Wild recipes

Nettles Pâté  by Juliet Blankenspoor

Juliet Blankenspoor is the director of the Chestnut School of Herbal Medicine. She writes about wild foods and herbal medicine in her blog, Castanea. She is currently developing an herbal correspondence course, which will feature many wild foods recipes.

Ingredients

1 cup walnut halves

3 cloves garlic

6 ounces extra virgin olive oil + little more for sautéing

½ cup whole pitted Kalamata olives

1 quart steamed nettle leaves (about 4 quarts fresh leaves)

4 ounces feta cheese (by weight)

1/4 pound Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese (substitute grated parmesan if necessary)

10 medium shiitake mushrooms

20 sundried tomatoes

To make: Pour just enough hot water over the sundried tomatoes to cover, and let sit for a few hours. If you don’t have the time to presoak, soaking them while you prepare the other ingredients is sufficient.

Strip the stinging nettle leaves from the fibrous stem; compost the stem. Leather garden gloves are handy to avoid the nettle sting, and kitchen tongs work nicely when washing nettles and transferring them to a cooking pot. Wash the leaves and steam them until they are tender, yet still vibrantly green. Steaming will deactivate the nettle sting. The nettle leaves will shrink to about ¼ the original volume after cooking. Let the steamed nettles cool while you prepare the rest of the ingredients.

Toast walnut halves in an ungreased skillet until their aroma permeates the kitchen and they are slightly browned. Place the toasted walnuts on a plate to cool.

De-stem and coarsely chop the shiitakes, and sauté in a little olive oil.

Blend the following ingredients in a food processor: garlic, olives, sundried tomatoes, feta, Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese and olive oil. When the shiitakes, nettles and walnuts have cooled, add them to the food processor and blend. If you don’t have a food processor, use a blender, and slowly incorporate the ingredients into the olive oil. You may need to add a little more olive oil or water when using a blender.

Serve as a dip with crudités or crackers. The pâté is also lovely as a “pesto” for pasta. Yet another way to savor this recipe is to use the pâté as the base of a white pizza.

Dandelion Fritters by Melissa Fryer

Melissa Fryer is an Appalachian-born herbalist and wild-foods enthusiast who lives in Madison County and is a manager at the French Broad Food Coop. She teaches at Asheville School of Holistic Herbalism and local herb festivals. rootmama13@gmail.com

Ingredients

1 1/2 cup dandelion flowers

2 eggs, beaten

1 cup sour cream

1 1/2 cup cornmeal

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 cup wild onions (or scallions)

1 cup grated cheese

1/4 cup water

To make: Remove green caps and stems from dandelion flowers. Combine sour cream and eggs and stir in dandelion petals. Add remaining ingredients and mix well. Drop by the spoonful onto a well-oiled hot pan or griddle. Brown on both sides and serve hot. Makes 10-12 3-inch fritters.

 Chickweed pesto by Melissa Fryer

Ingredients

3 cups fresh chickweed (leaves and stems)

1 1/2 cup walnuts

1 cup Parmesan and/or feta cheese

2-5 cloves garlic (depending on preference)

3 tablespoons olive oil

To make: Place walnuts, cheese and garlic into a food processor  and mix well. Add chickweed and blend. Slowly drizzle on olive oil until desired consistency is reached. This is terrific on pasta dishes, as a dip for veggies or spread on crackers and bread.