Thursday, April 30, 2009
Food for all!
Boo hoo....I've eaten my last dish of nettles and comfrey from the garden.... both these edible weeds are now getting ready to flower and are no longer fit for eating. Well my last dish for the time being anyway, as both stinging nettles and comfrey are vigorous plants and will be back on eating form in just a few weeks. But it's not just me eating weeds; nettles host many different species of hoverfly, moth and butterfly, so I'm leaving one half of my patch for wildlife. The comfrey too will be left to flower - bees, especially bumblebees - love it. My compost bin is also going to have a mid spring feast: when I've chopped down the top growth of nettles and pulled off the lower floppy comfrey leaves threatening to overshadow the broadbean seedlings nearby, it'll all be 'fed' to my compost bin. The compost bin will thank me over the next few months by turning out several hatchings of brandling worms (doing their bit in the composting process) and magically supplying another barrel or three of rich dark crumbly compost. it's win-win all the way!
Monday, April 06, 2009
Lawn Salad Challenge
Q: How many edible weeds can you fit in a spring salad? A: As many as you can find! Seriously, how about 8 for starters? Most can be found in an ordinary suburban garden, and can usefully and tastefully pretty up a basic cos lettuce or if you must buy it, a bag of salad leaves from the supermarket. Oh yes - I don't want to be accused of cheating, so flowers count as one ingredient; flowers and leaves of the same plant also one ingredient. here's my score card for 19 March 2009: a lot came from my garden lawn but I also looked in the flower beds and on the veg patch too.
Common Daisy Bellis perennis - young fleshy leaves and freshly opened flowers
Primrose Primula vulgaris Very young leaves and flowers
Dandelion Taraxacum officinale - young leaves and older ones with the midrib removed
Sweet violet Viola odorata flowers - beautifully scented and slightly peppery
Chickweed Stellaria media - leaves minus stems which are a bit stringy
Ground elder Aegopodium podagraria young leaves, still shiny and crinkly have a celery-like flavour
Honesty Lunaria biennis seedlings - another peppery crunch element
Common Dock Rumex obtusifolius - very, very young leaves and only a couple they can be quite bitter and dominating as a flavour.
A few places are still available on my wild food in the woods course 17-19th April 2009 -save money and eat healthily by getting the essential wildfood collecting, cooking and eating knowledge - outdoors!
Common Daisy Bellis perennis - young fleshy leaves and freshly opened flowers
Primrose Primula vulgaris Very young leaves and flowers
Dandelion Taraxacum officinale - young leaves and older ones with the midrib removed
Sweet violet Viola odorata flowers - beautifully scented and slightly peppery
Chickweed Stellaria media - leaves minus stems which are a bit stringy
Ground elder Aegopodium podagraria young leaves, still shiny and crinkly have a celery-like flavour
Honesty Lunaria biennis seedlings - another peppery crunch element
Common Dock Rumex obtusifolius - very, very young leaves and only a couple they can be quite bitter and dominating as a flavour.
A few places are still available on my wild food in the woods course 17-19th April 2009 -save money and eat healthily by getting the essential wildfood collecting, cooking and eating knowledge - outdoors!
Recipe: nettle stuffed mushrooms
At this time of year, I'm always looking for new nettle recipes to try and this one came to me when I saw these huge Portobello mushrooms in the market on Saturday. You'll be amazed at how substantial they are! I thought two would be just enough for a light supper, but I was completely stuffed by the time I'd eaten them both... Vegans can use olive or groundnut oil in place of the butter and if you don't want cheese, add a sprinkle of pine nuts for the topping. Bon appetit!
(Serves 4 as starter 2 as main course)
1 colanderful young nettle tops
4 large portobello or field mushrooms
olive oil
75g butter
sea salt and black pepper
100g goats' cheese
Set the oven to 220C /Gas 7 and put a baking tray in to heat. Rinse the nettles and while still wet, put them in a pan with about two thirds of the butter. Cover and cook slowly until thoroughly wilted.
Take the mushrooms, prick the tops all over and brush with olive oil. Remove the greens from the pan, squeeze out the bulk of the moisture and chop coarsely, seasoning well with salt and pepper. Add a grating of nutmeg too if you like it. place a quarter of the greens in each mushroom top and add another tiny (half cm cube is plenty) knob of butter to each cap. Put them on the hot baking tray and bake in the middle of the oven for about 10 minutes. Then take them out of the oven and place a slice of goat cheese on top and return to the oven for another 3 to 5 minutes or until the cheese has started to melt. Serve immediately with a green salad.
(Serves 4 as starter 2 as main course)
1 colanderful young nettle tops
4 large portobello or field mushrooms
olive oil
75g butter
sea salt and black pepper
100g goats' cheese
Set the oven to 220C /Gas 7 and put a baking tray in to heat. Rinse the nettles and while still wet, put them in a pan with about two thirds of the butter. Cover and cook slowly until thoroughly wilted.
Take the mushrooms, prick the tops all over and brush with olive oil. Remove the greens from the pan, squeeze out the bulk of the moisture and chop coarsely, seasoning well with salt and pepper. Add a grating of nutmeg too if you like it. place a quarter of the greens in each mushroom top and add another tiny (half cm cube is plenty) knob of butter to each cap. Put them on the hot baking tray and bake in the middle of the oven for about 10 minutes. Then take them out of the oven and place a slice of goat cheese on top and return to the oven for another 3 to 5 minutes or until the cheese has started to melt. Serve immediately with a green salad.
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