Wildcrafting and Foraged food recpies

[cowgirlup]

Please post your recipies for Wildcrafted/Foraged foods in this thread.

Please DO NOT add comments as it will make it difficult to sort through and find the recipies.

If you have a question PM the OP and ask them to clarify. Then they may modify the post if needed.

[Lawdog2705]

Pine Needle Tea

Pick at least 1 cup of fresh, green pine needles; the freshest ones will be bright in color, and give the best taste to your tea. Rinse them in fresh water to clean off any surface dirt. Chop the pine needles into small pieces.

Measure 3 cups of water in a large measuring cup. Pour the water into a saucepan. Place the saucepan on the stove and bring the water to a boil.

Place the pine needles on a chopping board. Chop the needles into small pieces. Remove any faded or imperfect needles.
Add the chopped pine needles to the water as soon as it comes to a boil. Stir the needles into the water with a wooden spoon. Bring the water to a simmer; let the mixture simmer for 20 minutes.

Steep the tea mixture for an additional 20 minutes. You may let the tea steep overnight; it will be a deep reddish color and taste stronger if you do.

Strain the pine needles out of the tea. Pour into cups and sweeten with sugar, honey or maple syrup, if desired.

[mountainmark]

Dandelion Coffee

1. Wash and scrub roots (pick the younger roots w/o a hollow center)

2. Dehydrate the roots until bone dry.

3. Roast in a 345 degree oven for 40-50 minutes (depending on how dark you like the roast)

4. Grind (I use a flour grinder, but I imagine a coffee grinder would work fine)

5. boil about 3 T per cup of water for about three minutes.

6. Strain (I use some fine mesh cheesecloth, but a coffee filter might work as long as you don't have too fine a grind)

You can bypass the dehydrating process if you roast the roots at a lower temp (200 degrees) for several hours. I think it is cheaper to use the electricity on my dehydrator though.

Enjoy! I think this is outstanding with a touch of maple syrup.

*edit: This same recipe works for Chicory as well

[mountainmark]

Pheasant Back encrusted Grouse breast

1. Dehydrate a good supply of Pheasant back mushrooms. (Dryads saddle)

2. Grind the dried mushrooms in a blender, food mill or flour mill.

3. mix in some thyme and salt to taste.

4. Roll two grouse breast filets in the breading.

5. Fry at a medium temp until golden brown and no longer pink in the middle. (I used venison lard, but I suspect olive oil would be better.)

6. serve over wild rice boiled in grouse stock.

This was amazing, too good for words.

[mountainmark]

Wild Rice Breakfast Mash

This one is a quick and easy one I like for breakfast. It is 100% wild unless you decide to add cinnamon.

1. Grind wild rice coarsely in a flour mill.

2. Mix ground rice in boiling water (a 3 part water to 1 part rice ratio)

3. Add dehydrated wild apple chips.

4. Stir until thick.

5. add maple syrup to taste. (and cinnamon if you like)

6. top with crumbled butternuts.

Enjoy!

[mountainmark]

Wild "Chicken" and Rice

One grouse breast (cubed)
Three cups grouse stock
One cup chopped wild carrot
One cup dried black trumpet mushrooms
1/2 cup wild rice
One cup nettle tops
Salt and pepper to taste

1. Heat stock to a boil.

2. Add in the rice, mushrooms and carrots. (you won't overcook the mushrooms and wild carrot takes longer than domestic ones to soften up) simmer until the rice is al-dente.

3. Add the grouse and nettle tops.

4. Cook until everything is tender.

I made this this spring and it was first class. Wild carrots have a lot more "carrot" flavor than domestic ones though they are a bit tougher. The nettle tops do a good job thickening the soup as well as adding their own distinctive flavor. Black trumpets are so wonderfull they need no added fanfare. The only thing this dish lacked was color. Perhaps next time I'll add some dried lobster mushrooms for that purpose. Anyway, I hope someone out here will enjoy this one. It was well worth the effort. Another one for mountainmarks wild recipe book (someday)

[mountainmark]

Apple Smoked Grouse Breast.....with wild rice and fiddleheads

Grouse Breast (will need maple syrup, sea salt and apple wood as well)
wild rice
Grouse stock
dried lobster mushrooms
fiddleheads
salt and pepper to taste

1. Brine grouse breast in 1 part maple syrup, 1 part sea salt, 2 part water for two hours.

2. Smoke with apple (or your prefered wood) until done. This will depend on your temp. Just don't dry it out and make sure it's done. My smoker is homemade and will likely be different from yours. It runs about 120 degrees and it was done in about two and a half hours. Allow this to mellow overnight if possible. I always find smoked foods are better the next day.

3.heat up your grouse stock (3 to 1 is the ratio for wild rice, as opposed to 2 to 1 for white rice)

4. add your rice and mushrooms and simmer until all the stock is obsorbed.

5. boil your fiddleheads, drain and serve with a wild vinegar if you have one. If not, a little salt will do (it is not necessary to change the water several times as some claim, at least with my fiddleheads)

This meal is excellent. Everything seemed to compliment each other. DW and I were invited by a chef down in Boston to a dinner he was having recently. The cost was about $180 per plate (free to us ) But it wasn't better than this. Us wildcrafters get so spoiled

Enjoy!

[mountainmark]

Acorn encrusted Brook Trout

pretty simple really, but very good way to enjoy trout in a wild way.

Dredge fresh brook trout in well leached acorn flour and fry in venison lard or oil of your choosing. Serve over wild green of choice. I used sedums here. Use fresh trout but not too fresh. If they haven't stiffen up they will curl in the pan.

Drizzle with a bit of wild honey and you won't be disapointed.

Enjoy!

[mountainmark]

Wild Salad (one variation)

4 cups chickweed greens
3 cups black locust blossoms
1/2 cup sorrel leaves and flowers
1/2 cup wild strawberries
1/2 cup indian cucumber roots
1/2 cup pineapple weed flowers
1/4 cup butternuts
clover blossoms to garnish

Pretty self explanatory, wash and mix all ingredients.

This was an outstanding salad. The chickweed is a mild green and serves as an excellent base, the Black Locust blossoms are delicious with a vanilla-like flavor, the Sorrel adds a nice sourness to the dish, the strawberries add a nice sweetness and color, the pineapple weed adds a citrus element, the Cucumber Roots and Butternuts add nice flavor and texture. I have not yet come up with a wild dressing (am working on getting a hand crank oil press) but I would think a wild cider vinegar and butternut or hazelnut oil would pair nicely with this. I opted to use a strawberry balsamic with this and although it was not wild, it was amazing!!

Enjoy!

[mrmike]

Queen Anne's Lace Flower Jelly

2 cups very firmly packed Queen Anne’s Lace flowers, snipped from their stems close to the blossom
5 cups boiling water
3 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1 package Sure-Jell “no sugar needed” or “for less or no sugar recipes” (formerly “Sure Jell light) – do not use regular Sure Jell for this recipe, or you will end up with syrup rather than jelly
4 1/2 Tbsp. strained lemon juice

Place the flowers in a bowl and pour the boiling water over them. Cover the bowl and allow the flowers to steep in the water for 15 minutes. Strain the tea (the first time I made this recipe, I was alarmed by both the unappetizing murky green color of the tea, and the strong carrot-top smell…I forged ahead despite my trepidation).

Measure 4 1/2 cups of the strained infusion and add it to a large non-reactive pot. Mix 1/4 cup of the sugar with the Sure-Jell, and stir it into the flower tea in the pot. Bring the mixture to a full rolling boil over high heat. Immediately stir in the remaining sugar and return to a boil. Boil for exactly 1 minute, skimming the foam (impurities) that rise to the surface. Remove the pot from the heat. Stir in the lemon juice, and skim again if needed. Pour the jelly at once into sterilized jars, cover with sterilized lids, and seal.

Enjoy Queen Anne’s Lace jelly with toast or spread on biscuits or pound cake, or serve it like I do, as a “spoon sweet” -
Literally eaten from a spoon, spoon sweets are traditionally served from crystal dishes, using small teaspoons, with strong coffee, or tea, and iced water. They are a brought forth as a gesture of hospitality in the Balkans, Middle East, and Russia.

*A note from Mr.Mike. This recipe was copy and paste and not one of my own. I really want to make this as Queen Anne's Lace is in full bloom right now. We do love jelly here and there is just something about the pink color of this. I do want to try to pull it off with out the SureJell though.

**Sources The Farmers Feast

[mountainmark]

Bear Burger with Mashed Sunchokes

Here's another wild one for you. Here's what you'll need

a nice pile of sunchokes (Jerusalem Artichoke)
Box Elder Syrup (you can substitute maple if you don't have this)
1 Lb. Lean ground bear
about a Tablespoon of ground wild carrot seeds
A Tablespoon of dried, ground, Sweet Fern
A little venison leaf lard (optional)
salt

1. get some water boiling in a pot and add Sunchokes. Cook until tender, drain.
2. mash sunchokes until desired consistency, Remove skins, and add box elder syrup to taste. (Due to the shape of sunchokes, I think it's easier to remove the skins after cooking)
3. mix salt, carrot seeds and sweet fern thoroughly with the bear meat.
4. Cook through, either on the grill or fry pan. If using a fry pan you may want to add venison leaf lard at this time to keep it from sticking.

The sunchokes complimented the bear well in this recipe. I'm still experimenting with wild carrot seeds as a spice. Honestly they seemed a bit strong for this recipe but they weren't bad. I don't think I would add less because bear meat is rather strong as well. This was my first time attempting the use of sweet fern as a culinary herb (it's usually tea to me) and it was good, I'll be trying that one again. Box elder syrup is kinda like maple syrup only it tastes completely different. It is milder with notes of caramel taffy. Just the thing for sunchokes!!

enjoy

ps. This dish desperately needs a garnish. If I had been on top of things I would have used some fresh sweet fern leaves and rose hips.......just picture them