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Dandelion Sunshine Jelly

09 May

Dandelion Sunshine Jelly by Rural Spin - www.ruralspin.com.

Making jelly using dandelion flowers is a commitment, no doubt about it. But if you enjoy tedium and working with lovely flowers, this is the jelly for you! And there is a real feeling of satisfaction you get from making a delicious food from what some call a weed.

My recipe is not straight-up dandelion jelly. To me, dandelion jelly deserves to be elevated a bit to reflect what I think of as its sunshine status. I wanted to layer flavors with dandelion’s honey-like flavor so the jelly tastes more like dandelion than just jellied flower parts. Because of this, I use honey as the sweetener to accentuate the natural dandelion flavor, lemon juice and zest for brightness, and cinnamon for warmth. This is a lovely, light, tasty  jelly to serve on toasts, with cheese and crackers, or as a glaze to a baked ham.

Dandelion Sunshine Jelly ingredients: dandelion flowers, honey, cinnamon, and lemon zest.

Dandelion Sunshine Jelly ingredients: dandelion flowers, honey, cinnamon, and lemon.

INGREDIENTS

Makes 2 pints

3 to 4 cups dandelion petals

3 to 4 cups water

2 cups honey

1 tsp cinnamon

Zest from 1 lemon

1 tbls lemon juice

4 tbls low-sugar pectin

PETAL PICKING

The hardest and most time-consuming part of the process is collecting enough dandelions and plucking the petals off of them. I suggest collecting a good gallon of flowers, but make sure those flowers are from an area that has been chemical-free for several years. I’m lucky enough to live in a neighborhood where very few residents use chemicals on their lawns, and they happily gave me dandelion-picking rights.

Pick more dandelions than you think you'll need so you can pick-and-choose the best for your jelly.

Pick more dandelions than you think you’ll need so you can pick-and-choose the best for your jelly.

The petals need to be removed from the flowers as quickly as possible after picking them; the flowers close up quickly after harvest and after that happens, collecting the petals becomes much more difficult.

It is very important not to get any green parts (sepals) mixed in with the petals. The sepals will not only affect the color of your jelly, they also affect the taste, and not in a good way. Dandelions contain a milky sap, and you don’t want any of that bitterness to contaminate your jelly. It takes a long time to get just the petals off of the flowers, but if you’re going to make this jelly that is what you have to do. Make yourself a nice relaxing beverage and enjoy the peace and quiet.

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Cut the flowers in half to make it easier to remove the petals and prevent the green sepals from making their way into your jelly.

Cut the flowers in half to make it easier to remove the petals and prevent the green sepals from making their way into your jelly, which will result in a bitter taste.

Most bloggers making dandelion jelly use scissors to remove the petals. I personally find it easier to use my finger nail. It not only greatly reduces the amount of sepals that make their way into your petal pile, I find that it is quicker than clipping carefully.

To remove the petals, I first cut the entire flower in half. Then I use my thumb nail to pull only the petals off the flower. It’s pretty easy to avoid the sepals with this method, and in two or three pulls, you’re ready to move on to the next flower. And, your petal harvest quotient per flower is much higher than multiple clips. I find this to be important unless you have quadruple the amount of dandelion flowers you need, and have the luxury of only clipping the very top of each flower once.

Make sure you only remove the petals from the flower; including the green sepals into your jelly will result in a bitter taste.

Use your thumb nail to pull the petals from the flower, avoiding the green sepals.

You can stop this tedious process when you have between 3 and 4 cups of petals.

JUICE GETTIN’

There are two ways to get your dandelion juice from the petals: simmer ‘em or steep ‘em.

Simmer ‘em

To simmer them, combine your petals with an equal amount of water and simmer for 10 minutes. Strain through a jelly bag or dish towel to remove all of the dandelion liquid. Measure out 3 cups of liquid for making the jelly. If you don’t have quite enough for 3 cups, add a bit of plain water to top it off. (Make sure you squeeze the juice from the petals, too.)

At this point I like to filter the juice through a coffee filter to remove any bits and pollen that sneak through. This also makes a clearer jelly. Once you’ve done this, proceed to Jelly Makin’!

Dandelion tea oxidizes from yellow to a lovely russet color with time. This does not affect the taste of the jelly.

Dandelion tea oxidizes from yellow to this lovely russet brown color with time. This does not affect the taste of the jelly in any way, and the final product will be a lovely dark gold color.

Steep ‘em

You can also get the liquid by making a tea out of the petals. To do this, place your petals in a bowl and cover them with boiling water (use the same amount of water as you have petals). Let them steep overnight, then strain in the morning through a jelly bag or dish towel into a bowl.

As with the “Simmer ‘em” method, I suggest running your dandelion tea through a coffee filter to fully remove any petal bits and pollen. It makes for a nicer looking jelly product. And, again, if you don’t have a full 3 cups of dandelion juice, just top off with water.

A note on color: Dandelion juice will oxidize with time. Fresh juice will be yellow in color, but the longer you wait to make your jelly the color will darken to the russet color shown at left. I don’t mind this as I am adding cinnamon and honey, which darken the color.

JELLY MAKIN’

Wash your lemon and zest it. Cut the lemon in half and juice half, which will end up being about 1 tablespoon of juice. Set the zest and lemon juice aside.

Take your 3 cups of dandelion juice and pour it into a sauce pan. Bring to a simmer and add your lemon zest and lemon juice. Add the cinnamon. Continue to simmer for about 5 minutes, stirring.

Slowly add your pectin. But watch it…if you add it too fast it won’t mix in well with your juice and will be clumpy. I use a whisky to stir briskly after I put a bit of the pectin into the mixture.

After all of the pectin is incorporated  bring the mixture to a full rolling boil that can’t be stirred down. Make sure you stir constantly.

Add your honey and return the mixture to a full rolling boil. Boil hard for one minute, again stirring constantly.

Remove from heat and skim off any foam.

Immediately pour your jelly into clean, prepared pint jars. If you are canning the jelly, process the jars

in a hot water bath for 10 minutes at normal elevation, and 15 minutes at high elevation, following normal canning protocols as outlined at the National Center for Home Food Preservation.

Dandelion jelly can be eaten with cheese and crackers, on toast, or added as a glaze to meats.

Dandelion jelly can be eaten with cheese and crackers, on toast, or added as a glaze to meats, such as ham. It also makes a lovely addition to pastries and baked goods.

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10 Comments

Posted by on May 9, 2013 in Edible Plants, Food Preservation, Homesteading, Recipes

 

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Wild Edible Cookery: Milkweed Flower Risotto

21 Jun

Milkweed flower buds taste like a cross between asparagus, peas, and artichokes. They make a wonderful addition to a risotto.

I can’t say enough about the tasty versatility that is the edible milkweed flower bud. They are a delicious cross between asparagus, peas, and artichokes and can be had for free if you know where to look (but as always don’t be greedy and over-harvest any wild edible–in this case the monarch butterflies rely on them for survival). While several parts of certain milkweed plants are edible, the flower buds offer a treat in early summer and can be either eaten on their own with butter, or incorporated into other dishes such as this delicious risotto recipe we made up in the Rural Spin kitchen. Be sure to read our ‘spin, Respect for the Yummy Milkweed for more info on how to process milkweed flower buds for eating.

INGREDIENTS (about 4 servings)

Milkweed flower buds before processing. They need to be processed twice to remove bitterness and alkaloids. After that, they are delicious.

  • 2 cups processed milkweed flower buds (again, see Respect for the Yummy Milkweed on how to do this)
  • 1 1/2 cups arborio rice (if you don’t use this kind of rice, the recipe just won’t work)
  • 4 cups chicken stock (you can also use vegetable stock if you want a vegetarian option)
  • 1 cup white wine
  • 3 cloves garlic, sliced very thin or chopped finely
  • 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes (optional, or more to taste)
  • 3 tablespoons butter
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese (or more…if you want)
  • salt and pepper to taste

HOW-TO

Place your stock and wine in a saucepan and heat until boiling. Reduce heat to a slow simmer — you want it to just stay hot. You’ll then want a heavy-bottomed, shallow pan — like a large, deep frying pan — for making your risotto:

Processed milkweed flower buds are added after the rice is fully cooked, to incorporate and heat through.

  • Melt 2 tablespoons of butter and 1 tablespoon of olive oil in your pan over medium heat until bubbly. Toss in your garlic and and red pepper flakes and saute for about two minutes until the garlic is soft.Toss in your rice and stir thoroughly to coat the rice with the butter and oil. Saute for about two minutes, stirring constantly, until the grains are lightly toasted.
  • Start adding your hot broth/wine mix. To do this take a ladle-full at a time (my ladle holds about 1/2 a cup of liquid) and add it to your rice, stirring constantly until all of the liquid is equally absorbed into each grain of rice. After the liquid is absorbed, take another ladle-full of your liquid and repeat the process until all of the liquid is absorbed and the rice is cooked through. It is important to follow this process and stir constantly. If you don’t do this and you just dump all the liquid in at once, your risotto will not work.
  • You want the rice to be tender but still have a “bite” to it. If you find you need more liquid, add more broth or wine. As you follow this process, you’ll notice that the starches in the rice will create a wonderful creaminess. That is why other rice varieties won’t really work.
  • After your rice is cooked, add your processed milkweed flower buds and the last tablespoon of butter. Stir to heat through and incorporate.
  • Turn off your heat, then add your Parmesan and mix thoroughly. Taste to see if you need to add salt and pepper.
  • Remove from heat and serve, topped with more red pepper flakes and Parmesan, if desired.

    Milkweed flower risotto with Parmesan, garlic, and red pepper flakes.

 
3 Comments

Posted by on June 21, 2012 in Edible Plants, Homesteading, Recipes

 

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The Humble Crab Apple: An Underutilized Free Food

09 Apr

A crab apple in full bloom is a beautiful thing! But the fruits deserve more credit than they get, too.

Most people know that the crab apple is edible, but it is so small (and some are bred not to bear fruit) that it is discounted as a food source and sometimes decried as a pain when the fruit begins to fall and birds start to flock. That’s a shame! Crab apples are a delicious food and, if processed the right way, not as much work as you think to utilize as a free source of tasty treats in both rural and urban locales. And the plant also has medicinal properties that make it an underused plant in the average yard or field.

Most people can identify crab apples when they’re in fruit (and when they’re in bloom). But for anyone interested in collecting plants for food or medicine, being able to identify plants properly will make your life easier, if not save it.

Crab apples are deciduous (they lose their leaves in winter) small trees in the Rosaceae family, and the Malus genus. They reach about 15′ to 25′ at maturity. The buds and leaves have an alternate arrangement, meaning the leaves hop scotch as they move up the stem, as opposed to an opposite leaf arrangement, where the leaves are directly across from each other on the stem. The leaf buds are egg-shaped with several overlapping scales. There are about 700 varieties of crab apples (yep!) so the leaves are variable in color and size. But take a look at crab apples this spring and look at the leaves to learn their general character.

Crab apples have an alternate leaf arrangement and their leaves have the look of other trees in the apple family, but there is much variability.

FOR EATING

The fruit is the main edible part of the plant, eaten raw or cooked, though raw it is highly astringent. Because of this, it is most frequently cooked with sugar and made into jams, jellies, fruit fillings, chutneys, and more. In fact, crab apples contain an excellent pectin, which can be used to thicken other kinds of jams.

One secret to using crab apples for food is to remove their wee seeds, though this is not always necessary (see the recipe below). Yes, to do this with individual fruits is time consuming as each small crab apple needs to be sliced and the seeds removed. I once made a crab apple pie this way and it took hours to remove the seeds from all of the crab apples; I’ll never make crab apple pie that way again! OK…maybe I will because the pie was so tasty, but I’ll have to be in the mood for a lengthy, repetitive task.

In my opinion the best way to use crab apples is to process them with heat and liquid, run them through a sieve or food mill, and use them in recipes. Processing like this will eliminate the seeds with much less fuss.

The seeds should not be eaten in large quantities as the seeds of all members of the genus contain hydrogen cyanide, which can be dangerous in large quantities. If you prepare a crab apple dish that contains seeds (see below), make sure to spit the seeds out as you would an olive or watermelon. The fruit pulp is perfectly safe.

FOR HEALING

There is some conflicting information about whether crab apples have medicinal properties; I’ve not used them as such myself so I can’t say for sure. I have read in different sources from India and China that a crab apple fruit poultice can be used to sooth inflammations and help heal small wounds. (To learn more about what a poultice is, read our ‘Spin, “Roots, Twigs, Barks and Parts: The Home Apothecary.”) The bark, especially the root bark, is reported to help expel parasites from the gut (ick), cool the body, and help induce sleep. The leaves are reported to be an antibacterial.

RECIPE

Here’s a recipe from our 1946 edition of “The Boston Cooking-School Cook Book,” by Fannie Merritt Farmer:

Sweet Crab Apple Pickle:

Crab apples can be made into pickles, jams, pies, and this beautiful jelly.

  • 3 pounds crab apples
  • 2 cups cider vinegar
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons cloves
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons allspice berries
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons black pepper
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons ginger

“Wipe crab apples, remove stems, and steam until soft. Tie spices in muslin bag, put in preserving kettle, add vinegar, sugar, and crab apples, bring gradually to boiling point, and simmer 20 minutes. Makes 3 pints.”

The pickle can be processed using the water bath method for your elevation (the same time is used for pints or quarts):

  • 0 – 1,000 ft: 20 minutes
  • 1,001 – 3,000 ft: 25 minutes
  • 3,001 – 6,000 ft: 30 minutes
  • Above 6,000 ft: 35 minutes
 
6 Comments

Posted by on April 9, 2012 in Edible Plants, Home Remedies & Apothecary, Homesteading, Outdoor and Survival, Saving Money

 

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Winter Edibles: Cattails

03 Feb

Cattails are a common edible during the growing season, but they can save your butt in winter.

People like to learn about and collect wild edible plants for a variety of reasons: survival foods if they are lost in the wilderness, a source of free food and culinary exploration, or just plain outdoor fun. But it’s a common mistake to only think about many wild edibles as food sources during the growing season. In fact, there are edible plant sources during the winter, too.

Cattails are one of those plants that can be counted on as a winter edible, which is one reason it is sometimes known as “Supermarket of the Swamp.” Cattails are a great winter edible because they are easy to identify, they occur frequently wherever shallow water is present, and they usually exist in large stands. Their sheer quantity can provide a substantial food source if you really get your butt in a sling in the wild.

The reliable edible part of the cattail in the winter is the plant’s roots (rhizomes), which are a great source of starch and can also be turned into a flour. You may also find the coming season’s growth shoots (corms), which also make an excellent edible, attached to where the rhizomes meet the base of the plant.

To harvest the plant, reach to the plant’s base and dig or pull the rhizomes out of the soil. Cut them from the dry, above-ground stems and wash them thoroughly. At this point you’ll be able to separate the rhizomes, which will be brown and covered with root hairs making them look like an old rope, from the more succulent corms. From here you can do several things:

You can make a flour with the rhizomes: Peel the rhizomes and crush them in a fair amount of cold water to separate the white, starchy goodness from the fibrous portions. Remove the fiber and let the container sit for several hours until the starch settles to the bottom. Pour off the water carefully and strain the starch if you can. From here you can use the pasty starch as a flour immediately or let it dry well for storage. If you dry it for storage, you’ll need to grind it fine, but then it can be used in conjunction with other flours in baking.

You can supplement a soup with the above starch: Follow the same instructions as above, but instead of straining off the starch, heat the water and starch and add any other wild edibles you’ve been able to collect. Staying hydrated in a winter survival situation is very important, and this soup will kill a few survival birds with one stone (hopefully you’ll have a bird to add to the soup, too).

You can eat the corms: The corms may be as small as peas or larger, depending upon where you are and how far along you are in the winter season. Peel or scrub these new shoots and eat them as-is, or you can slice them and cook them. I recommend adding the corms to the above soup if you’re in a survival situation; it will provide warmth, hydration, and starch for energy. But if you’re just eating the corms for an interesting food item on your table, they are tasty cooked in some butter with a sprinkling of salt and thyme!

Sources: “Edible Wild Plants: Eastern/Central North America” by Lee Allen Peterson, “Wild Edible Plants: A North American Field Guide to Over 200 natural Foods” by Thomas S. Elias & Peter A. Dykeman.

 
3 Comments

Posted by on February 3, 2012 in Edible Plants, Fun Experiments

 

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Sumac: A Multi-Season Edible

17 Jan

Staghorn sumac in January (Maine)

Staghorn sumac and smooth sumac (Rhus typhina and Rhus glabra, respectively) are reliable edibles from summer through winter. The plant is easy to identify, but consult a good field guide or someone who knows their plants to make sure the plant you’re looking at is an edible sumac and not poison sumac. Once you see the plants side-by-side, though, you will see there is a big difference between the two.

The edible part of our sumac is the distinctive fruit cluster, which is prominent from summer through winter. The individual fruits are small, but the large heads make gathering them a breeze! Once you gather the heads you make a liquid concentrate from them, which can be used in beverages and in cooking. In winter, when the fruit clusters have seen better days, you’ll need more clusters to get the same effect as the clusters you collected in September, but the results will still be tasty and reminiscent of lemons!

There are two ways to make the concentrate but make sure you don’t use hot or boiling water in either method as hot water will release tannins, which are not so tasty:

Smooth sumac in September (Kansas)

In the kitchen, take several of the fruit clusters and put them in a blender filled with water. Zip the fruits with the water for a minute or so, then let it all sit for awhile (say 15 to 30 minutes). Strain the liquid through cheesecloth or a kitchen towel and the resulting concentrate can then be used in beverages, pies, and jams!

In the wild, you can still enjoy this plant. Take the fruit clusters and place them in a container full of cool water. Use your hands and rub the fruits vigorously to release the juice. Then you just need to strain out the debris and you have a tasty beverage when needed. You can warm the beverage and sweeten it if you desire, but many people like it unsweetened, too.

 
4 Comments

Posted by on January 17, 2012 in Edible Plants, Kitchen Tips

 

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