Wild Things Round Up - Purslane
Welcome to the Wild Things Round Up, which is celebrating purslane possibilities this month. If you want to learn more about identifying purslane, also known as verdolagas, please read this introductory post. For those of you who are itching for ways to use all of the purslane that is crawling around your garden, please enjoy the contributors recipes.
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My buddy Wild Food Girl knows how to whip up some tasty treats with the wild goodies she collects. Take, for example, this recipe for Chilaquiles Con Verdolagas.
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Maury Grimm of M's Jardin, Red Willow Gardens, La Jara, CO (Wild crafted and organic herbs and foraged foods) has contributed a lot of really fantastic purslane recipes this month. My favorite is her tip for freezing purslane to use in the winter.
Purlsane and Wild Greens Eggrolls
8 Eggroll wrappers
Water
1 Tbsp peanut oil
1 1/2 cup fresh ground pork (or chopped chicken or shelled shrimp),
organic, if available
1 inch ginger, peeled and minced
2-3 garlic cloves, minced
2 good handfuls cleaned and chopped purslane
1 handful Amaranth or other wild greens, chopped fine.
1 cup wild onion greens, chopped chives or onion leaves
1 egg
½ cup cooked brown rice (optional)
Peanut oil for frying
Saute the pork (or other meat) in the peanut oil, add chopped ginger and
garlic, allow to infuse and then remove and set aside. Mix greens and
onions in a bowl, add pork mixture and stir in egg and rice.
Wrap according to eggroll directions, using a small amount of water to seal
the seams.
Heat peanut oil for frying in a deep pan or Wok. Oil is ready for frying
when a small amount of water (from your fingers) spatters.
Fry eggrolls one to no more than three at a time. Let golden and flip. When
golden all around remove and drain (I have a tempura drain on my Wok,
keeping all warm until ready to serve.).
Serve with a side of gingered Yucca blooms, some dipping sauce of Tamari
and Currant preserve….
Serves Four
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Purlsane and Squash Blossom Vichyssoise
Throughout the summer my garden
provides many cultivated wild edibles and volunteers, as well as some
things I plant. Squashes, of course, are among them. I plant both winter
and summer varieties, sometimes in over abundance. Last summer I came
across this great idea that has now contributed to this summer’s soup
of Purlsane and Squash Blossom Vichyssoise. I love squash blossoms, but could never
seem to use them all up in traditional fried or omelet recipes, so this is
a great way to enjoy their subtle flavor all Winter and into Spring
Part 1: Squash blossom puree A couple of good handfuls squash blossoms, cleaned.
These can be the male blossoms (long stemmed) or the end blossoms from the
fruit. ½ onion or two garlic cloves, chopped Salt and pepper to taste 2
cups water, vegetable or chicken broth Boil the water or broth with the
onion or garlic. When the onion is translucent, add the blossoms. Turn off
heat and cover to soften blossoms. When cool, puree.
This can be frozen for later use. I like to keep the flavors minimal at
this stage, so I usually use water, and then can use the puree as a base
from everything to a curry, minted or green chili stew.
Part 2: The Vichyssoise Part 2 cups chilled Squash Blossom puree 2 handfuls
cleaned/chopped Purslane leaves and tender stems ½ cup Greek yoghurt ¼ cup
chopped fresh Mint and/or 2 Tbsp Curry powder Salt & Pepper to taste Puree
all until smooth (you will have some bits of the Purslane that remain
crunchy, giving this soup texture). Serve cold with a dollop of yoghurt
and a sprinkle of chopped Purslane and/or Mint leaves. I have also made
this with Curry powder sans the Mint, and with the Mint alone. Either way,
refreshing!
If squash blossoms are unavailable, the puree may be made using any
summer squash, just boil until tender, about 4 courgettes.
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Putting up (with) Purslane Because Purslane is succulent, it is hard to
dry for winter use. Most preserve it in pickles of some sort (I’m working
on an Asian -style). Some collect the tiny seeds for use too, but they are
tiny!
Here is a great way to preserve the essence of pure Purslane for use in
Winter cooking. Because of its mucilaginous quality, it helps to thicken
soups and stews. If added at the end of cooking, many of its great
nutritional properties can be maintained.
Method: Puree handfuls of cleaned Purlsane leaves and tender stems in a
blender, add water if needed. Pour into ice cube trays or small freezer
containers. If using ice cube trays, cover and when frozen, pop them out
into a plastic bag.
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Purslane Calzone
This time of year I find myself scrambling between
foraging, putting up the foraged foods, checking out what is needing
weeding in my garden like purslane, goosefoot, amaranth and more. And
cleaning out the freezer, sorting dried herbs and making room for the new
harvest. Recently, I had made some Ricotta cheese and today was making
some dock seed bread. Scads of purslane from the garden arrived this
morning in my basket becoming pickles and purees, the ‘traditional’ things
I do. But I wanted to explore more possibilities. I had the bread dough,
the cheese, a small bit of my friend’s goat feta and some marinated (like
artichoke hearts) yucca blossoms….so what could be more perfect than
Calzone? This could also be done as a regular pizza. For two people: One
good handful of your favorite pizza dough recipe (mine has dock seeds) 2
cups cleaned chopped Purslane leaves 1 cup chopped Amaranth leaves ½ cup
(or more) chopped chives, wild onions leaves or onion leaves ½ cup
marinated yucca blooms or artichoke hearts (use some of the olive oil
marinade, too) ¾ cup Ricotta cheese (homemade is really easy and about ½
the cost: 1 gallon whole organic/raw milk, 2 Tbsp salt, bring to boil, add
juice from two lemons, lower heat and stirring, let curdle, scoop into a
strainer lined with cheesecloth, drain. Keeps about a week in the reefer
and the whey can be frozen for addition to soups, breads, etc). ½ cup Feta
cheese Roll out the dough in a circle and place on a greased and corn
meal dusted flat pan. Mix the rest of the ingredients and spread on ½ of
the dough (if making Calzone), fold the top over and crimp edges. Cut some
holes for steam to escape. Bake in a preheated 400-degree oven until
golden, about 30 minutes. I like to brush my crust with a little butter at
the end of baking. Cut into wedges and serve! I think Butter’s Tapenade
would go excellent with this!
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Purslane Taquitos with Purslace Pico de Gallo
*For the Taquitos * 2 cups
Cotija or other mild cheese 1 pickled Jalapeno ¼ chopped onion 1 cup
chopped purslane leaves and tender stems Salt & Pepper to taste 20 Corn
Tortillas, fresh For the filling, mix first six ingredients and season to
taste. Soften corn tortillas on a hot griddle, one by one. Place 2Tbsp of
fillilng into tortilla and wrap tightly (use a toothpick if needed). Deep
fry until golden and drain. *For the Pico* 1 fresh Jalapeno, deseeded and
deveined ½ cup Sweet Onion 1-2 cloves garlic 2 Roma or Paste tomatoes ¼ cup
fresh Cilantro or Oregano leaves 1 ½-2 cups Purslane leaves and tender
stems, chopped fine Squeeze of fresh lime juice Salt & Pepper to taste. The
best method is to hand chop using a good knife, adding the first five
ingredients in the order given (a processor can be used in pulse mode,
however). When these ingredients are fairly minced, place in a bowl, stir
in the Purslane, lime and salt and pepper to taste. Refrigerate until
needed.
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Susan from Ottawa tried a classic purslane recipe.
Huevos con Verdolagas - Eggs with Purslane (photo attached).
Apparently the mexicans are much more appreciative of this rampant
garden weed than north americans. Of course normally I find tons of
this stuff when weeding in my garden but today as I was actually
looking for purslane I barely
found any... go figure!
I adapted the recipe from
http://www.examiner.com/
article/huevos-con-verdolagas-
I used the onions and purslane from my garden, fresh farm eggs, and
opted for simple tomatos cut up from the garden instead of salsa as a
side. Omitted the tortillas entirely. I
chose to add the purslane right at the end with the hopes of retaining
more crunch and nutritional value.
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Kitt of the Kittalog uses the purslane that she weeds out of her garden to make Sauteed Purslane with Bacon.
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Penny of Penniless Parenting has shared a nice guide to identifying, preparing, and growing purslane. She also has a great recipe for Dijon Purslane.
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Jackie, of Auburn Meadow Farm makes a passionate argument for eating your weeds and shares her idea for a tomato-based purslane salsa, and a purslane preserved lemon salsa that makes me a little weak in the knees.
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One of the reasons I started the Wild Things Round Up was to encourage people like my friend Christy to try wild foods. At last I've succeeded in winning her over to the wild side. Not only has my girl made deelish BLP's, she's beefed up her Blender Salsa with purslane.
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Hungry Ghost Food + Travel only needs her photos to inspire. Go drool over Stone Fruit, Purslane, and Korean Watercress Salad.
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Ready for another simple recipe made with purslane? Check out my Purslane Black Olive Tapenade.
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Thank you to everyone who shared their love for the little green "weed" that most people throw away. Your recipes are a real inspiration. See you next month!
