Monday, April 29, 2013

Mad About Dandelions


I mentioned a post or two ago how thrilled I was to see so many dandelions around - it's just as well I am thrilled as we certainly seem to have an abundance of them in our garden! I know that this might seem like an odd thing be thrilled about, but you see, I don't see weeds when I look their pretty yellow heads, I see potential! Apart from learning about how interesting these plants are in one of our OHC times, I have also discovered that the flower petals can be made into the most delicious things. Free food is the term I think! I thought that I would share two recipes with you - one that we have made and one that I plan to make :o)

Dandelion bread was what we made last year - DE-LISH and oh-so-pretty! So here we are:



Dandelion Bread

4 cups flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 - 2 cups dandelion petals*
1/2 cup sunflower/vegetable oil
3/4 of a cup of honey
2 eggs
2 2/3 cups of milk

Preheat oven to 200 degrees C or 400 F. 
Combine all the dry ingredients including the petals. 
In a separate bowl: Mix oil, honey, eggs and milk
Stir in the dry ingredients and mix well.
Pour the batter into 2 greased loaf pans and bake for 20 - 25 minutes. If it is not done, lower the temperature to 180 degrees C or 350 F and continue baking, checking every 5 minutes.
 Turn out and cool on a wire rack.

~ thank you Lisa for posting this recipe ~


*Remember to wash the blossoms before trimming the petals and be sure to only gather blossoms that have not been treated with weed killer!



Now for a recipe that I want to try out Dandelion Jelly! Apparently it is just gorgeous to look at an gorgeous to eat. 

Photo Credit: Food.com
There are lots of recipes for Dandelion Jelly but I thought Lisa's recipe {with a few modifications of my own gleaned from other recipes} from Olive Plants Around My Table looked good.

Dandelion Jelly

2 cups dandelion blossoms*
1 quart water
1 packet powdered fruit pectin
5 1/2 cups sugar
2 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice
rind of one lemon finely chopped {optional}


In a saucepan, bring the water and blossoms to a boil.
 Boil for 4 minutes. 
Strain, reserving 3 cups of the liquid. 
Discard blossoms.
 In a large kettle, liquid and pectin. Stir well.
 Bring to a full, rolling boil over high heat, stirring constantly. 
Add sugar all at once. Return to a full rolling boil. Boil for one minute, stirring constantly.
 Remove from heat; add lemon juice and lemon zest.
 Skim off foam. 
Pour the hot liquid into hot, sterilised jars, leaving 1/4 in. head-space.
 Adjust lids.
 Process for 5 minutes in a boiling-water bath.    
Yield: about 6 half-pints.

* When harvesting dandelions, please be sure they have not been treated with chemicals. Also, thoroughly rinse and dry them before cooking.

So there we go! I hope that you can look at dandelions a wee bit differently now that you can see that they are not just a pesky weed :o)

2 comments:

  1. My Grammy would collect the leaves (if I remember correctly) and add them to green salads..

    She is passed on now - so I can't double check.

    But it is true. These are more then just pesky weeds - I love when my littles bring even these in by the handfuls to put into jars on the windowsill. Flowers for mom!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I did not know you could eat the flower part! I have heard of the leaves in salads. Looks delicious and cheerful!

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