SUMAC: Grow Your Own Spice©

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sumac, za'atar

I love to experiment with new spices especially one I can plant and have it return year after year for my endless enjoyment.  My most recent venture into the land of perennial foods is sumac.  No, I’m not talking about the poisonous version that gives many people a rash.  There are poisonous and non-poisonous varieties of sumac.  Steer clear of varieties that bear white seed and don’t chance it if the plant is not producing and there is no indication of berry color.  Sumac is related to poison oak and  poison ivy and they grow in the same type terrain.

A. Doolittle of Painesville, Ohio described sumac berries as, “sour, very, very sour”, with seeds of “pure cussedness” yet in some cultures processed sumac berries are an indispensible spice. They predate the Roman introduction of lemons into Europe and native Americans used them in a number of ways.

Indians and colonists alike used the staghorn sumac to make tea and a cooling liquid later called sumac “lemonade”.  There is a variety of sumac in the western U.S. known as lemonade sumac because it was so commonly used to make the beverage.

Gary Paul Nabhan has stated he prefers the red ripe berries of lemonade sumac to stale Middle Eastern spice and Tama Matsuoka Wong says staghorn sumac is less toasty and more citrusy than smooth sumac (also red drupes).  “It even retains its red color when dried, providing an appetizing pop of color when sprinkled over foods with insipid hues of beige and cream”.

“Staghorn sumac, Dwarf sumac, as well as Smooth sumac may all be used; however, be certain that you are gathering densely clustered berry-like RED fruits, not the white ones of poison sumac”.  Staghorn sumac has bristly hairs on the drupes and branches.  It is native to North America.

Middle Eastern countries enjoyed the flavor of sumac as much as the American Indians having gathered wild red sumac for countless generations.

  

Sumac is mixed with other ingredients, usually sesame seeds and thyme, to make a spice called za’atar.

Edible varieties, “all have red berries”.  “The acid berries of these shrubs [sumac] are eaten by Indians and occasionally by whites, and a rather pleasant beverage can be made from at least some of them.  Their slender twigs are very important in basketry work among the Indians…”.

Elias Yanovsky wrote that the Indians crushed the fruit to make cooling drinks, ate the fruit, and peeled fresh roots which were eaten raw.  He documented the drying of the fruit for use in winter.

Numerous sources note Native Americans combined sumac with tobacco for smoking and settlers and hunters took up the practice as well.  Blends called kinnikinnick were prepared in a myriad of ways.  The blends sometimes included the inner bark of dogwood, bearberry, and even poke leaves.   As late as the early 20^th century, the practice continued.  One magazine published a claim saying smoking the dried leaves would relieve the symptoms of asthma.  “Gather the green leaves while fresh, dry them, and smoke in a common clay pipe”.

During the late Victorian era into the early 20^th century sumac gathering helped ease the financial burden for many country families.  Men, women, and children would camp out, pulling sumac leaves by day and singing, playing music, telling stories, or visiting about the campfire as supper cooked in the evening.  The sumac was sold to sumac mills that ground it into powder and sold it to be used in tanning leather or dyeing fabric.

Sumac berries produce a nice red color when dyeing cotton and were used in combination with other dyestuffs to produce different colors.  “To dye Olive for wool.  For 5 pounds goods [wool yarn] take 2 pounds fustic and a little sumac; boil them ½ hour in water sufficient for the goods, then add this to 5 ounces logwood with 10 ounces alum and 4 ounces madder, and enter the goods and boil 1 hour.  Cool and darken with 5 ounces copperas.”

Sumac tea and “sumac-ade” are made by crushing the berries and soaking them in hot or cold water.  The flavor becomes strong when boiled due to the release of tannins.  It is advisable to strain a sumac beverage through cheesecloth to remove stray seeds and fuzz that comes off the drupes.

To make sumac spice, gather the red sumac berry clusters before rain washes the flavor out of the hair-like covering on the berries.   It may be a good idea to let them dry in a warm place overnight, especially if you plan to keep the sumac spice for some time.  Separate the berries from the stems.  Put the berries through a food processor until the red powder is separated from the seed.  Use a colander or strainer to separate the red powder from the seeds.  Discard the seeds.  A cup of berries will produce maybe 1 to 1 ½ teaspoons of sumac spice.  For a blend, add dried thyme, oregano, marjoram, lightly toasted sesame seed, and grind together.

Readers may wonder how sumac spice is used.  The sumac powder or the spice blend is rubbed onto meat prior to cooking or sprinkled on at table.  Various cultures put it on fish, kebabs, vegetables, flatbread, salads, etc.

Cut potatoes into large pieces, drizzle with olive oil, shake on salt, pepper, ground sumac berries, dried or fresh chopped thyme, and crushed garlic.  Toss and roast until tender and browned.  Other vegetables may be used in place of potatoes (zucchini, eggplant, etc).

[Rustic vegetarian quiche made with garden fresh squash and herbs, two cheeses, eggs, bechemel, and seasoned with sumac. Delicious!]

Make a salad of chopped cucumbers, parsley, onion or chopped scallions, sliced radishes, purslane leaves (if available), and tomatoes and dress with lemon juice and/or vinegar, salt, pepper, oil, and ground sumac.  It goes well in chickpea and black bean salad.

Rub your favorite cut of meat, chicken, or fish with oil, season with a dry rub made from ground sumac berries, salt, pepper, and dried thyme.  Chopped parsley and garlic are optional per taste.  Roast or grill until done.  Sprinkle it on seafood.

If you like the flavor, possibilities are almost endless in what you can do with sumac.  Mix the sumac spice blend with good olive oil and eat with pita or bread.  Mix the spice blend into hummus dip.  Add sumac to homemade pasta dough.  Make baked or grilled kafta (or meatballs) and season with the spice or blend.

Season lentil soup/stew; roasted chickpeas; dolmas (stuffed grape leaves); make sumac jelly as a substitute for cranberry sauce; combine sumac berries and water and place in the sunshine for an upgraded sun tea; combine mixed nuts, sumac spice, cumin, coriander, salt, pinch of pepper and chili powder with 2 tablespoons of oil or coconut oil and roast them; add it to rice, use it in marinades, or make a salad of quinoa and lentils and dress with oil, vinegar, and sumac spice or blend.

Last but not least, I can’t end this without the gardener in me mentioning how easy it is to grow sumac, almost too easy.  It spreads from suckers that grow around the bush and can quickly get out of hand if left unattended.  Sumac can be controlled by mowing it, digging, or pulling up the suckers but any gardener who seriously doesn’t want something that might be hard to control might consider planting it in a large pot or containing it by putting down a root barrier a foot or so deep around the area where it is planted.  If you don’t want to dig and transplant it from the wild it can be ordered online.

© Copyright 2017.  Please do not reprint or redistribute without the author’s permission. A lot of time and effort goes into my research.  Thank you.

Bib:

Yanovsky, Elias.  “Food Plants of the North American Indians”.  Dept. of Agriculture.  July 1936.

“Audubon”.  Vol. 22.  Jan.-Feb., 1920.

“Boys’ Life”.  May 1966.

“Harper’s Young People”.  1879/80.  Vol. 1.  Oct. 19, 1880.

“Vegetarian Times”.  Oct. 1981.

“Country Life”.  Vol. 35.  March 1919.

Dayton, William Adams.  “Important Western Browse Plants”.  Washington, D.C.  1931.

Saunders, Charles Francis.  “Useful Wild Plants in the United States and Canada”.  NY.  1920.

“Farmers’ Bulletin”.  Washington, D. C.  Feb. 1951.

Nabham, Gary Paul.  “Cumin, Camels, and Caravans:  A Spice Odyssey”.  2014.

Nordahl, Darrin.  “Eating Appalachia”.  2015.

Owens, Frances Emugene.  “Mrs. Owens’ New Cook Book and Household Manual”.   Chicago.  1899.

“The National Druggist”.  1919.

Chapple, Joe Mitchell.  “National Magazine”.  Vol. 21.  March 1905.

Hodge, Frederick Webb.  “Handbook of American Indians North of Mexico”.  1912. ©

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Perennial Vegetables: Plant Once, Harvest for Many Seasons. ©

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perennial vegetables

Cuccuzi, Edible gourd, aka yard long bean

Spring is on its way and my thoughts have turned toward my garden.  This post is not meant to be all-encompassing regarding perennial vegetables as so much of maintaining a perennial depends on climate, but it is a quick look at what I’ve planted, what I have in the works, and what I intend to add in future in zone 8.  Do some research before planting regarding planting zone and consider that some edible perennials are classified as invasive species and could be hard to control once established.  To research perennials I recommend starting with Eric Toensmeier’s “Perennial Vegetables”.

My tree collard (perennial in warm climates) cuttings from Bountiful Gardens came yesterday and I had them in pots of potting soil within an hour of taking them out of the mail box.  I have high hopes of them rooting and providing me with years of cut greens.  While rooting in pots prepare a well-dug bed with lots of compost.  In zone 8 the seedsman recommends taking cuttings in the fall in the event a cold winter kills the plants.  They are sometimes called walking stick kale.  See:  www.bountifulgardens.org, 707-459-6410.  Free catalogs, open-pollinated and heirloom seed.  No hybrids or GMO’s.

My Jerusalem artichokes (perennial)were so pretty last year when they bloomed that getting edible tubers from the perennial plants was a bonus.

My asparagus (perennial) is doing OK but I need to do some weed control with mulching.

Walking onions spread from top sets and with any care are perennial.  Mine are doing well even after a week of cold with some freezing rain.

Always match perennials to your climate as not every plant will grow in every planting zone.  My Victoria rhubarb and ostrich fern did not make it past the first year, probably because it was too hot for them in summer.

I’ve purchased seeds for Cardoon (perennial in warm climates) which I will plant when the ground is warm enough.  These look like large thistles but it is the stems that are eaten.  Bountiful Gardens and other seed catalogs offer them.  It will easily self-sow unless the flowers are picked.

I purchased seeds for Malabar Spinach from Bountiful Gardens and those arrived yesterday with my tree collard cuttings.  It is common in Asia and Africa and will grow in areas too warm for spinach.  It is a vine that will die with cold and frost but is supposed to survive in zones 7 and warmer.  I’m not sure it will overwinter for me but it should produce lots of salad greens throughout the summer and fall.

I bought Sylvetta perennial arugula from Bountiful Gardens and will put that out when warm enough.  It is perennial to zone 5.  It is said to be drought-resistant, good for bees, and overwinters in zone 5 or higher.  It bears leaves all summer for salads, adding to soup, or mixing with other greens.

You cannot be from the South and not know what pokeweed is.  Many southern families survived on poke greens and cornbread during the Depression, and for many, it isn’t spring until there’s a pot of poke greens on the table.  It self-sows so I’ve simply left some that came up wild and let them go to seed in order to keep it.  Birds eat it and deposit seeds here and there so once it establishes itself it isn’t too hard to keep going.  Harvest the leaves from young tender plants (preferably not over about 18 inches tall) then cook as any green.  Bringing it to a boil, draining, and restarting with fresh water tempers the strong flavor it can have.  The young stalks can be peeled, sliced, battered and fried like okra.

Below are some other plants (either perennial or those that self-sow) I intend to put in soon.

Egyptian spinach, aka Jew’s Mallow.  This plant self-sows.  The fibers are used to make jute rope.  It does well in southern Alabama and Florida where the weather reaches the broiling point in summer.  It grows 2 to 3 feet but with good conditions can reach up to 6 feet.  Kitazawa Seed Co., packet with 1100-1300 seed is $3.69.  Bountiful Gardens 100 seed packet is $2.00.  The seed are produced within pods and are easy to gather for saving.

I have lovage seeds I will be putting out this spring.  The plant is perennial and the leaves which taste like celery make good salad greens.  They can be added to soup and the roots can be prepared as a vegetable or grated into salads.  Baker Creek, etc.

I’m debating whether or not to plant stinging nettles.  The spines cause a rather unpleasant stinging sensation when touched.  They spread easily and are perennial.  It is a good idea to wear gloves when around it.  The leaves do not cause that stinging sensation after being cooked so if one wears gloves while gathering and washing, they are perfectly pleasant to eat after cooking.  They are made into greens, pesto, frittata, or nettle soup.

Miner’s Lettuce is perennial and is good in salads or it can be boiled or sautéed like spinach.  It was once common but today is little known yet worthy of much more attention.  It is hardy to zone 4 and is mulched during cold winter.  It can be grown in partial shade.

Salad Burnett thrives on neglect so it will be perfect for me.  It is at home in dry soil.  It can be subbed out for parsley and mint.

Cuccuzi.  This plant has more names than a Chicago gangster during the Depression including guinea bean or yard-long bean is perhaps the most common although it isn’t a bean at all.  It is sometimes called squash but is really an edible gourd.  My uncle used to grow these so I want them again for nostalgia.  Once you grow them, save the seed and you will never be without them.  It is not perennial.  Pick them at 10-12 inches and cook them like summer squash or let them grow into large dried gourds for crafting and seed saving.  Find them at Victory Seeds, Seeds From Italy, Sustainable Seeds, West Wind Seeds, Sample Seeds Inc.  They need a sturdy trellis.

Tromboncino.  This Italian squash is said to be resistant to squash bugs and the seed can be saved from year to year.  For anyone plagued by squash bugs this is worth trying.  It is not perennial but one can save seeds.  Bountiful Seeds.

Luffa.  Most people know this as a vegetable sponge, but if harvested when young and tender are edible.  My uncle also grew these and we kept seed from one year to the next.  Sustainable Seeds, Baker Creek, and others.  For best results, soak the seed for 24 hours then set out for transplants.  They need a sturdy trellis.

Profusion Sorrel.  Perennial in zones 4-8.  It doesn’t produce flowers or seed so it doesn’t get tough and bitter like other strains of sorrel.  It produces leaves all season long.  Richter’s offers it for one plant at $6.50 or three for $14.70.  For a less expensive approach, French sorrel is perennial in all zones.

Good King Henry is a relative of spinach with mild flavored leaves, perennial to zone 5, it comes up early every spring.  It should be planted in the fall or very early spring.  Bountiful Seeds, Restoration Seeds, etc.

Welch onions are perennial in all zones and produce clumps of green onions that spread and grow larger over time.  150 seeds from Bountiful Gardens is $2.50.

Lily White Seakale is perennial to zone 6.  It is used like kale.  It is usually blanched (covered) in early spring.  It is not always easy to find seeds for this.  Bountiful Gardens offers 10 seeds for $2.75.  Sea Kale is also available from Nantahala Farm and Garden, Fedco Seeds, and SeedSavers.org.

In the spirit of being self-sustaining, take cuttings from rosemary and basil, root them in water, and plant them to increase the available harvest.

Elderberry does well in zones 3-8 and can be started from cuttings.  I plan to start with 1 or 2 purchased plants then as they grow, root cuttings to increase my harvest.  The only advantage is the berries are supposed to be larger on the tame varieties, but wild ones will root also.  To root, take cuttings during dormancy, probably January through March, about 8 to 9 inches.  Place the cut end in water that comes up about half way of the cuttings and place in a sunny area for 6 to 8 weeks, change the water if needed.  They may also be rooted in potting soil.

 I’m considering groundnut but still weighing the danger of it becoming over-aggressive and hard to control.  It is perennial and available from Norton Naturals and Baker Creek.  It is not peanut.  It has been called Indian potato and in early diaries and travel narratives was called hopniss.  It was commonly eaten by Native Americans.  The Swedish botanist, Peter Kalm, wrote (1749) the Indians boiled the tubers and ate them instead of bread.  Le Jeune, a Jesuit missionary, said the French settlers called it “rosary” because the tubers are strung together like beads.  It is a perennial vine that bears edible beans and large edible tubers.  It is used similar to a potato, but is best not consumed raw.  It is best trellised. Tubers can be harvested the second year after frost kills the plant back.

I will order Quamash camass for fall delivery and I’m excited about adding it to my perennial vegetables.  It was commonly eaten by Native Americans, is perennial, and can be purchased from Restorative Seeds, Brent and Becky’s, etc.  It is listed as perennial in zones 3-8.  It has pretty blue flowers but refrain from cutting them as they make seed and self-sow.  Meriwether Lewis said in 1806, “at a short distance, the colour resembles lakes of bright clear water”.  Their diet included Camass in Lewis and Clark expedition.  Growing instructions say they will grow in most soil, like wet feet in winter and early spring and drier conditions after blooming so they should do quite well and naturalize beautifully for me.  They can be grown in full sun or part sun.  Everwilde Farms Inc., J. L. Hudson, Seedsman (La Honda, CA), and Mary’s Garden Patch (Lockhart, Texas).

Yacon is perennial in zones 9-11, lower than that it can be planted in a pot and put into a greenhouse in winter or the tubers can be dug, overwintered in storage then replanted in the spring.  Some sources say if your season is long enough to grow Jerusalem artichokes you can grow yacon.  The rhizomes are described as a cross between an apple and melon.  They grow similar to potatoes.  They can be grown from seed but when available most prefer to plant the rhizomes.  The plants produce larger tubers that can be harvested and smaller tubers that are ideal for keeping overwinter and growing the following season.  Available from Baker Creek, two plants are $14 and they ship in April to May.   I have ordered four plants and I think the flowers will make the plants as pretty as my Jerusalem artichokes.

Scarlet Runner Beans are often grown as ornamentals but are edible and perennial.  They’ll die in winter but will sprout again in spring so putting them in an area where they can continue undisturbed is a good idea.  So far I haven’t made such a place and so have not planted them.

As always, happy gardening and Blissful Meals.  Copyright, please ask permission before reproducing articles from my blog.  ©

ELDERBERRIES: Multipurpose fruit©

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elderberries

In 1656 William Coles documented the belief that gathering the leaves of elder on the last day of April and attaching them to one’s doors and windows would, “disappoint the charmes of Witches”.  Elder bushes were an integral part of gardens through the 18^th century, and why not?  How could one overlook the tasty flowers and berries prepared in a myriad of ways with the added benefit of warding off witches?

Elder plays a part in the early folklore of several countries.  Russians used to believe the spirit of the elder had great compassion for human beings and drove away evil spirits from them.  The Danes refused to make furniture from elder wood believing that doing so brought ill luck.  “If a cradle is made of the wood, the Elder Mother will come and pull the child out of it”.

Bushes can be dug from the wild, propagated by rooting in water or planting in soil, or bought from a nursery.  If rooting 6 inch cuttings in water plant them in small pots once roots are established.  Place the pots in a shaded location and keep watered until the following spring then plant in the home landscape.  If starting in soil, place the pot with the cutting inside a plastic bag so that a humid environment is simulated until the cuttings are rooted (keep out of direct sunlight), and proceed as above.  While the bushes are self-pollinating, planting more than one variety is said to produce bigger berries.

Elderberries are small and it would be very time consuming to pick them individually, therefore, when harvesting the recommended method was (and is) to cut the heads and let them drop into a basket.  One can then pick off the berries, or wash the heads and drop them into boiling liquid removing and discarding the remaining stems.  A quicker way to remove the berries from the stems is to cover a bowl or bucket with half inch wire mesh and just pass the berry bunches back and forth across it.  The berries will fall through the holes into the container.

All parts of the bushes have been used for one thing or another.  “The pith of the tree has wonderful powers, for, if cut in round, flat shapes, and dipped in oil, lighted, and then put to float in a glass of water, its light on Christmas Eve will reveal to the owner all the witches and sorcerers in the neighbourhood.  While this sounds ridiculous today, the Salem witch trials are proof that such things were once deadly serious.

Buds were pickled with pepper, mace, and lemon peel, elder tops (young shoots) were pickled, flowers were used to flavor vinegar or make drinks, the flowers were dipped in batter and fried to make fritters, sprays of flowers were put into sugar to impart a pleasant flavor, the berries were used to make wine, juice, pies, jam and jelly, tea can be made from the leaves, and the berries were used to make ink and to dye various items including champagne and leather.

Why aren’t we familiar with using these berries today?  Because, like many other plants, the lowly wild berry came to be considered inferior when tame berries were cultivated to produce larger and juicier fruit with less labor.  “It is strange that when there is a scarcity of fruit, as there was last year, people will lament the lack of fruit, when behold the fence corners are filled with these valuable bushes, bending down and overloaded with ripe delicious fruit that all goes to waste.  You need never be at a loss for fruit to make pies, for it grows spontaneously…Remember other fruit is liable to fail while this is a never-failing fruit”.  – “The Ohio Cultivator”.  1853.

Below are some historic elderberry recipes which may tempt you, but you may also want to try adding the berries to muffin, fritter, or pancake batter, mixing elderberry syrup with iced soda water for a refreshing drink, using the juice to make frozen popsicles or ice cream, etc.

ELDERBERRY ICE CREAM [modern].  This is similar to black raspberry ice cream that is popular in Pennsylvania.

2 cups elderberries (no stems); 1 cup water; sugar as desired; 2 cups heavy cream or half and half; 1 ½ cups milk; 5 egg yolks.  The syrup can be made ahead of time and refrigerated.

Combine the berries and water, bring to a boil and simmer until the berries begin bursting.  Add sugar half cup at a time until as sweet as you like.  Let the mixture cool slightly, then run it through a food mill or sieve.  Discard the solids.  Refrigerate until ready to use.

To make the ice cream:  Put the cream and milk into a heavy pan and slowly heat it, stirring so that it doesn’t scorch.  Add the elderberry syrup a half cup at a time until the flavor is as deep as you wish.  Bring the mixture to steaming but not simmering or boiling.

Beat the egg yolks in a small bowl.  Add a few spoonfuls of the cream mixture, whisking all the time, to the egg yolks.  Continue until the egg yolks are brought up to temperature without cooking and whisk all together.  Chill the mixture.  When cold put into an ice cream maker and proceed as for any basic ice cream.  The ice cream can be served as is, or made into popsicles.

ELDERBERRY PIE.  “Table Talk”.  Aug. 1903.

Line a pie dish with paste, upon which sprinkle a scant tablespoonful of flour; to this add a half cupful of sugar and a half teaspoonful each of cloves and cinnamon, rubbing all together evenly.  Upon this pour the berries, a pint more or less according to the size of your pie dish; pour over another half cupful of sugar, dot generously with butter, adding last one large tablespoonful of good vinegar.  Apply top crust quickly and bake.

ELDERBERRY PIE.  “Good Housekeeping”.  1891.

For a large pie, allow three cupfuls of berries, two tablespoonfuls of lemon juice or vinegar, two tablespoonfuls of flour, three-fourths cupfuls of sugar, and spices to taste.  Bake in one crust with a latticework top.

ELDERBERRY SHRUB.  Pour one pint of weak vinegar over one quart of elderberries; let them stand for twenty-four hours.  Strain, and pour the juice over a second quart of berries.  Let them stand for twenty-four hours, strain again, add one cupful of sugar to each cupful of juice, boil it up, and can or bottle if wanted for future use.  [To use, combine with ice water and drink].

ELDERBERRY CATCHUP. 

Elderberry catchup is excellent with game or cold meats.  Boil one quart of the berries with two cupfuls of vinegar and one tablespoonful of pickling spices tied in a muslin bag, for twenty minutes.  Put through a press or sieve that will retain the seeds, add two cupfuls of brown sugar, and simmer for ten minutes before sealing.

ELDERBERRIES DRIED.  Berry, Mrs.  “Fruit Recipes”.

Sun-dry the berries as for strawberries.  In some parts of Europe peasants use these in soups through the winter.

ELDERBERRY DUMPLINGS.  “The Ohio Cultivator”.

Make the crust as usual and put in the berries as you would other fruit.  Boil them fast till the crust is done, then take them up and eat with a dip of white sugar and sour cream, and you will confess they are delicious.

ELDERBERRY SYRUP.  “The Every-Day Cook-Book”.  1889.

Take elderberries perfectly ripe, wash and strain them, put a pint of molasses to a pint of the juice, boil it twenty minutes, stirring constantly, when cold add to each quart a pint of French brandy; bottle and cork it tight.  It is an excellent remedy for a cough.

ELDER TOPS, TO PICKLE.  “Cassell’s Dictionary of Cookery”.

About six inches of the tops of young elder sprouts, if cut at the right time—in the middle of April—will make a good pickle.  The sprouts should be first blanched in boiling water, then pickled in vinegar, adding salt and white pepper.  [Month when these shoots are at their prime will vary with locale].

Blissful Meals yall, cultivated or foraged, there are good things growing out there.  –  Thehistoricfoodie aka Vickie Brady.  Copyright©

See:  Rohde, Eleanour, “A Garden of Herbs”, 1922.  Berry, Mrs.  “Fruit Recipes”.  1903.

When is a Bean not a Bean?

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cucuzzi, edible gourd, New Guinea bean, yard-long bean

My uncle was a good country gentleman, a veteran of WWII, and what one might call a gentle giant in that he was generally quiet but when he did speak it was worth listening to.  He was the glue that held our family together as my grandfather died young and my uncle assumed the duties of patriarch.  His occupation was simply “farmer”.  He raised cattle, kept chickens, turkeys, guineas, pigs, and grew fields of corn and common, as well as some uncommon, vegetables in his kitchen garden.  Some of what he routinely grew when I was growing up faded into oblivion with his passing so when I rediscover one of his classics it is a little like regaining a piece of my childhood.

One such plant is cucuzzi, aka, edible gourd, Italian edible gourd, etc, but which my uncle called Yard-long bean.  The latter is what I knew it as, so, when I researched it and realized that his bean and the cucuzzi gourd are in fact one and the same I wondered how he came to know it as a bean.  An article from “Popular Science”, May 1920, reveals the plant was known by many as such, sometimes called New Guinea bean.  The article was entitled, “When a Bean Is Not a Bean It’s a Gourd”.  It has sometimes been called snake gourd although the two are actually two different plants.

“This gourd springs up as by magic when the seeds are planted after the danger of frost has passed.  Like the ordinary pole-bean, it will grow whether cared for or not.”  The plant is an aggressive spreader so give it plenty of room then let it do for itself.  Unless sprawling over other vegetables is considered desirable they are best trellised.

A humorous discussion on how an edible gourd came to be called a New Guinea Butter Bean” was found in “Bean-bag” [June 1920].  “All jests aside, the elongated gourd with the funny name is conceded to be a quite acceptable vegetable.  It can be prepared in a score or more ways and finds favor with many appetites…The gourds are at their best when about twelve inches long and covered with a white fuzzy growth”.

The plant’s merits are many.  Cattle, goats, and pigs eat them, poultry eat the seed, seed are easily perpetuated by letting one or two of the gourds grow to full size and harvesting the seed for the next year’s crop, and any that are inadvertently overlooked and get too large to cook can be dried and used for containers or crafts.  In the 60’s and 70’s my mom and aunts made floral arrangements, dippers, and bird houses out of the large dried gourds.

I’ve made out an order for seed from the Southern Exposure Seed Exchange and by this time next year I’ll be cooking a treat from my childhood and have my very own Mason jar full of dried seed stored away just like Uncle Wallace.

A 1909 book [“The English Vegetable Garden,  1909] spoke of its merits as a vegetable and recommended it for soups and stews.  It can be cooked in any way one would summer squash.  We most often sliced and fried the young tender gourds after a dusting of cornmeal.  After all, we are from the South and you know what they say about us and our frying pans.  Blissful Meals, yall, may your growing season see plentiful rain and sun and may your skillet never be empty.  -Thehistoricfoodie, aka, Vickie Brady.

Christmas 2013

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capon, chestnut dressing

This Christmas was quiet and subdued for us, quite romantic actually. I’ve been under the weather since October and was sick right up until Christmas so even our tree didn’t get done until Christmas Eve (and I usually have it up Thanksgiving weekend). I will be seeing a pulmonary specialist after the first of the year and expect to be back to my usual self soon thereafter.

I made dinner for us, taking my time so as not to provoke a coughing spasm as have been coming on with any exertion and it turned out rather well.

The menu was roasted capon; chestnut and giblet dressing with gravy; maple baked acorn squash; corn, peas with mushrooms, cranberry sauce, and red cabbage with apple, vinegar, and brown sugar. (I will post photos later today)

I picked fresh sage, parsley, thyme, rosemary, and a bit of baby arugula from my garden which I chopped with a little garlic and mixed with olive oil and stuffed it under the skin of the capon. I then dried the bird, rubbed it with olive oil, and seasoned the bird with home-made seasoned salt before roasting it. The skin came out crispy and golden brown and the meat was so tender you could cut it with a fork.

Sadly the chestnuts I’d been hoarding for a month or so, given to me by a coworker, turned out to be no good, but a quick run to Publix produced some nice fat Italian chestnuts for the dressing and a few for snacking.

Partly because we ate too much and partly because of my chronic bronchitis we indulged in the luxury of a nice nap after dinner before getting up to watch A Christmas Story and eating chocolate meringue pie. A great meal, quality time with my Sweetheart, and being lavished with meaningful gifts – I can’t imagine having a better day.

Bounty From my Garden

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arugula, beet greens

My grandmother, bless her sainted heart, would have said it is rude to tell someone how good my dinner was and not offer them some. I agree and share with my readers, not the prepared meal, but the enthusiasm for preparing and eating it which will hopefully inspire others to venture out of their comfort zone.

Arugula and beet greens picked and put directly into the pan to steam with a little garlic, salt, and pepper, and just a splash of my home-made apple cider vinegar at the end paired well with a dish of cornmeal battered green tomatoes, okra, and zucchini. Left-over BBQ ribs and some diced tomatoes with coarsely chopped basil from my garden was perfect with just a little salt and pepper and a dribble of olive oil and vinegar. I’m hardly a photographer so let me say the pictures do not do the meal justice.

Blissful Meals yall, enjoy some garden bounty – if not from your own garden then fresh from the farmer’s market.

TRUE AMERICAN TEA©

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American Classic Tea

Outsourcing jobs is one of the main reasons many Americans have lost faith in their government and why thousands of people who want, and are qualified for, employment can find only part-time employment with no benefits. With the loss of tax cuts and lack of raises many who are employed full-time are actually making less than they were a few years ago. I applaud efforts being made to provide jobs for Americans and boost the American economy so I’d like to share an American product.

A friend gave me a box of American Classic Tea’s Charleston Breakfast tea and I did some research on the company and the process whereby the tea is grown, harvested, and sold. Frankly, I’m pretty impressed.

The plantation is currently owned by the R. C. Bigelow Co. of Fairfield, CT, founded by Ruth Bigelow in the late 40’s, and employs some 350 people in blending tea. Bigelow sells many varieties, but the American Classic Tea is the only American-grown tea.

The Camellia sinensis plant is said to have been introduced to the U.S. by the French botanist, Francois Andre Michaux in 1799 when he presented plants to Henry Middleton of Charleston. The tea was planted in the garden at Middleton’s plantation where growing conditions seem to be just what the doctor ordered.

There are currently 127 acres of tea plants which are processed on-site producing six flavors: American Classic, Charleston Breakfast, Governor Grey, Plantation Peach, Rockville Raspberry, and Island Green Tea. American Classic Tea has been the “official” tea of the White House since 1987. The first families and their guests can support American-grown tea, but they can’t seem to extend that appreciation for, “Made in America”, much beyond that.

Still, it’s pretty impressive to know something like tea is growing on American soil and that it has found its way into stores in 17 different states. Perhaps, like Carolina Gold rice, it will find a ready market among foodies who appreciate high quality products and support the concept of American jobs for Americans.

Blissful Meals, yall, try the American Classic Tea and if you’re in the area, take a tour of the site and learn about how the tea is grown and processed.

RECIPES FOR USING CANNED CHICKEN©

Tags

canned chicken, chicken pilau, self-reliance

I realize I’ll never be fully self-sufficient with my small yard but I’m determined to produce what I can with container gardening and whatever I grow I know how to preserve. With a properly prepared garden and knowledge of how to get the most per square foot, as much food can be grown in a small space as in a bigger sprawled out garden. My dad was very good at small plot gardening and from him I learned the importance of treating the soil and giving the plants all the nourishment they needed to grow and produce. When Martin made my raised beds he filled them with good compost from a local nursery to keep the soil loose and to be as rich as possible.

I’ve always put up food when I could to eliminate the nasty preservatives and additives in “store-boughten” foods and an extra plus is being able to make a meal without putting a great deal of thought and planning into it.

Wise cooks did likewise in earlier times and there is no better example than my late aunt Dora. She could go in the kitchen when it looked like there was nothing to work with and turn out a meal fit for a king. Women of that generation did not rely on pre-chopped and pre-cooked foods to feed their families. I’d like to share a few recipes for the type things that can be made from basic pantry staples.

FRICASEED CHICKEN
1 pint chicken stock or 1 cupful stock and 1 cupful thin cream; ¼ cupful flour; 1 pint canned chicken; Salt and pepper; Onion juice, celery salt, or celery leaves.
Reserve one-fourth cupful of stock. Add the seasoning to the remaining stock, and heat it to the boiling point. Blend the one-fourth cupful of stock smoothly with the flour, and with this thicken the hot stock. Boil the stock vigorously for five minutes. In this gravy warm the canned chicken. Do not boil the meat in the stock, for boiling toughens it. If desired, the chicken meat may be browned in butter before being added to the gravy. Serve the chicken on slices of toast, with baking powder or soda biscuits, or with boiled rice.

CREAMED CHICKEN
1 pint chicken, cut in dice; 2 cupfuls white sauce; 1/8 teaspoonful celery salt.
Warm the chicken in the sauce to which the celery salt has been added. Variations: The creamed chicken may be served with a border of hot boiled rice and canned sweet peppers or a border of mashed potatoes brushed with milk and browned in the oven, or one-fourth cupful of mushrooms cut in slices may be added.

WHITE SAUCE FOR CREAMED CHICKEN
1 cupful chicken stock; 1 cupful cream or milk; 1/3 cupful flour; ½ teaspoonful salt, few grains pepper
¼ cupful butter. Put the butter in a saucepan, and stir it until it is melted and bubbling. Add the flour, mixed with the seasoning, and stir the mixture until it is thoroughly blended. Add the stock and the milk, continue to stir the mixture, and bring it to the boiling point. Boil it for two minutes.

CHICKEN AND OYSTERS A LA METROPOLE. (You can use canned oysters).
1 pint white sauce, made with 2 cupfuls cream and ¼ cupful butter; 1 pint chicken, drained and diced; 1 pint oysters, cleaned and drained; 1/3 cupful finely chopped celery.
Add the chicken and the oysters to the sauce. Cook the mixture until the oysters are plump, and sprinkle it with celery before serving it.

CANNED CHICKEN WITH CREOLE SAUCE.
1 pint canned chicken; 6 tomatoes or 1 pint canned tomatoes; 3 sweet red peppers, fresh or canned, chopped; 3 sweet green peppers, chopped; ¼ pound ham or 2 or 3 slices bacon, chopped fine; 4 tablespoonfuls flour; ½ bay leaf; 1 teaspoonful chopped parsley; ½ teaspoonful salt; 1 small onion, chopped fine; 2 tablespoonfuls butter or bacon drippings.
Warm the contents of the can of chicken. Pour off the liquor, and dry the chicken meat. If desired, brown the meat delicately in a little butter or bacon fat. Cook the onion in butter or bacon drippings until it is light yellow, sprinkle into it four tablespoonfuls of flour, and brown the flour delicately. Pour into this mixture the tomatoes, which have been simmered with the bay leaf and salt for fifteen minutes. Allow the mixture to thicken, and strain it. Add the minced ham and parsley, and simmer the mixture for fifteen minutes. Add the chopped peppers and the chicken liquor, and bring the mixture to the boiling point. Simmer, do not boil, the browned chicken in this sauce for ten or fifteen minutes. Serve the chicken in a border of hot boiled rice on a hot platter.

Don’t forget chicken salad, chicken pot pie, chicken soup or stew, rice pilau, etc.

The article instructed canning chicken at home by deboning the meat and placing chunks of raw chicken into a jar with a half teaspoon of salt per jar. No water was added although the cook could add celery, onion, pepper, or other seasonings if desired. In the absence of a pressure canner, the chicken was processed for between 4 and 5 hours. The second method was to cook the chicken, pick off the meat and pack it into a jar, add the salt, fill the jar with the chicken stock, and process for three hours. [See my previous post] I’m thankful for my pressure canner because any time I have that much free time and money for gas I’d rather be on the motorcycle headed into the wind. With the pressure canner I can cut that 4 or 5 hours processing time down to 60 to 75 minutes and knock it out on a work night. Source: New York Dept. of Agriculture. Report. Vol. 1, Pt 2. Dec. 1, 1915.

Blissful Meals, yall.

Getting the Most for your Food Dollar©

Tags

food preservation, grocery ads, grocery sales

Are you so wealthy you don’t need to save a buck when you can? I didn’t think so. The biggest increase in prices in recent months has been groceries so let’s see what we can do to spend less and get more.

Grocery sales are the time to stock up on essentials and items your family uses a lot of, and your success depends on knowing when an item is at its rock-bottom price. That’s when you purchase enough of that item to last until it goes on sale again. If your store cooperates with you, use your coupons while an item is on sale and save even more. Fifty cents off BBQ sauce that’s on sale for a buck, is better than fifty cents off at two or three dollars per bottle.

Sale items are often timed to coincide with consumer demand, for example, if turkey is going on sale it’s generally going to be in November when Thanksgiving and Christmas are coming up. BBQ sauce may be at its lowest just before July 4th for summer cookouts and …..well, you get my drift.

Some items are not only on sale, but widely available at such a time when they might not be at others. Enormous quantities of dried peas and smoked hog jowl will be at their cheapest a week or so before Christmas, and once they’re gone they may be gone till the next December. Summer green beans, collards, kale, cabbage, etc. just aren’t the same without some diced and browned smoked jowl.

In January don’t forget National Oatmeal Month and put back enough for your morning porridge and a few batches of oatmeal raisin cookies.

February is national canned food month – all together now, class, what should we be stockpiling in February? Following national canned food month comes frozen food month. How about some frozen corn, beans, soup mix or chicken tenders?

Ham is usually the big sale item before Easter. This year’s deal was Smithfield hams for 99 cents per lb. at Winn Dixie. Ham and Navy bean soup can’t be beat.
I had hoped to see eggs on sale for dying, but that didn’t happen this year. If it had, there would be quarts of pickled eggs in my pantry.
Prior to Memorial Day meats for the grill, condiments like that BBQ sauce, and maybe chips should be cheap enough to entice you into the store, and the nice air conditioning will make you comfortable enough to stay long enough to buy lots of other non-sale items. Charcoal will probably be priced lower than usual to go with the cheaper ground beef and wieners.
June is National Dairy Month – not sure what you may do with 10 gallons of milk unless you’re a cheese-maker, but it’s a good time to stock up on butter and either can it or freeze it. Until it’s opened and exposed to the dry air in the freezer ice cream keeps pretty well, and well, it IS dairy. Yogurt, cream cheese, whipping cream and the like also deserve your attention.
National Ice Cream Month takes place in July so if you didn’t already do so, load that buggy up. You might want to restock hotdogs, ground beef, buns, etc.
If you have little ones underfoot send them off to school with snacks, lunchables, and pudding cups you scored big with at the cash register and don’t forget the frozen waffles. It might be a good time to buy liquid soap, Kleenex, hand sanitizer, etc.

October’s big deal is often candy or maybe baking items, or hit one of those pick-your-own pumpkin patches and process your own pumpkin for pies, muffins, breads, and other baked goods. Roast your pumpkin in the oven instead of watering it down in a pot and those pies will be spectacular.
In November, sweet potatoes will probably be at their lowest price of the year. You may want to can some for candied sweet potatoes, or sweet potato casserole. Sweet potato bread wouldn’t be amiss either. Try to stockpile broths, nuts, evaporated or sweetened condensed milk, coconut, cake mix, butter, etc. while the price is dropped down low enough to pull you into the store. Pop a couple of turkeys in the freezer and smoke them as you get a craving for BBQ.
December may see an extension of the turkey sale season or you may see those hams marked down again. Baking items will be spilling out into the center aisle of the grocery store and that’s the time to stock up on dried candied fruit if you have a need for it. Personally, after the cherries you can have most of the rest of it, except maybe pineapple.
You may as well check out prices on instant potatoes, gravy mixes, cranberry sauce, poultry seasoning, etc. for long term storage. If you’re going to drag out the mylar bags and oxygen absorbers for storing oatmeal in January, you may as well do instant potatoes along with the oatmeal. You won’t find chicken broth for less than it will be in December – sometimes 3 for a $1.00 at the dollar store and it doesn’t matter what kind of store your sale items come from so long as they’re something you’ll use.
Let’s repeat all together: If possible, use coupons when an item is on sale to maximize savings. Buy in bulk when possible to last until the next seasonal sale. Get the freezer defrosted before frozen foods are the big interest item, and if you have a canner get those jars washed up to use for the summer pick-your-own veggies and fruits. Now, take a deep breath and go shop like you mean business.

Food and Charity

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chili recipe

State employees are encouraged to give money annually for a combined campaign but everyone can choose the charity their contribution will go to.  This year our department held a chili-cookoff in which employees were asked to bring their best home-made chili and then everyone paid a dollar a bowl for chili for lunch.  A local radio DJ, Bubba from WBAM, was charged with the task of choosing the three best chilis.

I took second place with a medium heat chili.  The blazing hot version took first, and a version with butternut squash took third.  Other entries included white (chicken) chili.  The three of us with winning entries received a decorated wooden spoon to adorn our cubicles.  Enjoy, eat well, and remember Christ is the reason for Christmas. 

My 2nd place chili recipe (I say mine because I created it):

3 lb. ground beef, browned and well drained; 1 large can petite diced tomatoes; 1 large can chili beans; 2 cups beef broth/stock; 4 heaping tablespoons chili powder; salt to taste; 1/2 teaspoon black pepper; 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper; half a jar of roasted red peppers, chopped; 1/2 a jar of dried tomatoes in olive oil, well drained and chopped; 1 stalk of celery and 1 peeled carrot – finely chopped in a food processor; 1 teaspoon garlic powder; 6 to 8 green onions sliced using some of the green part; and 2 large onions chopped.             [In a large pot combine the tomatoes, beef stock, peppers, beans, and spices, and bring to a simmer.  Saute the onions for about 3 to 5 minutes then add the other vegetables and saute another 3 to 5 minutes.  Add to the pot and return to a simmer.  Cover, and simmer about 2 hours until the flavors are fully developed.  Taste, and adjust seasonings if desired.]