Hi everyone. I made this jam from the rose hips Jenelle and I foraged. I followed these directions for preparing the rose hips, but I have to wonder if it's really worth the effort. Each little fruit-thing has to be opened and de-seeded, and even after you do that, there are tiny fibers in the fruit that are like fiberglass to your stomach. I ended up simmering the de-seeded halves forever, then straining out the fibers, then adding sugar and lemon juice (I threw in some lemon rind, too). A bit of arrowroot (or pectin, I guess) would have helped firm it up a bit more.
The flavor is mild (except for the lemon rind I added), reminiscent of winter squash, but slightly more floral. I don't like the flavor or consistency enough to use this as a jam, so I think I'm going to turn it into a savory sauce or chutney, something like the chutney on this site.
Nearly every day that I'm outside with a friend, I learn about something new that is edible. My friend Will and I saw huge clumps of beautiful (and tasty!) miner's lettuce on our recent hike in Elysian Park. I forgot to photograph the lettuce, but we also saw things like this:
I think the reason the skyline looks like it's floating is because the lighter patch in front of it is Dodger Stadium. Blogging might be (even more) patchy in the next few weeks as a parade of awesome guests passes through Los Angeles.
I once went on a guided hike pointing out all the edible plants in a local ravine. It was really neat to know one could eat so many things... and at the end, the guide shared the sumac lemonade and burdock salad and then I knew why most people don't forage.. it didn't taste that great! Although, to be honest, I think everyone should grow kale. It is easy to grow (ok, I had some difficulties), but super ornamental if it works and well, super tasty. ;)
ReplyDeleteThere were actually all these ornamental cabbage looking like plants around Toronto and NYC in the fall and I wondered if they were edible... although I wasn't adventurist enough to actually try to eat it!