Cooks' Corner

[Maggi Young]

My God - this will be turning into a giant thread...  

Oh, I DO HOPE SO!!

It is vital for gardeners to keep their strength up with tasty and nutritious food, don't you agree?  


I must remind everyone of Stephenb's thread: My edible alpines......
http://www.srgc.org.uk/smf/index.php?topic=3085.0      ....you're bound to get a few ideas there!

[Carlo]

...and check out the rhubarb/fig marmalade recipe in the current issue of Gardens Illustrated...

My, how this topic has exploded out of the blocks!

[FrazerHenderson]

Half a kilo of hylotelephiums and a sedum relaxant, please.

What would you include in salad? Lettuce, rocket, spinach, radish leaves, Hylotelephium spectabile, carrot… yes, H. spectabile that’s right . According to the Plants for a Future organisation the leaves of H. spectabilecan be eaten raw or cooked though it advises that they are, as you would expect, very mucilaginous with a bland flavour. Perhaps the cultivars ‘Matrona’ or ‘Joyce Henderson’ should be considered instead?

Another useful plant is Rhodiola rosea. Its leaves too can be eaten raw or cooked. Though somewhat bitter, incorporation within a sauerkraut should mask the taste. One source quoted by Plants for a Future even suggests that the stems should be cooked and eaten like asparagus, though there is no mention of the taste comparison.

Of more interest perhaps are the medicinal qualities of sedums.  R. roseaagain comes out on top. The plant is a good tonic proven to increase the body’s resistance to stress by regulating the body’s hormonal response. It has other uses and I quote “..[it has] an enhancing effect upon physical endurance and sexual potency”.  There is clearly a marketing opportunity awaiting exploitation by an enterprising nurseryman/woman.

Medicinal properties abound in other species; the leaf juice of H. erythrostictum can be applied to burns, Orostachys japonica is a muscle relaxant and in Korea is used in the treatment of cancer, whilst Sedum acre is used to resolve boils and piles, though its sap can prove irritating to some people.

Plants for a Future is a registered UK charity that seeks “to identify and promote edible, medicinal and useful plants for a healthier world”. It has a marvellously informative website at http://www.pfaf.org/database/search_name.php?ALLNAMES=sedum which additionally provides cultivation and propagation details as well as comprehensive and eclectic references for further inquiry.

And who would have thought that this line of enquiry started with lemon curd....

[Kristl Walek]

My life is very simple:

PLANTS, BOOKS AND GOOD FOOD...

So I thank you for this thread.

And now that I am moving to "New Scotland" my interest and love of oatcakes has been revived.
I like them both sweet and savory---but mostly I am still looking for the perfect recipe for a sweet version that  is not too sweet and very "oaty."

Do you have a recipe to share?
Please don't offer me one from an on-line source (have tried them all over the years).

I want YOUR old family recipe that makes an oat cake to die for...

[Maggi Young]

Kristl: a SWEET oatcake? I never heard of such a thing 

[Kristl Walek]

Kristl: a SWEET oatcake? I never heard of such a thing  

oh yes, Maggi...the traditional oatcake translated into North America has become a scrumptious, sweet treat. every coffee shop i frequented in Nova Scotia has them---from the plain version (my favorite) to dipped in chocolate, to the addition of peanut butter.

whenever i ate one that i almost thought was perfect (minus the sugar level), I asked for the recipe (to not avail).

they are normally chubby (2" thick) -- in rounds, or cut into large squares or triangles.

one does not see this anywhere in Ontario....although someone would become rich marketing these.

[Ragged Robin]

Kristi, I love oatcakes too and brought 3 lots of homemade Arran oatcakes back to Switzerland as presents - will ask my sister-in-law who is a great baker - good luck on your search  

[Maggi Young]

Hmmmm..... anything oatcake  2inches thick would not be known in Scotland as an "oatcake" .... it may well be an oat cake, but for us here, an oatcake is a thin ( when home-made, the thinner the better) round or triangular "biscuit" .... usually on the salty side. Usually it was made by rolling the mixture into a large-ish round and cutting into four triangles. Cannot remember the recipe right now.... I'll  have to think about it - it's many many years since I last made any! I remember an family friend, married to a master baker, who used to  hand make big, crisp and utterly delicious oatcakes for the bakery.... she rolled the mix out to almost paper thin proportions, cut the round using a big ( about 10 to 12 inch / 25 to 30 cm ) old saucepan lid that she kept specially for that purpose, and slicing the round into quarters before baking them.  I 'll need to look for Mom's recipe, can't recall what Nett's one was, though I remember watching her make thousands of them!

[Rodger Whitlock]

Rodger, I would love to see a pic of your le creuset dutch oven that didn't cost an arm and a leg, I would also like to see a pic of the bread  using some barley flour.
I use one of my le creuset dutch ovens for the no knead bread but have taken the knob off and replaced with a nut.
The knobs are only supposed to be good for 450degrees max.
I did read that people in stores that sell le creuset have been stealing the knobs!!!

Here's a pic of that Le Creuset dutch oven or casserole I bought second-hand. Value Village, sometimes the source of quite good things. Cost, $25. Inside is stained but enamel isn't chipped or cracked, something you always have to be careful about when buying used enameled cast iron.

My cat Lily provides a sense of scale. Lily gets fed on that table and she's overdue for her afternoon snack. Moreover, she's wondering where her usual food dish is (a small Portuguese pedestal dish), it having been displaced pro tem by the dutch oven.

Notice, too: no knob: the handle on the lid is integral to its construction. I suppose this is a clue to when it was made.

Next time I make a 1/3 barley loaf, I'll provide a picture. But actually, the loaf containing currants and citon (which I've made twice) is better. Being slightly sweet, it would serve as an accompaniment to tea during garden viewing ceremonies. And here's a tip for those of you frustrated by your inability to buy good quality candied citron: if you are lucky, your nearest specialty Middle Eastern food place has "citron jam" from Sham Gardens Food Industries in Syria. It's actually big chunks of citron peel in syrup. Drain it, chop it up, and bob's your uncle. You can also take inferior citron and soak it in the syrup afterwards to absorb the flavor.

I find that jams and preserves from Turkey, Syria, Lebanon, Iran are usually excellent, and often use fruit not commonly found in Europe or North America.

Now, some may think that a discussion of cooking and cooking equipment is off topic for a rock gardening forum, but it isn't. As Maggi said, it's very important for us to keep up our strength, as well as have food and drink appropriate to the occasion when we are viewing our precious plants.

I suppose that after this long a screed, I'm pretty well obligated to say the door is open to SRGC members visiting Victoria. Just give me a couple days' warning to make the bread, as it takes a long time for the dough to rise.

[johnw]

but for us here, an oatcake is a thin ( when home-made, the thinner the better) round or triangular "biscuit" .... usually on the salty side.

Maggi - Sounds exactly like the oatcakes made in Northern Nova Scotia, especially Cape Breton, all Scottish territory. However they are not so salty and never sweet but highly addictive and perfect slathered with butter.  Must try some extra salt. Not so easy to cut and lift before baking and they can incinerate in a minute if you are not careful. There are quite a few NS recipes on the web.

Here is my first attempt at the no-knead and it has gotten better (more holes and better cracking of the exterior) with the addition of a 1/16 tsp of Danish yeast cake dissolved in the water and the oven temperature reduced to 450.  It develops incredible character with the 18 hour rise.

Just back from St John's, Nfld; I don't think I have ever seen a place with so many Laburnums and all in full bloom.  One roadside steep rock cliff some 300-400 ft high along the highway was absolutely covered in naturalized Laburnums. A chilly 10c there.

Word has it the sun appeared here today.

johnw - WHO HAS NEVER EATEN POUTINE NOR INTENDS TO.  A much touted local Acadian dish here is Rappie Pie (aka Rapure), you can buy it in the supermarkets here.

[Rodger Whitlock]

Here is my first attempt at the no-knead and it has gotten better (more holes and better cracking of the exterior) with the addition of a 1/16 tsp of Danish yeast cake dissolved in the water and the oven temperature reduced to 450.  It develops incredible character with the 18 hour rise.

I think you are right about lowering the temperature to 450F. My own no-knead loaves come out with the crust somewhat overdone at 500F, even at 475F. (I hope some of the other food-interested members of the SRGC will give the no-knead bread recipe method a try. It makes the best bread I've ever made, and it's beyond simple.)

Where are you getting your Danish yeast cake from? I've looked around Victoria for cake yeast many a time with no success whatsoever.

[Lesley Cox]

Finally got around to making the lemon curd today. The tarts will have to wait until tomorrow. Need to go to supermarket for more butter.



I envy you the ability to buy yeast in a cake. We used to get what was sold as compressed yeast but can only get the dried, granulated stuff nowadays. It's not nearly so good and doesn't have the lovely yeast scent.

[Brian Ellis]

That looks so good Lesley, I love Lemon Meringue, you've got my juices going

[Ragged Robin]

Wow, Lesley, what a luscious looking lemon curd and your lemons look good too -

I think I'll make some fresh lemonade to drink whilst watching Wimbledon finals to keep us cool (34 degrees at Wimbledon yesterday and even the Aussie supporters running out of beer 

[Paul T]

Robin,

Don't say that, that's blasphemy!  You can't run out of beer, that's illegal!