After filling one plastic bucket with dandelion greens and one with the sunny flowers, I walked back, making a quick stop at the organic foods store near my flat to pick up an orange and a lemon for my jelly. Now it was time to begin. I am not including the recipes for the jelly or the bruschetta here because neither one turned out ideal, but I still plan to play around with them, so if I figure out the perfect way, I'll be sure to let you know. So for now, this post is just a story of my day.
A cup of my favorite tea was the best companion... |
After this cooked for about 10 minutes, I took it from the heat, strained it through a towel, and cooled it in the sink with cold water.
Then I returned it to the heat and added a bit of vanilla and the sugar and pectin mix that you can buy here in Germany. This is where I believe I messed up with the jelly. I added enough to make it the correct sweetness, but I guess it was not enough to make it jell properly. So now my jelly looks wonderful, but is more like a thick syrup. But it tastes pretty darn delicious! Maybe I'll have to try it on pancakes! I did still pour it into four jars and seal them by putting the lid on immediately and then putting them upside down to cool.
Here are a couple abnormal dandelions... The bottom one has one stem, but 9 flowers!
After I had finished with the jelly, cleaned the kitchen, and done all the dishes, I was more than a little hungry for lunch. So I washed all of the greens and trimmed off the stems. Then I steamed them for a couple minutes to soften them a bit. I cooked one small onion and a bit of garlic in a pan with some olive oil until they were a bit brown and then added the greens. I seasoned them with a bit of salt and pepper and squeezed a bit of lemon juice over the top. I tasted it at this point and they were still quite bitter, so I sprinkled in a tiny bit of sugar and a small drizzle of red wine vinegar. This truly improved the flavor. I had gotten some whole wheat bread from the freezer, so I toasted up a few thin slices of it. Then I chopped some fresh tomato and put this on the toast with a crumble of parmesan cheese. Finally I added the cooked greens. They turned out very yummy, but very difficult to eat. The green were still quite tough, so I think when I try it next time, I will cut them up a bit more and maybe steam them longer. I ended up having to take huge bites because I could not bite through the greens! But the flavor was top notch so I will be trying it again. I imagine a goat cheese would taste wonderful with the dandelion greens also. All in all, a successful day...