Now is the time to eat your Flower Garden!
Istvan
How is your garden growing? Do you have any Nasturtiums and Roses? If
you don't have Nasturtiums, there's still time to grow some. If not,
substitute Watercress in the following recipe (although it won't look so
good).
Nasturtium and Stilton Soup:
This soup is very tasty and looks beautiful, if prepared and presented
correctly. Some say that this is a 'lovers soup' because it looks
wonderful and contains certain essential vitamins for 'you know what'!
I suspect most of you know, all parts of the Nasturtium plant are
edible. However, I wonder how often you make a dish from them.
Ingredients:
2 Cups Nasturtium leaves without the stalks (coarsely chopped)
1 Cup Nasturtium flowers, red and yellow (coarsely chopped)
1/4 Cup Pink Rose bud petals, coarsely chopped (the more
fragrant, the better)
8 oz Mature Stilton or other blue veined cheese
1 Large Onion (finely chopped)
1 oz Butter (unsalted)
1 small Potato (cut into 1/2" cubes)
2 pints Chicken stock
1/2 pint Milk
1/2 pint Sour cream (or fresh cream)
1/2 tsp. Salt
1 pinch Fresh ground black pepper
1 pinch Ground nutmeg
Directions:
Mix the stock and milk together and pour into a large pan. Add the salt,
pepper and nutmeg. Bring to a boil whilst stirring. When boiling, add
the potatoes and reduce to a simmer. Continue simmering until the
potatoes are soft, then remove from heat.
Using a suitable skillet, melt the butter gently without bubbling. Add
the onions and sauté until soft. Introduce the Nasturtium leaves,
flowers and Rose bud petals. Continue heating and stirring until the
Nasturtium leaves become soft and a darker green (a couple of minutes).
Stir the sautéed Nasturtium mix into the stock and potatoes and bring
back to a boil. Reduce the heat to a very low simmer and stir in almost
all of the cream (leaving enough to dress the serving bowl with a cream
spiral).
Maintain the low simmer and *do not* allow to boil. Crumble in the
cheese, whilst stirring continuously until melted and well included.
Test for salt and pepper and adjust as necessary (note: Nasturtiums are
very peppery in taste and the cheese tends to be salty, so take care
with additional seasoning).
If you don't like cheese. Either include some plain flour with the
butter and make a light roux to thicken the soup or thicken later with a
little corn flour and increase the volume of the cream.
Remove from heat. At this stage the soup should have a green/blue
colour, dotted with the yellow, pink and red hues from the flowers.
Gently puree the potatoes with a manual masher. If you want, you can
puree with a blender or food processor, but the distinct colours will
all mix together and you may lose some of the effect. Part of the beauty
of this soup is its appearance.
Serving:
Pour into a suitable soup serving bowl and drizzle a spiral of cream
over the surface. Decorate by floating a few candied Nasturtium flowers
on the surface of the soup (see below) then serve immediately.
Candied Nasturtium flowers:
Ingredients:
1 Large egg white
1 Tbsp. water
1/2 Cup very fine sugar (UK: castor or icing)
1 Handful of Nasturtium flowers
Directions:
Beat egg white in water until foamy. Use a small paintbrush to paint
flower petals (or dip and shake, making sure all surfaces are wetted).
Dip petals into sugar. Allow petals to dry overnight on waxed paper (or
in a slightly warm oven, to speed things up).
Istvan
--
omnes docendo discimus
Arri London
>
> Hello folks!
>
> How is your garden growing? Do you have any Nasturtiums and Roses? If
> you don't have Nasturtiums, there's still time to grow some. If not,
> substitute Watercress in the following recipe (although it won't look so
> good).
>
> Nasturtium and Stilton Soup:
>
> This soup is very tasty and looks beautiful, if prepared and presented
> correctly. Some say that this is a 'lovers soup' because it looks
> wonderful and contains certain essential vitamins for 'you know what'!
>
> I suspect most of you know, all parts of the Nasturtium plant are
> edible. However, I wonder how often you make a dish from them.
>
<snip>
Not being a fan of Stilton, cooked or not, I'll pass.
Sigh... due to an invasion of thrips, I've had to keep
cutting the rosebuds off before they can mature. Between
that and frequent soap sprays, maybe *next year* we can eat
the roses again.
No nasturtiums. Plenty of portaluca/verdolagas. Maybe I will
eat that instead!
Watabod
yep -- and in the past I have had borage and then someone told me it is not a
good idea to eat the blooms -- ???? anyone know anything about this?
Donna
Istvan
<p...@meadows.pair.com> writes
>On Fri, 26 Jul 2002 18:43:46 -0600, Arri London
><bio...@ic.ac.uk> wrote:
>
>
>>
>>Not being a fan of Stilton, cooked or not, I'll pass.
>>
>>Sigh... due to an invasion of thrips, I've had to keep
>>cutting the rosebuds off before they can mature. Between
>>that and frequent soap sprays, maybe *next year* we can eat
>>the roses again.
>>
>>No nasturtiums. Plenty of portaluca/verdolagas. Maybe I will
>>eat that instead!
>
>that they are the same plant and portulaca is just a
>cultivated version of it. Do you know if they're the same?
>
>Pat
Here's a few links to take a look at:
http://www.greenchronicle.com/gardening/nasturtium.htm
http://members.aol.com/TigrLil/Soup.html
http://shop.store.yahoo.com/seedsofchange/purlarleaf.html
http://www.paula-wolfert.com/recipes/lamb_stew.html
One of the things that I've discovered with many people is that if you
suggest eating something from the garden, such as Nasturtiums or rose
petals/buds, they immediately give you a look as if you just suggested
that you eat their dog or cat ;-)
I've never figured out why!!!
Arri London
>
> On Fri, 26 Jul 2002 18:43:46 -0600, Arri London
> <bio...@ic.ac.uk> wrote:
>
> >
> >
> >Sigh... due to an invasion of thrips, I've had to keep
> >cutting the rosebuds off before they can mature. Between
> >that and frequent soap sprays, maybe *next year* we can eat
> >the roses again.
> >
> >No nasturtiums. Plenty of portaluca/verdolagas. Maybe I will
> >eat that instead!
>
> that they are the same plant and portulaca is just a
> cultivated version of it. Do you know if they're the same?
>
> Pat
They are the same group. Our portaluca certainly isn't
cultivated; it's one of the most common weeds here and is
native, AFAIK.
Arri London
Silly isn't it? We are trying to incorporate as much edible
landscaping as poss. Given the water restrictions, why waste
an expensive resource when we can eat the plants as well as
look at them?
Arri London
My herb books say it's safe to eat a few flowers, but borage
shouldn't be used long term.
You can float a flower or two in a cold drink without harm.
Josephine Besso
respond to your article. However, I do use these flowers to decorate
cakes and to beautify
certain dessert dishes. I have never tried this
recipe but it does sound interesting. : )
Istvan
writes
<snipped for brevity)
>>
>> Here's a few links to take a look at:
>>
>> http://www.greenchronicle.com/gardening/nasturtium.htm
>> http://members.aol.com/TigrLil/Soup.html
>> http://shop.store.yahoo.com/seedsofchange/purlarleaf.html
>> http://www.paula-wolfert.com/recipes/lamb_stew.html
>>
>> One of the things that I've discovered with many people is that if you
>> suggest eating something from the garden, such as Nasturtiums or rose
>> petals/buds, they immediately give you a look as if you just suggested
>> that you eat their dog or cat ;-)
>>
>> I've never figured out why!!!
>>
>> Istvan
>> --
>> omnes docendo discimus
>
>Silly isn't it? We are trying to incorporate as much edible
>landscaping as poss. Given the water restrictions, why waste
>an expensive resource when we can eat the plants as well as
>look at them?
>
Yes, it is silly! There are so many plants that you can eat from the
garden or from the wild (taking care that you know what chemicals may
have been used on them).
A good deal of so called weeds are just herbs or vegetables. There was a
recent thread that discussed Dandelion and Burdock; both wonderful
plants for eating. They grow prolifically around here as do Nettles and
Purslane. All of which have great culinary and medical properties.
I would recommend to anyone that, next time they are weeding their
garden, consider composting some and .... eating some!
Frogleg
Nonsense. Freeze borage flowers in ice cubes to use in clear or
near-clear summer drinks. Use to decorate a salad.
"Someone told me..." isn't much of a reference, unless that someone is
a trusted expert in the field. The web gives thousands of references,
from casual personal pages to scholarly research, on every subject
imaginable. Look it up.
Frogleg
wrote:
>Watabod wrote:
>>
>> >Do you have any Nasturtiums
>>
>> yep -- and in the past I have had borage and then someone told me it is not a
>> good idea to eat the blooms -- ???? anyone know anything about this?
>
>My herb books say it's safe to eat a few flowers, but borage
>shouldn't be used long term.
>You can float a flower or two in a cold drink without harm.
>
Could you please post the names of those books? I just looked in my
'Cooking with Flowers' book and Rodale's 'Illustrated Encyclopedia of
Herbs', as well as several web sites with herb info, and found not a
single mention that any part of the plant was in any way harmful. The
leaves have apparently long been used in teas and tonics; the flowers
more recently in the way of edible decoration. I found the leaves,
'though having a nice cucumber-y taste, were a little too bristly to
comfortably add to a salad.
Frogleg
wrote:
>>No nasturtiums. Plenty of portaluca/verdolagas. Maybe I will
>>eat that instead!
>
>'Purslane' is an edible week and I think - but am not sure -
>that they are the same plant and portulaca is just a
>cultivated version of it. Do you know if they're the same?
Istvan's references may cover it, but the decorative variety is
Portulaca grandiflora, while the edible weed is Portulaca oleracea.
One now extinct web reference mentions purslane as cousin to
"bright-flowered but inedible portulaca"
Arri London
The Herb Book by John Lust ISBN 0553238272
Advises against long term usage
A Modern Herbal by Mrs Grieve ISBN 0486227987
Just says the flowers are used to a lesser extent
Advising against long term usage doesn't mean the plant is
harmful as such. A few flowers in a drink are unlikely to
cause harm to someone who isn't allergic.
Borage has indeed been used for centuries, but that doesn't
mean people took it daily for weeks or months.
Use younger leaves if the leaves were too bristly or try to
find another cultivar. We had some in our garden in Holland
that was fuzzy but not 'painful'. However that was when I
was a child so I never learned which sort it was.
Arri London
> enjoying) the following in north-central PA (in one of the
> colder areas of Zone 5):
>
> kiwi fruit
> grapes
> raspberries
> blackberries
> paw-paws (American paw-paws, _Asimina triloba_ , NOT
> mangoes)
> gooseberries
> blueberries
> rhubarb
> red currants
> strawberries
>
> Plus the vegetable garden. And an herb garden, or herbs
> mixed into flower borders. And some edible flowers.
>
> This is a _very_ ambitious plan and will have to be done
> gradually.
>
> Pat
Sounds nice. Most would take too much water for us though.
We do have one grape vine and I'm thinking about another to
make an arbour, after I paint the house.
Have started an herb (as opposed to herbaceous) border. Hope
some of them survive the winter. We do mix flowers and
edibles in any case. I take all the seeds, mix them in a
bowl and then scatter them in the prepared soil beds.
Investigating other drought-tolerant edibles. The sunflowers
do very well, but can't live on sunflower seeds alone. The
birds attacked my prize sunflower...managed to save some
seeds. Greedy sods...we *did* feed them all winter.
Watabod
>a trusted expert in the field
thanks for the info -- actually she is not into plants but very much into
vitamins and healthy living. I put a lot of trust in her opinions on
supplements and food. : )
Donna
Frogleg
wrote:
Ah hah! "Advises against long-term usage." I'm thinking this applies
to teas, tinctures, and other concentrated preparation of the leaves,
'though as I said, I've found no other cautions. "Took it daily" is a
bit different from (or is it "different than"?) tossing some blossoms
into a salad or bowl of punch.
This reminds me a little of some food/drug trials where mice were fed
the equivalent of, oh, say 2 cases of diet soda a day and got diseased
or dead. Even water will kill you -- not just drowning but wildly
excessive ingestion.
Sorry, Arri. I have a kind of knee-jerk reaction to questions that
include "I've heard somewhere that this is poisonous." Nearly
everything that grows and isn't in the produce section of every
grocery store in the world (and sometimes that, too) brings up a whole
mass of dire speculation. There are plenty of poisonous plants, but
they're fairly well-known, and never recommended as food without
strict cautions....
Wait a minute. I just looked up 'poke salad' and found several sites
with recipes calling for "young leaves" but not mentioning mature
parts of the plant are all toxic. Oops.
But still, we know that foxglove leaves are poisonous, and castor
beans and oleander and mistletoe berries and... So my feeling is,
if it hasn't been widely promoted as poison, it isn't. If it's out of
the ordinary (eating flowers, for example), I look it up. When I find
borage on a dozen lists of edible flowers with no cautions, I grow
borage and use the flowers.
Istvan
<Magya...@ceanet.demon.co.uk> writes
>Hello folks!
>
>How is your garden growing? Do you have any Nasturtiums and Roses? If
>you don't have Nasturtiums, there's still time to grow some. If not,
>substitute Watercress in the following recipe (although it won't look
>so good).
>
>Nasturtium and Stilton Soup:
>
......sniffle ...... sob :-(
Arri London
That is rather what I said.
>
> This reminds me a little of some food/drug trials where mice were fed
> the equivalent of, oh, say 2 cases of diet soda a day and got diseased
> or dead. Even water will kill you -- not just drowning but wildly
> excessive ingestion.
>
> Sorry, Arri. I have a kind of knee-jerk reaction to questions that
> include "I've heard somewhere that this is poisonous." Nearly
> everything that grows and isn't in the produce section of every
> grocery store in the world (and sometimes that, too) brings up a whole
> mass of dire speculation. There are plenty of poisonous plants, but
> they're fairly well-known, and never recommended as food without
> strict cautions....
>
> Wait a minute. I just looked up 'poke salad' and found several sites
> with recipes calling for "young leaves" but not mentioning mature
> parts of the plant are all toxic. Oops.
Or the well-known rhubarb leaves being toxic while the
stalks are not.
>
> But still, we know that foxglove leaves are poisonous, and castor
> beans and oleander and mistletoe berries and... So my feeling is,
> if it hasn't been widely promoted as poison, it isn't.
That could get you into trouble, you know <g>.
Herbs are drugs and chemicals just like any others. There
are unfavourable interactions with other herbs and with
'chemical' drugs. Just because one herb isn't promoted as
poison doesn't mean it can be taken long term or mixed with
something else.
If it's out of
> the ordinary (eating flowers, for example), I look it up. When I find
> borage on a dozen lists of edible flowers with no cautions, I grow
> borage and use the flowers.
You can do that indeed. However, when I see the words 'long
term usage not advisable' I generally pay attention.
Haven't looked up borage in any of my other herbals, which
are still in boxes.
Frogleg
Though I love them, I've never had much luck with nasturtiums, and
Stilton is too rare and pricey to make soup of. Thanks for the recipe,
however. If I find myself in Stinton-nasturtium territory...