So I went out with Andy in search for the chaga fungal growth on a line of birch trees that grew up on the top ridge that was logged years ago. There were a great deal of black birch that were thin and tightly packed. I'm pretty sure there was a great deal of chaga also, but it was thin and what looked like large deposits turned out to be wood growths with a bit of chaga on the outside. I'll explain about the chaga in another post (especially if I find a good batch).
Today's post is about wild onions and dandelion greens.
Andy had dandelions growing in a garden plot he has generally let go. They were big and early, so I picked them and made a salad at his house with balsamic dressing. It was my first dandelion salad. They are very tasty, if a bit bitter.
According to the USDA, dandelion greens rank in the top 4 green vegetables. According to these data, dandelions are nature's richest green vegetable source of beta-carotene (higher than carrots!), from which Vitamin A is created, and the third richest source of Vitamin A of all foods, after cod-liver oil and beef liver! They also are particularly rich in fiber, potassium, iron, calcium, magnesium, phosphorus and the B vitamins, thiamine and riboflavin, and are a good source of protein.
Andy also pointed out some wild onions along the way. I've picked the "chives" of these before and chewed on them, but I had never dug out the bulbs before. Andy and I chewed on them and they were a bit spicy, very garlic-y, and they stuck with you in the mouth for a long time (several hours). It reminded me of the students in New York State that would get sent home for eating wild leeks (I'm still dying to get a hold of those btw).
So I ended up having wild onions and dandelions to make dinner with. Amanda picked up some salmon fillets and asparagus (haven't found a wild patch yet...). I found a recipe at the following site:
http://uktv.co.uk/food/recipe/aid/513231
I modified it to only use wild onions for the spring onions it called for and used dandelion greens for the spinach in the original recipe. I also added soy sauce.
Wow. This recipe is a keeper. It was amazing. Might not be the best for a data cause the wild onion lingers, but otherwise, I don't think I have ever tasted anything like it.
Recipe:
- 2 large new potatoes, scrubbed. We left the skin on and just mashed that right in.
- freshly ground salt and black pepper
- Milk to mash
- 40 g butter
- 8-14 wild onion shoots with bulbs
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- 2 salmon, about 125g each, skinned
- 2 tbsp Cooking Sherry
- 3/5 cup half and half (to all the exact measurement chefs...sorry if this drives you nutz...it's an estimate!)
- Handful of cleaned Dandelion greens
Method
1. Boil the potatoes in a saucepan of lightly salted water for about 12 minutes until just tender. Drain well and return to the pan to dry off a little over the lingering heat.Using a fork, mash the potatoes, gradually working in as much milk as you need until you have a smooth puree.
3. Meanwhile, heat 20g of butter in a frying pan. Add the wild onions and fry, stirring now and then, for 1-2 minutes. Beat the wild onions into the potato, season well and keep warm.
4. Heat the remaining butter with the olive oil in a large frying pan, add a tbsp of soy sauce and more wild onions.
5. Season the salmon with freshly ground pepper. Add to the pan and fry for about 2 minutes on each side, or longer for thicker-cut fillets, until just firm.
6. Remove the salmon from the pan and keep warm. Add the sherry and allow to bubble for 1-2 minutes, then add the cream and cook for about 2 minutes until reduced by about a third.
7. Season the cream sauce with salt and freshly ground pepper, then add the shredded dandelion greens and cook for a few seconds until wilted.
8. To serve, spoon the mashed potato mixture onto the centre of two warmed serving plates. Place a fish fillet on top and spoon over the wild garlic sauce.
9. Enjoy!!!
