Milkweed is blossoming!

Milkweed Buds with Butter
*All parts of the milkweed plant are mildly toxic and extremely bitter if not prepared properly. Instructions: Gently rinse young plants, blossoms, or pods in cold water. Drop immediately into boiling water for one minute. Do not use aluminum cookware. Drain. Drop into boiling water for one minute again. Drain and use in recipes or serve with butter. Serving:Unopened buds are delicious served just with butter. The taste is sweet-broccoli-like. Buds may be lightly sautéed in butter until tender or cooked longer in boiling water until slightly tender.

Milkweed Casserole

Choose Milkweed blossoms that are still tight and unopened. Always pick blossoms only where they are plentiful. Never over-pick. Milkweed Rice Casserole
2 cups rice (try Wild Rice to make this extra special!)
6 cups water (if using Wild Rice use 7 cups water. Vegetable or chicken stock may be substituted )
4 cups Milkweed flower buds, pre-cooked
2 cups chopped onion, leeks or scallions 2 Tbsp butter or olive oil
2 eggs
1 cup milk
6 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp salt
½ lb grated cheddar cheese

1. Cook rice until tender.
2. Boil Milkweed flower buds (while still tight) gently for 10
minutes, strain.
3. Sautee onions in butter or olive oil until tender.
4. Whip eggs, milk, salt and minced garlic together.
5. In a large bowl, mix egg mixture, rice, Milkweed, onion and half of the cheese together.
6. Put in a 9x13 greased baking pan.
7. Spread the rest of the cheese over the top of the casserole.
8. Bake at 350° for 35-40 minutes.

Recipes!

Dandelion noodles? Using dandelion greens throughout the summer that are being cut and harvested from the garden insures that the leaves are small, tender and much less bitter then leaves allowed to grow to their full size.

Dandelion Pasta

1 1/2 C. whole wheat, semolina, unbleached white, spelt or other flour of your choice
1 Large egg
Approximately 4-6 tablespoons of water -water amount will depend on humidity, type of flour and egg size/freshness
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1/4 C. cooked, chopped, drained dandelion greens

Gather approximately 1 cup tender, young dandelion leaves. Wash. Chop. Boil in small amount of lightly salted water until tender. Drain and press liquid through a strainer. Fresh spinach, Swiss Chard or other greens may be substituted.

1. Place flour in a mound either on counter top or in a bowl. Make a well in the center.
2. Drop egg into center
3. Pull flour into egg from sides of well
4. Add drained dandelion and mix into dough.
5. Add water a little at a time mixing either with a fork or your hands until dough forms a ball
6. Turn dough onto lightly floured surface
7. Knead until smooth. If dough is too dry, add EVVO. If dough is too moist, add flour
8. Let dough rest for 1/2 hour
9. Cut dough in half. Roll on lightly floured surface with floured rolling pin until very thin.
10. Using a pizza cutter, cut strips of dough into noodles. Noodles may be dried on racks, cooked fresh, refrigerated or frozen.
11. Drop fresh noodles into rapidly boiling water, soup or stew. Noodles will be done when they float to the top. Cook 2-3 minutes longer or until desired tenderness. Serve with grated cheese, butter, or sauce. Adding fresh noodles to a soup or stew will tend to thicken the broth.

Mashed carrot, mashed beets, mashed sweet potatoe added to pasta recipe will make orange, red and yellow pasta that is naturally colored!

4H at Adirondack Day, LP Quinn, Tupper Lake

I and Diane Dumont, also from the Franklin County 4H program, will be visiting LP Quinn's second grade class in Tupper Lake today for their annual Adirondack Day. I will be doing 2- 20 minute presentations on Adirondack Plant History. Any guesses as to what commonly thought of as native Adirondack plants I will be bringing?

Stinging Nettle & Answer to which one is wild carrot

Stinging nettle was prepared for dinner for the first time by a friend. Her comment was, "Stinging nettle is one kick {butt} vegetable!". I think she liked it. I've always wondered what ever possesed someone to try harvesting, cooking and eating a plant that is so unattractive and so unfriendly.

Did you correctly identify which picture was wild carrot/Queen Anne's Lace and which one was hemlock? You were correct if you said wild carrot was the photo on the left.

Photo of wild lunch

Here is a photo of a "Free Range Veggies" lunch I enjoyed with a friend this week. The salad consisted of : Fresh greens, Johnny Jump-ups, violet blossoms and leaves, daisy leaves, dandelion blossoms, sliced thistle celery, sliced wild carrot, wild garlic, purslane and some tender chickweed. It was topped with fresh brie. Dandelion syrup and balsamic vinegar was used as the dressing.

The main course was purslane, lambsquarters, wild garlic, violet leaves, wild carrot, evening primrose root, evening primrose leaves, thistle celery, parsley, mushrooms, and young burdock stems. All were sauteed in EVVO. Water was added to make a vegetable broth. The cooked wild rice was dropped into the veggies and broth and allowed to simmer down to a delicious rice pilaf.

All I can say is, "YUM".

Lambsquarters & Stinging Nettles

Top photo: Lambsquarters
Bottom photo: Early stinging nettle- Do Not Touch with bare flesh! Use thick, leather gloves to harvest. If you do get some on your skin, there are various plants whose leaves can be chewed and applied to a nettle sting to neutralize the pain. Spotted jewelweed-touch me not, yellow dock, yarrow, and plantain.

The rain yesterday helped bring a flourish of one of my favorite greens -lambsquarters. This common "weed" can be found in gardens, flowerbeds, and anywhere there is disturbed, relatively fertile soil. It is easy to identify, loaded with vitamins A, C and relatively high in calcium. Lambsquarters contain known anti-inflammatory nutrients, including Beta Carotene and Vitamin K. (If someone is on blood thinners, they will need to consult their physician concerning foods high in vitamin K as vitamin K is a blood coagulator). It has a very mild spinach-like taste and may be substituted in all your favorite recipes calling for any type green either raw or cooked. The tiny, black seeds of the mature plant may be added to soups as a thickener, or ground into a flour additive.

The plant will grow from 1-3 1/2 ft in height. The upper leaf is a lighter green while the underside of the leaf is a dusty , grey-green. Stems are smooth and hairless. The plant will have very little smell when crushed. Harvesting lambsquarters is simple: pick the leaves, rinse in cold water and use. 1 gallon of raw leaves will steam/cook down to 4 cups of cooked greens.

Another one of my favorite wild greens-

Stinging Nettle-This plant has hairs that line the stems and the undersides of the leaves that are actually hollow and pointed. The hairs inject formic acid into the skin when you brush against it. Formic acid is the same chemical that makes the bite of stinging ants so painful. Again- Do not handle without gloves.

Stinging nettle is usually found in wooded areas in patches or clumps where the ground is damp and in full or partial sun. The plants grow up to three feet high and will have fairly long-pointed, sharply toothed leaves which are opposite and occurring in pairs along the stem. Leaves are lined with hairs. The stem is thick, grooved, and also lined with stinging hairs. The clustered, small greenish flowers grow in clusters on small, tender stems that arch out from the bases of the upper leaves.

Preparation: Harvest the leaves. Luckily, dropping stinging nettle into a little simmering water immediately removes both the stinging hairs and the formic acid leaving a truly delicious and nutritious green! Sun drying will also get rid of the sting and is a great way to store this green for winter use. Freezing lightly cooked greens is the simplest way to store for winter use.

Fresh nettles may be simmered for ten to twenty minutes. The taste is spinach-like and rich in protein, iron, calcium, Vitamins A, C, and B-complex, and many essential trace minerals. Save the cooking water to add to soups and stews!

Use cooked stinging nettles in any of your favorite recipes calling for greens. Delicious in vegetable lasagna! Slightly less then a gallon fresh will make 4 cups of cooked greens.