It's April in the Adirondacks and soon "Truly Wild" will be offered at Heaven Hill Farm and the Cornell Uhlein Farm in Lake Placid. Dates will be: May 30, June 25, July 9 and August 27. Start time will be 2:00 pm. The program will be offered to youth ages 9-19 for a registration fee of $10. The $10 will include printed materials, all classes, and some Truly Wild recipes to taste test and prepare! All youth must be accompanied by an adult. *There will be a limit of 15 youth.
Spread the word!
Friday, April 1, 2011
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
End of season Root Recipes! Sunchokes & Burdock!
Sunchoke Salad Toppers - Better then croutons!
4-5 Jerusalem artichoke roots
1 tsp fresh chives
olive oil
Wash and clean roots with a vegetable brush. Thinly slice roots.
Chop chives
Place chives and roots in pan with small amount of olive oil.
Cook over med high heat until roots are crispy and lightly browned.
Allow to cool and serve over fresh salad.
Jerusalem Artichoke Soup
•5 ounces fresh morel mushrooms, halved and cleaned- May substitute any mushroom
•1 pound fresh Jerusalem artichokes, scrubbed and sliced
•juice of 1 lemon
•3 tablespoons olive oil
•2 shallots, chopped
•1/2 cup white wine
•4 cups chicken or vegetable stock
•2/3 cup heavy cream
•2 tablespoons unsalted butter
•freshly grated nutmeg
•salt and pepper to taste
Cooking directions:
1. Wash and slice Jerusalem artichokes and place in lemon water.
2.Heat 2 tablespoons of the olive oil in a large saucepan. Add the chopped shallots and saute for 5 minutes while stirring. Add the Jerusalem artichokes, drained, and saute for another 5 minutes.
3.Add the white wine and cook until it's evaporated. Pour in the stock and season then bring to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer for 15 minutes until the Jerusalem artichokes are soft.
4.Stir in the cream.
5.Heat the Jerusalem artichoke soup gently and adjust the seasoning to taste.
6.Warm the remaining oil and butter and saute the morel mushrooms for 5 minutes, season lightly and add the freshly grated nutmeg.
7.Serve garnished with morel mushrooms
Stir-Fried Burdock And Carrots
2 cups first year burdock root. Look for basal rosette.
2 cups fresh carrots
1 Tbsp. vegetable oil
1 tsp. sesame oil
2 Tbsps. sesame seeds
1 Tbsp. soy sauce
Wash and scrape the outer skin of the carrots and burdock root(don't peel), then cut into matchstick-sized pieces. Place cut burdock root into a bowl of cold water to prevent them from turning brown.
In a large skillet or wok, heat the vegetable oil and sesame oil together. When it's hot, sprinkle in the sesame seeds and cook, stirring, for about a minute.
Drain the burdock and add with the carrots to the hot oil. Cook and stir over medium-high heat for about five to seven minutes or until slightly tender.
Add soy sauce and continue stir-frying for about ten minutes. The burdock will change color from milky white to shiny gray/brown. It will be crisp, crunchy, earthy, and delicious !
Serve over brown rice.
Friday, September 24, 2010
Jerusalem Artichoke Season!
The Adirondacks have experienced at least one frost. There have been 2 nights at my home where the temperatures have dipped to a refreshing 28-30 degree range. I know it is now time to start enjoying Jerusalem Artichokes.
Jerusalem artichokes are not from Jerusalem and are not related to artichokes in any way. They are actually native to North America. The Native Americans called them "sun roots" and introduced these prolific tubers to the Puritan settlers who quickly adopted them as a staple food. The explorer Samuel de Champlain was first introduced to "sunchokes" when he visited a Native American vegetable garden in Cape Cod, Massachusetts in 1605. Champlain believed that they tasted like artichokes and broght the tubers from sunchokes back to France. From France, the sunchoke traveled to Italy sometime before 1633. Tthe Italian word for sunflower, "girasole", which means "turning to the sun" was, as is so often the case, corrupted into the word "Jerusalem" .
Nutritional value: 327 mg. of potassium for a half-cup serving , 57 calories, 1.5. gr. protein, 1.2 gr. fiber, 10.5 mg. calcium, 10 mcg. folacin , a relatively high amount of iron and smaller amounts of niacin and thiamine.
Preparation:
Dig tubers after a frost. Wash and scrub with vegetable brush. It is not necessary to peel them as the skin is edible and tasty. Place washed tubers in water with a small amount of lemon or vinegar to prevent discoloration before cooking.
Raw sunchokes contain a fairly high amount of inulin and should be sampled in small amounts as the inulin can cause discomfort in the form of "gas".
Raw:
Thinly slice sunchokes and add to salads.
Slice and serve with other vegetables and dips.
Shred them and add them to coleslaw.
Use your imagination!
Stir Fry: Slice or shred and stir fry with other fresh vegetables in a little extra virgin olive oil. Sunchokes will soften in about 4 to 6 minutes. For a more tender-crisp texture, stir fry about 2 to 4 minutes.
Roasted: Sunchokes can be baked whole or sliced. Toss them in a bowl with a little olive oil and place on a baking sheet. Add garlic, other veggies, parsley and seasonings as you wish. Set the oven temperature at 375 and bake 30 to 45 minutes for whole, and 20 to 25 minutes for sliced, turning them half way through.
Steamed: Coarsely chop and place into a steamer basket. Cover and bring to a boil over high heat. Continue at high heat and steam for 5 to 8 minutes. Test for softness. Remove and season to taste or mash like potatoes.
Boiled: Bring water to a boil over high heat. Add sunchokes and boil for 10 to 15 minutes for whole, and 5 to 8 minutes for cut up. Season as desired or mash like potatoes.
Add sunchokes to soups and stews!
Yield: 3 to 4 sandwiches
1 ripe avocado
1 1/2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon salt
Dash cayenne
1/4 to 1/2 cup (60 to 120 ml) organic canola oil
2 cups (480 ml) coarsely shredded sunchokes
1/2 cup (120 ml) raw or toasted pecans, coarsely chopped or coarsely ground
1/4 red bell pepper, finely diced
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
6 to 8 slices whole grain bread
12 to 16 large basil leaves
3 ripe tomatoes, sliced
3 to 4 butter lettuce leaves
To make the avocado sauce, wash the avocado, cut it in half, scoop out the flesh, and place it in the blender. Add the lemon juice, salt, and cayenne and blend briefly. With the machine running, slowly add the canola oil, using just enough to create a thick, creamy sauce. Stop the machine occasionally to scrape down the sides of the blender jar and stir the mixture.
To make the sunchoke filling, combine the sunchokes, pecans, and red bell pepper in a medium bowl. Add enough of the avocado sauce to moisten and hold the mixture together. Season with salt and pepper if needed.
Spread a thin coating of the avocado sauce over one side of each of the bread slices. Spread the sunchoke mixture over half the bread slices and top with the basil leaves, tomato slices, and lettuce. Place the remaining bread slices over the filling and cut the sandwiches in half..
If you would like more sunchoke recipes, you may email me at adkshoer@aol.com
 |
| Sunchoke |
Jerusalem artichokes are not from Jerusalem and are not related to artichokes in any way. They are actually native to North America. The Native Americans called them "sun roots" and introduced these prolific tubers to the Puritan settlers who quickly adopted them as a staple food. The explorer Samuel de Champlain was first introduced to "sunchokes" when he visited a Native American vegetable garden in Cape Cod, Massachusetts in 1605. Champlain believed that they tasted like artichokes and broght the tubers from sunchokes back to France. From France, the sunchoke traveled to Italy sometime before 1633. Tthe Italian word for sunflower, "girasole", which means "turning to the sun" was, as is so often the case, corrupted into the word "Jerusalem" .
Nutritional value: 327 mg. of potassium for a half-cup serving , 57 calories, 1.5. gr. protein, 1.2 gr. fiber, 10.5 mg. calcium, 10 mcg. folacin , a relatively high amount of iron and smaller amounts of niacin and thiamine.
Preparation:
Dig tubers after a frost. Wash and scrub with vegetable brush. It is not necessary to peel them as the skin is edible and tasty. Place washed tubers in water with a small amount of lemon or vinegar to prevent discoloration before cooking.
Raw sunchokes contain a fairly high amount of inulin and should be sampled in small amounts as the inulin can cause discomfort in the form of "gas".
Raw:
Thinly slice sunchokes and add to salads.
Slice and serve with other vegetables and dips.
Shred them and add them to coleslaw.
Use your imagination!
Stir Fry: Slice or shred and stir fry with other fresh vegetables in a little extra virgin olive oil. Sunchokes will soften in about 4 to 6 minutes. For a more tender-crisp texture, stir fry about 2 to 4 minutes.
Roasted: Sunchokes can be baked whole or sliced. Toss them in a bowl with a little olive oil and place on a baking sheet. Add garlic, other veggies, parsley and seasonings as you wish. Set the oven temperature at 375 and bake 30 to 45 minutes for whole, and 20 to 25 minutes for sliced, turning them half way through.
Steamed: Coarsely chop and place into a steamer basket. Cover and bring to a boil over high heat. Continue at high heat and steam for 5 to 8 minutes. Test for softness. Remove and season to taste or mash like potatoes.
Boiled: Bring water to a boil over high heat. Add sunchokes and boil for 10 to 15 minutes for whole, and 5 to 8 minutes for cut up. Season as desired or mash like potatoes.
Add sunchokes to soups and stews!
Sunchoke Pecan Sandwich is one of the delicious recipes in Zel Allen's cookbook The Nut Gourmet: Nourishing Nuts for Every Occasion published by Book Publishing Company in 2006.
Yield: 3 to 4 sandwiches
1 ripe avocado
1 1/2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon salt
Dash cayenne
1/4 to 1/2 cup (60 to 120 ml) organic canola oil
2 cups (480 ml) coarsely shredded sunchokes
1/2 cup (120 ml) raw or toasted pecans, coarsely chopped or coarsely ground
1/4 red bell pepper, finely diced
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
6 to 8 slices whole grain bread
12 to 16 large basil leaves
3 ripe tomatoes, sliced
3 to 4 butter lettuce leaves
To make the avocado sauce, wash the avocado, cut it in half, scoop out the flesh, and place it in the blender. Add the lemon juice, salt, and cayenne and blend briefly. With the machine running, slowly add the canola oil, using just enough to create a thick, creamy sauce. Stop the machine occasionally to scrape down the sides of the blender jar and stir the mixture.
To make the sunchoke filling, combine the sunchokes, pecans, and red bell pepper in a medium bowl. Add enough of the avocado sauce to moisten and hold the mixture together. Season with salt and pepper if needed.
Spread a thin coating of the avocado sauce over one side of each of the bread slices. Spread the sunchoke mixture over half the bread slices and top with the basil leaves, tomato slices, and lettuce. Place the remaining bread slices over the filling and cut the sandwiches in half..
If you would like more sunchoke recipes, you may email me at adkshoer@aol.com
Franklin County Fair
 |
| Wild Carrot Funnel Cakes with Dandelion Syrup |
Queen Anne's Lace (Wild Carrot) Funnel Cakes
10-15 Fully opened Queen Anne's Lace blossoms - rinse in cold water and allow to dry on paper towling or
a rack.
1 Cup flour (white, spelt, whole wheat)
1 egg
3-4 Tbs water
Vegetable oil.
Heat enough vegetable oil in a skillet, wok or frying pan to make the depth of at least 2 inches.
Lightly beat egg. Add egg and water to flour to make a light batter. A small amount of maple syrup or honey may be added to the batter to lightly sweeten it if you wish.
Dip flower in batter. Drop into hot oil. Battered flower will float to the top of the oil. When one side is golden brown, turn over and cook the other side. Drain on rack. Serve warm with powdered sugar, maple syrup, dandelion syrup or with a scoop of ice cream.
Saturday, July 31, 2010
Franklin County Fair
Franklin County Fair, which is held in Malone, begins on August 7th and ends August 15th. I will be putting a "Truly Wild" display in the 4H building with a "Name the Wild Food" challenge for the public. On Wednsday, August 11th, I will be preparing and sharing Wild Carrot Funnel Cakes which will be sampled by people attending the fair. We will also have free locally grown baked potatoes with locally produced flavored butter. Hungry yet? If anyone would like to help with the display, making or serving the funnel cakes, let me know! I will get you free passes to the fair for the day. The fair theme this year is "Exploring our Agricultural Roots" . Stop in!
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Milkweed Jelly
Milkweed is a favorite of the Monarch butterfly larvae. Please remember the forager's rule and leave much more then you take! Do not harvest from roadsides, near polluted water or near heavily sprayed farm fields.
Piece of cheesecloth big enough to tie flowers in loosely
4 cups water
2 1/2 cups sugar – Honey may be used
Directions:
Remove blossoms from stem. Rinse, drain and tie up in cheesecloth loosely to allow the water to circulate through the cheeseclot bag.
Bring water and sugar to a full, rolling boil. (Do not use aluminum pot) Drop in blossom bag
Reduce heat, but allow mixture to simmer actively until reduced by about half. Check jelly by placing small drop on cold surface or in ice water. It should become tacky and jelly-like.
Remove from heat. When cooled, remove bag of flowers and allow to drain into pot. Squeezing the bag will make the jelly cloudy.
Pour into sterile jars. Cover tightly. Stores in fridge for 3 weeks.
Milkweed Jelly
3 cups of fully opened, fragrant milkweed blossoms – cut stem off (see photo)
Piece of cheesecloth big enough to tie flowers in loosely
4 cups water
2 1/2 cups sugar – Honey may be used
Directions:
Remove blossoms from stem. Rinse, drain and tie up in cheesecloth loosely to allow the water to circulate through the cheeseclot bag.
Bring water and sugar to a full, rolling boil. (Do not use aluminum pot) Drop in blossom bag
Reduce heat, but allow mixture to simmer actively until reduced by about half. Check jelly by placing small drop on cold surface or in ice water. It should become tacky and jelly-like.
Remove from heat. When cooled, remove bag of flowers and allow to drain into pot. Squeezing the bag will make the jelly cloudy.
Pour into sterile jars. Cover tightly. Stores in fridge for 3 weeks.
Milkweed Jelly, Queen Anne's Lace "funnel cakes", Day Lily hors d'oeuvres
Stuffed Day Lily Hors d'oeuvres
Ingredients:
8. Simmer 10 minutes, add remaining broth, cook until tender and most of the broth is gone.
9. Beat cooled veggie mixture into softened cream cheese and sour cream.
10. Chill filling.
11. Remove day lilies from refrigerator. Pull the stamens.
12. Wipe blossoms with a damp paper towel.
13. Stuff mixture into each blossom and arrange on a plate.
14. Arrange on a plate with greens. Keep cold until served.
*Cream cheese and sour cream may be ommited. Use just the green mixture for stuffing with chopped tiny shrimp.
( Will take a photo of the finished product tonight!)
This dish is pretty, tasty and definitely was a hit with both adults and 4H youth!
Ingredients:1/2 cup onion- wild onion, leeks or chives
1/4 cup garlic scapes
1 cup cooked greens (save the liquid)
(I used lamb’s quarters, day lily flower, rose petals, milkweed buds)
Olive oil
1/3 cup Vegetable broth
1 8 oz container of sour cream or plain Greek yogurt
1 package cream cheese
Preparation:
1. Pick day orange and/or yellow lily blossoms in the morning, rinse off with cold water, refrigerate until needed.
2. Chop the onions and garlic scapes.
3. Cook onions and garlic scapes in olive oil until well browned.
4. Parboil greens, save liquid.
5. If using milkweed buds, steam separately - Prepare first by dropping into boiling water for 2 minutes.
6. Combine the cooked greens to the onions and garlic and stir.
7. Add half the vegetable broth, lower heat and cover.
9. Beat cooled veggie mixture into softened cream cheese and sour cream.
10. Chill filling.
11. Remove day lilies from refrigerator. Pull the stamens.
12. Wipe blossoms with a damp paper towel.
13. Stuff mixture into each blossom and arrange on a plate.
14. Arrange on a plate with greens. Keep cold until served.
*Cream cheese and sour cream may be ommited. Use just the green mixture for stuffing with chopped tiny shrimp.
( Will take a photo of the finished product tonight!)
This dish is pretty, tasty and definitely was a hit with both adults and 4H youth!
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