Cooking Out of Your Backyard

It Springtime!!!!!   I'm thinking of all the green sprouts raising their heads and the wild things that will be appearing.   There's plenty of medicinals that will be ready to do our spring health cleansing with; but there's more!!   There are some wonderful plants to look forward to that have culinary charm and great artisan potential.   If you don't pour herbicide on your lawn, and you don't begin to mow too early, you are likely to find john-jump-ups and violet leaves showing themselves early.  Both the leaves and the flowers can be added to salads.  Take a look at The Herbfarm Cookbook, by Jerry Traunfeld if you get a chance.  There are other places to find recipes for wildcrafted herbs, but non as fun and served with such flair as these.  The following are some interesting anecdotes and a good spring Nettle soup recipe that will please your eyes as well as your palette.

Scented Geranium leaves 
Geraniums come in so many diverse scents now, from cinnamon to rose.  Choose your favorite and try this recipe with your kids.  They love putting the leaves in the pan.  Its a very simple way to add flavor to yellow or white cakes or cupcakes.

Take any scented geranium leaves, rinsed and dried.  Place in bottom of cake pan that has been oiled for non stick.  Gently pour in basic white or yellow cake recipe or boxed mix over the top of the leaves.  (Or in the case of cupcakes you can put the cake mix into the cups and set one leaf gently on top so that the imprint comes out and the leaf can be removed after baking.  Bake as directed.  When removed from oven and cooled, remove from pan and flip right side up, removing the leaves from the top. The flavor will have infused into the cake and there will be leaf patterns imbedded in the top.   Frost or glaze as desired, or try some creative touches with the leaf patterns with sprinkles, confectioners  sugar, or drizzling different colored glazes.

Flowers in salads
It's always been a favorite thing for chefs to add edible flowers to salads and as garnish.  As spring and summer arrive along with the flowers, or as you contemplate what flowers to grow in your garden, consider some of these for color and unique flavors.

Borage - an intensely blue flower has a mild cucumber flavor
Calendula - orange/yellow flowers for accenting salads or soups
Daylilies - single petals sprinkled, or full buds before opening, stir fried with veggies
Monarda or "Bee Balm" - many colors and interesting petal formation tastes like oregano
Nasturtiums - a favorite of restaurants with a mild radish flavor
Pansies/Violas/Johnny Jump-ups - early season favorites in many colors and sweet flavor

Nettle Soup 

Nettles are an early spring favorite.  Though they have oxalic acid in their leaves which cause a skin rash, collecting them with gloves and scissors works fine.  If you do get 'stung' a little lavender aromatherapy oil does the trick which you can carry in your pocket.  Cooking takes all the sting out of them and they are full of great vitamins, taste like spinach, and break down nicely for soup.  

Gather 2 quarts of gently packed leaves
Use tongs to drop them into a large pot of boiling, salted water for 2 minutes
Drain and plunge them into cold water (they won't sting at this point)
Gather leaves into a ball and squeeze out as much water as you can.

Now to prepare your soup:

2 Tbsp unsalted butter
1 medium onion, chopped
4 Cups chicken or vegetable broth
8 oz button mushrooms
2 Tbsp long grain white rice
4 oz nettle leaves
1 cup coarsely snipped chives
Optional Garnish:  Creme fraiche or sour cream

.  Melt butter in medium skillet, add onion and cook until softened
.  Add stock, mushrooms, rice and bring to boil
.  Reduce heat, cover, simmer until rice very soft, about 30 minutes
.  Put half nettles and half chives in blender or food processor, pour half the soup over greens, put lid on and blend on low speed and slowly turn up speed until blended smooth
.  Pour blended soup into 2nd saucepan and blend rest of greens and soup
.  Stir pureed soup over medium heat until almost a simmer
.  Taste and add pepper and salt to taste
.  Garnish:  Whip fraiche or cream until smooth and drizzle onto top of soup in circular or zigzag pattern
.  Serve

                                                             Bon Apetit!

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