Livestream: French Quiche with Wild Spring Greens
Learn to bake a foolproof French quiche! The early quiches of the Alsace-Lorraine region of France made use of diverse ingredients, based on seasonality, cost and what could be found or foraged nearby. In this class, we will learn to make a classic French quiche using wild spring greens that can be harvested in Vermont (and beyond) in May. We will start by learning to make a classic pâte brisée savory pie crust, including techniques for creating its crisp and crumbly texture and rich buttery flavor. We will then learn to make a custard filling and tricks for ensuring a well-baked crust. We will discuss fats traditionally used for pie crusts, cheese options and how to improvise and make a quiche with your favorite garden or foraged ingredients. The class will include a brief history of quiche-making in France and regional variations.
Instructor Anna Mays is an anthropologist who enjoys teaching about world culinary traditions, agricultural practices and the intersection between food, diet, culture and well-being. Anna trained at Le Cordon Bleu Culinary School and has lived in France.
Fiddlehead Foraging: How To Sustainably Harvest, ID and Prepare These Gourmet Gems of Mid-Spring
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It's fiddlehead season! And I am excited to share with you all about this mid-spring, gourmet treat.
In this lesson I focus on the fiddleheads from the Ostrich Fern, scientifically called Matteuccia struthiopteris. They offer a mild and pleasing flavor, to gussy up any spring dish.
The part we eat is the fiddlehead, the crozier— the tightly coiled part of the fern that looks like a fiddle’s (the instrument’s) head, along with its tender stem. Gather when up to 6-7 inches tall, and still has a tightly coiled tip. Eat both the stipe (stalk, aka petiole) and fiddlehead.
However, this gourmet, North American native perennial needs to be gathered sustainably. The first rule: eat only from mature plants that have at least 5 fronds emerging. Then gather no more than ⅓ of the fronds, so harvest only 1 frond from a plant with 5 emerging fronds; 2 from a fern with 6, and so on, (please watch video for more clarity).
Look for Ostrich Ferns along river banks, and shady moist woodlands. They grow in rich moist soil, in shady to part shady conditions. As a Native of North America they can be found throughout the USA and Canada in hardiness zones 2–7.
If none grows in your area, plant some of these shade-loving, regal beauties. They are easy to grow, yet slow to take off, but once established and happy, they will spread = tasty eating.
This fern is dimorphic (pretty cool)! It grows two types of ferns, fertile and sterile. We eat the sterile ones that are green and soft, versus the fertile fronds that are stiff and brown.
Ostrich Fern ID+
The leafy sterile (edible) frond grows 2-6 feet tall. When fully grown it is largest above the middle and tapers at both ends.
The fertile frond is small, brown, and stiff and may grow up to a foot tall. It releases spores during winter and spring.
Both fertile and infertile fronds’ stipes (stalk) below the blades (expanded leafy part of the fern), and the rachis’ (the central stalk within the blade) have a groove—a u-shaped indent down its middle.
The fern is not wooly or hairy and the sterile (edible) fronds, when they emerge, have a brown coppery papery sheath covering them.
Wishing you fiddlehead fun!
#Fiddleheads #Matteuccia struthiopteris #OstrichFern #WildFood #Foraging #WildEdible #ForagingAndFeasting #DinaFalconi #InTheWildKitchen #OnlineForagingCourse #WildFoodHealthBoosters #PlantIdentification #Botanizing #SpringForaging #Forage
End of Winter Kitchen | Seasonal Eating Without a Root Cellar
With winter coming to a close we are eating up the last of our food storage from the previous harvest season. See how we store our food without a root cellar and eat seasonally. I hope you enjoy these recipes!
Maple Shortbread Cookie Recipe:
1 cup butter
1/2 cup maple sugar
2 cups flour
1/4 tsp salt
½ pint maple butter
DIRECTIONS
Cream softened butter
Add sugar and whip for 3 minutes
add dry ingredients, still to combine
Roll out dough 1/4 inch or thinner and cut out cookies
Bake on greased cookie sheet at 325ºF till lightly gold on edges
Once cooled sandwich with maple butter
Maple Butter (Cream) Recipe:
2 cups (or more) Maple Syrup - 100% Pure
DIRECTIONS
Add syrup to pot
Heat syrup to 235ºF
Pour into bowl, place in ice and cover bowl
Cool syrup to 100ºF
Slowly stir syrup with spoon or in stand mixer
Stop stirring when butter lightens in color, loses its shine, and starts to pull apart
While warm pour into a container
Fiddlehead Bacon Quiche Recipe:
1 pie crust
6-8 eggs
3/4 cup milk
salt and pepper
cooked bacon
1/2 of onion
1 pint jar fiddleheads
1 cup shredded cheese
DIRECTIONS
Beat eggs, milk, salt and pepper
Add remaining ingredients to pie crust, then egg mixture
Bake at 375ºF for 35-40 minutes
Pie Crust (makes 6):
6 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp salt
2 cups (1 pint) lard
3 Tbsp butter
1 1/3 cup cold water (approximately)
Relish Recipe Video:
Nutrition and Health benefits of fiddlehead ferns
#Healthyideas, #Healthtips, #Fiddleheadfern
Nutrition and Health benefits of fiddlehead ferns