Autumn Olive Recipe - Autumn Olive Jelly

There are several sources online for a red, pulpy autumn olive jam (Elaeagnus umbellata). We make this jam,   but it does not keep for very long, separating into pockets of  whitish goo and red pulp after a few months.

One of the characteristics of the autumn olive berry we have noticed is that if you run them through the food mill raw, the resulting juice will separate into two distinct layers: one opaque, red and pulpy, and one translucent, light pink, and tart. If you first cook the berries, then run them through the food mill, the pulp will be less likely to separate from the juice. However, even using the cooked berry pulp results in a separated jam after some time. The red pulp of the berry contains the lycopene, but the translucent juice is what adds the puckery element to the flavor. We decided to make a less-nutritious, but clear, tart jelly from the juice alone by milling the berries raw and hanging the resulting juice in a jelly bag to further clarify the juice. The result is a tart and jewel-like jelly, filled with just a few speckles of red pulp. The resulting leftover, thick  lycopene-rich pulp that is separated from the juice is used like tomato paste in dressings or sauces, or we add it to the previously removed seeds to make wine. Considering the abundance of this invasive berry, even just discarding the pulp is a possibility.

Autumn Olive Jelly                makes 6 pints

16 c. raw autumn olives
2 1/2 c. sugar
1 box (1.75 oz) Sure*Jell low sugar pectin

1. Run the raw autumn olives through a food mill to remove the seeds and small stems, passing it through at least twice.
2. Hang the resulting juice and pulp in a jelly bag for an hour. You need to have 4 1/2 cups of the light pink, clear juice. Discard the pulp in the jelly bag.
3. Mix 1/4 c.of the sugar with the pectin in a small bowl, and then whisk it into the juice in a large pot.
4. Bring the juice to a rolling boil, and add the rest of the sugar all at once, stirring.
5. Bring the jelly back up to a rolling boil, and boil 1 minute. Remove from the heat, skim the foam from the top, and ladle into hot, sterilized jars. Process 15 minutes in boiling water. Cool.

Chicken Mushroom Recipe - BBQ Pulled "Chicken" Sandwiches

This season we have found lots and lots of chicken mushrooms (Laetiporus sulphureus) and white chickens (Laetiporus cincinnatus) in varying states of edibility. Some were so fresh they oozed liquid, others were more mature and still wonderfully tender, and even more were old and crumbly and probably tasted like sawdust. Drying these sulfur shelf mushrooms is not ideal, although the dried pieces can be powdered or re-hydrated to make stock. Freezing the surplus is the preservation method of choice if you can't manage to eat them all fresh.

This recipe works well with mature but still tender chickens, since you can shred the fronds to get the same texture as pulled pork. The sauce can be adjusted to your taste since it is a bit tangy, and any creamy coleslaw tastes good on top of the "meat".

Poached and shredded "chicken"

BBQ Pulled "Chicken" Sandwich                 makes enough filling for 8-10 sandwiches

8-10 rolls
2 c. creamy coleslaw

Poaching liquid:
1 Tbsp salt
2 tsp. smoked paprika
1 tsp. garlic powder
2 tsp. brown sugar
1 tsp. mustard powder
1/4 tsp. ground white pepper
4 c. water
1 pound tender chicken mushroom fronds

1. Mix all of the spices together and add to the water in a large pot. Bring to a boil and add the sulphur shelf fronds to poach for 20 minutes. Allow the poaching liquid to cool, leaving the mushroom fronds in the water. This can be refrigerated at this point, or shredded immediately.
2. Using a fork or knife edge, follow the natural ridges of the mushroom fronds and shred the mushroom into a large bowl.

BBQ sauce:
1 c. water
1/2 c. cider vinegar
1/4 c. spicy brown mustard (or 2 Tbsp garlic mustard-mustard)
4 Tbsp ketchup
4 Tbsp brown sugar
1 Tbsp minced onion
3 cloves of garlic, smashed
1 tsp. smoked paprika
1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp ground white pepper
pinch of cayenne

1.Whisk all of the ingredients for the sauce together in a medium saucepan. Simmer over low-medium heat for 10 minutes, stirring often. Taste and adjust the seasonings. The sauce should be reduced and slightly thick. Puree the BBQ sauce in a blender.
2. Pour about half of the sauce over the shredded mushroom and toss to coat.
3. Serve the shredded and sauced "chicken" on a roll, topped with more sauce and coleslaw.

Boletes

Bolete collection from 2011 Devil's Hopyard Foray with CVMS

Before we joined the Connecticut Valley Mycological Society and became really involved, I will admit I was a little afraid of mushrooms. I believed the old wive's tales and was fearful of wildly dangerous toxins that I could contract just by touching a toadstool. My previous ideas and mental images of mushrooms were more cartoon-ish than realistic, like Smurf houses and furniture for fairies, and people who ate mushrooms were wild mountain men or just hippies looking for a bad trip. I thought all mushrooms had red caps with white spots and gills.

The first time I saw a bolete, I was amazed at the underside of the cap. It was covered not in gills, but tiny holes! When sliced in half, you could see that those holes were the ends of long tubes that were under the cap and tightly packed together. Then we saw different colored boletes, with different colored pores, with pores that oozed a yellow liquid, with irregular pores, with small pores and larger pores, and pores that changed color when scratched. Many boletes are classified in the Boletus genus, but others that are related are the Leccinums, Tylopilus, Gyroporus, and Suillus. Many of the boletes are also edible, the most commonly known is the Porcini (Boletus edulis). Robert has taken a special interest in boletes as edibles and subjects of photos. Here's a few favorite pics of some of the boletes we have encountered over the past year.

Suillus castanellus

Boletus onatipes, ornate stalked bolete

Boletus inedulis, NOT a porcini, it is very bitter

                               

Xanthiconium seperans

Suillus pictus, painted bolete found under pines, edible

Boletus morrisii, beautiful red pores that fade to yellow

Tylopilus alboater, black velvet bolete, great edible

Boletus bicolor, excellent edible

Boletus sensibilis, pores stain dark blue quickly when scratched,
 and smell like curry powder

Strobilomyces floccopus, commonly called the Old Man of the Woods
due to its shaggy cap and stem, it stains red when cut

Boletus frostii, the red pores of fresh Frost's boletes exude
a honey colored liquid

Tylopilus plumbeoviolaceus, beautiful but too bitter to eat

Black Walnut Recipe - Wild Spiced Nocino

Nocino is an Italian liqueur that is made from green, immature walnuts and sweetened with a sugar syrup, and is a traditional autumn after dinner drink. It is relatively easy to make, you just need immature walnuts and patience to wait while they steep for 3-4 months in alcohol with some spices, then add some sugar syrup to mellow the flavor. We decided to make a more wild version, using the black walnuts that grow abundantly in Connecticut and some local flavorings.

Sweet cicely roots

In the late spring, we start watching the black walnut (Juglans nigra) tree next door. When the walnuts start forming and are about the size of a quarter, we pull the Jeep up to the trunk of the tree, climb on top with a long pole, and start knocking the immature nuts down. At this size, the hard shell has not formed yet, and you can slice through the green hull, through the shell, and cut the whole nut into quarters. Robert then places the cut nuts in a gallon glass jar, tucks in a few wild ingredients like spicebush berries (from the freezer, they ripen in the fall and taste like allspice), twigs and leaves from the same spicebush that have a citrusy flavor, sweet cicely roots (dug in the spring, they taste like licorice), and a vanilla bean, then covers this concoction with grain alcohol (180 proof) or 100 proof vodka. After the 4 month wait, we strain out the solids and are left with a black, astringent alcohol filled with some tannin. It gets mellowed out with the addition of sugar syrup and maple syrup, and further aging. This is a sipping liqueur, and will warm up the chilly winter ahead.

Ripe spicebush berries

Wild Spiced Black Walnut Nocino                              makes about a half gallon

2 pounds immature black walnuts
3 sweet cicely roots
3-3" lengths spicebush twigs, peeled
3 Tbsp spicebush berries, crushed
1 vanilla bean, split
4+ c. grain alcohol  or 100 proof vodka (enough to cover the cut nuts)
3 c. water
3 c. sugar
1 c. maple syrup

1. Gather the immature black walnuts near the third week in June, when you are able to cut through the hull and shell with a knife. Quarter the nuts and pack them into a gallon glass jar.
2. Shred the sweet cicely roots and add then to the jar, along with the peeled spicebush twigs, crushed spicebush berries and split vanilla bean.
3. Pour the alcohol over the nuts, covering them totally. Let the concoction macerate for 3-4 months, shaking weekly.
4. Strain out the solids, the alcohol will have turned black.
5. Make the sugar syrup by placing the sugar and water in a large pot. Bring up to a boil and turn the heat off. Allow the sugar syrup to cool, and mix it into the flavored alcohol with the maple syrup.
6. At this point, you may drink the wild nocino, but it will be pretty rough. We suggest an additional mellowing period of 9 months in a clean gallon jar, then portioning the nocino out into smaller bottles for storage.

Black walnuts

Daylily Recipe - Daylily Root Cake

Digging up the tubers of daylilies (Hemerocallis fulva) can be done in the very early spring when they are just making shoots, or in the late fall after the foliage starts dying back and before the ground frosts. It is during these two seasons when the energy of the plant is still in the tubers, and they are firm. During other times of the year, the clusters of tubers are spongy and a bit rotten, not good for eating. We go to where we know there are large patches of daylilies, and dig at the basal rosette. The tubers are all attached together, and can be about the size of a quarter. I scrub them with a stiff-bristled vegetable brush, but don't bother with peeling each tuber, then send a bunch of the tubers through a food processor to shred them. I would not try to shred them by hand, as they are small and you would likely shred more of your knuckles than tubers. Robert and I think the flavor of the tubers in this cake tastes like toasted coconut. The cake is nicely sweet by itself, but I added some powdered sugar icing on top so it looks pretty, and it would also be nice with some vanilla ice cream.


Daylily Root Cake                makes one bundt pan

2 c. shredded daylily tubers
1/4 c. lemon juice
2 c. flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
2 eggs
1/2 c. plus 2 Tbsp oil
1/2 c. maple syrup
1/4 c. honey

for the icing:
1 c. powdered sugar
1 Tbsp milk or water
1/2 tsp. vanilla

1. Preheat the oven to 350º. Grease and lightly flour a bundt pan.
2. Toss the shredded tubers and the lemon juice together.
3. Sift together the flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and cinnamon into the bowl of a mixer.
4. In another bowl, whisk together the eggs, oil, maple syrup, and honey.
5. Using the paddle, add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients with the mixer running at low speed. Scrape down the sides, and mix at medium speed for 30 seconds. Fold in the shredded tubers.
6. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake 30-38 minutes, until golden and firm. Cool about 10 minutes, and invert the bundt pan onto a serving plate. Cool the cake completely.
7. To make the icing, whisk the milk or water and vanilla into the powdered sugar. Drizzle over the cake and serve.

Cleaned tubers, ready for shredding

Foraging With Your Kids

Yummy Wild Carrots!

Gillian tasting maple sap

Given the opportunity, kids love to be out in the woods or in a field, searching for bugs and sticks, flowers and rocks. Showing them that you can eat some of those plants should not be scary, but fun. With a little caution, and plenty of encouragement, the kids will be able to positively identify many common and safe wild edibles. With simple explanations and repetition, children will absorb information without realizing they are learning something, they will just think that eating stuff outside is cool. Eating wild foods like greens and roots is another slightly sneaky way to get your kids to eat their vegetables, too! Give each child their own basket or cloth sack, let the older kids carry a knife, bring a magnifier, and let them collect some wild foods.

Wildman and Gillian

Gillian has always come out foraging with us. When she was small, we had her in the hiking backpack. Now she is seven years old and while she may sometimes be cranky about walking, she still comes with us every time. She can identify many wild edibles with confidence, and has several favorites like wintergreen leaves, dandelion flowers, lemony wood sorrel, cattail shoots, and every berry available. For five years now, we have taken tours with Wildman Steve Brill, and his daughter Violet often accompanies him. She is just a little bit older than Gillian, and that girl really knows her stuff! Wildman is working on a foraging book aimed at parents and kids, possibly an app too.

Black raspberries

Some of the best edibles to teach are the obvious ones without poisonous look-alikes. Berries like blackberries and wineberries are widespread and sweet, great first edibles. There are many different species, like dewberries, Himalayan blackberries, black raspberries, and more regional ones like salmonberries and loganberries. All are edible and tasty to different degrees. While most berry canes have thorns, picking them is generally easy and large quantities can be harvested. Freshly picked blackberries on a bowl of breakfast oatmeal taste way better than any store bought ones. Autumn olives are another berry that offer a taste combination kids love--sweet and sour. Their puckery flavor is a favorite flavor of all kids and most adults we show it to, and they are very abundant in Connecticut. They can be eaten raw, or cooked into a thick sauce and spooned over ice cream, or pureed and dried into fruit leather. Their silvery-speckled appearance is hard to mistake for any other berry.

Autumn olive berries

Gillian with some cattail-on-the-cob

Cattails are another good edible for kids, since the taste is mild and there is always the potential of getting muddy and wet. Gillian loves to eat the heart of the cattail shoots in the spring. It is tender and tastes a lot like raw cucumber, and relatively easy to gather even for a kid. Once you find a stand of cattails about 2' high, you pull apart the outer leaves, grasp the few leaves in the center, and give them a tug. The "heart" will pop out, and the bottom 4" or so is white and the part you want to eat raw. Another great part of the cattail comes later in spring, when the flower stalks come up. They will still be sheathed in one leaf, but are easy to cut from the plant. We then pull the leaf off, check for bugs, and boil up the flower spike and eat it like corn on the cob. The male portion of the flower is the upper section and has much more pulp than the female portion on the bottom of the flower spike, and can be used in a pancake batter and soup. Sometimes for the kids, it is the mature "hotdog" that is seen in summer and fall that is the favorite. While not edible, the mature hotdog is made up of the seeds, and it makes awesome tinder for camping.

Edible flowers are another fun food for kids. Popping off the big, yellow heads of dandelions and munching on the flower petals is great fun, and the kids can't seem to get enough. Violets are pretty and edible, and the taste is very mild. Lilacs are more fragrant, but almost flavorless, it is the thrill of eating a flower that will keep children happy. Black locust flowers are actually tasty, with a flavor and crunch similar to raw peas. Adding colorful edible flowers to a salad will instantly make it more appealing to any kid. We like to make jewel colored jellies from the fragrant flowers.

Sulphur shelf

Gillian is also really good at spotting mushrooms, probably due to her closeness to the forest floor. All mushrooms should be cooked before consuming them, so she knows to never put any mushroom in her mouth. She has a favorite wild mushroom (sulphur shelf) to eat, and can identify several other species already. We used to have a monetary incentive of a quarter for every mushroom she spots, and while it helped fill our basket, it also quickly emptied our pockets. We still try to make mushroom hunting fun by bringing a magnifying glass with us to examine some of the fungi we find. Get your kids outside, and show them a few cool mushrooms, even if they are not edible. Join a local mycological society to really get a great education and to alleviate your fears about poisonous mushrooms.

Gillian's puffball

Cinnabar Chanterelle Recipe - Chanterelle Corn Chowder

The end of summer is drawing near, but the bounty of the season is all around. The local farm share we receive has been packed with tomatoes, potatoes, and peppers. The orchards are advertising pick-your-own peaches and early apples. Autumn olive berries (Eleagnus umbellata) are ripening early and spicebush berries (Lindera benzoin) are turning red. And the mushrooms! The fungi! It was a dry July and early August, but recent rains have soaked the ground and we are picking cinnabar chanterelles (Cantherellus cinnabrinus), black trumpets (Craterellus fallax), and bicolor boletes (Boletus bicolor) by the bag. The cinnabar chanterelles are extra large this year, and we decided to cook up some corn chowder with them and some of the new potatoes from the farm. The chanterelles add a subtle pepper taste to the soup, and amazing texture and color. While some folks might think this recipe makes 6 servings, in our house it was gone after one meal. If you use vegetable broth, this is a vegan recipe.


Chanterelle Corn Chowder                 makes about 6 servings

6 Tbsp oil
1/2 c. chopped onion
3c. loosely packed chanterelles, cleaned
5 Tbsp flour
4 c. hot chicken or vegetable broth
1 c. diced potato
2 c. raw corn kernels (about 2 ears)
2 tsp. salt
2 Tbsp chopped scallions
fried chanterelles for garnish

1. Over medium heat in a large saucepot, heat the oil and onion and sautee for 30 seconds. Add the chanterelles and cook 2 minutes, stirring often. The chanterelles will break up a bit.
2. Sprinkle the flour over the onion/chanterelle mix in the pot, and use a wire whisk to stir until the flour is lightly toasted, about 1 minute. This will look like a lumpy mess, breaking up the chanterelles more.
3. While whisking, add the hot broth to the pot. Add the diced potatoes and corn. Turn the heat to high and bring the soup to a boil, stirring often as it thickens. Reduce the heat to a simmer and cook 8-10 minutes until the potatoes are tender. If the soup is too thick, add more broth.

4. Season with the salt and chopped scallions. To garnish the soup, I dredged some chanterelles in corn flour and fried then until crisp, and added them to the top.

A big pile of cleaned cinnabar chanterelles