March - Dandelion and wild onions

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!!!