Dandelion Greens top leff, toothwort below that, chives and wild garlic in the center and garlic mustard on the right. Disclaimer: I am an amateur at woodscraft and herblore. Nothing below should be taken as advice or recommendations. I am merely experimenting. Please do your own research before consuming or using any plant for medicinal purposes.
I have been putting off making spring greens and cheese pies again because I have been a bit on the strugglebus lately and while I have the oompf to go out and gather, I don't have it for making the crust.
I finally caved and bought puff pastry crusts and decided to just roll with that. For these experiments, its the greens that matter anyways.
So today I gathered more Garlic Mustard (and murdered even more of it, as it is horribly invasive), Cutleaf Toothwort, Dandelion Greens, Wild Garlic, and Chives that escaped my garden.
The Wild Garlic is what we called Spring Onions or Onion Grass when I was growing up. In the photo you can see the tiny bulbs on the ends. I also had chives that escaped my garden and it was pretty cool to compare the two side-by-side. The Wild Garlic had a mini version of a garlic bulb that even had little "cloves". The leaves are round and the stems hollowish. The runaway chives are solid throughout and look like a mini leek.
I have been putting off making spring greens and cheese pies again because I have been a bit on the strugglebus lately and while I have the oompf to go out and gather, I don't have it for making the crust.
I finally caved and bought puff pastry crusts and decided to just roll with that. For these experiments, its the greens that matter anyways.
So today I gathered more Garlic Mustard (and murdered even more of it, as it is horribly invasive), Cutleaf Toothwort, Dandelion Greens, Wild Garlic, and Chives that escaped my garden.
The Wild Garlic is what we called Spring Onions or Onion Grass when I was growing up. In the photo you can see the tiny bulbs on the ends. I also had chives that escaped my garden and it was pretty cool to compare the two side-by-side. The Wild Garlic had a mini version of a garlic bulb that even had little "cloves". The leaves are round and the stems hollowish. The runaway chives are solid throughout and look like a mini leek.
The Cutleaf Toothwort (Cardamine concatenata) is a new one to me this year and I am beyond delighted. I found several areas where it grows, including one that is very heavily covered with it (and loads of mayapple as you go further down the hill). This plant is a native, so not something I am looking to harvest for my SCA Apothecary (which has a 14th century English focus), but for my general Forestry and plant stuff? HECK YES. Want to read more about it and some uses for food? This is a great entry from Forager Chef about it.
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So I tasted the leaves and yes, peppery! It reminds me of a strong arugula, to which it is related, so no surprise. This plant is a bittercress and is in the mustard family. It had some bite! Supposedly the root tastes like horseradish, so I plan to dig some up at a later time to check it out.
Today, however, I tossed some in a salad with some store-bought lettuce (mine in the garden is too young yet), a chopped chive and some parmesan and Italian dressing and it was absolutely excellent. We are cooking a rib roast tomorrow and my partner wants to use the leaves to dress leftover beef sandwiches on Monday. I am looking forward to it.
Today, however, I tossed some in a salad with some store-bought lettuce (mine in the garden is too young yet), a chopped chive and some parmesan and Italian dressing and it was absolutely excellent. We are cooking a rib roast tomorrow and my partner wants to use the leaves to dress leftover beef sandwiches on Monday. I am looking forward to it.
For my hand pies, I sauteed the bulbs from the Wild Garlic in some butter, then added the greens. I did not cook the greens terribly long, and then had melted cream cheese in another pot that I added to it and a handful of parmesan and a sprinkle of salt.
I cut the two sheets of thawed puff pastry dough into 9 squares each and laid half on a buttered pan, topped with a dollup cheese/greens, wet the edges of the pastry and placed the top over it and pressed the edges down. I brushed butter on the top and baked them at 400 for 15 minutes.
The greens are concentrated and POTENT. I used a little over half the block of cream cheese and almost as much cooked greens, but I could easily have used half the the amount of greens (which were, by volume, predominantly the toothwort and garlic mustard). The pastries are still very good, but I would definitely cut down the next time and it honestly didn't need the added salt either.
I cut the two sheets of thawed puff pastry dough into 9 squares each and laid half on a buttered pan, topped with a dollup cheese/greens, wet the edges of the pastry and placed the top over it and pressed the edges down. I brushed butter on the top and baked them at 400 for 15 minutes.
The greens are concentrated and POTENT. I used a little over half the block of cream cheese and almost as much cooked greens, but I could easily have used half the the amount of greens (which were, by volume, predominantly the toothwort and garlic mustard). The pastries are still very good, but I would definitely cut down the next time and it honestly didn't need the added salt either.
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And of course, I always have help no matter what I am doing outside.
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