outdoor cooking

On the Wild Menu

~ Jean Wiedenheft ~ 5 Comments

As part of the wild foods foraging program today at Indian Creek Nature Center, we were able to bring together a  very local, very fresh, gourmet menu.

Appetizer: serviceberries

Salad: purslane leaves, lambsquarter leaves, dandelion leaves, yarrow leaves, red clover blossoms

Salad dressing: orange champagne vinegar and basil infused olive oil

Main course: milkweed blossoms sauteed in butter with catnip and mulberries on the side

Common milkweed buds are edible when cooked. If you arent sure about what youre picking, develop a relationship withyour local nature center or other outdoor enthusiasts so you dont eat something poisonous
Common milkweed buds are edible when cooked. If you aren’t sure about what you’re picking, develop a relationship with your local nature center or other outdoor enthusiasts so you don’t accidentally eat something poisonous.

Drink: sumaconade (staghorn sumac drupes, honey, cinnamon stick)

Staghorn sumac drupes are edible and high in antioxidants. Posion sumac has white drupes, not red.
Staghorn sumac drupes are high in antioxidants.* Posion sumac has white drupes, not red.

Dessert: paw paws and aronia berries (frozen last year), and elderberry jelly and wild plum jelly (preserved last year)

After dinner tea: chamomile leaves and buds, stinging nettle leaves, red clover blossoms, wild ginger root, wild rose blossoms, mountain mint leaves

chamomile
Chamomile isn’t native, but it is also not a problem for restoration. It prefers dry, sandy soil and no competition.

* Sumaconade Recipe*

Gather 9-12 staghorn sumac drupes in late summer. Hang them and cover with a paper sack to keep them clean and dry-they will keep until the following summer.

Soak them in 1 gallon of cold water, 2-12 hours

Wring or muddle the drupes with your hands into the water.

Pour the mixture through  clean t-shirt material 3 times to filter it.

Add 1/2-1 cup honey (may be mixed with a bit of warm water to dissolve)

Add 1 stick of cinnamon

Chill before serving

TWT 30 Days Wild_countdown_13

 

To Have a Pizza Party

~ Jean Wiedenheft ~ 1 Comment

Dig down to the frost line, so everything doesn’t shift in the winter. Enlist friends to help with the digging.

Snuffies helps dig
Snuffies helps dig
Nanotig helps dig
Nanotig helps dig

 

Build a foundation, then level up the fire bricks
Build a foundation, then level up the fire bricks
Joe Zito doing the mud stomp, a mixture of clay and sand to form cob
Joe doing the mud stomp, a mixture of clay and sand to form cob
The first layer of cob, applied over a dome of sand.
The first layer of cob, applied over a dome of sand.
Take a break from stomping mud to appreciate the beautiful autumn
Andrea Blaha, doing the mud stomp with straw, clay and sand to form the second thermal layer of cob.
Andrea, doing the mud stomp with straw, clay and sand to form the second thermal layer of cob.
Mick and Jerry Snodgress, applying the second layer of cob.
Mick and Jerry, applying the second layer of cob.
Maria and Chauncey Snodgress at the end of forming the oven.
Maria and Chauncey at the end of forming the oven.
After things have had a few days to dry, we cut out the doorway.
After things have had a few days to dry, we cut out the doorway.
Elaine Ball is digging out the sand form.
Elaine is digging out the sand form.
A complete cob oven.
A complete cob oven.
Behind the wooden door
Behind the wooden door.
IMG_pie is done!
The first pizza party coincided with the first snowfall of winter.