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I was digging out sochan (aka cut leaf cone flower) for my sister Saturday, and so grubbing out all the dandelions i could find was fairly close to the same work.
https://foragerchef.com/dandelion-hearts-crowns/
Saturday night I sauteed 1/4 sweet onion in olive oil, sauteed the blanched crowns, dressed with vinegar and chile flakes (Urfa biber). Tossed with pasta, parma, and toasted pecans. Not bad.
Sunday's garden greens were a slaw-like mix of brassica leaves and flowers (very broccoli tasting! maybe those plants are broccoli? not cabbage or kale?) and onion greens, then the "mixed clippings" -- violets and violet leaves, dandelion flowers, Indian strawberry flowers, beet and turnip thinnings -- tossed on top. Very good. Will do again. The leaves are still on the sweet side.
Monday for lunch i picked some goldenrod shoots, some sochan greens, and some less-wild chicory. I blanched then sauteed, dressing with vinegar and served with sauteed shredded purple sweet potato and more of the "mixed clippings." This was the best by far. I think the sweetness in the sweet potatoes was a good offset to the bitter of the Asteraceae plants.
I sure hope the chicory plants grow back from the root. In theory they should. Apparently if they're not where you want them they will! (Much detail about how hard they are to kill as weeds.) Mine are growing somewhat too close together so i'd like to transplant some from the sunny end of the row and to thin them.
Another weekend project was putting saucer magnolia (Magnolia x soulangeana) flowers in preserves. I have some in a 1:1 simple syrup, and another in a vinegar brine. I used up all my fig vinegar, but added too much salt, and so had to also add apple cider vinegar. The resulting vinegar has been fairly pleasant to use. After refrigerator-pickling green tomatoes with straight vinegar and finding them too tart, i made the brine with 1:1 vinegar to water, which i see in recipes. Then i see other recipes with all vinegar of 5% acidity. Oh internet. This is where the food science extension folks tell you the absolute safest thing to do and other people tell you what their mama and their mama's mama did and you choose your own risk.
https://foragerchef.com/dandelion-hearts-crowns/
Saturday night I sauteed 1/4 sweet onion in olive oil, sauteed the blanched crowns, dressed with vinegar and chile flakes (Urfa biber). Tossed with pasta, parma, and toasted pecans. Not bad.
Sunday's garden greens were a slaw-like mix of brassica leaves and flowers (very broccoli tasting! maybe those plants are broccoli? not cabbage or kale?) and onion greens, then the "mixed clippings" -- violets and violet leaves, dandelion flowers, Indian strawberry flowers, beet and turnip thinnings -- tossed on top. Very good. Will do again. The leaves are still on the sweet side.
Monday for lunch i picked some goldenrod shoots, some sochan greens, and some less-wild chicory. I blanched then sauteed, dressing with vinegar and served with sauteed shredded purple sweet potato and more of the "mixed clippings." This was the best by far. I think the sweetness in the sweet potatoes was a good offset to the bitter of the Asteraceae plants.
I sure hope the chicory plants grow back from the root. In theory they should. Apparently if they're not where you want them they will! (Much detail about how hard they are to kill as weeds.) Mine are growing somewhat too close together so i'd like to transplant some from the sunny end of the row and to thin them.
Another weekend project was putting saucer magnolia (Magnolia x soulangeana) flowers in preserves. I have some in a 1:1 simple syrup, and another in a vinegar brine. I used up all my fig vinegar, but added too much salt, and so had to also add apple cider vinegar. The resulting vinegar has been fairly pleasant to use. After refrigerator-pickling green tomatoes with straight vinegar and finding them too tart, i made the brine with 1:1 vinegar to water, which i see in recipes. Then i see other recipes with all vinegar of 5% acidity. Oh internet. This is where the food science extension folks tell you the absolute safest thing to do and other people tell you what their mama and their mama's mama did and you choose your own risk.
no subject
I have now used the figs you so kindly gave me-- they became part of baa brith, and it was delicious. Thanks once again!