April: Morel Mushrooms: Theyyyy'rrrre Heeeerrreee

There is nothing like spotting a morel mushroom in the woods.  This little guy was one of three that we found on Saturday (4/20).  We were looking for black (grey) morels, but found this small yellow (brown).  Each of them was about the size of my thumb.  I'm hoping there will be more as it warms up and if there are, I will post our culinary experiments.

There is a lot of mystery surrounding this little mycological wonder mushroom.  Attempts to grow them in captivity were unsuccessful until pretty recently.  In my experience, they love tulip poplars and elms and despise pine trees.  I have frequently found them near the edge of a collection of pine trees, but they stop short of entering.  

A friend claims that the brown morel starts on hillsides near water and then moves up the slope and away from the water over the course of their short season (end of April-May).  I haven't seen this growth movement myself, but I did find these little guys near a stream on a southern facing slope near a dead elm.  

Beekeeping: Salvaging hives

This past Christmas I received perhaps the most personalized gift I have ever been given.  My sister-in-law paid to send me to a one-day beekeeping school so that I could get started keeping bees.  I don't think everyone would be as buzzing with excitement as I was to get such a gift.  

The class was great and I learned a great deal that I am excited to try out.  Above all, I learned that there are as many ways to keep bees as there are beekeepers. 

I came back excited to begin and met with two friends, Andy and Ben, who were also interested.  Then we looked at the startup cost.  Buy the hive and all of the equipment would cost us about $700 and then we needed to buy the bees.  Disappointed, I mentally started to put off beekeeping until I could afford it.  I've already taken on too many hobbies this year.

However, just when I was giving up hope, luck struck.  

As many things happen here in PA, a friend of a friend knows a guy who...used to keep bees but stopped and had several old hives that he was willing to give us to get started.  The only issue was that they had been sitting under tarps outside for several years and needed some care. 

So we headed out and picked out enough boxes for at least 4 hives.  One interesting thing about this beekeeper was that he only used deep hive bodies for his hives.  Most keepers use these boxes for the brood part of the hive.  That is, the bottom two boxes that contain the eggs of the hive.  Then, they use honey "supers" on top for the honey.  Supers are not as deep and fill with honey faster.  We may invest in them or see if this method of deep supers works.

All in all, the hives were in good shape once we cleaned them up, sanded them, and then put a fresh coat of paint on them.  I found a website that recommended this method of putting the boxes on boards across two horses so that you can rotate them and paint all four sides.  

Probably the most pain staking process was removing the comb from the old frames.  Many of the frames were beyond salvage unfortunately, but we were able to get enough for at least two hives.  

The previous beekeeper had used wax foundations wired into the frames.  This, it seems, is ideal because the bees smell the wax and feel at home.  However, it takes more work to install the individual frames with wire.  

We decided on wax coated, plastic foundation for this first hive.  Hopefully, we can eventually try out both and compare.  

You can see in the picture above that we saved the comb.  I tried melting it in an old crockpot to see if we could use the wax.  All I got for the trouble was a kinda nice smelling black mass of disgusting goo.  We dumped it and Andy made a joke about an shame-faced bear getting caught eating it..."Don't judge me..."

The next step will be installing the bees.  We ordered a nuc (5 frames of eggs with bees and a queen to get the hive started) from Green Mountain Apiary and it should be ready mid-May.

Dandelion Wraps

It's that time again.  Last year, I learned that I really enjoy the bright and slightly bitter taste of dandelion greens (especially cooked as a substitute for spinach).  

I've also started to have lettuce from my home aquaponic system and sprouts (Mung and Alfalfa currently) from my sprouter.  

Together this means salads and wraps for me.

I love wraps and I am always surprised by the calorie count.  So I decided to make them myself to cut down some of the fat.  I was surprised by how easy and delicious these turned out. I chopped up 2 cups of dandelions (freshly foraged), added flour, and cooked them on an ungreased skillet.  

I'll definitely keep working on this recipe.

Here's the recipe I used for this first experiment.  Next time, I would cut back the expensive high gluten flour.  I added it because I hate when wraps break open when bent.  It definitely worked.  I have never used high gluten flour before.  It is very, very sticky.  I would cut it back to 1 cup next time and replace it with all purpose.  

Ingredients

2 cups high gluten flour 

2 cups all-purpose flour

2-3 cups fresh dandelion greens

 1/4 teaspoon salt

 1 tablespoon butter ( unsalted) 

1/2 tablespoon olive oil 

2/3 cup water

Directions

1. In a cup, microwave water, butter and oil for a minute or two (enough to melt butter). 

2. Meanwhile in food processor place flour, sprinkle with salt and add spinach leaves. Chop until flour

turns green and there are no longer large leaf pieces.

3. Transfer green flour to a bowl and pour water mixture over top.

4. Knead with hands. If dough is too dry add a little water, if too wet add a little flour. (however this shouldn't be necessary).

5. Now form small balls and set them in back in the bowl.

6. Cover with a damp cloth/ paper towel. 

7. Let rest 15­30 minutes. 

8. Roll out your tortillas as thin as you can, over wax paper. 

9. Heat up your griddle or skillet over low heat. Do not grease.

10. Carefully peel your tortilla from the paper and place into hot skillet. 

11. Flip repeatedly to prevent burning. Allowing about 5-­8 seconds per side until golden bubbles appear on the tortilla ­ this means they are ready! 

12. Remove from heat and enjoy them warm or let them cool.

These were amazing and the dandelion flavor was very subtle after they were cooked.

Cider: Sumac Cider

Last year in February, I was intending to create a raspberry cider, but I had a quart jar of dried sumac berries, so I decided to give that a try.  

Staghorn Sumac grows everywhere here.  Growing up, I would see it along the road with these characteristic red spires.  Smooth and Staghorn sumac get a bad rap because of their loser cousin the poison sumac (Toxicodendron vernix). 

Poison sumac has white berries and grows in more swampy areas.  I have never seen it first hand, but I know the red spires are safe on either the furry Staghorn or the smooth varieties.  Sumac can be made into tea as I described here and it can also be used as a spice.  

Later I will post our experiments with cider from scratch, but this was my first batch and I used concentrated apple juice.  

Here's the recipe I used and a review:

One quart of sumac berries

13 Great Value cans of 100% apple juice

2 Old Orchard 100% juice apple raspberry

1 cup Wild flower honey

1 cup Corn sugar

1 lipton tea bag

2 Cote des Blancs yeast packets

Blended sumac berries in water and filtered through lined funnel.

Filled brew pot with water passed through berries

Brought to a boil

Briefly steeped the tea bag

Skimmed sumac berries off surface

Added honey and corn sugar

Also added 1 can of AJ and 1 can of AR

Boiled and then mixed with rest of cans and water

OG at 78 degrees = 1.058

After two weeks: 

SP at 64 degrees = 1.001

Full, rounded taste with a tartness.  

Cloudy with a bit of a pinkish hue.

Week later:

Added 1 can of Apple-Rasperry + 1/3 cup corn sugar to prime

Bottled.

Al./vol: 7.57

One year later:

A year later and the cider is very drinkable.  It is very dry and very carbonated.  In the future, I would increase the sumac content (it gave the cider an excellent red color and the tannins created a great base to add complexity).  I will also use 4-5 tea bags.

Also, I am looking to experiment with two methods for sweet, carbonated cider.  You can either pasteurize by adding more than priming sugar and then killing the yeast in the bottle (potential for bottle bombs) or you can sweeten with an unfermentable sugar (like Xylitol). 

Finally, now that I have made fresh, homemade cider, I will be retiring the concentrated apple juice.  

Mead: Raspberry Mead

So we had a great crop of Raspberries last summer and froze several pounds for future projects.  Then, I visited a local beekeeper and made a deal for several pounds of honey.  Time to make some raspberry mead.

Ingredients:

13 lb. Honey

10 lbs. Black and Red raspberries and some Blackberries

Campden Tablets

Potassium Sorbate

Oak chips

Xylitol 

acid blend

pectic enzyme

grape tannin

1 tsp yeast nutrient

Champagne yeast (Red Star)

I followed Jack Keller's recipe for fruit wines, except I substituted honey for the sugar.  Copied here:

Pick only ripe berries. Combine water and sugar and put on to boil, stirring occasionally. Wash and destem berries. Put in nylon straining bag, tie, put in botton of primary, and crush berries in bag. Pour boiling sugar-water over berries to set the color and extract the flavorful juice. Add acid blend, tannin and yeast nutrient. Allow to cool to 70 degrees F. and add crushed Campden tablet. Cover primary with plastic wrap secured with a large rubber band. Add pectic enzyme after 12 hours and wine yeast after additional 12 hours, resecuring plastic wrap each time. Stir daily for a week, replacing plastic wrap if it looks like it needs it. Remove nylon bag and allow to drip drain about an hour, keeping primary covered as before. Do not squeeze bag. Return drippings to primary and use bag of pulp for "second" wine if you made a double recipe (combine bags, but only make one gallon of "second" wine). Continue fermentation in primary another week, stirring daily. Rack to secondary, top up with water and fit airlock. 

After two weeks, I racked.  There was a lot of sediment and some berry seeds.  I added 1oz of oak chips in a muslin bag and left it in for one week.  I also added 2/3 cup xylitol for sweetness.

Finally, I added 2 campden tablets and 2 tsp of sorbate to stabilize and protect.  

After one week, the oak flavor was strong, but this was mostly gone after two months.

In January, I sampled.  It has a rose color and is very clear.  There is just a hint of raspberry scent and the "mead" flavor is not too strong.

Update (April, 2013)
Having enjoyed this mead on a few occasions now, I would make the following changes in the future.

 First, I would increase the pounds of raspberries to 12.  The raspberry flavor could be more pronounced and the mead is on the thin side currently.

Second, I would keep the oak chips in for two weeks.  The flavor was strong at first but was barely noticeable after a few months.  I'm scared of oak because I have heard it can overpower and ruin batches, but 1oz for 2 weeks sounds good.

Third, I visited a meadery in the finger lakes and learned that the brewer there makes the mead separate from the wine and then mixes them after fermentation to maintain flavor.  I would at least like to try this some time to see if it makes a noticeable difference.

Wine: Wild Grape Wine

Hiking near my house in Bellefonte, PA, I always see wild grapes hanging in the trees.  I pulled a bunch and tasted them.  The tannins are so strong that they made my mouth pucker and dry out instantly; however, they were also sweet so I decided to make some wine.

Once again, Jack Keller was my guru in this process.  Here is his recipe:


13 to 15 lbs ripe fall grapes
1/3 to 1/2 lb finely granulated sugar
1 crushed Campden tablet
3/4 tsp pectic enzyme
1 tsp yeast nutrient
1 pkg Lalvin 71B-1122 yeast

Destem and crush the grapes and place in nylon straining bag. Tie bag closed and place in primary. Squeeze bag to extract enough juice to float a hydrometer in its test jar. Calculate sugar required to raise specific gravity to 1.088. Add sugar and stir well to dissolve it completely. Add finely crushed Campden tablet and stir in well. Cover primary with sanitized muslin and set aside 10 hours. Add pectic enzyme and stir well. Recover primary and set aside additional 10 hours. Add activated yeast, recover primary, and squeeze bag twice daily until active fermentation dies down (5-7 days). Remove nylon straining bag and drain, then press to extract all juice. Transfer juice to secondary, top up if required and fit airlock. Ferment 30 days, rack into clean secondary, top up, and refit airlock. Rack again after additional 30 days and stabilize wine. Sweeten to taste if desired and set aside 30 days, or forego sweetening, set aside 10-14 days, and rack into bottles. Age three to six months.

The only change I had to make was that I did not find 13 pounds of grapes so I had to added more sugar to bring the specific gravity up to 1.080.

Update (September 2012)
I racked a second time into a gallon jug and a growler.  It had a nice pink color and was mostly clear.  I added 4 oak chips to the growler and having tasted both, I would definitely oak in the future.

Added campden tablet + potassium sorbate to both.

Update (10/28/12)

Bottling day

Oaked
Pleasant, thin taste.  Nice blush color.

Unoaked

Thin, lighter, not as good, but no off flavors

Update (April 2013)
I just took a bottle to Andy's house for a party.  A guest I didn't know mentioned she really enjoyed it and didn't know I made it.  I'll take that as high complement.  I would definitely oak this wine in the future and I would add more if I can find them (where there is a will...).

Cider: Cider from scratch

Post in Progress

8/26/12

Home pressed Cider

See Apple butter cider file for details

Ph: 3.2

OG: 1.032

1 Bushel = 2.3 gallons with mush

Added 5lbs honey and other suggested ingredients (2/3 tsp acid bled).  Filled to 5.5 gallons.

New PH: 3.4

OG:1.060

Bubbling in less than 12 hours

9/2/12

Racked

Cloudy

SG: 1.000

9/26/12

Clear and tasty.  A bit yeast-mead ish. 

Added ½ gallon of home made cider with press, added:

            -4.5 teaspoons potassium sorbate

            -4 campden tablets (crushed)

Somewhere in here I added 6-8 cinnamon sticks.  I didn’t boil, I just added with the campden and PS.  I would use less next time. 

10/14/12

Bottling

Very clear

Ph: 3.6

Not too sweet.  Hint of Cinnamin.  Very tasty.

SO2= 30

Added ½ teaspoon acid blend

And 1/3 teaspoon wine tannins

½ cup sugar

1 cup apple cider

Slammer Cider

Pressed a mix of Game Land Apples and made 10 gallons of cider

Decided to not add any campden before yeast

Added pectin enzyme and 1.3 tablespoons of nutrient

Used one packet of fruit wine yeast (red star)

9/24/12

Bubbling already

10/1/12

Racked

Lots of sediment

Acidic, but only 3.6ph…volatile acids? Hope not

Added water to both to top off

Added sumac water to one.  Boiled Sumac in water, added ice, racked on top

10/28/12

Sumac Cider

No noticeable sumac color

SG: less than 1

Weak flavor

Added three cinnamon sticks, 1 clove, and 1 cup xylitol

Non-Sumac

More acidic

Same color

Also at Sg: 1 or lower

Added three cinnamon sticks, 1 clove, and 1 cup xylitol

Added concentrate at bottling with another ½ cup of xylitol for sweetness.

11/4/12

Bottled with Andy.

The sumac smelled like Uric acid…or urine.   We’ll see if that settles out after bottle conditioning.  Andy said the taste was good though. 

Used a can of apple juice concentrate for priming. 

Cinnamon flavor was very week.  Haven’t tried a bottle though. 

I don’t remember how much xylitol I added for sweetener, but I did add more before bottling.  I also added more red zinger tea.