Milkweed Recipe - Milkweed Pods and Chickpea Salad

Mid summer is the time to gather the small, soft seed pods of the common milkweed (Asclepias syriaca) in open fields. Milkweed tends to grow in large colonies, and is an important food source for many butterflies and their caterpillars, like the Monarch. Between July and the end of August, the flowers have all passed, and the seed pods are in various stages of growth, often many different sizes on each plant.

Very small pods, about a half inch long are good for pickling or boiling as a green vegetable. Larger pods between 1 1/2 inches and 2 inches long are good for stuffing and baking, or stir frying. Before cooking the pods with a final recipe, they are scrubbed and boiled for 5 minutes. Many will pop open while boiling, that is not a problem. There is a natural seam on each pod that makes it easy to open the pod and remove the immature seeds and silk. The pods are good for eating as long as the seeds and silk are pure white and very soft. Any signs of browning indicates the seed pod is too old and will be tough to eat. Robert likes to eat the boiled insides of the seed pods mixed into other grains, as it seems to melt into a cheese-like texture. I like the boiled pods stuffed with cream cheese and baked, or just plain with a bit of butter and salt.

Here's a recipe for a chilled salad, good for these hot days of summer using milkweed pods about an inch long. I boiled the pods for 5 minutes, then sliced off the stem end before removing the silk and seeds. I cut the pods in half and tossed them with the dressing and other ingredients.

This recipe is available in our book, available Spring 2016.

http://www.skyhorsepublishing.com/book/?GCOI=60239108626260&

Sumac Recipe - Sumac Meringue

We start this recipe by gathering the red, ripe berry clusters from staghorn sumac (Rhus typhina) shrubs. The berries are actually very hard and inedible, and it is the acidic and tart malic, citric, ascorbic, gallic, fumaric, and tataric acids that we will be harvesting from the outside of the berries to use. In about a half gallon of room temperature water, we add 12 clusters. I'll crush the clusters up under the water and swish them about, then allow the concoction to sit for a few hours. The now pink liquid is strained through a coffee filter to remove fine hairs and other debris, and tasted for tartness. To make a stronger concentrate, add some new sumac berry clusters to this same liquid and allow them to sit for another few hours, then strain again. This concentrate is ready to use, or can be frozen in ice cube trays to add to water or save for the winter. We also use this concentrate in the place of lemon juice in some jelly recipes.

Staghorn sumac berries

This dessert is more of a curd topped with baked meringue, rather than a pie, since Robert doesn't really like pie crust. The curd recipe is really easy, no tempering the eggs with the hot sugar, just keep a vigilant eye on the pot and keep scraping the bottom with a spatula. It works really well in individual portion dishes, or can be cooked in one 9" pie pan. You could serve it as a pie, if you use a pie crust. The color will depend on the strength of the sumac concentrate that you use. I ended up with a nice peachy color, but you could add a drop of red food color if you wanted to.

This recipe is availble in our book, available Spring 2016.

http://www.skyhorsepublishing.com/book/?GCOI=60239108626260&

Smooth sumac berry clusters

Foraging Report 07/25/2011

Gillian holding the Berkeley's polypore

Boletus bicolor

It has been quite a productive couple of weeks for us. The weather has been a bit unbearable, but foraging near a river is good for an afternoon of cooling off. We went on our first outing with the Connecticut Valley Mycological Society at Salmon River State Forest on July 17th. Even though there had not been a lot of rain, there were at least 50 different types of mushrooms gathered and identified. They collected all the mushrooms they find, not just edibles, to identify and catalog back at the gathering tables. We learned how to best gather mushrooms for easier identification purposes, like try to find several stages of growth (button, fully opened, old) and try to collect some of the growing medium the mushroom is on, like tree bark, moss, or underground source. Many mushrooms have a bulbous bottom that should be collected for ID. The people in this club are very knowledgeable, and usually only supply the genus and species name for each mushroom, for precise identification. We also met many of the members, and looked through some of the books they use. We are looking forward to may more learning sessions. On the day before, we found a large Berkeley's polypore (Bondarzewia berkeleyi), and brought it to place on a separate table to be identified. We cut a bit of the tender edges off to take home and cook, it was tasty with a bit of cracked pepper and oil.

Common milkweed pods (Asclepias syriaca) are growing large enough to gather. They ripen in stages, so one plant will have tiny pods and too-large pods on the same stalk at the same time. Milkweed tends to grow in great colonies in open fields, so it is easy to get them in abundance. They are messy to pick, since they exude their white, sticky latex as soon as they are cut. Robert uses a plastic bucket, but a disposable bag may be easier. We bring them home and give them a scrub with the vegetable brush before boiling them for 5 minutes and shocking them in ice water. After their quick cooking, they are ready to be used in recipes like pickles, salads, stuffed, or just stir fried with soy sauce. I think they taste a bit like green beans, and we usually can't taste any of the reported bitterness most people worry about. Make sure you have common milkweed, it seems to taste the best.

Smooth sumac berry clusters

staghorn sumac berries

Here in southeastern New England, the staghorn sumacs (Rhus typhina) have their ripe berries ready for gathering. We just snap the berry clusters off the tops of the shrub into a bag, trying to avoid the clusters that are obviously filled with bugs. As the season progresses, the clusters will become buggier and less desirable. With the hairy berry clusters, we made some sumac-ade to drink on these hot days, and made a much stronger concentrate to bake a sumac curd topped with meringue. We also use the sumac concentrate as a lemon juice substitute when making jelly. The smooth sumacs (Rhus glabra) have red berry clusters, but are not ripe and sour yet.

wineberries

Himalayan blackberries

Finally, did we mention the berries yet? Wineberries (Rubus phoanicolasius) and Himalayan blackberries (Rubus discolor) have ripened in great abundance. The hot, humid weather has made picking a bit uncomfortable, but we try to get out early in the morning before it gets too unbearable. I made 15 jars of plain wineberry jam, using the same recipe and methods I blogged about last year. The recipe uses low-sugar pectin, and a seedless pulpy juice to make a tart, thick jam. Then I made 21 jars of wineberry-blackberry jam. The color is darker, and the flavor is a bit sweeter and fruitier. I look forward to swapping some jams at the Coventry Regional Farmer's Market Foodswaps, and gifting several to friends.

Wineberry Recipe - Wineberry Bavarian

This is a slightly complex recipe, something that would be perfect to bring to a special occasion party to impress the other guests.I made this with wineberries (Rubus phoenicolasius), but using other seedless berry purée would work. I did make an 8" round dessert, plus a few more individual portions since I made a larger recipe, but this recipe will need an 8" round springform pan. I also used a thin spongecake to line the bottom of the dessert. You could use ladyfinger cookies, and then also line the sides of the pan with more cookies.

Wineberry Bavarian                     makes 1 8" cake

spongecake or ladyfinger cookies to line pan

filling:
4 egg yolks
1/2 c. sugar
1 c. milk, hot
1 1/2 c. wineberry purée
1 envelope unflavored Knox gelatin
2 tsp cold water
1 1/2 c. heavy cream

topping:
1/2 c. wineberry purée
2 tsp gelatin
1/3 c. cold water
1 T Chambord liqueur

1. In a mixing bowl, whip the egg yolks and sugar until thick. Add the hot milk, stir. Transfer to a saucepan.
2. Heat the yolk mixture over medium heat while stirring until thick, do not boil. Strain the custard through a mesh strainer into a large bowl and stir in the wineberry purée.
3. Sprinkle the gelatin over the 2 tsp cold water in a small bowl and allow it to get mushy. Melt the gelatin in the microwave for 10 seconds on half power, or place the small bowl in a pot of boiling water until the gelatin has melted. Allow the now-liquid gelatin to cool slightly, then stir it into the custard and raspberry mixture.
4. Place the bowl of raspberry custard in the fridge, and stir it often for about 1 1/2 hours. It will thicken slightly and look like melted ice cream.
5. Whip the heavy cream until stiff peaks form. With a large whisk, fold in 1/3 of the heavy cream into the custard. Then fold in the remaining whipped cream, and whisk gently until there are no more white streaks. Pour this into the cake or cookie lined springform pan. Refrigerate for 2 hours.
6. To make the topping, sprinkle the gelatin over the 1/3 c. water in a bowl and let it get mushy. Melt the gelatin in the microwave for 15 seconds on half power, or place the bowl in a pot of hot water until the gelatin has melted. Stir the melted gelatin into the wineberry purée and add the Chambord. Pour this evenly over the top of the bavarian. Chill another 2 hours or overnight before unmolding from the springform pan and slicing.