Recipe swap (and other food related stuff)

[Jitter]

As are potato “berries” or whatever one might call them

[Róisín]

There is a famous story about Walter Raleigh introducing the potato to Ireland. Seems he thought the berry was the edible part, and like their equally poisonous relative Belladonna, the berries are sweet. So he ate a dish of them with cream, nearly died, and when he recovered ordered the plants purged from his garden. Fortunately his gardener discovered that the tubers are the edible part and kept growing them in his own garden. History still gives Raleigh the credit.

[Vulpes]

Roísín, I was surprised to note the berries are edible, too, but Apios is in family Fabaceae, not Solanaceae, so edible beans should be expected.

[Yastreb]

There is a famous story about Walter Raleigh introducing the potato to Ireland.

Róisín, you may be amused by Bob Newhart's take on Sir Walter Raleigh and tobacco...

[Róisín]

Even some of the Fabaceae contain poisons, or like the Solanaceae may have edible and poisonous parts on the same plant as do potatoes. The reason I asked about Apios is that I am familiar with the related Jicama, Pachyrhizus erosus, which has edible and delicious tubers rather like those of Apios, but has poisonous seeds and foliage (they contain rotenone). Pleased to know that the seeds are safe to eat.

And Yastreb, I am reminded of John Gerard on the subject of tobacco. He talks about it as: ‘this strange herb newly brought from the Americas’. He mentions it as having a number of domestic uses as an insecticide for fleas and lice, as a styptic and vulnerary, a local treatment for haemorrhoids and ulcers of the fundament, a good vomit (we would say emetic) for them that have eaten poisonous mushrooms, and various other problems. Then he adds a note: ‘And if you would believe this, there be some strange folk that do even smoake it!’

[Crumpite]

This reminds me of a debate about whether deadly nightshade berries are poisonous or not.
One fellow claimed that folks back hone made jam from the fruit every year and no one ever got sick.
His professor in class said he was crazy until he brought in a jar of the jam and ate it in front of him !
There is still a lot to learn out there 😀

[Róisín]

And this is why I love botanical names! There are reasons for learning all those boring Latin binomials, including being able to precisely identify the plant you are considering putting in your mouth. One of the things I do in real life is instruct wild food foragers, and I am endlessly horrified by some of the stuff people think they know about edible plants!

 The true deadly nightshade is Atropa belladonna, named for Atropos, the ancient Greek traditional Fate, the one with the scissors, whose job is to cut off the thread of human life. There is good cause for the name. One of the early English herbalists explained it thus: “If a man eat (small number of berries) he will sleep, and can then suffer cutting or the cautery without pain. But if a man eat (slightly larger number of berries), he will sleep and not wake.” Very true. While the herb was a good alternative to a bottle of spirits or a sandbag as anaesthesia for use by surgeons of the time, it still wasn’t safe.

Another problem with this plant is that the fruit is sweet and delicious, looking much like a black cherry. Very tempting to small children and the uninformed. You might think people would notice that the fruits do not have a single large hard seed as cherries do, but have a lot of tiny kidney-shaped seeds like those of a tomato, but apparently not.

I think the plant the fellow meant for making jam was Solanum nigrum, black or common nightshade, which is often miscalled deadly nightshade both in America and in Australia. The flavour is like a sweet tomato, to which it is related, and only the completely ripe berries should ever be eaten. This is because all green parts of the plant, including the unripe fruit, contain solanine, the same chemical that makes green potatoes poisonous. Americans may recognise their Huckleberry as either a close relative or a cultivar (depending which botanist you argue with) of Solanum nigrum.

Anyway: two very different plants which should not be confused! While I have eaten the fruit of black nightshade, I more often use it as a dye (purple, green, black or grey depending on the plant part and the concentration and the mordant used), or for the hiker’s method of reducing inflammation in sprains, strains or deep bruises: bind the injury firmly with a compress of the crushed and moistened leaves, and rest it for half an hour, after which the pain and inflammation should be reduced enough to let you use the injured ankle or whatever carefully.

[Róisín]

It occurred to me that I might not be the only person around the Forum to be hit with the sudden need to produce festive food on very short notice and without being able to fit in a shopping trip, so thought to share a recipe I improvised on Sunday, when I discovered that I needed to bring an extra dish to a communal solstice feast beyond what I had planned, which was a fruit platter (this is berry and cherry season here in Australia). So I looked in my pantry and fridge and came up with the following sweet, spicy and seasonally appropriate dish:

SPICED FRUIT PASTRIES:

Ingredients:

. Several leftover sheets of puff pastry and filo pastry, which were leftover from having made honey and pistachio parcels and cheese and spinach pastries earlier in the weekend. (At present my freezer has died and I haven’t yet been able to replace it, so leftovers are stored in the fridge and used as soon as possible).
. Three small granny smith apples, cored and thinly sliced.
. Juice and shredded rind of a Seville orange, which I had intended to use to flavour a liqueur I am making - I can get another on Wednesday.
. A tablespoonful of brandy
. A packet of dried mixed fruit (such as I would normally use in making a fruit cake).
. Half a cup of almond meal. I might have used more but that was all I had left since this coming Tuesday is when I plan to (and have transport organised to) do my big shopping trip for the month.
. Spices to taste (I used cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cloves, allspice, cardamon and a tiny sprinkle of  black pepper).
. A couple of tablespoonsful of honey

Method:

. Put the dried fruit, almond meal, honey, orange juice and zest, and the brandy into a stainless steel, glass or ceramic bowl (plastic or aluminium can give the mixture off flavours). Mix thoroughly and leave to soak for an hour or two.
. Stir the spices through the mix, adding a bit more juice if the mixture is dry, and a bit more honey or brown sugar if you don’t find it sweet enough.
.Cut the pastry into squares.
. Scatter the finely sliced apple bits evenly over each piece of pastry.
. Add a dollop of the dried fruit and spice mixture on top of the apple on each piece of pastry, then fold the pastry around the other ingredients to make triangles, rolls or parcels.
. Preheat the oven to hot, put the pastries on a greased baking tray, or use a sheet of baking paper.
. Bake until the pastries are browned and smell cooked (about 12 to 15 minutes, depending on the oven).
. Let the pastries cool a little and enjoy them either as they are or with cream. These can be reheated if you like them hot. And if you have it you can make these with bottled fruit mince such as goes into mince pies rather than the dried fruit mixture I used, or you can improvise with whatever you have in the way of currants, dried cranberries, raisins, sultanas and the like.

Enjoy!

[wavewright62]

Yummo!
This reminds me - when I get time, I should cut'n'paste the recipes from the last two Advent Calendars.  I know there's Gwenno's fruit bread and yours & my pavs and your salad, and latkes, and who knows what-all.  I'll have the text in my hoard.
*taps forehead as a reminder*

[wavewright62]

As promised, the hoard from previous Advent Calendars!  Spoilered for length.

From Róisín: STAINED GLASS CAKE, BISHOP’S CAKE OR CATHEDRAL CAKE

Spoiler: stained glass cake • show

The cake can be served as is, or iced with fondant/marzipan/royal icing or some combination of these, or glazed with jam/liqueur/fruit syrup or some combination of these. This year I will probably make two, or one big one and cut it in half, and do one with marzipan and royal icing like a conventional Christmas cake, possibly with a sprinkle of good brandy on the cake before I ice it.  The other one I will probably glaze with cumquat syrup or my good rosehip liqueur.  We have a number of visiting friends and relatives coming this year over Christmas/Midsummer/our last Music Night for the year/New Year, and we will be going to several events where we need to bring festive food, so it certainly won’t go to waste. And if you need a fancy gift for a foodie you can always do up a slab of this cake in a nice package.

INGREDIENTS:

Dried fruits: 200g of a mixture of raisins, sultanas, currants, and mixed peel, which can be orange, lemon, citron peel or clementines.  (Mod's note - a scant half-lb./8oz imperial measure)

Glacé cherries, 200g, a mix of red, yellow and green or whichever you prefer.

Candied angelica if you like it, not vital but luxurious. About a tablespoonful, chopped.

Glacé fruits: about 400g total. (Mod's note - a scant lb./14oz imperial measure) Use a mixture of fruits to taste. Last time I made it the mix I used was glacé pineapple, peaches, quinces, apricots, ginger root and pears with a couple of small whole glacé clementines, which can be sliced or put in whole for a fancy effect. (Clementines are a small fruit, a type of orange which is often candied whole for decoration in cakes and confectionery, but can also be candied in segments like an orange or mandarine.) If you don’t like clementines, add extra glacé fruits, glacé ginger, candied peel or glacé cherries to make up the weight.

Nuts: whole nuts, about 400g total. Either one variety, with almonds being the most common, or a mix of several kinds. What you use is largely a matter of taste. My favourite ones are a mix of almonds, brazil nuts and hazelnuts for half of the mix, with macadamia nuts making up the other half. I use raw unsalted nuts, but some recipes pre-roast the nuts. And if I have them I will sometimes throw in a few pine nuts.

150g plain flour.  (Mod's note: approx 2/3c imperial measure)

50g almond meal, hazelnut meal or a mixture of both

1 generous teaspoonful baking powder.

3 large or four medium eggs.

150g sugar. If you like a darker fruit cake use brown or demerara sugar, if you prefer a lighter colour use caster sugar or fine sugar.

A generous half a cup of spirits, orange juice or whatever mixture of these you prefer. Depending on the final consistency of the cake batter, you can add more orange juice. I have usually used rum, brandy or kirsch, with a dash of orange juice. Go with your own taste.

1 generous teaspoonful of vanilla essence / extract.

Spices to taste, somewhere between one and two teaspoonsful depending how spicy you like your cake. I normally use a mix of powdered cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and cloves, because tradition, but have at times added cardamon or allspice.


METHOD:

Grease and line a large loaf or slice pan or several smaller ones. (Mod's note - a slice pan is generally about a 9x12-inch or 10x13-inch pan.)

Sift flour, nutmeal, baking powder and spices into a large mixing bowl.

Combine most of the fruits and nuts into a large bowl, saving aside a few pretty pieces to decorate the top of the cake.

Sift the flour mixture over the fruits and nuts to coat them.

Crack the eggs separately so as to make sure each one is good. Beat the sugar, eggs, alcohol or orange juice and vanilla until well combined, either by hand or at low speed in a mixer. Add to the fruit mixture and mix well.

Spoon the batter into the greased and lined pans. Press down on the mixture to make sure all the corners of the pans are filled and the top is as smooth as is possible for a cake so full of fruits and nuts. Top with the reserved fruits and nuts, prettily arranged.

In an oven preheated to 150C/just over 300F bake the cakes about 50 to 70 minutes, depending on the size of the pans. If it is browning too fast either lower the heat slightly and cook for a few minutes longer or cover the top with foil.

When the cakes are browned and firm leave to cool in the pans for half an hour, then turn them out onto a wire cake rack to finish cooling. If you plan to top the cakes with fruit syrup/brandy/jam that is better done while the cakes are warm, so the topping soaks in better. When the cakes are completely cool they can be iced.

Have fun making and sharing this cake, and enjoy!

(Your humble mod speaks both imperial and metric measure, and has added a few imperial conversions where necessary.)

From Gwenno: Medivnyk (Honey Cake)

Spoiler: medivnyk • show

Gwenno says, "This cake is called "Medivnyk" and is a traditional Christmas (and Rosh Hashanah) honey cake from Ukraine. It has a really rich taste, and stores very well, with the taste actually improving if you leave it for a day or so after baking before eating the whole thing (if you have the self-control for that of course)! This recipe is for two cakes (one to keep, and one to give away), so half the measurements if you only want one.
Heat the oven to 300*F/150*C/Gas Mark 3
Grease and flour two 8-inch/20cm x 4-inch/10-cm loaf pans

Spoiler: text version • show

Medivnyk
Heat the oven to 300*F/150*C/Gas Mark 3
Grease and flour two 8-inch/20cm x 4-inch/10-cm loaf pans
Ingredients
1 cup/ 240ml honey
1tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp cloves
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 cup/150g dark raisins
1/2 cup / 75g currants
1/2 cup / 75g chopped dates
1 cup / 115g chopped walnuts
3 cups / 390g cake/self-raising flour
2 tsp baking soda
1tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup / 115g unsalted butter, softened
1 cup / 250g soft dark brown sugar, packed down to eliminate air pockets
4 large eggs, separated
1/4 cup / 65ml strong coffee

Instructions
1 In a small saucepan, mix the honey, cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg, and bring to a boil, mixing frequently. Remove from the heat and cool until it is lukewarm.
2 In a medium-sized bowl, combine the raisins, currants, dates and walnuts, and two tablespoons of the flour and mix well. Set aside.
3 In a separate bowl, mix together the remaining flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
4 In a large bowl, beat the butter and brown sugar until creamy and smooth.
5 Add the egg yolks, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
6 Add the honey and mix well.
7 Add the flour and coffee alternately until well mixed.
8 Stir in the floured fruit and nuts. Set aside.
9 In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites until they are stiff and form peaks. Fold into the mixture, taking care not to over mix.
10 Divide the mixtures equally between the two loaf pans. Bake about for 60 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the middle of the cakes comes out clean.
11 Allow the cake/cakes to cool for about 20 minutes before removing to a wire rack so that they can cool completely.

From wavewright62: Pavlova

Spoiler: kiwi pav • show

Pav, aka Pavlova, is a baked meringue which New Zealand claims as its own invention (sorry Australia), honouring the famed ballerina Anna Pavlova.  It is strongly associated with all sorts of celebrations in New Zealand, but particularly in summer when fresh fruit is abundant, it will almost invariably show up on a holiday buffet adorned with slices of kiwifruit.  We've had a few recipes this year, so here is one for pav that I've made several times.  (Bonus: this is naturally gluten free)

Pavlova
Separate 6 large eggs, let the whites come to room temperature.  (Use the yolks elsewhere.)

Prepare a baking pan:  cut a piece of baking paper to approximately dinner plate size (8 in/20cm), dip or brush lightly with water only, place on a baking tray.

Beat the egg whites until firm, then mix together and gradually add while beating:
1/2c caster/superfine sugar
1/2c regular white sugar (or 1 cup regular, it's okay)
(NB measurements imperial or metric, it doesn't really matter that much because of the variation in sizes of eggs.)

Add and beat until stiff:
2 teaspoons cornflour/corn starch/potato starch (using the latter, this becomes a perfect matzo-meal-free Passover dessert!)
2 teaspoons white vinegar (can use Kosher-for-Passover wine vinegar for Passover)

Dollop beaten egg white mixture onto prepared paper round - secure the outside ring first, then fill in dollops within the ring.  Can smooth it a bit with a spatula if you want that look.

Bake in preheated 150C/300F oven:
15 minutes at 150C, then
45 minutes at 120C/250F, then
leave it in the oven (DO NOT open the door even to peek) overnight, or until oven is fully cold.

Do not refrigerate, put it into an airtight tin.  It may 'weep' a bit of sugar syrup, that's okay.  Serve with fresh fruit or tinned fruit salad/cocktail, and custard or whipped cream.

From Róisín: Pavlova

Spoiler: aussie pav • show

PAVLOVA WITH FRUIT AND WHIPPED CREAM: Australia and New Zealand both lay claim to this dish, which is basically a slab of meringue, crispy on the outside but with a marshmallow-like texture on the inside, served with fruit (strawberries are traditional, but I use a mix of berries and sliced stone fruit) and whipped cream. Prepared Pavlova bases can be bought, but if you want to make your own, here is a basic recipe:

Be very sure that no trace of grease or oil, and none of the egg yolks get into the mixture, just the whites. Do not over beat the egg whites, or the meringue will be tough. Beat the whites only until they are stiff, not until they look dry. Beat in the sugar about a tablespoonful at a time, beating well between additions of sugar.

. Heat the oven to 300F/150C
. Line a baking tray with baking paper
. The meringue mix should be piled in a circle on the baking paper.

Ingredients:
4 large egg whites
1 and a 1/2 cups of castor sugar
1 teaspoon of vanilla essence or vanilla bean paste
One teaspoonful lemon juice or white vinegar
2 teaspoonsful of cornflour
1 pint/475 ml of heavy cream
Sliced fruits to taste, to top the pavlova

. In a large bowl beat the egg whites until stiff. Gradually add the sugar, about a tablespoonful at a time, beating between each addition. Beat until thick and glossy, then fold in lemon juice/vinegar, vanilla and cornflour.

. Spoon the mixture into a circle on the baking paper, and bake for about one hour. Cool.

. Beat the cream until it forms stiff peaks, then pile into the middle of the cooled meringue shell.

. Decorate with the sliced fresh fruit. Enjoy!

(I note that the recipes are smilar but not identical!  I am going to try Róisín's version, for SCIENCE)

From wavewright62: Potato Latkes

Spoiler: latkes • show

Grate together: 5 medium potatoes and 1 small onion (I tend to leave the potato skins on).  I alternate potato and onion, as the onion juice helps prevent the potato from oxidising.
Let stand for about 5 minutes - press out and discard any excess liquid.
Mix in: 2 large eggs, 3T flour, 1T oil (I use sunflower, but you can use olive, canola, etc), salt & pepper to taste.
Fry in hot oil until done in the middle and crispy on the edges.
I'll put in a heaping soupspoonful and flatten it a bit to be relatively even thickness, and not very thick - maybe about 10-15cm/4-6 inches in diameter only.  After all, the whole point is exposing the surface to the oil!

From Vulpes: Rich Sugar Cookies

Spoiler: Rich sugar cookies • show

These are basically butter and sugar held together with a bit of flour, with more sugar on top for good measure. I use some old cookie cutters in suitable shapes (the darn Christmas tree shape is really hard to get free of the cutter in one piece!) but a suitably-sized tin with both ends removed makes a nice round cutter in a pinch.

Apologies for the imperial measures, those of you who do metric. Canada is annoyingly half-metric. Cooking and lumber... why?

2/3c butter - cream until fluffy, and gradually add
1c sugar - mix thoroughly and then add one at a time:
2 eggs - beat well, then add:
1t vanilla

Measure into a smaller bowl and blend thoroughly:
2-1/4c all-purpose flour
1-1/2t baking powder
1t salt
Add these to the butter mixture and mix thoroughly.

Roll to approx 1/3 inch (just under 1cm) thick on a well-floured board, cut into shapes and place on ungreased cookie sheet.  Sprinkle with:
coloured sugar

Bake at 375F/190C for 8-10 minutes, cool on rack.

ww62 hack:  I am terrible at removing shapes from a board.  So I prepare 3-4 sheets of baking paper, and roll my dough out between sheets of the baking paper with no additional flour.  Then I cut my shapes, leaving room for expansion, and remove the 'negative space' between the cookies.  (I don't care if that distorts when I lift it!)  I slide the baking paper directly onto a cookie sheet and bake.  I don't get quite as many cookies per batch, but it's faster for me, with a much higher percentage of presentable shapes!

From gjuerne: Spritz

Spoiler: spritz • show

I was raised in an upper Midwest Swedish/Norwegian/Saami family, and we kept the Scandinavian Christmas Eve Julbord tradition which included trays of many kinds of delicious butter cookies. Here is a recipe for a family favorite, and for fruit soup, always part of the Julbord dessert array.

SPRITZ
1 cup butter, creamed
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 egg or 3 egg yolks, unbeaten
1 tsp almond extract
1/2 tsp baking powder
2-1/2 or more sifted cake flour
——-
Add sugar to creamed butter, mix until fluffy. Stir in egg and almond extract. (Add a few drops of green food coloring at this point if you plan to use the Christmas tree shape, which my family always does.) Sift baking powder and cake flour together, stir into the butter/sugar mixture. Don’t over mix! Fill cookie press and force dough onto baking sheets. Bake at 400° for 7-10 minutes, or until edges just start to brown.
Pro tip: use plain metal baking pans; the dough from the cookie press will not stick to no-stick or “easy release” pans.

From gjuerne: Norwegian Fruit Soup

Spoiler: fruit soup • show

NORWEGIAN FRUIT SOUP
2/3 cup large pearl tapioca
2 quarts water
1-2 cinnamon sticks
2 tart apples, peeled and thinly sliced)
1 cup prunes
1/2 cup sugar
1 tbsp vinegar
Juice of two lemons (approx 1/4 cup)
2 cups tart cherries & juice (I usually use frozen)
——
Simmer tapioca, apples, and cinnamon sticks in two quarts of water until the tapioca is half done. Add the rest of the ingredients — you can add frozen raspberries, blackberries, or blueberries if you wish, or some tart jelly. Cook until the tapioca is clear, or has a tiny white “eye.” Adjust the taste to your preference with sugar or lemon juice, my family likes it a bit on the tart side. We serve it warm, or hot. I adore it and always stick a few servings in the deep freezer because it is also delicious chilled on a hot summer day.

[Vulpes]

Ha, I just finished eating a slice of medivnyk! Thanks again to Gwenno, it is a wonderful treat. Made with honey from my own bees, no less.

[Róisín]

Wavewright, your recipe for latkes is similar to mine but not quite the same - I must try it! And the honey cake is very good. Vulpes, you too keep bees? Bees are wonderful, I would not be without mine.

[Vulpes]

Vulpes, you too keep bees? Bees are wonderful, I would not be without mine.

Yes, I've been doing bee research, and despite the fact that I work on our native bees such as bumble bees, I've been labelled "the bee person" on campus. That meant that when someone wanted to set up a small apiary on campus, I got dragged in. I share a couple hives with a group of other faculty and staff. Fingers crossed both hives make it through the winter/early spring, they got a bit neglected this summer, thanks to the pandemic disruptions. Toward the end of the season I decided that if I was going to be doing this, I should do it right, so I'm actually taking an online bee keeping course this winter. It will be interesting to be a student again, and experience the remote learning environment from the other side of the Learning Management System. I also find myself writing grant applications for honey bee research, despite my best efforts to focus on native bees!

One thing I've learned from the experience, group bee keeping is problematic. It ended up this year with just me and one other faculty member doing most of the work, without any help from our other group members or much input from our mentor. That actually worked a lot better, and forced both of us to think more about what we should be doing.

[Róisín]

I am happy to advise if I can. I grew up with the hives on my Gran’s farm, then owned hives myself in various places I lived. When we left Cave House some twenty years ago, I couldn’t keep bees where we were moving to, so gave them to a friend to keep in his orchard. When after a decade or so we wound up here, I got new bees again, because my old hives had settled so well in Dave’s orchard that I simply hadn’t the heart to move them again. The new ones like my garden and produce well.

[Vulpes]

Róisín, thanks for the offer of advice - I actually have lots of potential mentors, it's just a matter of asking. There's a provincial bee keeping association which is a nice mix of hobbyists and commercial beeks, and several folks nearby. Many of the big challenges come from the local climate - long, snowy winters (but not usually too cold); drawn-out, miserable springs; a short season for the bees to do their work. We are very fortunate to be varroa mite-free thus far, so relatively few diseases to deal with. Bee imports are tightly regulated to keep varroa out, and I hope to make one of our hives a sentinel in the association's efforts to detect and contain any varroa incursions that may happen. I'm glad you were able to take it up again, working with an even-tempered hive can be a very relaxing activity.