Christmas carols are playing on the radio and in stores, which means we are coming to that season in which we look back and recap what we have done during the year.
As far as this little column is concerned, so far we have discussed 10 native edible plants and how they can be used to make our lives a little more interesting and tasty. We talked about some shade-loving plants that provide greens and lots of flavor, like wild leeks, goldenglow, nettles and dittany.
Wild leeks are the earliest to grow in the spring, and dittany is a fall-blooming plant. A soup prepared with all four species will leave you asking for more, and what is better in cold weather than a steaming bowl of soup? You could add sun-loving plants to this soup as well, such as cup plant, along with glade onion, for a little extra kick. While cup plant grows well under full sun to moderate shade, glade onion prefers full sun. All of the above can be preserved by freezing for use in winter cooking, so grab them when they're plentiful and enjoy them all year long!
Some woody plants are elderberry, well known for its nutritional value including vitamin C and antioxidants; and the ubiquitous persimmon, which, though widespread and delicious, is often overlooked for its reputation of always being astringent. Check our September article to learn why this is a false accusation, at least if you know when to pick it. The last of the woodies was spicebush, a relative of sassafras, a very aromatic shrub or small tree, whose leaves are used for tea and the berries as spice to flavor meat, pickles or dips. Again, all of these can be preserved by freezing and/or drying for year-round enjoyment.
The last native edible this year was Jerusalem artichoke or sunchoke. First of all, this plant, despite the first name is not native to Israel, but to the U.S., and second, it is related to our native sunflowers as well as goldenglow and cup plant. Sunchokes can be harvested now because the edible parts are the tubers and rhizomes. They make great pickles, crunchy and healthy.
Most of these 10 species and others were used to prepare the recipes served at our Dining Wild dinner this past Nov. 5 at Lincoln University. Close to 140 attendees had the opportunity to taste a few of the recipes shared with you in this column. This six hour event included native plant garden tours, music by local musicians, educational exhibits and a social hour followed by a full-course meal. A guest speaker offered a presentation during the last hour of the event.
The recipes were developed throughout the year by guest chefs and a group of wonderful volunteers. Every recipe was evaluated by community participants. Here is the menu:
Appetizers
Pickled sunchokes and lotus
Deviled eggs with wild leeks and sumac
Goat cheese with glade onions and figs
Venison rolls with dittany and glade onions
Hummus with sumac
Canastitas with goldenglow
Entrees
Roasted chicken with dittany sauce
Buffalo meatloaf with wild leeks sauce
Side dishes
Wild Leeks and native greens soup
Mashed potatoes with wild leeks and chanterelle puree
Wild Rice Pilaf with nettles and wild leeks
Squash with sumac
Artisan bread (with dittany, glade onion or wild leeks)
Beverages
Sumac Tea
Leadplant tea
Mountain mint tea
Desserts
Mountain mint and chocolate cheesecake
Persimmon cake (gluten free)
Persimmon and sweet potato cheesecake
With wild plum and elderberry sauces
We plan on offering this event again in 2017, so stay tuned to this column for details on this and other upcoming goodies on wild dining and our native plants here in Missouri.
For those of you, who have followed this column for the past 11 months, thank you! It has been fun and stimulating to write, and I hope you have enjoyed it and tried some of the recipes we have shared with you. We hope the Native Plants Program at Lincoln University has helped increase appreciation of readily available native edible plants in Missouri, and this column will return next year with a new batch of plants to experiment with. For our final bonus recipe of the year, please see below, and please have safe and very happy holiday season.
Persimmon and sweet potato mini cheesecakes *
Ingredients:
1 cup persimmon pulp
1 cup sweet potato pulp
cup of sugar (raw sugars works well)
3- 8 ounce packages of cream cheese
1 cup sour cream
3 eggs
1 teaspoon cinnamon
Procedure:
Separate egg whites from yolks. Set aside.
Bake sweet potatoes for 1 hour or until soft at 450oF
Cool sweet potatoes and puree them. Set aside.
In a bowl, beat cream cheese and add sugar, add cinnamon, persimmon, sweet potato. Add egg yolks one at a time. Beat egg whites until stiff and fold into persimmon/sweet potato batter.
Add the batter into minicrusts and bake for 20 minutes at 350oF
Insert toothpick. They will be ready if the filling doesn't stick to the toothpick.
When they are ready, let them cool down. Place a teaspoon of elderberry jelly on top of each to add color and flavor.
It makes 24 to 30 mini cheesecakes.
Elderberry jelly** for decoration (optional)
Minicrusts
Ingredients:
1 tablespoon sugar (raw or turbinado sugar can be used)
2 sticks of butter
2 cups of organic flour
1 teaspoon salt
cup water
Procedure:
Mix flour, sugar and salt together, cut the butter into this mix until incorporated and gradually pour the water in until completely incorporated.
Roll the mix and cut shape that fit your muffin pan. Press them into the cups and pour the batter.
*This recipe was developed for Dining Wild by Mr. Hugh Flowers, a Lincoln University Farmers Market vendor. He is known for his delicious pastries, hand-made tamales and fun personality. Hopefully you gathered persimmons in the fall, but if you didn't let us know, and we may be able to sell you some pulp at Lincoln University Farmers' Market.
**Elderberry jelly is available during the winter market.
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Dr. Nadia Navarrete-Tindall is Associate Professor and State Native Plant Extension Specialist for Lincoln University Cooperative Extension since 2008. She is the Director of the Native Plants Program (NPP). Schedule of educational events related to native plants can be found in the Lincoln University website under 'native plants'. The project FINCA in Missouri (Families Integrating Nature, Conservation and Agriculture) was created to offer native edible plants in demonstration plots (fincas). Finca in Spanish is a small to medium size farm where native plants and other perennial crops are grown. In Missouri, demonstration fincas can be visited at Lincoln University campus and in the Bootheel region. Both locations and others are open to the public and tours are offered upon request.
She can be reached at 573-681-5392 or via email at [email protected] or [email protected] or on Facebook: Lincoln University Native Plants Program.