Wild foods?

sumi

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Does anyone here harvest wild foods, like mushrooms, edible "wild" plants, etc? If you do please share what you harvest, where you find it, how you use it in meals, etc?
 

Britesea

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I ran across this article a while back; thought you might be interested. According to this, the dessert Sumi makes is kind of like a buckle, but without the streusel.
OLD FASHIONED FRUIT DESSERTS


A cobbler is a type of deep-dish fruit dessert with a thick biscuit or pie dough crust that is prepared and then served warmed to guests. It is very similar to a pie except that the crust is thicker and it is traditionally placed only on top. However, over the years, ingredients and preparation methods have been created that bake the cobbler crust on the top for some recipes and on the bottom for others.
In the United States a cobbler is typically made with fruit or berries but in the United Kingdom it is typically a meat dish. In the United States, peach, blueberry and cherry cobblers are among the most popular varieties.

A crisp is a sweet dessert made with baked fruit as the bottom layer, which is topped with a crumbly topping. It is commonly referred to as a "fruit crisp" or as a crisp described by the name of the fruit in the dessert, such as apple crisp, a three fruit crisp, or something similar. A typical crisp combines a variety of ingredients, which include brown sugar, oatmeal and nuts that are mixed with the butter, flour and cinnamon to create a granular topping that is spread over the baked fruit.
Apple crisp is one of the most commonly prepared crisps, especially in the fall when the apples are in season, but other fruits and berries, such as peaches, pears, blueberries, and rhubarb are also used to make delicious crisps. Although it can be served cold, it is most often served as a warm dessert.

A crumble is a dessert with a crumb topping made from flour, sugar, and butter combined into a mixture that is sprinkled over sliced fruit and baked. The topping is made up of basically the same ingredients as a pastry except it doesn't contain any liquid. When the crumble bakes the butter melts and mixes with the flour and sugar to create a crunchy, crumbly topping. A crumble is very similar to a crisp except that the topping for a crisp generally contains oats and often nuts, giving it a coarser texture that the crumbles toppings.
The traditional crumble topping contains flour, sugar, and butter but there are many variations, which some include ingredients such as oats, nuts, and spices. As more of these ingredients are added, the crumble becomes even more similar to a crisp. A crumble also resembles a cobbler, which has a fruit filling with a top crust and no bottom crust. The difference being that top crust of the cobbler contains a leavening agent such as baking powder which gives it more of a smooth bread type texture rather than crumbly. One of the most common crumble desserts is "apple crumble", but it is also common to use blueberries, strawberries, peaches, rhubarb, and plums.

A Buckle is a sweet dessert that is made from a cake batter traditionally topped with berries, which is topped with a streusel type topping. The batter rises up as it bakes and the berries and streusel topping sink at uneven intervals, forming a buckled affect in the cake. Originally, buckle was made as a single layer cake topped with blueberries. However, over the years a variety of berries, fruits and toppings have been added to make different versions of this cake dessert.
Some recipes have the berries folded into the batter and some spread the berries on top. It is also often made with blueberries and another fruit combined into the cake and topped with the streusel coating.

A pandowdy is a sweet dessert that is made with a pastry or bread dough topping that covers a fruit base made from one or several fruits. Apple Pandowdy is the most common version of this dessert. When prepared, the dough is rolled out into thin circular or square shape matching the shape of the deep baking dish containing the fruit. Nuts, such as sliced almonds, are often added to the Pandowdy dough.
There are two methods that can be used to bake the dough for the pandowdy. The dough may be baked separately from the fruit and then added during the baking time or it can be baked with the fruit. When baked with the fruit, the dish is taken out of the oven after a short period of baking time, and then the dough is scored, and pressed into the fruit. The pandowdy is then placed back in the oven to finish baking.
If the dough is baked separately from the fruit, the fruit is mixed with brown sugar or molasses, cornstarch, and spices and then baked until tender and juicy. The baked dough topping is placed on top of the partially baked fruit mixture, pressed down slightly into the mixture and baked with the fruit until the dough is golden brown and the fruit is thick and bubbling. The dough becomes crisp and crumbly, adding a texture that enhances the fruit mixture. Very similar to a cobbler, grunt or slump, the deep-dished pandowdy can be served as a dessert or snack that is typically warm and topped with whipped cream or ice cream.

Brown Betty is a name given to an early era baked pudding dessert made by those who came to America during the 1600's. There are now numerous variations of this dessert that use many different types of fruit, but the most well known is Apple Brown Betty or simply Brown Betty. A combination of tart apples, (Granny Smith and Gala work well or other combinations of two to three semi-tart varieties) are cut into slices and mixed with sugar, cinnamon, vanilla, and lemon juice.
Pieces of bread are torn and baked or browned on the stovetop in butter, basically creating breadcrumbs to be used as a layer or filling. The sweetened and seasoned fruit is then layered with the breadcrumbs to form a baked pudding of fruit and crispy breadcrumbs that is served warm and is often topped with whipped cream or ice cream.

A grunt is a dessert, traditionally served on America's east coast that is a combination of a pie and a cobbler. It consists of fruit, most often berries, which are cooked beneath a crust of biscuit or dumpling type dough. The Grunt was named for the echo of sounds coming from the bubbling fruit under the dough as it cooks. A Grunt is similar in preparation to the Slump with the exception that the Grunt is steam cooked and the Slump is baked.

A slump is a dessert that is basically the same as a grunt as far as ingredients and construction. It consists of fruit, berries, or a mixture of fruit and berries, which are cooked beneath a crust of biscuit or dumpling type dough. The difference between the grunt and the slump is that the slump is baked uncovered instead of steamed. Some recipes call for it to be cooked on the stovetop and others use the oven. The slump was given its name because when served on a plate it has a tendency to slump.
 

gardengertie

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wow, of all the things I've done to get rid of greenbriar i never knew you could eat then. going to have to try that. i pick blackberries, muscadines, wild plums, crabapples and apples and peaches from old home places that are vacant. the goats and i went out in the pasture to pick blackberries. i got the berries and they nibbled the leaves. there is a direct correlation of 2 to 1 for the number of berries to chiggers tho. now do i make a cobbler or jam? the cobbler will be great but then gone or the jam will be good this winter. unfortunately there isn't enough for both
 

Hinotori

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I pick thimbleberry, salal, and serviceberry each year.

I also pick blackberries. Most of what we have on them is the non-native invasive himalayan blackberry and cut leaf blackberry. I do pick native trailing blackberry and encourage it to spread. It has rather tasty berries on it.

This year I plan on picking oregon grape and making some jam from it. If the pacific crab apple tree produces enough, I'll be able to make some jelly from it this year.

Sometimes I pick the stinging nettles and cook them up or go pick cattails to snack on the stems.
 

Britesea

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I usually pick crabapples for jelly, applesauce and cordials; native wild plums for drying, jam, wine; chokecherries for jelly; elderberries for baking, tinctures, and wine sometimes; wild rose petals for rose petal jelly and rose hips for tea and jam, nettles for tea and greens, and few miscellaneous herbs like shepherd's purse and plantain and comfrey. Most of these I find in the empty fields around our house or down close to the river.
I would like to harvest cattails if I ever have the time, and I noticed a blackberry just getting started near the river not too far from us. I'd like to make sure of the identity before I harvest but I think I've got lambs quarters and purslane here as well.
 

Denim Deb

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If you're not sure, post some pics of it.
 

baymule

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I let the dandelions run rampant in the garden and make tea and jelly from the blooms. Made a batch of wine and got another batch bubbling now. It's pretty good!

Dandelion jelly.jpg


Dandelion wine bottles.jpg
 

frustratedearthmother

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WEll, whenever you're ready to do a "tasting" just lemme know! I'm a pretty experienced wine drinker, lol!
 

mrscoyote

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I'm a dummy, I have no idea what to forage around here beside the local grapes. We do have cat tails and bamboo. Guess I should try those.
 

sumi

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@Britesea I'd love to spent a day in your kitchen and learn from you. I was looking at some rose hips today and thinking...
@baymule That wine looks very nice!
@mrscoyote Me too! I'm amazed how much food is out there and I walk past and over it not knowing...

I'd love to go mushrooming with an expert one day. I've tried using books as reference when I pick wild mushrooms, but I'm too scared to eat them, just in case. I have yet to try nettles, though we have more than enough of them growing here. I hear they are delicious.
 
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