Homestead grapes and raisins, wild lambsquarter seeds, snowballs and whiskey! It's a wild time here in my post -- I appreciate you joining me for some delicious eating!
Stocking Up
I typically preserve some of my homestead harvests to use later. That goes for what I grow and what I forage.
In the Kitchen
First things first -- the raisins. I cover the raisins with whiskey and bring to just under a boil. Then I let it all sit for a few hours. This make the raisins soft and plump. And the raisins sweeten the whiskey. I reheat, to thicken the mix, before serving.
I toast the lamsbquarter seeds in a dry cast iron skillet. The little seeds pop like popcorn. I grind the seeds in a spice grinder. Then I make something like a graham cracker pie crust, with melted butter, a touch of sugar, and a little flour. I form that into a disc to serve as my pie crust.
Serving It Up!
Whiskey Raisin Pie
For my wild whiskey raisin pie, I lay the warm lambsquarter disk on my plate and spoon the thick raisin-whiskey mix over it. And I top that with chopped fennel fronds.
Grape Snowball Ala Mode
For the ala mode, I slice a snowball in half and lay it on the plate. I spoon spearmint-grape sauce on top. It soaks deep into the snowball, so I keep spooning the sauce on until the icy dome is covered with a thick layer of deliciousness.
So how was it all? This was the first Steemit Iron Chef dish I made where I actually licked my plate clean! It was fanstastic! I would like a whole pie like this. This is the right way to use lambsquarter seeds! And you can bet I will be enjoying many more spearmint-grape snowballs -- ala mode or ala carte!
What Do You Think?
- Do you grow grapes?
- Have you ever made raisins?
- Do you save snowballs in your freezer?
- Do you eat lambsquarter greens or seeds?
- Would you eat my Wild Whisky Raisin Pie Ala Mode?
I eat a lot of wild plants and show you how, because I believe that we can all have lives that are richer, more secure, more grounded, and more interesting by getting to know the plants and the land around us – in our yards, our parks, and our wild places.
Thanks @progressivechef for creating the Steemit Iron Chef contest series!
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Plant List
- Concord Grapes and unknown variety of green seedless grapes - Vitis labrusca
- Lambsquarter - Chenopodium alba - seeds
- Spearmint - Mentha spicata - leaves
- Fennel - Foeniculum vulgare - tender new leaves
- Snow! - Hydrogen dioxide - for the chemists, lol! ; )
