recipes – How to Cook a Weed

Wild & Conventional Herbs Preserved in Salt

January 23, 2019January 23, 2019 Mallory O'DonnellLeave a comment

Picking lovely field garlic in mid-winter to add to herbs preserved in salt.

The harvest and use of herbs and greens is a year-round process in my kitchen. Generally, I use wild herbs and seasonings or those grown in my garden, but of course many fine farms and friends grow herbs as well, so there is plenty of bounty to preserve, even in the off-season. I am always looking to explore ways to keep the ingredients seasonal, but extend their life by various preservation methods, so that I can have my cilantro in winter and not feel too guilty about it. One of the best ways to do this is to employ a bit of salt. Indeed, quite a bit of salt. By chopping fresh herbs (augmented if you desire with a little vegetable material such as leek, celery or carrot) and combining with salt you can keep some of the bright intensity of fresh aromatics from decaying.

Our culinary herbs, especially those that dominate the cooking of the Mediterranean basin, are nearly all drawn from two plant families. The majority of plants that most cooks from that tradition (and indeed, many others) will recognize as herbs are either a member of the Lamiaceae (Mint Family) or Apiaceae (Carrot Family). The first includes the obvious “true” mints such as spearmint and peppermint, but also widely-used seasonings such as thyme, oregano, rosemary, basil, shiso, savory, lavender, etc. The second contains cilantro and parsely, alongside dill, fennel, caraway, chervil, anise, angelica, and many more. In addition to aromatic herbs, the carrot family has a number of vegetables (celery, carrot, parsnip, fennel) and plants whose seeds are used as spices (cumin, coriander, ajwain, caraway, alexanders). It might come as no surprise that a number of the wild plants we can use as herbs also come from these same families.

There are a number of methods available to preserve the flavor of fresh herbs when they are in season. The one most people will be familiar with is drying, I have found this to be a particularly excellent method to use when dealing with the mint family. Indeed, many of the mints which we collect as wild plants or grow have a marked flavor improvement when dried. Oregano, for instance, or the plant Monarda fistulosa (Wild Bergamot) are herbs I don’t use great amounts of fresh, finding them a bit too intense for most things. However, when dried they are huge staples of my kitchen year-round. But while dehydration is effective for the mints, it tends to make the more subtle flavors of the carrot family disappear. Anyone who has used dried parsley will discover pretty quickly that it tastes precisely like nothing. Again, this extends to the wild members of the family–my attempts to dry pushki (Heracleum maximum) leaves without treating them first has invariably resulted in a tasteless product. Drying of aromatic members of the genus Allium (Onions, Chives, Leeks, etc) is also sometimes fraught with difficulty. Leek greens hold up fairly well, and sometimes chives, but the wild members tend to lose their more ephemeral flavors.

My preferred methods to preserve both Alliums and Apiaceae are to use brine or vinegar, infusion or lacto-fermentation, and very occasionally freezing. But the best technique is the one detailed here. What you are creating will be high enough in salt that it becomes a substitute for that when used in a dish. In much the same way that one would use a seasoned salt, or a curry paste, or a pickled or fermented ingredient high in salt, you will want to taste your dish before adding any additional salt or salty ingredients like soy sauce to it. But a small amount of herbs preserved in salt can be used as the base for a vinaigrette or soup, added to a sauce, stirred in with dressing for a composed salad, added to the salt bill for curing meat or fish, stirred into a pasta with a bit of the cooking water, or used as the basis for a fresh salsa. Of course one could get even more creative than this, and luckily there will be plenty of time to–my herbs in salt mixes tend to last at least one year, some may linger even longer.

The recipe I use originated in a book called The Mediterranean Pantry by Aglaia Kremezi, and she uses US/Imperial measurements, always at a ratio of 6 ounces of vegetables for every 1.25 ounces of salt. This works out at a ratio of 4.8:1. For more precise measurement, I tend to use grams, and simplify the ratio to 5:1, but of course you can do as fits your kitchen and scale best. No matter what vegetable and herb components are used, however, the ratio should stay the same. This makes for 20% salinity, which means these herbs will likely stay fresh a lot longer than you. It is quite likely that a lower salinity would work fairly well too, but I tend to stick with this recipe as the color and taste stay so bright and fresh that I simply use the herbs as a salt substitute, and especially when added as the base for soups or stews the intensity of flavor is such that I feel I end up actually using less salt in the long run.

Absolutely any combination of herbs and vegetables is viable and I encourage you to experiment widely with this recipe, but I’ve included a few different iterations of it just as basic models. I always use a fine sea or other natural salt for this, such as Himalayan pink salt. Never use industrial salts like iodized table salt or kosher salt, and never use large crystals or rock salt unless you grind them first. Do not make the mistake either of combining the salt and the herbs and then processing, or you will wind up with more of a slurry than a condiment. In all cases, pack the herbs in salt well into 4 or 8 oz jelly jars (each recipe makes two of the former or one of the latter) and keep refrigerated. Should last at least one year, and often longer. Make sure that you integrate the salt well into the chopped herbs, tossing in a bowl several times before packing into the jars.

almost, but not completely done pulsing cilantro, wild chervil and leeks

Cilantro & Leek

chop extremely fine by hand or pulse in a food processor:

160 g chopped cilantro

40 g chopped leeks

mix in:

40 g fine sea or other natural salt

Parsley & Dill or Fennel Frond & Leek

hop extremely fine by hand or pulse in a food processor:

100 g chopped parsley

60 g dill or fennel fronds

40 g chopped leeks

mix in:

40 g fine sea or other natural salt

herbs combined with salt, ready to pack into jars

Bittercress, Dandelion & Field Garlic

I make this in spring when all three herbs are at their finest and I can collect them from my yard. This combination of herbs also makes an excellent base for pesto. Make sure that you use a food processor if using field garlic, and that you snip it very fine first as it is quite fibrous. The same can be said of chives

chop extremely fine by hand or pulse in a food processor:

100 g bittercress (Cardamine species)

60 g dandelion greens

40 g field garlic greens or chives

mix in:

40 g fine sea or other natural salt

Waterpepper & Shiso

The sharp intensity of waterpepper (one of the flavorful smartweeds will work too) is balanced by the distinctive herbaceous flavor of shiso. Both grow abundantly in my area as invasives, and I make this in mid-summer before both plants begin to flower.

chop extremely fine by hand or pulse in a food processor:

80 g shiso (Perilla frutascens) or thai basil

80 g waterpepper (Persicaria hydropiper), smartweed or rau ram (Vietnamese coriander)

40 g field garlic bulbils or leeks

mix in:

40 g fine sea or other natural salt

Acorn Bread

December 2, 2015December 2, 2015 Mallory O'Donnell1 Comment

Acorn Bread

Perhaps the quintessential first dish to make using acorns, a simple acorn bread with a 50/50 ratio of acorn meal to white or wholemeal flour is a great way to really taste the flavor of the acorn meal. It doesn’t matter whether you use hot-leached or cold-leached acorn meal, just that it is very finely ground.

A light, moist, soft loaf with a very crispy almost cracker-y crust. If you’re feeling decadent you could turn it into a bread pudding, but I enjoy it as is, especially hot from the oven with just a dab of salted butter or jam made from wild berries. Hickory syrup and a touch of molasses really make the difference, both of those flavors combining well with the earthiness of acorns.

My method for hot-leaching acorns to obtain acorn meal is here.

Whisk together :

2 cups acorn meal
2 cups bread flour
4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt

Whisk together :

1 egg or egg substitute
1/2 cup milk, whey or rice milk
1 tbs molasses
1/4 cup hickory or maple syrup
3 tbs olive oil

Add the liquid ingredients to the dry ingredients, stir to combine, and pour into a greased loaf pan or cast iron skillet. Place the pan in a 400° oven for 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the bread comes out clean.

Watermelon & Juniper Sorbetto

September 3, 2015September 3, 2015 Mallory O'DonnellLeave a comment

Combine in a blender or food processor :

4 cups fresh melon, chopped into pieces and with as many seeds as possible removed

2-3 tbs of juniper berries

4 tbs sugar

1/2 cup water

Puree until well combined.

Strain through cheesecloth or a wire mesh sieve into an ice cream maker.

Use ice cream maker to freeze sorbet according to manufacturers directions.

Add midway if desired :

1 egg white

This makes a more traditional sorbetto and a creamier texture, but is not necessary.

Milkweed Stew

August 13, 2015August 13, 2015 Mallory O'DonnellLeave a comment

This is a very simple vegetable stew, perfect for a summer evening when a hot meal that isn’t too heavy or complicated is needed. The milkweed can be either added to the stew as is (perhaps chopped into pieces if the pods are large) or briefly blanched first. The flavor of the stew will be perhaps a bit better if the pods are added without preparation, but the cooking time will be longer. Foraging books abound with instructions to boil milkweed in multiple changes of water for lengthy periods of time but all of that is really unnecessary, and usually serves only to ruin the taste and nutritional value of this delicious, wholesome vegetable.

When selecting milkweed pods for this dish, avoid any longer than 2 inches or so and any ones that have particularly tough exteriors. The pods should be firm but not rubbery. Avoid pods that are soft or have obvious slits or discolorations, as the material inside will be dark and bitter.

In a wide, deep sauté pan heat :

2 tbs vegetable oil or other neutral oil or fat

Add and cook until tender and slightly browned :

5 oz onions, diced

Add and cook for one minute or so :

2 tbs field garlic or minced garlic

Add and cook until tender :

2 oz celery, sliced thin

Add and cook until tender :

5 oz bell or sweet pepper, diced

1 chile, diced fine

Add and cook until juices are released :

5 oz tomato, chopped

Add :

1 tsp fennel seeds, toasted

1 tsp cumin seeds, toasted

1 tsp wild parsnip seeds, toasted (optional)

5 oz milkweed pods (see introductory note)

Cook for several minutes, then deglaze with :

1-2 tbs sherry, shao xing wine or cooking wine

Add :

1 cup stock or water

3/4 cup sweetcorn, raw or fermented

Lower heat to simmer and cook until done. Add thickeners or more liquid as necessary.

Garnish with a bit of chopped fresh herb such as parsley, cilantro, basil or monarda.

This is an extremely simple recipe, and benefits from the addition of a dash of this or that as befits your taste and pantry. A little bit of nice olive oil added to the finished dish is quite lovely, as is a little soy or other seasoning sauce drizzled in as the stew thickens. The delicate flavor of milkweed pods (think okra combined with green beans) is best enjoyed in such simple preparations, but can be ruined if too many seasonings are added, so taste before tampering!

Elderberry Syrup

August 9, 2015August 9, 2015 Mallory O'DonnellLeave a comment

In a medium saucepan, combine :

1/2 lb. elderberries (washed, still attached to stalks)

1/2 cup sugar

1 cup water

Bring to a boil, crushing berries and sugar together. When the berries are smashed and the liquid begins to boil, cut heat, removing from burner if necessary.

Add :

2 1/2 cups sugar

4 cups water

Bring to a boil, then cut to a simmer.

Simmer for a half hour, then remove from heat, cover, and allow to sit for eight hours or overnight.

Crush again and strain all liquids through a cheesecloth into a syrup bottle.

Keep refrigerated.

Use as a base for sodas, dessert sauces, granitas, etc. Excellent combined in preparations with strong spices and herbs such as spicebush, black cardamom, ginger, wild ginger, shiso, monarda, cinnamon, star anise. Extremely refreshing on its own, with an almost perfect balance of sweet and tart.

Chanterelle Sauce No. 1

July 12, 2015July 12, 2015 Mallory O'Donnell2 Comments

This is a simple sauce that tastes creamy and luxurious without using heavy cream – highlighting the natural flavor of some of the seasons’ finest wild mushrooms. You can use any kind of chanterelle or craterellus mushroom for this, but the sauce is at its’ best and most pleasing to the eye when a mix of different, colorful mushrooms is used. In the variation pictured above we used black trumpets (Craterellus cornucopioides) and golden chanterelles (Cantharellus cibarius).

As always, prepare everything in advance and have handy when making a sauce so you aren’t rushing around chopping shallots or looking for sour cream when the time comes to add it.

Melt / heat in a sautee pan:

2 tbs butter or oil

Add :

1 tbs. whole field garlic bulbils or conventional or field garlic cloves, minced

2-3 oz shallots, finely chopped

A grating of fresh nutmeg

Sautee the onions and garlic until softened, then add:

1/2 lb. of chanterelle or craterellus mushrooms, chopped into similar-sized pieces

NB >>> Different mushrooms will cook at different times, so if using a mix, they should be added one at a time. I usually find that golden chanterelles take the longest and horn of plenty the shortest.

Cook the mushrooms until they are softened but not yet completely tender, and add:

1 tbs. potato starch (corn starch may also be used. Flour can be used but must be well-cooked to avoid leaving an off taste)

Stir and sautee for 1-2 minutes, then add, slowly, mixing to incorporate :

1 1/2 cups hot whole milk, preferably fresh and of very good quality

Cook while slowly adding the milk for fifteen minutes or so. Add seasoning to taste while the sauce reduces a bit. If it becomes to thick and/or is cooking too fast add 1-2 stock cubes or ice cubes and reduce heat if needed. Season with :

Freshly ground black or white pepper to taste (optional)

Salt to taste (not optional)

Fresh or good quality dried thyme to taste

Once the sauce is close to the desired consistency and the mushrooms are mouth-tender, remove the sauce from the heat. If it is very hot, allow to cool a bit before adding :

1/2 cup sour cream, preferably at room temperature

Snipped chives if desired

Taste and adjust for seasoning. Serve immediately.

If not eating immediately, allow the sauce to cool on its’ own without adding the sour cream. When serving, reheat and then stir the sour cream in, with chives if desired.

Craterellus cornucopioides being prepared

There are of course any number of herbs or other seasonings that could be added to this sauce, but in this its’ simplest form I’ve used only the classic mushroom herb thyme and a bit of nutmeg and optionally pepper. Fresh parsley or celery leaf in small, finely-chopped quantities are a nice addition for a bit more green color. One could add a stronger herb as well such as oregano or tarragon if it seems appropriate for the dish it is to be used with.

The temptation with a sauce this rich is to toss pasta in it, and revel in the sumptuous texture combination of chanterelle and toothsome starch. And I won’t deny that it is a fine sauce to serve with a starch – heavenly with freshly-made egg noodles, homemade biscuits (a nice vegetarian replacement for Southern-style sausage gravy), even simple buttered rice. Some more interesting uses? A cream sauce for greens or a green vegetable, a base sauce for a pizza, on top of heated stuffed vegetables or grape leaves, especially ones filled with rice or grains, on top of a hearty bowl of cooked, mashed lentils or pulses, and a dynamite partner with polenta. I have even eaten this on top of some scrambled eggs with a bit of cheese and green herbs and had no complaints about the experience.

Makes a little over 2 cups of sauce.

Pickled Burdock Root

February 10, 2015February 10, 2015 Mallory O'DonnellLeave a comment

Place in the bottom of a glass pint jar :

1/2 oz turmeric root, peeled and sliced into a few long strips (optional, can use turmeric powder instead)

1 tsp whole black peppercorns

1 tsp whole yellow or black mustard seed

1/2 tsp whole pieces of vietnamese cinnamon

1 star anise, broken up

Fill with peeled burdock batons : cut batons to the height of the jar (allowing room for the spices and headspace) and about half as thick around as a pencil. Pack batons into jar until you cannot fit any more. Keep all the batons vertical. Trim any that stick out too far. This should require around 3/4 of a pound to a pound of burdock root.

Heat in a small saucepan until the sugar and salt are dissolved :

1/2 cup seasoned rice vinegar

2 tsp sugar

1 tsp salt

When dissolved and the vinegar is still hot, pour into the filled jar. Allow to cool, then cover and refrigerate. Add more seasoned rice vinegar as needed to cover the batons.

This will be ready to eat when cool, but tastiest after at least 24 hours. It should last several weeks.

This can be made with either wild burdock root or the cultivated kind sometimes found in asian markets.

Pickled Kohlrabi

February 9, 2015 Mallory O'DonnellLeave a comment

Assemble in a clean glass quart jar :

1 lb kohlrabi bulbs, peeled and cut into batons (as pictured below) or shreds

4 oz onion, peeled and cut into thick slices

1 star anise, whole

2-3 hot chinese dried chiles or 2 tsp red pepper flakes

1 tsp whole mustard seed

1/2 tsp whole sichuan peppercorns

Heat in a small saucepan until sugar and salt are dissolved :

2 cups vinegar (see notes below, a mix of vinegars is best)

1/4 cup sugar

1/2 tsp salt

While still hot, pour the vinegar-sugar-salt solution into the glass jar. Allow to sit until cool, then cover with a cap and refrigerate. Ready to eat in 24 hours, best after three or more days.

Roasted Cauliflower and Cauliflower Greens

February 9, 2015February 9, 2015 Mallory O'Donnell1 Comment

Cauliflower is a delicious vegetable that is too often ill-served by the the one preparing it. The major culprits are boiling (which accentuates its’ heaviness and high water content) and pairing with cream and/or cheese (which accentuate its’ blandness). Prepared with some attention to its’ particular nature, cauliflower need be neither heavy nor bland. The high water content is a problem best handled with high heat and a bit of special attention.

This simple dish is one of my favorites to make, one I could happily eat any day. It can be endlessly improvised upon in terms of seasoning, but an even better idea is to prepare it and turn it into something else. Chop some up with olives and pickled onions and peppers and add more oil for a tapenade. Puree it with cooked onions and celery to make a delicious, creamy soup. Add large chunks of pickled vegetables and cooked potatoes and spices and make a potato salad version of aloo gobi. Or simply chop up the cauliflower and greens and use in a flatbread or omelette.

Preheat oven to 450°

Remove the greens of the cauliflower. Chop these into pieces no larger than an inch and a half. Wash and pat dry.

Core the cauliflower. Cut away the base of the stem and any dirty bits. Chop the core into cubes of about one inch square.

Separate the cauliflower into florets. If the florets are large, slice them in half. If the florets are exceptionally large, cut them into thirds. You want large, flat-ish pieces for this recipe, so cut lengthwise and try to maximize surface area. Very small florets should be avoided, they will just burn up.

Toss the florets, greens and stem pieces together with olive oil to cover. Make sure that the cauliflower is well-coated but don’t worry about getting every inch. Resist the urge to use too much oil, it will impeded the roasting process.

Lay the coated cauliflower and greens in a large, heavy, deep roasting pan. Allow for space between each piece (as pictured above). If you feel like you are overcrowding the pan, roast in multiple batches.

Place the pan in the oven.

After five minutes, remove the pan and shake it a few times, tossing the cauliflower as much as possible but making sure that it is all still flat in one layer. Return to oven.

After five minutes (ten minutes total), remove the pan and place it on a trivet. Using tongs or careful fingers, turn the florets. Sprinkle with kosher salt, taking care not to use too much. Return to oven.

After five minutes (fifteen minutes total), remove the pan and place it on a trivet. Turn pieces if necessary. Add freshly ground black pepper to taste. Adjust for salt if necessary. Return to oven.

After five minutes (twenty minutes total), remove the pan and place it on a trivet. Test for doneness by cutting into one of the thickest florets. Taste if necessary. If it seems thick and stodgy, return to the oven for another few minutes.

At this stage you may add oil, if you feel that the cauliflower is too dry. I haven’t found it to be necessary. The cauliflower usually emerges tender inside from the combination of high water content and high heat, while the surface areas have a fine crispness that would be blunted if extra oil were added.

Serve this immediately or at room temperature. Hell, it’s good cold. Four ingredients, people.

As previously mentioned, this can be endlessly varied in terms of seasoning. One of my favorite things to add is paprika, especially a strong characterful Spanish or Hungarian paprika, hot or sweet, smoked or not. I would add any powdered spice ingredient with the salt, and make sure to give a more vigorous shake. One could also add powdered spices or dry herbs to the oil that the cauliflower is tossed with. I would add dry herbs in the last five minutes of cooking, fresh herbs only when the cooking was finished.

This is a dish exceptionally suited to buffets, meals of many small dishes, or meze / tapas / antipasto type spreads. Since it is still excellent at room temperature, it’s perfect for longer parties and more relaxed occasions. It also pairs well with a hearty, complex main course, and can stand up to many a sauce. It is also a great alternative to starchier sides such as roast potatoes, and makes an excellent second vegetable alongside anything green.

You will notice that the greens and stem of the cauliflower are used in this recipe. Don’t discard them, they are quite tasty and mild. All Brassica plants (cabbage, kale, mustards, broccoli, etc.) are edible from root to seed. Some parts of some plants are too bitter to be palatable, but most simply require the proper preparation.

Banana Bread with Black Walnuts, Vietnamese Cinnamon & Nutmeg

February 3, 2015March 4, 2015 Mallory O'Donnell1 Comment

Preheat oven to 350° F.

Whisk together in a large bowl :

1 1/3 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

Whisk together in a small bowl :

1/2 cup neutral oil (sunflower or vegetable is best, 1/4 cup can be replaced with walnut oil)

1/2 cup soy or rice yogurt (or regular yogurt)

Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients, along with :

1/2 cup black walnuts, chopped (or 1/4 cup almonds and 1/4 cup English walnuts)

1 1/4 cup banana, mashed or chopped with :

1/4 cup sugar or palm sugar (optional)

1 tsp vanilla

Fold all ingredients together, without overmixing.

Place in a lightly oiled loaf pan.

Dust top of bread with nutmeg and vietnamese cinnamon, freshly grated and ground if possible.

Bake until a toothpick inserted into the loaf comes out clean, usually an hour.

Allow to rest in pan for ten minutes before removing from pan to cool on a rack.

This makes a soft, delicious dairy-free, vegan banana bread. If desired, you can use a dairy-based yogurt. There doesn’t seem to be much of a difference in flavor between the two, the yogurt is mostly added for consistency. The bread is soft and cakey, make sure that the pan is oiled before baking and that you allow the bread to cool a bit before removing from the pan or cutting into it.

I think this is easily the equal of any banana bread made with milk and butter, in fact I would argue that omitting those ingredients makes for a less “bready” treat, tasting mostly of bananas, nuts and spices.

Serve warm or cool for breakfast with an herbal or forage tea or coffee. For a decadent dessert, toast lightly in an oven and top with a spoonful of vanilla or caramel ice cream.