward an oak tree.

So what's a girl to do? Well, she's gotta get resourceful. And as is usually the case, I found the answer on my bike. Once I got into oak-searching mode, I started to notice that there were a few puny oaks lining the streets of posh neighborhoods. And sure enough, it seems that even puny oaks can make acorns. I started collecting acorns out of the gutters - literally. I didn't end up with buckets, maybe only a gallon of so, but I certainly collected enough to play with.

After picking the meats out of the shells, I decided to try both hot and cold water leaching. Most acorns are acrid and bitter from tannins, and those tannins need to be removed by soaking and lots of water changes (or just put them into you clean mountain stream, if you have one of those). For the cold water leach, I ground the acorns into a flour, and start them soaking in a large amount of water, changing daily. I'm not sure how long it will take to get the tannins removed from the acorns using this method. After a week, they're still not there.

For the hot water leaching, I broke the acorns up into approximately pea-sized pieces and put them into a pan with a generous amount of water, brought it to a boil, let it simmer for a few minutes, and then dumped out the water, and repeated many many many times, until the bitterness was gone (this is determined by taste testing). This process turned the acorns a deep chocolate brown.

To dry the acorns after boiling out the tannins, I stuck them in the oven (after it was turned off) while is was cooling after dinner, and let them sit there for a few days until they were completely dry. After that, they were ready be made into all sorts of fun recipes.

I'm not a sweets lover; I'm the type of person who makes meatloaf for breakfast because muffins would gag me. I bake maybe four times a year, and at least three of those occasions are birthday cakes. So I guess it's a little odd that my brain wanted to make macarons from my acorns. But I don't argue with the direction my mind takes me with recipes, I just follow, happily.

The description of how I made macarons which follows will probably frustrate people who enjoy recipes with exact measurements. To those people, I apologize, and encourage you to google a nice macaron recipe, and then substitute acron meal for almond meal. It wasn't until after I made these cookies that I looked up recipes for macarons and buttercream frosting, and was truly amazed (horrified?) by how much sugar these recipes include. Traditional macaron recipes use equal amounts of sugar and nut meal, sometimes more. And for traditional buttercream frosting, cups and cups of sugar for just a little butter.

My acorn macarons were only mildly sweet, but that's how I like it, and I feel like it let the flavor of the acorns shine.

Traditional macarons are like a meringues which have been beefed up with almond meal, and they're turned into adorable little sandwich cookies. So you can see that substituting acorn meal is a worthy experiment.

Acorn Macarons

Start by adding a pinch of salt to approximately 1/3 c. of egg whites (I used some which I'd previously frozen), and whip until foamy. Slowly added 2 Tbsp. of granulated sugar, and continued to whip to glossy stiff peaks.

Fold in about a cup of acorn meal (which was all I had), and continue to carefully stir the mixture until any peaks collapse back into the batter.

Fill a big plastic bag with the acorn macaron batter and snip off a corner (or use a piping bag if you've got one, fancy pants). Squeeze 1" diameter cookies onto a parchment lined baking sheet. Then let them sit on the counter for 30 minutes to form a crust.

Bake the acorn macarons in a 300 degree (F) oven until cooked through but not browned, approximately 10 minutes, and let them cool thoroughly on a wire rack.

My friend Fairybekk is a great baker, so I asked her for a buttercream recipe. She told me that she had tried several recipes, but didn't like them, and got better results by just adding powdered sugar and a flavoring to butter until she liked the way it tasted. Fantastic, I love the way she cooks!

Then, just before I attempted to make my cookies, I stumbled upon Kiva Rose's recipe for acorn-infused butter. It seemed like divine intervention. So, using my coffee mug warmer, I infused a few tablespoons of butter with leached acorns for a few hours, strained out the acorns, and let the acorn-infused butter cool back to room temperature.

To make the frosting, I added a few spoonfuls of powdered sugar to my acorn-infused butter (not much more sugar than butter, by volume), and started whipping. Then I added a good hit of brandy, and continued to whip until the mixture was quite light and fluffy. Ta-da! Brandied acorn-infused buttercream. It tastes kind of butterscotchy, which is a great match for the chestnut-meets-pecan flavor of the acorn macarons.

The final step is to put a spoonful of frosting onto a cookie and smash another on top of it to make a sandwich. This recipe for acorn macarons was a lot of work, but they were fun to eat and tasted great.

Are you in the mood to try some more acorn recipes? Do you find the words acorn gnocchi to be irrestistible (I do! I do!)? Then please head on over to Fairybekk's blog Cauldrons and Crockpots and try her recipe. She's also got a lot of great acorn info on her page.

This recipe is my entry into this week's Hearth and Soul hop.

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So, wanna play along? Whip up something fab using acorns, then send the link to wildthings.roundup@gmail.com by the end of November. I can't wait to see what you come up with.

Wild Things in November - Acorn

noreply@blogger.com (Butterpoweredbike) — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 02:00:00 +0000

Welcome to Wild Things in November. If you are new to our foraging recipe challenge, check out the full explanation here. The long and short of it is that you, yes you!, are invited to make a recipe using acorns, send your link to wildthings.roundup@gmail.com , and at the end of the month, your dish will be featured along with lots of other yummy acorn recipes.

Hang on, you said, you didn't know you could eat acorns? Turns out that they aren't just for squirrels. Once they have been properly treated, acorn have a sweet nutty character, and make a nice addition to any number of recipe.

What to Look For

You can eat acorns from any number of different oaks, whether from red oaks, which have more pointed leaves, or white oaks, which have more rounded leaves. Around my parts, I see an occasional patch of scrub oak, known as Gambel's oak. But for the most part, I have to make use of acorns from oaks which are planted from ornamentals.

When collecting acorns, do not select those which have worm holes in the shell, or which are still wearing their "caps." These may be spoiled.

The character of acorns varied widely by species, some being more starchy, and some being fattier. And there is also a wide swing in the occurrence of tannins. The tannin content is probably your biggest concern with acorns. If you eat a bunch of super-tannic untreated acorns, they will give you a heck of a tummy ache, but the tannins make your mouth pucker so badly that I imagine that would be hard to do. Instead the tannins must be leached, in order to make acorns both safe and palatable.

Processing

I prefer to let my acorns dry until their shell becomes brittle. When they are freshly collected, the shell is pliable, which makes it very hard to get into. But if you let them cure for a month or two, the shell becomes hard and can be cracked like a regular nut.

If you are working with fresh acorns and their pliable shell, either use a small pair of sewing or fly tying scissors to break into the shell. Or, easier and messier and safer, smash them with a hammer, and collect the meat.

Leaching

Precious few varieties of acorn out there do not need to be leached. Do a small taste test. If they taste at all bitter, leach. There are two methods of leaching acorns, the quick method which uses heat, and the slow method which uses cold water. I really prefer the cold leaching method, as less flavor is lost, and the resulting flour is much more cohesive.

Before leaching, grind acorns into a meal using a food processor.

To hot leach acorns, place the acorn meal into a pot, covered by several inches of water. Bring to a boil, let boil 5 mintues, pour off water, and repeat until no bitter tannic taste remains. How many times the water must be changed depends entirely upon the acorn, and the process is quite variable.

To cold leach acorns, cover the meal with a few inches of cold water, and place in the fridge. Once per day, pour off the water, add fresh water, and repeat until the bitter taste is gone, up to two weeks. This process takes more patience, but will yield a sweet acorn flour that is more likely to adhere to itself, which makes it more versatile in cooking.

Once you are satisfied that the bitterness in your flour is gone, drain all water from it by straining it through a sieve overnight, pour it onto a baking sheet in a thin layer, pat any water away with paper towels, and let dry completely. Alternately, dry in a dehydrator overnight. The nut meat will have changed from cream to a deep tan color. Once it is completely dry, run the acorn meal through a food processor in small batches until it reaches a flour consistency. Refrigerate.

Cooking possibilities

Once you have leached and dried acorn flour, you are ready to roll with recipes. If you have hot leached it, you may need to combine it with other flours in baking recipes. Cold-leached acorn flour is more versatile, and may be used to make anything from pasta to pancakes to infused-butter.

For additional information about foraging acorns, visit my friend Wild Food Girl, and sign up for her October notebook, which is all about acorns. You can find another excellent primer on processing acorns at Frequently Found Growing on Disturbed Ground.

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So, ready to play? Please send your acorn recipes to wildthings.roundup@gmail.com

Wild Things Round Up - Sumac

noreply@blogger.com (Butterpoweredbike) — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 02:00:00 +0000

Tangy, tart, almost lemon-y and good, sumac was the featured plant for Wild Things in October. Enjoy the collection of recipes.

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Looking for a tasty snack? Try this loose recipe for Keffir Lime and Sumac Nuts from Hella Delicious. Don't be afraid to experiment with your own flavor combinations.

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From the 365 Kitchen, a whole host of sumac recipes in one post. Get ready for sumac mashed potatoes, and two sumac cocktails - the Blushing Lemon, and the Foraged Fashion. Gotta say, I tasted all of these personally, and can vouch for each and every one being delicious.

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From Hank Shaw, Hunter Angler Gardener Cook, a dish borne of the woods, where sumac was a natural addition. Feast your eyes on Ruffed Grouse Northwoods.

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From Cauldrons and Crockpots, Beks cooked up Palestinian Mousakhan, which is chicken with sumac, onions, and pine nuts.

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Here's a quick how-to from me about making Sumac Curd. Sumac curd it creamy and good, just like lemon curd, but it has a charming pink blush as well.

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Also from me, Hunger and Thirst, my local take on Za'atar Spice Blend.

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I like a tart applesauce, so it makes perfect sense to add a little sumac to make Spicy Grownup Applesauce.

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Finally, another recipe from my own kitchen Sumac-Dusted Trout. I eat a lot of trout, and can tell you that this simple preparation is one of my favorite ways of serving them.

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Sending out a sincere thank you to those who participate this month. People who cook with forage are such an inspiration! See you next month.

I'm sharing this collection of goodness with the Hearth and Soul hop.

Sumac-Dusted Trout

noreply@blogger.com (Butterpoweredbike) — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 17:00:00 +0000

It seems that I'm still having a hard time convincing people to try sumac because people can't escape the word association with the decidedly non-edible poison sumac. I took both my za'atar spice blend and sumac applesauce to the last Mile High Swappers meeting, and nearly had to beg people to trade for them. My friend from Formation of a Foodie told me afterward that perhaps I should have put in an extra reminder that culinary sumac is delicious and tart, and that I'm not in the habit of feeding people poison.

Sigh.

It's a shame because sumac is one of my favorite spices. I use it all winter long in every recipe where I need to give food a tangy high note. I think of it as my "local lemon." And the sumac that I collected this year is far and away the finest I've ever taste, exponentially stronger than the sumac I recently tried at a spice shop. I'm glad I collected a ton of it, because I seem to be using it in my cooking most every night.

Sumac is an especially nice accent on fish. Think of how good a squirt of fresh lemon juice tastes atop fish; sumac adds a similar flavor. I particularly like this recipe because the sumac was collected on the banks of the same river where the trout were caught. Talk about a natural pairing!

Sumac-Dusted Trout

Place a small handful of sumac berries in a spice grinder, and buzz them a few times. Pour through a fine-meshed sieve. The hard seeds from the center of the sumac berries will be left behind.

Rub your trout down with bacon grease. Then generously dust them with salt, black pepper, and sumac powder, inside and out. It is particularly important to season the inside of the body cavity, in order to maximize flavor.

Grill the sumac-dusted trout over a low flame until gently browned and cooked through, approximately 12 minutes. Test for doneness by seeing if the flesh easily pulls away from the bone.

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You've still got time to have your favorite sumac recipe included in the Wild Things Round Up. Just be sure to submit your link to wildthings.roundup@gmail.com before the end of the month of October.

I'm sharing this recipe with Fight Back Friday. If you like simple, wholesome recipes, go ahead and click through.

Hunger and Thirst

Smoked Salt and Pepper

Wild Things in February - Smoke

Wild Things Round Up - Alcohol

Crab Apples Fermented on the Tree

Winter Tea Blend

Cream Puffs with Goat Cheese and Ponderosa Pine Cream

Foraging for Snow

Wild Things in January - Alcohol

Wild Things Round Up - Wild Card

Best of Hunger and Thirst 2011

Top Foraging Posts 2011

Rice Dumplings with Highbush Cranberry Elk Filling

Grapefruit Juniper Curd

Hawthorn Guajillo Chile Sauce

December - Joker is Wild Things!

Wild Things Round Up - Acorn

In Defense of Lowbrow Chow

Acorn-Crusted Rabbit

Acorn Mock Rye Bread

Acorn Frangipane Tarts

Acorn Blini

Acorn Macarons with Boozy Buttercream

Wild Things in November - Acorn

Wild Things Round Up - Sumac

Sumac-Dusted Trout