Post by admin on Aug 20, 2006 13:59:08 GMT -5
(lost the link on this article)
milkweed in bud, blossom and pod stage
... and in line detail
When the milkweed is about six inches tall it is a good green. Later the flower buds will hang on most every plant and they are good boiled like broccoli. Still later these buds will turn to flowers, and then to seed pods. The tender young seed pods are the best eating imaginable.
One handicap milkweed has is the sticky, white sap that flows through every part of the plant. This sap is bitter and must be flushed out before milkweed is edible. Flushing out the sap, however, is not too difficult.
Drop the plant parts in a proportionately large kettle of boiling water. The water will stop boiling. When it starts again, drain it and add fresh water. When the second water starts to boil, drain and add a third water. Let this third water boil for about three minutes. Drain it, fill the pot again and let the milkweed boil for about ten minutes. The processing is now complete. You will no doubt notice the deep emerald appearance of these fine natural foods.
If we have processed milkweeds that were young and under six inches tall we have greens. Drain, add a pat of butter for each cup of greens, season and serve hot. The flower buds are served the same way; drain, butter, season and serve. The seed pods are good hot and buttered. They are also good covered with gravy, like potatoes, or they go very well in clam chowder.
Fresh water clams (mussels) abound in the streams and lakes near my home so I use them often. Clams are a little hard to find, even in good clam country, unless you know how to locate them. I usually just look along the banks of streams until I find clam shells. Two or three shells in one place probably means a clam bed is located nearby. The shells are deposited on the banks by raccoons who know the location of these beds as well as we know the location of a supermarket.
After I have found two or three shells I wade out into the stream and start feeling for the clams underwater. This process takes some familiarization and you will probably lift many clam-sized rocks at first. Soon, however, you will start to know the feel of a clam shell and you will have no trouble locating all you can use. For one cook-out, my son and I harvested 85 platter-sized clams in about a half hour last summer.
Lake clams are usually located the same way or by spotting their tracks in the sand. A clam track looks like someone drug the point of a stick along the beach and it will sometimes end abruptly. Dig at the end of the track and you will quite often find your clam completely buried.
Here's a good clam chowder, milkweed pod recipe: Open four large clams. I do it by sticking a knife in past the lips and cutting the muscle. Catch all the juice that runs out of each clam as you perform this operation. When you have the shell open, cut the meat loose, pinch out the dark stomach and discard it. The clam meat is then passed through a grinder until it is the consistency of hamburger. Strain the juice through a fine cloth and set it aside.
Add 1/2 cup of diced onion and a cup of processed milkweed pods to two cups of clam meat. Barely cover with water and simmer for 45 minutes. Remove and add one cup milk, the clam juice we set aside, and a tablespoon of butter. Return to the fire and warm up to the simmering stage. Remove and serve very hot with crackers.
home.naxs.com/melaniet/Food.htm#Broccoli
Wild Broccoli
*The unopened purple buds of the milkweed flower make an excellent broccoli substitute. The taste is very similar, and the texture is a little less grainy, which, at least to me, makes it preferable to the "real thing". I have no experience with it raw, so please, only try cooked recipes .
How To:
--Harvest whole clusters of unopened buds in an area you are certain has not been treated with herbicides or other questionable chemicals. Rinse under cool water, drain, and use in any recipe for which you would normally use broccoli.
Milkweed Flower Syrup
*A delicious, tangy syrup to try on pancakes, over ice cream, as a fruit salad dressing, as an iced tea sweetener.....use you imagination!
You Will Need:
3 cups of fully opened, fragrant milkweed blossoms (snip away stem with scissors.)
Piece of cheesecloth big enough to tie flowers in loosely
4 cups water
2 1/2 cups sugar
How To:
--Remove blossoms from stem. Rinse, and tie up in cheesecloth loosely enough to allow the water to circulate within the bag.
--Bring water and sugar to a boil, and add blossoms.
--Reduce heat, but allow mixture to simmer actively until reduced by about half.
--Remove from heat; when cooled, remove bag of milkweed and allow to drain into pot. (squeezing the bag will yield more syrup, but it will be cloudy)
--Store tightly covered in the refridgerator for 2-3 weeks.
Broccoli or Milkweed au Gratin
Ingredients
1 1/2 lb. Fresh broccoli or unopened milkweed blossoms
3/4 t. Salt
3 t. Butter
3 t. Flour
1 1/2 c. Milk
3/4 c. Grated cheddar cheese
Bread crumbs
Paprika
Preparation
Cook and drain broccoli or washed unopened milkweed blossoms. Place in greased casserole. In pot, combine butter and flour thoroughly. Add milk gradually, stirring. Bring mixture to a boil; continue stirring. Reduce heat. Sprinkle with 1/2 t. salt. Cook for 1 minute longer. Add cheese; cook until cheese melts. Pour over casserole. Top with crumbs. Bake at 325 for 25-30 minutes. Garnish with paprika.
milkweed pickles
Ingredients
milkweed buds
cider vinegar
pickling spices of choice
Directions
Use small milkweed pods 1-1 1/2 inchs long. Make pickling brine of your choseing. I do some as dill pickles and some in a sweet bread & butter type brine. Put pods in jars (I use pint and 1/2 pint) cover with hot brine, work out air bubbles and process in water bath canner at a rolling boil for 15 minutes. This is also good using unopened tiger lily buds.
Another good link with picture to read below
indianspringherbs.com/milkweed.htm
Milkweed Gratin
4 cups milkweed flower buds
4 Tbsp butter
3 Tbsp flour 1-1/2 cups milk
1 cup grated cheese
Salt & pepper to taste
Cook milkweed buds in boiling water for 1 minute. Strain. Preheat oven to 375°F. Arrange milkweed buds in a buttered baking dish.
Melt butter in saucepan. Stir in flour, salt and pepper. Cook for 1 minute, stirring, then gradually whisk in milk. Continue cooking and stirring until sauce is thickened and smooth.
Pour white sauce over milkweed. Sprinkle cheese on top. Bake in oven for 10 minutes. Broil a few seconds until top is crisp and golden.
Chinese-Style Stir-Fried Milkweed
1/2 - 3/4 lb. milkweed buds
1/4 lb. snow pea pods
1 tsp. sesame oil
1 tbsp. soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon honey
1 tbsp. white vinegar
1 tsp. hoisin sauce
1 tbsp. vegetable oil
2 tsp. sesame seeds
Blanch the milkweed buds as in the above procedure, draining in a colander. Transfer to a clean tea towel and shake dry. Wash the snow peas. In a small dish, mix the sesame seed oil, soy sauce, honey, vinegar, and hoisin sauce, stirring well. Heat oil in frying pan or wok until hot and add milkweed buds, stir-frying for two to three minutes. Add snow peas and fry for another minute. Pour the sauce on top and stir quickly until combined. Put into a serving bowl and sprinkle with sesame seeds. Serves 4 to 6 as a side dish.
milkweed in bud, blossom and pod stage
... and in line detail
When the milkweed is about six inches tall it is a good green. Later the flower buds will hang on most every plant and they are good boiled like broccoli. Still later these buds will turn to flowers, and then to seed pods. The tender young seed pods are the best eating imaginable.
One handicap milkweed has is the sticky, white sap that flows through every part of the plant. This sap is bitter and must be flushed out before milkweed is edible. Flushing out the sap, however, is not too difficult.
Drop the plant parts in a proportionately large kettle of boiling water. The water will stop boiling. When it starts again, drain it and add fresh water. When the second water starts to boil, drain and add a third water. Let this third water boil for about three minutes. Drain it, fill the pot again and let the milkweed boil for about ten minutes. The processing is now complete. You will no doubt notice the deep emerald appearance of these fine natural foods.
If we have processed milkweeds that were young and under six inches tall we have greens. Drain, add a pat of butter for each cup of greens, season and serve hot. The flower buds are served the same way; drain, butter, season and serve. The seed pods are good hot and buttered. They are also good covered with gravy, like potatoes, or they go very well in clam chowder.
Fresh water clams (mussels) abound in the streams and lakes near my home so I use them often. Clams are a little hard to find, even in good clam country, unless you know how to locate them. I usually just look along the banks of streams until I find clam shells. Two or three shells in one place probably means a clam bed is located nearby. The shells are deposited on the banks by raccoons who know the location of these beds as well as we know the location of a supermarket.
After I have found two or three shells I wade out into the stream and start feeling for the clams underwater. This process takes some familiarization and you will probably lift many clam-sized rocks at first. Soon, however, you will start to know the feel of a clam shell and you will have no trouble locating all you can use. For one cook-out, my son and I harvested 85 platter-sized clams in about a half hour last summer.
Lake clams are usually located the same way or by spotting their tracks in the sand. A clam track looks like someone drug the point of a stick along the beach and it will sometimes end abruptly. Dig at the end of the track and you will quite often find your clam completely buried.
Here's a good clam chowder, milkweed pod recipe: Open four large clams. I do it by sticking a knife in past the lips and cutting the muscle. Catch all the juice that runs out of each clam as you perform this operation. When you have the shell open, cut the meat loose, pinch out the dark stomach and discard it. The clam meat is then passed through a grinder until it is the consistency of hamburger. Strain the juice through a fine cloth and set it aside.
Add 1/2 cup of diced onion and a cup of processed milkweed pods to two cups of clam meat. Barely cover with water and simmer for 45 minutes. Remove and add one cup milk, the clam juice we set aside, and a tablespoon of butter. Return to the fire and warm up to the simmering stage. Remove and serve very hot with crackers.
home.naxs.com/melaniet/Food.htm#Broccoli
Wild Broccoli
*The unopened purple buds of the milkweed flower make an excellent broccoli substitute. The taste is very similar, and the texture is a little less grainy, which, at least to me, makes it preferable to the "real thing". I have no experience with it raw, so please, only try cooked recipes .
How To:
--Harvest whole clusters of unopened buds in an area you are certain has not been treated with herbicides or other questionable chemicals. Rinse under cool water, drain, and use in any recipe for which you would normally use broccoli.
Milkweed Flower Syrup
*A delicious, tangy syrup to try on pancakes, over ice cream, as a fruit salad dressing, as an iced tea sweetener.....use you imagination!
You Will Need:
3 cups of fully opened, fragrant milkweed blossoms (snip away stem with scissors.)
Piece of cheesecloth big enough to tie flowers in loosely
4 cups water
2 1/2 cups sugar
How To:
--Remove blossoms from stem. Rinse, and tie up in cheesecloth loosely enough to allow the water to circulate within the bag.
--Bring water and sugar to a boil, and add blossoms.
--Reduce heat, but allow mixture to simmer actively until reduced by about half.
--Remove from heat; when cooled, remove bag of milkweed and allow to drain into pot. (squeezing the bag will yield more syrup, but it will be cloudy)
--Store tightly covered in the refridgerator for 2-3 weeks.
Broccoli or Milkweed au Gratin
Ingredients
1 1/2 lb. Fresh broccoli or unopened milkweed blossoms
3/4 t. Salt
3 t. Butter
3 t. Flour
1 1/2 c. Milk
3/4 c. Grated cheddar cheese
Bread crumbs
Paprika
Preparation
Cook and drain broccoli or washed unopened milkweed blossoms. Place in greased casserole. In pot, combine butter and flour thoroughly. Add milk gradually, stirring. Bring mixture to a boil; continue stirring. Reduce heat. Sprinkle with 1/2 t. salt. Cook for 1 minute longer. Add cheese; cook until cheese melts. Pour over casserole. Top with crumbs. Bake at 325 for 25-30 minutes. Garnish with paprika.
milkweed pickles
Ingredients
milkweed buds
cider vinegar
pickling spices of choice
Directions
Use small milkweed pods 1-1 1/2 inchs long. Make pickling brine of your choseing. I do some as dill pickles and some in a sweet bread & butter type brine. Put pods in jars (I use pint and 1/2 pint) cover with hot brine, work out air bubbles and process in water bath canner at a rolling boil for 15 minutes. This is also good using unopened tiger lily buds.
Another good link with picture to read below
indianspringherbs.com/milkweed.htm
Milkweed Gratin
4 cups milkweed flower buds
4 Tbsp butter
3 Tbsp flour 1-1/2 cups milk
1 cup grated cheese
Salt & pepper to taste
Cook milkweed buds in boiling water for 1 minute. Strain. Preheat oven to 375°F. Arrange milkweed buds in a buttered baking dish.
Melt butter in saucepan. Stir in flour, salt and pepper. Cook for 1 minute, stirring, then gradually whisk in milk. Continue cooking and stirring until sauce is thickened and smooth.
Pour white sauce over milkweed. Sprinkle cheese on top. Bake in oven for 10 minutes. Broil a few seconds until top is crisp and golden.
Chinese-Style Stir-Fried Milkweed
1/2 - 3/4 lb. milkweed buds
1/4 lb. snow pea pods
1 tsp. sesame oil
1 tbsp. soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon honey
1 tbsp. white vinegar
1 tsp. hoisin sauce
1 tbsp. vegetable oil
2 tsp. sesame seeds
Blanch the milkweed buds as in the above procedure, draining in a colander. Transfer to a clean tea towel and shake dry. Wash the snow peas. In a small dish, mix the sesame seed oil, soy sauce, honey, vinegar, and hoisin sauce, stirring well. Heat oil in frying pan or wok until hot and add milkweed buds, stir-frying for two to three minutes. Add snow peas and fry for another minute. Pour the sauce on top and stir quickly until combined. Put into a serving bowl and sprinkle with sesame seeds. Serves 4 to 6 as a side dish.