It’s drying time already

 I have wild leaks growing in the backyard and looked up a great recipe, which is basically wild leeks, mushrooms, sautéed, and then throw in some pinenuts and sauté them just for a few minutes, add some cooking, sherry, milk(The recipe actually called for heavy cream, but I’d prefer not to add all that fat when I’m going to add cheese in just a minute) Chopped up, sage leaves just a few, a little bit of balsamic vinegar, some lemon zest, and Greyere cheese. I just stirred that down until the cheese melted and poured it over angel hair, spaghetti noodles, and angel hair Heart of palm noodles..

Well, I was meaning just to tell you about getting ready to dry these things or should I say put them on the dehydrator. I also added some wood sorrel as I brought it in with my mint to make tea, but I think that lemonade taste in that herb mix will be delicious. I’ve done it in the past with good results. so as I was saying, I brought in fresh oregano, just a few sage leaves, the tops of all of the leaks separated and wood sorrel, which I’ll dry. It usually takes an hour or two and then grind it up for use in all sorts of soups and casseroles and sandwiches. It’s really delicious.

Roasted dandelion roots for coffee/tea.

 I pulled up a lot of dandelion plants and roasted the roots. You wash them off real good, cut them in smaller pieces and dry them off a little and throw them in the oven at 3:50 for about 30 minutes or so then I stirred them around a little bit and then just kept cooking at about 10 to 15 minute intervals until they were crispy and totally dried out. I think all in all it probably took about an hour. You can add this to your coffee grounds for an interesting cup of coffee. I think it has a nice flavor kind of reminds me of the chicory coffee they served down in New Orleans.

Time for dandelion green salad

 I remember when Mom used to make this. I’ve since always allowed dandelions to grow in my yard on the edges of my garden. I pick the greens in the spring and then do pull up the entire plant and roast the roots for coffee. There’s lots of recipes online, but the one I remember most is Onions, garlic, bacon, vinegar, oil, and salt, pepper, and sugar.

Revised Edition Claire goes foraging

 I am happy to announce the revised edition of Claire Goes Foraging has been published and is ready for purchase.  The content remains the same but I have repainted some of the illustrations and taken photos with a better camera and chosen the best interior paper.

Poor man’s pepper

 What a great find! Last year we had a big windstorm that knocked over our shade trees next to my husband‘s office. Underneath the shade trees, we had put a lot of gravel, which now is sprouting up all sorts of stuff. I was weeding it out by hand and took a closer look at some of the things that I was pulling up. I was pretty sure this was poor man’s pepper and thankfully had a little plant identifier along with me. I usually see this in the fall where it’s very recognizable because it shoots up spiky little flower heads with little seed pods hanging off the sides. One taste of the leaves and sure enough… Poor man pepper. I’ve never picked it in the spring, and probably stepped over it many times. Never more though. The spring greens are so absolutely delicious and very very. Peppery. I decided to bring as many little bundles home with me as I could today, and throw them on the dehydrator along with garlic Leaves, oregano, sage, sorrel. I make a delicious Dried herb mix to be used all Year long, And I think it just got one notch better :-)

Beautiful Service Berries

 These little berries come from a service berry tree  they are similar in size to a blueberry, but have a unique taste. It is sweet and the closest thing I can think of to the taste might be in fact, a blueberry the serviceberry tree is native to Oklahoma, although I have never seen one in the wild or if I have it hasn’t been either in bloom or in fruit so I’ve probably just walked right by it. This one actually is planted in my backyard. 

Creamed poke salet

 This was so delicious. Basically poke boiled twice with the water poured off each time, and possibly three times. Then fry up some onions and garlic. Add the poke. Add some cream cheese and Parmesan and a little milk. I know you’re supposed to add cream, but I didn’t do that. Oh, and then I added fried onions to the top