Dandelion Egg Noodles

May 18, 2018 by Kelsey Fast in Find, Eat

I feel I have to preface this recipe by stating that I am by no means a pasta expert. There are no Italians in my family, so I'm basically just making it up as I google along. This method has been working pretty well for me so far, so I thought I'd share it. A few things that have helped my amateur self have been my Kitchen Aid stand mixer, Vitamix blender, and marble rolling pin (this last one is because I don't have a pasta machine - although I do have my eye on this - and the heaviness of the marble pin helps get the dough thin enough)

I've written about making dandelion greens into pesto to use in a pasta sauce before, but this time I added the puree right into the dough for the noodles. This uses way more leaves than you'd eat in the average salad, so it's a great way of packing more vegetable content into a meal that is pretty carb-focused.

Dandelion Egg Noodles

Ingredients

4 cups dandelion greens
2 large eggs
3-4 cups flour

Takes 20 min, serves 4-6.

Instructions

Using a high powered blender or food processor blend dandelion greens into a fine puree. Add a small amount of water if needed to get things moving.
Put three cups of flour in the bowl of a stand mixer (or on a flat tabletop if you want to knead them the traditional way). Make a well in the middle, and add eggs and dandelion puree. Knead until smooth and homogenous. Add more flour if the dough is still too sticky to roll out.
Sprinkle flour over a large countertop and roll out to a thinness where you could see your fingers through the dough (this will be thinner than the ones in my photo). Use more flour if necessary to keep it from sticking, but you don't want to add too much and make them too dry.
Using a very light dusting of flour to keep things from sticking, fold the dough over top itself a few times, and cut with a sharp knife into noodles.
Boil for a few minutes in very salty water, and finish in whatever sauce you prefer.

To support my blogging endeavours, this post contains affiliate links from which I receive a small commission if you make a purchase. Every product linked here is one I have used personally and would recommend based on my experience.

Wild Lettuce Soup

May 07, 2018 by Kelsey Fast in Find, Eat

Wild lettuce is something I've been foraging this year that's new to me. I noticed a whole bunch of it popping up last year, but only recognized what it was when it was about three feet tall, flowering, and too bitter to imagine eating. This spring when the snow finally melted, I noticed several of these little rosettes, and it occurred to me that the leaves looked almost like skinny lettuce. I threw a few photos up on one of the amazingly helpful Plant Identification groups on Facebook, and did a bit of googling, and realized that their resemblance to lettuce was because they were! The following hints about how to identify wild lettuce are not comprehensive enough to guarantee what you've found. Before eating any wild plant please do your research and make sure you know what you are eating. There's no good reason to risk eating something that you are not 100% sure of.

This wild member of the lactuca family is the ancestor of the lettuce you see in the grocery store. You want to make sure you harvest it young, because otherwise it becomes too bitter. Look for lush leaves coming up in a rosette, with somewhat wavy and possibly even slightly prickly edges. The midrib of each leaf should have some prickles forming on the back. One of the most telltale signs is a milky sap when you break off a leaf.

Milky sap is usually an indicator that the plant is something you shouldn't be eating, but notable exceptions include wild lettuce, and also the dandelion. These bitter spring greens are the perfect thing to eat after a winter of rich and heavy food. I think that is one of the beautiful things about seasonal eating.

Wild lettuce is, in fact, very bitter. It goes even beyond most kales I've eaten, and some people will have a very hard time eating it. While you could include it in your spring salad mix, I find it more palatable cooked. The soup below was a really nice way to eat these greens, and the bitterness balanced out the richness of the other ingredients beautifully. If you still find them too bitter try leaving it to eat until the next day. When I ate the leftovers I found the flavour had completely mellowed and was even more delicious.

Wild Lettuce and Bacon Soup

If you still like the look of this recipe but can't find any wild lettuce, swap it out for kale or another strong and bitter green that you have on hand.

One large onion
Two cloves garlic
5 - 6 slices bacon
4 - 5 Yukon gold potatoes
2 - 3 cups wild lettuce
2 tbsp butter
2 cups milk
Rosemary
Basil
Paprika
Red Pepper Flakes
Salt
1 tbsp lemon Juice

Melt the butter in the bottom of your pot, and as it heats mince the onion. Sauté until translucent. Mince the garlic and add.
Add the bacon and cook until crispy.
While the bacon is cooking, chop the potatoes into small, bite sized pieces. Add them into the pot and sauté briefly.
Cover everything with water and simmer until the potatoes are cooked.
Pour in milk, and add spices in the amounts that you like. Bring back to temperature, and chop the wild lettuce. Throw it in and put the lid on for a few minutes. Once the greens are steamed slightly stir them in.
When the lettuce is just wilted add the lemon juice and taste to see if you need to adjust your spices. When you are happy with everything it is ready to enjoy!

Meals From the Pantry: Strawberry Lemon Frozen Yogurt with Chamomile

May 04, 2018 by Kelsey Fast in Eat

I am getting to the point where the garden is coming to life, and I am harvesting quite a few wild plants so the recipes here are going to start to focus on more seasonal ingredients, but I wanted to post one more recipe to my Meals from the Pantry series before fully switching gears. While Frozen yogurt might not strike you as a "use up what you already have" type of recipe, the key ingredient here is jam or preserves, and I have quite a bit of that from the past canning season to use up!

I love making jam.

There's just something about commingling the different flavours that I really enjoy. I like to add unexpected herbs, or combine flavours you might not have thought of. Marisa McLellan's Food In Jars was my gateway to creative preserving, while still keeping all the guidelines for safe food preservation in the forefront. If you are going to do something like this, it is very important hat you make sure you follow the protocols to keep whoever is eating your preserves safe from botulism and other issues. One problem with my love of making jam is that I have now made so much more than I or my family can ever eat! I have given some away, but I am still left with quite a backlog, so I've been trying to think of different ways to use it all up. One day it struck me: frozen yogurt!

I used an ice cream maker, because I have one that I love, but there are methods out there for freezing ice cream without one. I think you can put your mixture in a container and remember to stir it up every hour or so until you like the consistency. I'll link to the ice cream maker I use if you're in the market for one.

While full fat yogurt, and heavy cream might require you to make an extra purchase, they are staples in my fridge. When making frozen yogurt or ice cream, it is important to get enough fat into the mixture, so because yogurt usually doesn't contain that much fat, it is important to add a bit more so that when your mixture freezes you don't get an unpleasant mouthfeel. The same is true with sugar. This recipe doesn't have any extra sugar, because we are using very sugary jam. A lot of people think of frozen yogurt as something healthy, but it really isn't. That doesn't mean you shouldn't indulge, but I'm not going to pretend like it's any healthier than a bowl of ice cream. Indulge in moderation (or not - I have zero moderation when it comes to ice cream). As always, if you try one of these recipes let me know! I'd love to see your posts on social media tagged #aforagerspantry, or drop a link in the comments!

Strawberry Lemon Frozen Yogurt with Chamomile

Ingredients

One 500ml container of lemon yogurt with as high a fat percentage as you can find.
1/2 cup heavy cream
2 cups strawberry chamomile jam or preserves

Takes 30 minutes, serves 4.

Instructions

Whisk all the ingredients together in a bowl trying to incorporate as little air as you can.
Freeze mixture according to your ice cream maker's instructions, or using whatever method you prefer.
Scoop out of the bowl of your ice cream maker, and freeze in a container for a couple hours if you want it to be harder than soft-serve consistency. I like using a bread pan for this purpose because of the shape, but I'm looking for something that has a lid without being plastic.

Growing Pea Shoots and a Couple Ways to Eat Them

May 02, 2018 by Kelsey Fast in Grow, Eat

They are rising in popularity these days - and have long been popular with some cultures outside North America - but pea shoots still aren't something you find on your average grocery store shelf. I've snipped a few here and there from the peas I've grown, but this year I tried growing them in flats kind of like you would with micro greens and I'm not sure why I didn't start doing this earlier!

Growing pea shoots this way you have all the deliciousness of fresh peas without waiting until the pods are ready to harvest. I can't believe I didn't start doing this earlier!

The variety I used (linked above) is an heirloom pea that actually has beautiful red flowers if you let it grow longer. It is known for its' strong, succulent tendrils which is why it is a great candidate for growing in this way. All you need to do is fill a flat tray like the seed starting tray in the photo below (linked above) almost to the top with a good quality potting soil suitable for growing vegetables (I used promix and I've linked it above as well although I will say I've seen it cheaper elsewhere). Scatter the pea seeds on top. You can crowd them in pretty closely because you're going to cut them when they are only a few inches high so you don't have to really worry about them competing for nutrients. Cover them with a bit more soil, and then water thoroughly, but not to the point of creating a swamp.

After you've got them planted the upkeep is really simple. Just make sure to keep it moist without letting it get waterlogged. You really won't need to water much as there is no drainage, but you do need to keep the seeds moist so that they actually sprout. Once they are around six inches tall you can harvest them at any time, but don't let them get too much longer or they will be a bit tough. Use these as you would use any other spring green - in salads, as part of a sandwich filling, in a frittata - you name it! Here are a few things that I've been making recently to give you a few ideas.

Pea Shoot Green Sauce

Ingredients

Pea Shoots
Green Garlic, or 1 Garlic Clove
Lemon Juice
Salt
Olive Oil

Takes 15 min, serves 6.

Instructions

Put pea shoots, green garlic, juice of half a lemon (go easy here as it can be overpowering and you'll have a chance to add more later), teaspoon of salt (again, you'll have the chance to add more later if you need to), and enough olive oil to make it liquid enough to blend in a blender or food processor. Pea shoots are soft enough that a mortar and pestle would work as well, but it would take longer.
Blend until you like the consistency. I keep mine chunkier because I like to spread it on toast (adding a fried egg on top is an incredible idea as well).
Taste and add more salt, lemon juice, or olive oil until you like the taste and texture. Spread it on toast, use it as a dip, or put it on a burger - the options are endless!

Ginger Miso Sautéed Pea Shoots

Ingredients

Large Bunch of Pea Shoots (overesimate as they shrink down quite a bit with cooking)
Small thumb of Ginger, minced
1 tsp Miso Paste
Butter or Olive Oil for Sautéing

Takes 15 min, serves 2-4 Depending on the amount of pea shoots. Estimate 1 large handful per person..

Instructions

Heat the butter or oil in a frying pan on medium-low heat.
Whisk the ginger and miso into the butter until it blends into a sauce.
Arange sliced mozzarella and tomato on flatbread. Place back in oven until cheese is melted and bubbly.
Add the pea shoots and sauté until wilted, but not mushy.

Meals From the Pantry - Sourdough Doughnuts

March 09, 2018 by Kelsey Fast in Eat

I think this recipe will be a fitting post after long break from posting anything here. February was a really full month, and I found myself working on lots of projects and finding little time to write about them. Currently were are working on moving around all our furniture which takes a while for us, because we usually need to live in a space for a while to really get a feel for if something is working or not. It gets annoying, but it means we deep clean fairly frequently, so that's not all bad.

I wanted to share my recipe for sourdough doughnuts as part of my "Meals From the Pantry" series. If you've been following along you'll know that the main idea of these recipes is to use what you have on hand. This one is a little bit different, because I know not everyone has a sourdough starter, but it's something that takes common ingredients, very little work, and adds a whole lot of depth to your baking options. Mine lies dormant in my fridge for a month at a time, sometimes, and it's still kicking. A while back I reviewed the book Sourdough: Slow Bread for Busy People, and I really recommend it as a great resource for demystifying the process of baking this way. I'm not getting any benefit from saying that - this is just a book that I've found helpful and wanted to let you know about. Anyone can do this - if I can fit it into my unpredictable schedule you can for sure!

The other reason I like this recipe and feel it fits the topic, is that it helps me use up my jam. I have made a lot of jam over the past few years, and we haven't eaten through it at the rate I've made it. I had some peach ginger jam I made an embarrassing amount of years ago which was still completely safe to eat, but a bit past its prime in terms of peak flavour. Combined with the tang of the sourdough, and the sweet-bitter flavour of the caramel sauce they were glazed with it still worked perfectly. I also feel that I need to give a bit of a disclaimer, that I am not an expert at doing this, but I am sharing my method which is sometimes a bit less technical than most bakers, but part of the beauty of sourdough baking is that it can be forgiving that way. It can also be a bit random, and everyone's starters are different, so sometimes it takes practice to really understand what you are working with.

So the basic process to go from sourdough starter to doughnuts, is that you take a bit of your starter, mix it with some more flour, sugar, and water, and allow that to ferment for about four hours. Below you can see it just mixed, and after the full fermentation where it is all relaxed and bubbly.

After that, you mix that with some milk until there are no lumps remaining. Add eggs, more sugar and flour, salt, and butter. You can also optionally flavour your dough with lemon zest, or other things like that. I tried it once this way, but I prefer the dough more plain so you don't have to contend with the lemon when you are planning your filling and glaze. As much as we treat lemon and vanilla as basic flavours, they don't actually always go with everything.

This rests on your counter for several hours. You can choose to put it in the fridge at this point if you need to take a break or you know your timing will be awkward leading up to when you will be able to fry them. For me this slowed the process down way too much for my timeline, and changed the quality of the dough when I finally had to finish them. You want this dough to be completely risen so that the finished dough balls are light and fluffy and float in the oil. If they are underdone they will sink and/or not cook completely all the way through. When this happened to me I started flattening them out really thin before I put them in the oil, but this did change the texture quite a bit. Still pretty tasty, but the fluffier version was my favourite.

When the dough is risen, completely fluffy and when you poke it it feels soft and airy, you'll want to form it into round dough balls. These should be about 70 grams each, but the size is really up to you. Leave these to rise for another four hours until they are very soft. When placed in the oil they should float because they are so filled with air.

After you feel they are ready, heat up your oil - I used a 50/50 mix of coconut oil and home rendered lard because it was what I had enough of, and I really liked how it turned out. You want at least two inches between the floating doughnut and the bottom of the pan. Unfortunately I don't have a thermometer, so I put a little piece of dough in when I thought it was hot enough and watched to see if it got all crazy bubbly (which I took to mean it was ready - I know, very unscientific, but it worked). It's a good idea to consider your first doughnut as a sacrifice to checking the oil temperature and making sure you've got your cooking times right. A few minutes on each side is all it should take. Remember that the dough will continue cooking for a little bit even after you take them out due to the residual heat, and that the structure seems to firm up a bit as it cools, so wait a little while before you cut into it to check if it cooked all the way through. If you are happy with it, start cooking the rest. Keep in mind that you might need to adjust your oil temperature part of the way through since the oil will get hotter as you fry with it.

When the doughnuts are completely cool cut a small slit in the sides. Prepare a piping bag with a metal tip by filling it with whatever jam (or other filling you like - I used rose hip curd blended into whipped cream once and that was fantastic) you will be using. Insert the tip into the slit, and gently squeeze. You should be able to feel the doughnut getting full so you know when to stop. This might take a bit of practice. Glaze the doughnuts with whatever you like, but for the jam I was using I chose to make a runny caramel sauce.

Caramel from scratch is simple, and made with really basic ingredients, but you need to pay close attention to what you are doing. The point between sugar being perfect, and sugar being burnt is very fine, so this is not the time to multitask! Watch that sugar like a hawk. Pour it over the doughnuts when it is still hot. I imagine a caramel glaze would be delicious with just about any flavour of jam.

Sourdough Doughnuts with Jam Filling and Caramel Glaze

Ingredients

25 g sourdough starter
90 g flour
30 g sugar
90 g warm water

Takes 2 days, yields 12 - 20 doughnuts.

Instructions

Mix all the ingredients together and let sit in a covered bowl (cling wrap, beeswax cloth, or a damp tea towel are useful here) to ferment for four hours in a warm place.

    Making the Doughnuts
    For the Doughnuts
    All the pre-made starter
150 g milk
3 eggs
100 g sugar
6 g salt
500 g flour
120 g butter

      Instructions
    Blend the starter in the milk until there are no lumps remaining.  If you are in a hurry, first warm the bowl and the milk gently (but not to scalding) so that the fermentation becomes more active sooner.
Add the sugar, and eggs, and then mix in the flour.  Knead until the dough is smooth, and elastic.  This should be about 5 minutes.  The dough will be really stiff at this point, so I recommend a mixer with a dough hook if you have one. 
Cube the butter, and knead it into the dough at this point until you can't see any more lumps.
At this point take a look at the dough.  It should be a fairly tacky dough, but if it is still too wet to work with, you can add a little more flour at this point.  Go lightly, though because adding too much will really take away from your finished product.  The wetter it can be while still being workable the better.
Place this dough in a covered bowl and allow to ferment for 6 - 8 hours (at this point if you need a break - for even up to a day or two - you can put the dough in the fridge to slow down fermentation until you have time to work on them again), or until you can see that the dough has doubled in size, and when you touch it it feels airy and springy. 
Divide the dough and shape into balls that weigh around 70 grams each.  This will give you smallish doughnuts and bring you close to the 20 amount stated in the yield at the beginning of the recipe.  I found that smaller was better as sourdough is a more filling bread than one leavened with commercial yeast.  Since we are also filling these and glazing them they are pretty rich so this is the size I liked.  Feel free to change it up if you want fewer, larger doughnuts.
Place the dough balls on a lightly flowered surface and cover with plastic, or a (warm) wet tea towel and allow to ferment in a warm place for another four hours, or until the doughnuts have again doubled and feel very light and airy when touched.
Heat enough oil in a fryer, or heavy pot to allow two inches of oil between the doughnuts and the bottom of the pot.  If it sizzles and bubbles when you put a small piece of dough in it is probably ready.  
Fry one doughnut for 3 - 4 minutes on one side, and 2 minutes on the second side until evenly browned.  Leave it on the counter for a minute or two, and then cut to test if your time is correct.  You could probably also use a cake tester or something similar, but I wanted to see what the structure of the crumb looked like inside.  It should be light and pillowy.
Fry the rest of your doughnuts!

    Filling the Doughnuts
Ingredients
    1 Pint sized (500 ml) jar of jam

  Instructions
    When the doughnuts are completely cool cut a small slit in the side of each one.
Prepare a piping bag and metal tip with your jam, and fill all the doughnuts.

    Making the Glaze
For the Caramel Glaze
    1 cup sugar
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup salted butter
1/2 cup heavy cream

  Instructions
    Mix the sugar and water in a saucepan to start dissolving and place on medium high heat.  Don't stir it again, but if you need to you can gently swirl to help the sugar dissolve evenly. Watch it very closely.  It will take a while to change colour, but once it starts it happens fast.  
When the sugar has reached a deep amber colour, add the butter.  It will bubble up a lot.  Just keep stirring until it is melted in.
Slowly drizzle the cream in a this point.  It will bubble up like crazy again.  Keep whisking until you have a smooth sauce.
Drizzle or brush the sauce on the doughnuts while it is still hot and very liquid.

  