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marco 12-31-2007 09:35 PM

Dandelion recipes ! ( NO Joke ! )
 
This is 'off topic', I know...

But I thought I'd let the secret out to folks who don't yet know about the ecstacy of eating dandelions!!
Time to get 'into the loop' with it now....and be ready for early springwhen the HARVEST will be ready in a field near you !!!

Yummm! :p
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Dandelions (Taraxacum officinale)


(blowball, peasant's clock, cankerroot, down-head, yellow gowan, witches' gowan, milk-witch)

Dandelions are common on lawns and in fields and long roadsides. Stems grow three to fourteen inches and are hollow. Dark green, dentate basal leaves emit a milky juice as that get old. The golden yellow flowers are one to two inches across. Dandelion is a native of Europe, naturalized all over America.

Edible parts include the young leaves, the flower buds, and the *scraped roots. Dandelion greens are very rich in iron and vitamin C...*Some authorities say the roots are inedible, and all traces of root must be cut away when preparing greens for cooking. Gather much more than you think you need, for they cook down. Some cooks add a pinch of soda when cooking dandelions.

from: ' FoxFire 2 '
Anchor Books 1973

................................................................ .................................... ...

I'd like to emphasize to anyone out there who has never cooked with dandelions to :

1) Make sure you're picking the dandelions from a location that could have never possibly been sprayed with any systemic herbicide, particularly 2,4-D !!!!!!

2) For best overall taste and texture of dandelions it has been found by our family that they need to be picked and eaten ONLY VERY EARLY in the season !.......early to mid-spring at the latest !

As summer approaches and the plant 'hardens off' it becomes bitter tasting!
I don't recommend cooking with 'late summer' dandys !!!

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Dandelion Greens

Gather leaves when young.
Wash and boil about 20 minutes in water with fatback added, or drain and fry in oil. Season with salt and pepper.

Or after cooking, drain off water, and heat with small amount of vinegar.
Add small amounts of fried salt pork, heat, and eat.

Or cook lightly in salted water. Drain. Mix milk, butter, one egg, and vinegar together. Cook to (just) a boil and pour over greens.

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Marcos' Family Dandy Recipe

Fry 2 thick strips of bacon. Remove when semi-cooked, and dice them both into very small pieces. Fry again until well browned and 'dry'.
In a bowl break 1 egg; add 1 tablespoon flour, one teaspoon sugar, and one teaspoon salt.
Mix well and gradually add 1 1/2 cups water.
Add this to the fried bacon (including grease) and bring to a boil, stirring constantly.

When it starts to thicken add 3 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar and pour over young dandelion greens.

Serve immediately while HOT !

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Dandelion Bud Omelet

Gather one cup dandelion buds before flower color shows. Fry buds in dab of butter until they 'pop'.
Add 4 eggs, salt and pepper.
Top with raw (young) dandelion leaves, finely cut before serving.

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Dandelion Salad

(....many of our 'family recipe' idea(s) were originally derived from this recipe that appeared in Foxfire 2 in 1973.)



Wash and pat dry one-half cup unopened flower buds and one bunch tender (young) leaves.
Fry two strips of bacon. Toss buds in hot bacon grease until they open. Drain.
Mix with leaves and bacon; add 3 tablespoons oil and vinegar.

Or wash young dandelion leaves and chop fine.
Add salt, vinegar, and olive oil.
When mixed, add one tomato cut in pieces, or cooked lima beans. Toss.

Or mix chopped dandelions with chopped ramps or wild onion, top with bacon, bacon fat, and vinegar.

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Dandelion Green Drink

Cook chickweed and dandelion, each alone.
Put through a sieve, add cider vinegar, and drink for a tonic.

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Coffee substitute

Gather dandelion roots. Peel.
Roast until dark brown. Grind.

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Dandelion Wine :p


Pour one gallon boiling water over one gallon dandelion flowers.
Let stand until blossoms 'rise' ( twenty-four to forty-eight hours ).
Strain into stone jar.
Add juices of 4 lemons, 4 oranges, 4 lb of sugar and one yeast cake.
Stir four or five times a day until it stops fermenting.
Keep well covered.
In two weeks, strain, bottle and cork tightly.

:nanadrink:

CookieCows 12-31-2007 09:56 PM

Re: Dandelion recipes ! ( NO Joke ! )
 
Very interesting! Don't you just love free food? I have all the Foxfire books. Haven't looked at them in at least 20 years!

momoese 12-31-2007 10:52 PM

Re: Dandelion recipes ! ( NO Joke ! )
 
Thanks for the recipes! I have known about them being edible for quite some time now after watching a show about a vegetarian homeless guy who showed how to live off the land in the city of Los Angeles but I have yet to try them. I think this will inspire me to go out and pick some for a salad!

Inoneear 01-01-2008 03:59 AM

Re: Dandelion recipes ! ( NO Joke ! )
 
Dandelion Wine ...That brings back memories....Picking for my grandfather.

marco 01-02-2008 06:00 PM

Re: Dandelion recipes ! ( NO Joke ! )
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by CookieCows (Post 25658)
Very interesting! Don't you just love free food? I have all the Foxfire books. Haven't looked at them in at least 20 years!

QUOTE=CookieCows;25658]Very interesting! Don't you just love free food? I have all the Foxfire books. Haven't looked at them in at least 20 years![/quote]

My father passed away a couple years ago, and I was given the 6 Foxfire books that he had. ( Books 1-6)

As a family we always enjoyed dandelions as we grew up, but I was surprised to find out about all of the other ' weeds ' in Foxfire 2 & 4 that are very common, and are edible in part or wholly, at different points in their growth stages.

My field of employment is in turf management supply, so I deal with all kinds of folks all the time in that industry.
In fact...I first heard about THIS site from lawnsite.com where I communicate all the time about 'turf' and 'green industry' stuff.

If you want to see more 'weed recipes' I and others have blogged, you can go to that site and go to "General Green Industry Discussion" and look for the thread "Real Weed Recipes for 2008..."

Maybe you've got one to add !?!

CookieCows 01-02-2008 08:59 PM

Re: Dandelion recipes ! ( NO Joke ! )
 
Dug out those old Foxfire books! I thought I had them all but I only have 1-4. I hear some of the old timers around here dig wild ginsing to sell. Our grandkids love pulling up wild onions for me when I make a salad in the summer. The first year we had our milk cow the milk was ok but everytime I made butter or icecream it was so gross .... found out Bluebell was eating wild onions and it was affecting the cream. We cleared forested land to make pasture so took awhile to get that kind of stuff out. We have alot of poke weed but I need to mark where it is to pick the following year as I can't identify it 100% before the stems turn red. I'll definitly pick dandalions this year! Growing up in Oregon I never dreamed I'd end up living just a days drive to Rabun Gap so it'll be fun going through these books again.

marco 01-02-2008 09:39 PM

Re: Dandelion recipes ! ( NO Joke ! )
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by CookieCows (Post 25743)
Dug out those old Foxfire books! I thought I had them all but I only have 1-4.

I made a mistake in my last post...but you probably caught it by now!

The "edible wild plants" are in Foxfire 2 & 3, NOT 2 & 4.

I wonder if any of the original Foxfire 'contacts' in Rabun Gap GA are still alive after 30 plus years ???

...could be a omen as to whether or not to reconstruct their recipes !!!
:eek:

marco 01-03-2008 01:19 PM

Re: Dandelion recipes ! ( NO Joke ! )
 
I'm blogging this ONE MORE TIME because it's REALLY IMPORTANT that everyone out there understands the importance of this issue:

1) Make sure you're picking dandelions or other edible greens from a location that could have never possibly been sprayed with any SYSTEMIC herbicide, particularly lawn chemicals like 2, 4-D !!!

Look for a 'virgin' site to pick your dandelions ( or other edible greens), in areas that couldn't have possibly ever been 'sprayed' by anyone !!!

2) For best overall taste and texture of dandelions it has been found by our family that they need to be picked and eaten ONLY VERY EARLY in the season !.......early to mid-spring at the latest !

As summer approaches and the plant 'hardens off' it becomes bitter tasting!
I don't recommend EVER cooking with 'mid, or late summer' dandys !!!

However...

I do know of a restauraunt owner in the northeastern Cincinnati area that contracts with an organic greenhouse for all of their salad fixings- including a continuous supply of seed grown dandelion greens !!!

Growing dandelions from seeds are a great WINTER option for people with smaller 'windowpane' style cold frames and the like, because dandys can germinate under glass, and actually do pretty well in 'winter greenhouse' conditions.

CookieCows 01-03-2008 01:31 PM

Re: Dandelion recipes ! ( NO Joke ! )
 
the only thing we've used on our lawn is round up around the edges so
should we be ok for the rest of the lawn? We have never used anything like weed and feed and I don't think anyone near us does as one of the first things our neighbor told us when we moved in was that it's a waste of time with hay trucks going back and forth .. seeds flying everywhere.

marco 01-04-2008 11:55 AM

Re: Dandelion recipes ! ( NO Joke ! )
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by CookieCows (Post 25787)
the only thing we've used on our lawn is round up around the edges so
should we be ok for the rest of the lawn? We have never used anything like weed and feed and I don't think anyone near us does as one of the first things our neighbor told us when we moved in was that it's a waste of time with hay trucks going back and forth .. seeds flying everywhere.

"Roundup" is the chemical glyphosate, which is a non-selective herbicide; thus it kills everything it touches.

Specialty lawn weed controls like 'weed & feed' and 'trimec' are selective herbicides.
They're designed to selectively kill all the 'broadleaves' while leaving grassy vegetation alone. When you look on the label you'll often see '2, 4-D' as one of the key ingredients.

What you've got to watch out for when looking for edible greens is to be careful not to pick from any areas where any selective herbicides for broadleaf control may have been sprayed.
These chemicals 'hang around' and linger in the soil structure sometimes for years after their applied (especially if they were initially MIS-applied, which many homeowners do with them!)

So, to answer your question; you're perfectly fine picking dandelions from areas in and around areas where you've sprayed Roundup in the past.
The chemical glyphosate has a very short half life- It does its job and is gone EXTREMELY quickly.

microfarmer 01-04-2008 07:02 PM

Re: Dandelion recipes ! ( NO Joke ! )
 
I ate dandy greens to earn a survival merit badge in the scouts. I boiled them and served with vinegar (like I serve spinach).

I wonder how a dandelion ale would taste? I'll have to work up a recipe...

CookieCows 01-04-2008 07:34 PM

Re: Dandelion recipes ! ( NO Joke ! )
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by marco;25884These chemicals 'hang around' and linger in the soil structure sometimes for [B
years[/b] after their applied (especially if they were initially MIS-applied, which many homeowners do with them!)

I'm shocked to know that it can stay in the ground for years. When we lived in the suburbs in other states we and all the neighbors would apply weed and feed religously to have the perfect looking lawn. :eek:

By the way the lawn site forum you belong to is interesting.


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