May is here and with it, an overwhelming abundance of wild foods are perfectly prime for harvesting. While my mind is frantically inundated with ideas for recipes and my fingers are busy picking, my allergies have been reawakened resulting in itchy eyes and throat irritation. Lucky for us foragers, there are a wide variety of wild plants and herbs available right now to help combat these pesky side affects. Stinging nettle is a great example.
For the first time this year, I’ll be offering an exclusive forage followed by all things ramp tasting on May 2 in Framingham. The season’s first forage and wild food picnic on May 23 in Lynn will also feature a heavy dose of ramp dishes.
Wild spring greens pesto is a breeze to make and has been hand’s down one of my most popular dishes at my tastings and picnics. I make a slightly different variation each week based on what is growing in my yard, but the base is always the same and I think the secret to this recipe’s success – sorrel!
Love truffles but hate paying the high prices? Me too! Did you know that New England is home to one of the tastiest, cheapest and most delicious truffles of all? Amazing, right?! It is known as ‘sea truffle’ and it grows in heaps along coastal coves from Maine to Connecticut.
Early spring features numerous delicious wild greens and herbs like garlic mustard, spring onions, alehoof, mugwort, sorrel, and box elder. Tasty tubers are also prime for picking, from day lilies and burdock to Jerusalem artichokes. And the first edible flowers like dandelion, violets and magnolia brighten landscapes and dinner plates.
While January through March is prime time for clamming, there is an even easier forage right at your finger tips – invasive species! You don’t need a license or fancy equipment to gather these pesky but delicious critters either. Flip up a few rocks in the tidal zone and you can have a tasty meal in no time.
The first snowflakes have fallen, the turkey leftovers are gone and the holiday season is in full swing! Before we busy ourselves with shopping, travel plans and year-end festivities, I wanted to share some of the latest foraging news, happenings and gift ideas to help ease the stress!
Cold and flu season is upon us, but fret not my foraging friends! The forests and fields offer an incredible array of plants and fungi to help ward off those pesky coughs, sniffling noses and winter blahs. Late fall in my house means its time to get tincturing. Tinctures have been used for centuries by herbalists and healers alike and can be made from plants or fungi.
In fields, crab apples are begging to be picked and jammed, baked or made into vinegar, Kousa Dogwood fruits are ripening and black walnuts are causing mild concussions to unaware passersby. Many spring plants are rejuvenated by fall’s cooler temperatures and begin sprouting again – garlic mustard, wintercress, bittercress, dandelions, field onions and nettles urge our bodies to eat more greens before the winter freeze.
Looking for another way to save all of those delicious fresh mushrooms? Here is a super simple recipe that will make you thankful you thought ahead this winter! In the past I have used hens, chickens, oysters and beefsteak mushrooms, but pretty much any kind of fungi will work in a duxelles.