Welcome to What's for Dinner! I'm going to talk about foraging for wild food on the island where I live, pretty much, three seasons out of the year. I am hoping, though, that you will talk about what's for dinner at your house in the comments. Just like in an old-fashioned troll diary, no recipe goes unnoticed here.
Coastal New England isn't the only place where you can find goodies in the forest, in the water and in the fields but it is one heck of a good place to find things growing wild that you can eat. Some of them are surprising, like ferns, and some of them are no-brainers, like wild berries and shellfish. All of them are delicious, and tonight we'll talk about what to do with them. We will also address the issue of game and I will divulge my recipe for deer or moose braised with aromatics and red wine.
Follow me over the fold and bring your appetite with you....
Foraging for Wild Food on The Rock
Our harbor at sunset. The Rock is to your left. Lots of people know exactly where this is but I would appreciate it if we didn't name it, or it's port town, here on the Daily Kos to protect our rapidly dwindling privacy.
For each thing there is a season, and in this case sometimes more than one, but early Spring which is still is here in mid-coast Maine, is the season for fiddlehead ferns. While the ostrich fern is generally meant here, there are other kinds which you'll find in the spring curled up like the scroll of a violin which are also edible. The ostrich fern you'll know not only by its "scroll" but also by the papery brown covering on the outside. The stalk also has a deep groove in it. If you come across these ferns, they are definitely edible and without question delicious.
Growing near brooks and in wetlands, you'll find them in bulk in April and May in Maine--earlier in the south, until about this time of May Down East. In other parts of New England you may find them commercially available at places like Whole Foods Market or in farmers' markets. They make delicious eating, and while some people say they taste like asparagus, I disagree--they taste like fiddleheads. Here's two ways to prepare them:
Steamed Fiddleheads
Gather some fiddleheads when they are between one and three inches off the ground and wash them well but first remove the brown, papery membrane. This is best done with a vegetable brush like you might use for cleaning mushrooms, with soft bristles. When you've washed them, place them in a pot and cover with enough water to barely immerse them. Add about a teaspoon of salt for two cups of fiddeheads. Bring to a boil and then cover, reducing the heat to low. Steam for about five minutes--don't overcook! Drain immediately. Saute them in some butter until tender adding some freshly ground black pepper. Serve as a vegetable with your meal or put them over buttered toast. Fiddleheads are delicious when you spoon a little English mint sauce over them, commercially available from Cross and Blackwell or you can make your own by steeping chopped mint in water and vinegar (1:2) with a handful of sugar and a little salt.
Pickled Fiddleheads
For six pints of pickled Fiddleheads:
Take one quart of good vinegar
Three to Five cups of sugar, depending on how sweet you want them to be
Three teaspoons of salt
An heaping tablespoon each of black peppercorns, mustard seed, turmeric, plus about five whole cloves.
Boil these ingredients and allow to cool to a medium-hot temperature. Blanch the fiddleheads in water for a few minutes and drain. In the meanwhile, you will have pint canning jars, lids and rings sterilized in your water-bath canner. Working quickly, bring the vinegar mixture back to a boil while you fill the jars with the blanched fiddleheads. Pour mixture over the ferns up to about a quarter of an inch of the top. Cover with covers and rings. Process in water-bath canner for ten minutes. Be sure to check your seals after the jars cool. These pickles will be ready to eat in about three months.
Chanterelle Mushrooms
Of all of the wild mushrooms you're likely to encounter, these are the easiest to spot and thus, the safest to eat. They look like a little trumpet, and have the coloring of an egg-yolk--which is perhaps why the Austrians call them Eierschwammeln or "egg-mushrooms". They can be found in coniferous forests in spring and in fall. They have a bit of a piquant bite but are very, very tasty. I harvest them on The Rock every year and I never tell anyone else where I find them. Be careful not to pull them up but rather cut them at the ground with a knife or a scissor--otherwise, you'll disturb their underground "network" that brings them back again. Do not wash mushrooms: if there is dirt or pine needles, brush them away gently with a vegetable brush.
Chanterelles make a wonderful addition to stuffing for birds and with some cornbread and pine nuts and dried apricots make a wonderful stuffing for pork chops. But what I really like to do with them will send you running for your cholesterol medicine....
Creamed Chanterelles
Clean about three cups of chanterelle mushrooms and chop in thirds (or in half if they are small). Saute in a about four tablespoons of butter, adding a little black pepper (no salt yet) and half a small strong yellow onion finely chopped until just tender. Just at the end, add some Fino sherry, vermouth or dry white wine and allow it to reduce just enough not to curdle the cream. Set aside.
Make a roux with two tablespoons of butter and a scant two tablespoons of flour. Add a cup and a half of half-and-half with a quarter of a cup of white wine added. Allow to thicken, though if it gets too thick, add a little more wine. Add mushrooms and onions with any liquid that remains in the saute pan. Add a pinch of nutmeg and salt to taste. Allow to simmer gently for a few minutes.
Serve this over rice, toast, or puff pastry shells. Asparagus is an excellent accompaniment, especially in the spring and when locally grown. Garnish the creamed mushrooms with some finely chopped chives. Serve a tart, white wine with this.
You will be pleased with the result. Your doctor, however....
I was going to include more recipes, however I have had connectivity problems here on the Rock today. Enjoy these, and don't forget: the forest has unlimited possibilities.