Dandelion recipes?

[DrHenley]

I think it was Prairie Wife that mentioned dandelion tea a while back. I have made salad from dandelion greens before, and the stuff is ubiquitous around here, especially in early spring. (you just have to make sure the area isn't sprayed with chemicals)

What other uses do people have for them? Are the roots edible?

Let's have some RECIPES people!

 

[jontte]

here in finland they made "coffe" from the roots during war,dig them up,wash,peel the "skin" away and roast. then you grind it to a pulver and make coffe,it doesn't taste exactly like the real stuff,but it's better than no coffee at all,so they say

 

[DrHenley]

Thanks jontte! I'm going to head outside to dig up some "coffee" roots right now!

In the Deep South, we have a long history of finding all sorts of coffee substitutes and coffee "extenders." Roasted wheat, roasted okra seeds (I've tried it), etc.
Here are some Southern newspaper articles from the early 1860's about how people coped with "Lincoln's blockade" keeping them from getting their coffee:

http://www.uttyler.edu/vbetts/coffee.htm

Down in Louisiana they still use chicory root as a coffee extender, but it doesn't grow around here. I had high hopes of roasting some beans from my honey locust tree out back, but borer beetles killed it a couple of years ago.

 

[DrHenley]

Peeled roots are already in the oven...

One thing I discovered about dandelion roots...there appears to be no correlation between leaf size and root size. Some dandelions with huge leaves had tiny roots and vice versa. The smaller roots aren't worth fooling with because peeling them doesn't leave much to roast.

 

[jontte]

true,peeling the small roots takes time and you will have your 100th b-day before that,must try those roots myself, have them dandelions in abundance in my garden

 

[jontte]

how do those okra seeds taste??

 

[DrHenley]

Okra seed coffee is smooth without any bitterness. I like smooth coffee, so it suits me fine. The seeds tend to turn to powder when you grind them though, so they clog up the filter.

I am drinking the dandelion coffee as we speak! A touch of bitterness (less bitter than French Roast though), but not bad, not bad at all! It looks exactly like coffee.

OK, now I'm ready for SHTF! Can now live without coffee!

 

[DrHenley]

 

[jontte]

I must try that,come spring come,if i can't beat those pesky dandelions in my garden i'm going to make coffee, boy had a very good feeling abt this site,thanks DrHenley!

 

[jontte]

one must have coffee even in shtf

 

[DrHenley]

Now I'm eating the dandelion greens that came off of the roots. I mixed them half and half with baby spinach, and added some onion, imitation crab legs and balsamic vinegarette dressing. By themselves they are bitter, but in the salad they are not. I guess the vinegar in the dressing kills the bitterness.

 

[jontte]

should have great many vitamins also,must def try,both in sallad and the coffee

 

[DrHenley]

I just found this Wikipedia page about dandelion coffee:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dandelion_coffee

Dandelion coffee is said to be a good tonic for the liver.[6] A bitter tonic made from the dandelion root is also used as a laxative.[7] Dandelion tea is also currently being researched for cancer treatment.[8]

 

[jontte]

so not only do you get coffee fromit,you get sallad and it could be a treatment for cancer,boy am i glad they don't allow to use any toxins or pestisides on that garden i hired for me, have you Dr Henley tried nettles?? should be like spinach when very young

 

[jontte]

from the flowers it's possible to make wine,beer and meade and the roots should be collected early spring or very late autum,it's rich in vitamins A and C and calsium, Dr Henley,if you hadn't put this thred here I would have most likely dug those dandelions up and thrown them in the compost

 

[DrHenley]

have you Dr Henley tried nettles??

No I haven't. To tell you the truth, I'm not sure what they even look like. I'll have to study up more on weeds.

I have been wanting to learn more about edible wild plants. I think some places here in the South, there is enough food growing wild in the woods that nobody should ever have to starve.

 

[jontte]

well,if that little green plant sting you like hell,you found nettles,rode my bike once into a big bush of those,wasn't pleasant,very young nettles are high on vitamin c and iron if remember correctly

 

[Mountain*Heart]

You can make dandelion wine also. I used to pick the dandelions by the bushel for my granddad when I was a kid. He made dandelion wine and whiskey from potatoes. I don't know how the process was done but he did it without a still.

 

[jontte]

alot of knowledge goes when old-timers go to a place without worries,that whisky would be nice to try if it's done without a still,then the law wouldn't be knocking on my door,don't drink anymore but sometimes a glas of whisky would do good

 

[Mountain*Heart]

Here is the recipe for Dandelion Wine:

1 qt. dandelion blossoms 1 gal. of water
1 lemon, sliced 2 1/2 lbs. of sugar
2 tablespoons of good yeast

Put all in a kettle, except the yeast and boil five minutes. Pour into a jar. When cold add the yeast.
Keep in a warm place for 3 days until it ferments, then strain and bottle -- cork tightly.

I am not sure how old this recipe is, although at 59 now and it was being used when I was very young growing up. I do not drink so I have never made this and would not be able to validate it's goodness. Basically what I am saying is if you try this you are on your own...LOL

 

[jontte]

DrHenley

any new recipes??
i'm still waiting for spring to hit us so that i can harvest some dandelion roots, by the way, did roast them in your oven or in a skillet??

 

[DrHenley]

I roasted them in the oven on a grate I use for making jerkey. As I recall the oven was set to 450 Fahrenheit (232 Celsius). I made the mistake of not slicing them first, so the thinner parts got burnt before the thicker parts even darkened. And it made them hard to grind.

My main problem was finding roots large enough. These are growing in the yard among the grass, so I never have let them get big. I need to find a place that has bigger plants and is not sprayed. Some big dandelion plants grow along the public bicycle trail but I think they get sprayed with chemicals. I guess the roots might be OK, but I sure wouldn't eat the greens.

 

[Dani]

Here is the recipe for Dandelion Wine:

1 qt. dandelion blossoms 1 gal. of water
1 lemon, sliced 2 1/2 lbs. of sugar
2 tablespoons of good yeast

Put all in a kettle, except the yeast and boil five minutes. Pour into a jar. When cold add the yeast.
Keep in a warm place for 3 days until it ferments, then strain and bottle -- cork tightly.

I am not sure how old this recipe is, although at 59 now and it was being used when I was very young growing up. I do not drink so I have never made this and would not be able to validate it's goodness. Basically what I am saying is if you try this you are on your own...LOL

Thank you for sharing! Even if you don't drink, it may be worth making in a SHTF scenario to barter with. I love to talk with our older generation since you tend to learn so much from them!

 

[Dani]

This is a good resource for dandelions http://www.thekitchn.com/10-ways-to-use-those-dandelions-recipes-from-the-kitchn-188774
Yeah these recipes look very good and I have them popping up like crazy around here! Thanks for starting the thread Dr Henley! I have only eatin them in a salad before, but then you got me doing some research. . . and dang! they look good too

 

[jontte]

mother nature is full of wonderful things,edible things,this year i will think that my dandelions are an asset to harvest from my garden,so glad we arn't allowed to use any chemicals where i have my small patch of land.
DrHenley thanks abt the info of roastintemp.

 

[mr_jonny]

With the dandelion greens , do you just rinse and eat?

 

[jontte]

the small ones,rinse and eat,can be used like spinach aswell,try it,rich in vitamins and free

 

[mr_jonny]

Thank you very much.

 

[jontte]

my pleasure friend,check earlier posting how to make coffe out of the roots, Dr Henley already did,I'm waiting for spring to collect my first

 

[Brent S]

alot of knowledge goes when old-timers go to a place without worries,that whisky would be nice to try if it's done without a still,then the law wouldn't be knocking on my door,don't drink anymore but sometimes a glas of whisky would do good

Lots of people call their homemade wine 'brandy or whiskey', but none of it is really true whiskey unless distilled. I'm making a batch of muscadine wine right now that is an experiment, just to see how much alcohol I can get it to. I've heard you can get it up to 22%, but my average wine is about 15%. Daniel girl is right though, you can ferment just about anything. I actually read a recipe for asparagus wine, yuk! Dandelions would probably taste pretty good, you would just have to add sugar to give enough fuel for the yeast. I saw a design on YouTube for a modernized distillation unit using a copper pipe inside a copper pipe, using stuff from a normal hardware store. They said it was 10 times more effective than the old copper coil going thru water. Just be aware that making even 1 drop of distilled alcohol is potentially a long prison term! I'll stick to my homemade beer and wine. One thing I did once was made Meade. It's a wine made from honey. I bet if you thru in some dandelions it would be delicious. Dr Henley if you ever find a book of wild edibles in the south I would be really greatfull, and if I do will post the info as well. I just heard about a wild mushroom in the Appalachians, that's just coming in season now, on the radio this morning. I think eating mushrooms would take a lot more research to be safe though. I have some huge cabbage plants growing in my greenhouse right now and googled if you can eat the large loose leaves on the plants. It's best to use as stir fry. I got some egg roll wraps, and cooked beef, pork, onions, carrots, ginger, garlic and sesame oil, fried it up and made my first egg rolls ever. They were awesome, and won't be my last batch I make. I vacuume bagged some for freezing to see if they will be as good later on. I made about twenty five, so will work on a smaller sized batch next time, or just invite some people over!