This Week at Foraged and Found Edibles 2/6

The warm weather is bringing in more greens and mushrooms than we usually see this time of year. It is always a hopeful feeling to see the first crocuses popping their pretty heads out in city yards, and it's the same feeling as seeing the first tender nettles poking out to get a move on their long season of prickly take over. Nettles and crocuses are some of the first new green growth here when the weather tilts its head towards spring. Early daffodils are on there way. Chickweed and other tender greens are sprouting in mats soaking in the moist soil too. I think I will have a real garden salad tonight.

chickweed and wood sorrel in my yard

At the markets this weekend:

Black Trumpets - only available at Ballard Market

Yellow Foot Chanterelles

Hedgehogs

Nettles

Watercress - only at Ballard

Orcas Island Wedding Feast

I was lucky to have one of the greatest cooking opportunities of my life placed before me on Memorial Day weekend. Let me set the scene:

What: Two old friends, finally tying the knot with their families in tow. End of May bounty at my disposal.

Who: A beautiful highly accomplished creative chef and the other a handsome wine-know, well posed server - a striking duo.

Where: Orcas Island, waterfront cottage and lush homestead on a small inlet.

My inspirations were overflowing for the event. First of all, it's a wedding - bring out all the stops, feast ‘til you drop, and only the best ingredients! Secondly, cooking for great lovely foodie friends- creative freedom and reasons for extra special touches. Thirdly, it's spring - so many awesome things to work with!
I made a list of possible ingredients - morels, porcini, seabeans, watercress, miner's lettuce, violets, asparagus, peas and favas (from down south), green garlic, spring onions, oysters, spot prawns, razor clams...to name just a few. The bride and groom had some requests which were a good jumping off point- they knew they wanted lamb two ways and lots of seafood. My head exploded with ideas, I never had the occasion to do such a lush menu. For some reason I had this obsession with adding flowers to everything...the wedding bells were ringing in ears!

Looking at the bounty that we gathered for the meal I was floored by all the beautiful ingredients we procured from our gardens, friends and farmers in the area. Local Roots Farm radishes and baby turnips. Foraged and Found mushrooms and wild greens. Kurtwood Farm raw milk for making yogurt. Coffelts Farm Lamb from Orcas. Spot Prawns and Razor Clams from my friend Doug in Grayland. A dozen or so herbs from the Corson Building's garden and my own yard too....
the Menu....

After the ceremony - served on a lookout deck over the water
Hibiscus Orange Flower Water Ice Tea
Judd Cove Oysters With Celery Shiso Mignonette
Spring Seven Layer Dip- ricotta, peavines, peamole, fennel lemon salad, sheep cheese, scallions, pinenuts
Hazelnut Dukkah With Olive Oil
Pacific Razor Clam Seviche with Aleppo Pepper,Whole Lemon, Parsley
Mt Townsend Seastack Cheese
Crudite and Crackers
Sit down - served family style on the cottage deck
Shaved Bolete and Artichoke Salad on Lemon Balm Leaves
Razor Clams with Dill, Scallions, and Fried Shallots
Spot Prawns with Soft Almonds, Butter and Saffron

Seafood Fiesta Platter!
Chilled Spot Prawns, Tiny New Potatoes, Asparagus, Sea Beans, Fiddleheads, Hard Boiled Eggs, Baby Miners Lettuce, Creamy Sorrel Anchovy Sauce

Roasted Leg of Lamb rubbed with Sumac and Cinnamon
Lamb Kefte with Cumin and Allspice
Morels, Peas and Fava Beans
Yellow Violet Mint Sauce
Homemade Yogurt
Rose Petal Harissa

Pickled Fennel with Golden Raisins and Coriander
Red Wine Pickled Spring Onions with Rosewater
Homemade Pita

This Week at Foraged and Found Edibles

The seabean season has begun. Also known as salicornia, glasswort or pickleweed. This salty tide flat plant adds texture and fun. Can be eaten raw or cooked. Perfect with fish dishes, potato salads, soups, and dishes with an Asian flair.

Spring kings are here! The spring flush is on. Kings Boletes (also known as porcini in Italian) will be available off and on into July. Quantities are limited but it is worth coming to the market in early hours to hopefully pickup some of these beauties.











Porcinis grow from small firm buttons to large spongy giants. Because of this difference in size, texture, and gill formation we sell them in different grades. One is not necessarily better than the other, just different and used for varying types of preparations. It is like the difference between baby vs mature zucchini.

Small button boletes(#1's) are firmer fleshed, and can have a longer shelf life. Use for roasting, sauteing, and can be eaten raw. Also good if you want a picture perfect presentation. Medium to large boletes(#2's) are softer moist fleshed, with a slightly more pronounced flavor. These are perfect for sauces, sauteed, or my favorite, grilled. The mature gills on the older mushrooms are delicious when grilled- crispy on the outside, custardy on the the inside. Remember boletes are best eaten asap, shelf life can vary but you don't want the bugs to beat you to the feast. And always refrigerate.

Also still in season- fiddlehead ferns, miner's lettuce, watercress, and morels.

Seen at the farmers stalls this week-
The first snap peas! from Alvarez Farms from Eastern WA (I could live on snap peas- minimum allocation -2 lbs a week)
Lots of greens- spinach, scallions, spring onions, mint and garlic scapes
Asparagus is still marching in droves- great with morel mushrooms

Foraged and Found Edibles is a northwest wild food business selling locally to restaurants and at farmers market in the Seattle area. Throughout the summer you will find us Saturdays at the University District Market, and Sundays at Ballard and West Seattle markets.

Devil's Club is not a goth bar

Even though I have only tried it once, I must start out by saying that Devils Club is my new favorite wild food!
Devil's Club , also known as Alaskan Ginseng, is a tall shrub with a main stalk covered in long spikes, with large maple like leaves, also spiny. Not fun to run into when you don't notice it tromping through the woods. It is related to Ginseng and has been used medicinally by Native Americans for everything from respiratory ailments to diabetes and arthritis. Medicinally the wood and bark are used, but for a springtime delicacy go for the new shoots. There is only a short window to harvest the tender shoots of this formidable plant before they become to spiney to consume.

At Foraged and Found, Jeremy(the head forager) harvested some Devil's Club shoots for the Herbfarm as a special request. I snuck a handful to try, not realizing I had a small treasure. I sauteed them in butter and tried a shoot. Oh my was it delicious- soft and furry, tender and intriguingly tasting of evergreen trees. This piney flavor is what will make you come back for more.
I continued to build upon my taste test. To the shoots in the pan I added a touch of cream from Golden Glen Creamery, frozen peas( my favorite convenience food), a squeeze of lemon and a few leaves of mint. This is a picture of my tiny spring ragout. I savored every little bite!

Bam! nettles in your face

Nettles are everywhere this year.

If you are looking you probably will find them. They grow abundantly, well, are invasive in parks, farms, roadside lots. But the word is spreading in the cooking world- stinging nettles are awesome. I have read quite a few gushing articles here and there lately and seen many interesting recipes too. Fat Of The Land can't seem to stop talking about them- it's understandable- once you eat them it is easy to get hooked. FOTL has some great posts on nettle tonic and first of spring nettles. At Foraged and Found Edibles we have been selling them since late winter, slowly picking our way through the Northwest towards higher and cooler micro climates, moving on when one area begins flowering.

I thought for my first feature stinging nettles would make perfect sense for Nettletown blog....

Why are nettles so awesome?
First of all, as I mentioned they grow everywhere- prolifically in many places all over the world. Secondly, they are delicious- rich green flavor and a toothsome and delicate texture at the same time. Thirdly, they are incredibly healthy for you (off the charts!)- high in vitamins A and C, protein, iron, calcium, potassium, and magnesium. One of the most widely spread, tasty, and healthiest green wild plants you can find!

Mama always said eat your nettles
My first exposure to nettles as food was through Italian cuisine- nettle gnocchi and nettle ricotta filled ravioli are common nettle imbued versions of these favorites. After years of harvesting I have expanded my nettle repertoire. My favorite use now is in green fillings for Mediterranean style pies, such as a nettle version of spanikopita or something like my recipe in the 2009 Illustrated Wild Foods Recipe Calendar for Flaky Semolina Flatbread Stuffed With Nettles And Herbs. This tasty filling is a great way to use whatever greens and herbs you have foraged or might have in your fridge or garden. Also perfect not only as a bread or pastry filling but also eaten tossed with pasta or in frittata.

In the spring harvest a large bag once a week and just keep it in the fridge adding to dishes throughout the week. Easy to throw into soups, stewed beans, or eggs dishes for extra greens and nutrition. You can even cook a pot full and just have them ready to use. Blanch nettles in boiling water for a few minutes, strain out greens, cool in ice water or on a tray, and remember to save the cooking liquid. Drink blanching water as tea with honey, use for soup stock, or water your house plants.

Pureed nettle soup is always a welcome way to basically just drink the green gold. Nettle, green garlic, and potato soup anyone? Or a miso nettle soup/cure- just boil water add nettles and a slice of ginger or clove of garlic and cook for a few minutes, take off heat, add a spoonful of miso and puree.

Preserving for year round use:
>Freeze cooked nettles- whole, chopped or purreed.
>Nettle pesto- this would freeze well for a couple months.
>Dried nettle possibilities- Teas- a foraged tea mix for boosting your immune system of nettles, elderberries, elder flowers or a morning tea mix of nettles, mate and mint. Infusion- making an overnight infusion of dried nettles increases the health giving properties significantly. Boil water, add dry nettles, cover and let sit overnight. More information about this wonder drink from cavemanfood and Conscious Choice. Dried herb- homemade spice or salt seasoning mixes; crumbled or powdered to enrich soups or pilafs or even smoothies. Dried vegetable- try making a healthy backpacking soup mix with dried nettles, dried porcinis, lentils and rice.

Harvesting
Nettles are one of the first plants to pop out of the ground in early spring. Harvest until flowering in late spring or early summer. As the season progresses head for higher land to find younger plants. After plants get taller than 8 to 10 inches, harvest only the top two sets of leaves for the most tender and nutritious part. As the plant gets older the lower leaves become gritty and tough. Use gardening gloves and scissors to trim just under the top two leaf sets. If you cut close enough you won’t need to trim any tough stem off later when cooking.

And even more from the useful nettle……… There are so many known uses a whole book could be written about this wonder plant. A small list- Make rope out of dried stem fibers; a nourishing survival food if you ever get lost; tea can be used for- watering plants, hair tonic, bath water; nettle rennet is used for cheese making; whip body to increase blood flow( for arthritis or cold temperatures); green or yellow cloth dye; consume in tea or freeze dried capsules to alleviate allergies.

spring sprouting

Spring is just one big season of emergence.

All the little plants we have been eagerly awaiting to feast on all winter start poking their heads out of the moist soil.
Herbs renew with new leaf growth.
The hibernating bulbs bring paint splashes of color and the flowering trees explode with beauty you forget is possible.
Chives, fiddleheads, garlic shoots, magnolia trees, mint, nettles, peas, tulips- so much abundance.
This blog too is emerging, but out of the rich soil that is my head, and heart.
Nettletown will be a venue to share and celebrate all deliciousness that comes from this earth.
lets see how this little sprout grows........