Dandilions

[Stanleythecat]

Can anyone suggest palatable solutions for dandilions... I have tried a small section of a few young leaves and can't see how they would do anything but dominate a salad etc with their bitter taste.

I saw a link on an earler post about using the flowers fried in batter...? Do they taste any better!

Leo

 

[locum76]

Hi there.

1) You can stir fry or braise the leaves like any other endive, thats sweetens them and takes away some of the bitterness. A little sweet soy sauce helps the flavour too.

2) You can batter the flowers and fry them, mostly they will taste of batter.

3) You can use the flowers to make dandilion honey...

cheers,

Rob

 

[jimford]

From Wikipedia entry for dandelion:

'In modern French the plant is named pissenlit, which means "urinate in bed"'

So best not spend the night in your best down bag after eating them, eh!

Jim

 

[John Fenna]

Dandelion root can be peeled,sweated in olive oil them boiled to use as a root veggie or dried, roasted and ground for "coffee"

 

[EdS]

feed them to the rabbits

 

[rik_uk3]

As John said you can sweat a few roots in oil, then I would add them to a big plate of steak and chips.

 

[Stanleythecat]

Sorry sweating?

 

[Bravo4]

I saw a link on an earler post about using the flowers fried in batter...? Do they taste any better!
Leo

That was me. They were quite tasty, and I am not much of a cook. Sorta like fried zuchini, but not exactly. I guess anything tastes better battered and fried. No problems with 'pissenlit'. Give em' a try, a dipping sauce is nice. Nobody will b!*$h at you for picking dandelions.

 

[Sainty]

Sorry sweating?

Fry gently in oil to soften the vegetable without browning. The same when you soften onions before adding to a stew etc. It allows the volatiles to cook away thus making them taste milder. HTH

Martin

 

[Bravo4]

I think the trick with the leaves(less bitter) is to pick them before ANY flowers start to appear. Same with the roots; I think I'll wait til winter to try roots. This is a good entry on dandeloins, etc: http://www.wildmanstevebrill.com/Plants.Folder/Dandelion.html
Sorry, is this considered "spamming"? I'm new to forum ettiquette, please advise.

 

[Harry 047]

From Wikipedia entry for dandelion:

'In modern French the plant is named pissenlit, which means "urinate in bed"'

So best not spend the night in your best down bag after eating them, eh!

Jim

As children we used to call them pee the beds. Could they be a natural diuretic
You could make wine out of the flowers

 

[Backyard Bushcraft]

i started a spot of gardening this evening and started some dandelion honey that ill finish in the morning, more recipies i found here..http://www.prodigalgardens.info/dandelion recipes.htm

 

[cariboo]

Dandelions are high in vitamins A, B and C and minerals like calcium, potassium, iron, phosphorous and magnesium.. The flowers are rich with vitamin D. The roots are said to be good for your liver and blood.

Aki, Kai and I eat dandelion as a source of vegetable and green for the months of April, May and into June.


As we get our garden turned in the spring the dandelions we let alone the season before have small carrot sized roots. We stir fry them. They're excellent. The young greens are excellent salad material. The flowers we mix into omlettes, stir frys, salads and soups. Aki rolls the flowers in flour and seasoning and fries them in butter. They taste like a mushroom. We eat bags of them. We stop eating the greens as they mature because they become quite bitter but we continue feeding our chickens loads till the fall. We'll continue to eat the flowers and roots.

One dish Aki likes to make using the roots is based on one she grew up eating (her mother used burdock instead of dandelion root).

Slice roots and a carrot into thin strips.
Stir fry in a bit of sesame oil. Add soy sauce and a dash of chili pepper to taste.

When bears come out from the high winter hibernation grounds one of their first foods is the dandelion. They get fat eating just dandelion flowers.
We've all heard about dandelion wine.

http://caribooblades.com/newknives.html

http://aki-and-scott-fireweed.blogspot.com/

 

[Stanleythecat]

Cariboo, that actually looks good!

Are you on a similar latitude to us in Canada? I imagine this must have a bearing on seasonal collection compared to us in Blighty?

...and when you say excellent...?!!!!

Leo

 

[cariboo]

Cariboo, that actually looks good!

Are you on a similar latitude to us in Canada? I imagine this must have a bearing on seasonal collection compared to us in Blighty?

...and when you say excellent...?!!!!

Leo

They are seasonal here. We had a cold, long winter. Dandelions are just appearing now...
I think dandelions are an excellent food source.
The flowers are easy picking everywhere. The roots we dig and young greens we gather from our garden. Sure it is not as easy as carrots and romaine lettuce but that's not the point for us.

We saved a bit of venison from the winter for a couple of spring dinners. Morels, dandelions, wild onions and deer washed down with some rosehip wine.

In about two weeks I'll post a picture of the dandelion carpet cover we have here.

Scott.

http://www.caribooblades.com

 

[Tourist]

I remember reading somewhere that if you cover/shade the dandelion for some time before it is picked/harvested that the bitterness is reduced.

Les Stroud in one of his proggies more or less lived on them for 3 or 4 days and did not report any adverse [bed wetting] effects. They are a diuretic but then again so are coffee and some teas.

 

[xylaria]

I remember reading somewhere that if you cover/shade the dandelion for some time before it is picked/harvested that the bitterness is reduced.

Les Stroud in one of his proggies more or less lived on them for 3 or 4 days and did not report any adverse [bed wetting] effects. They are a diuretic but then again so are coffee and some teas.

I found when I tidyed up the my allotment in feburary, the bleached plants that were coming up under the walker boards tasted like rosso lettice. Still had some bitterness but were edible in sandwiches. I tried forcing some more of them, but although they came up bleached they were too bitter for my taste.

There are hundreds types of dandilion. The red vained dandilion has the least bitter leaves in my experiance, and the more milk that comes out the more bitter a paticular dandilion is. I must try cariboos recipe, the cold canadian winter might sweeten up dandilions, which might explain why my dandilions were edible in feb, and nasty now.

 

[Jumbalaya]

One of the best ways to remove the bitterness is to light-blanch the leaves if you have a few weeks spare. Another possible way is to cut the leaves and then soak in tepid water for several hours - repeat if necessary. Double boiling to remove the bitterness is not an option.

Best
M

 

[Fraxinus]

Young leaves make a great salad just dress with olive oil and a squeeze of lemon juice, a fairly common dish in southern Crete among the local olive farmers.

 

[xylaria]

One dish Aki likes to make using the roots is based on one she grew up eating (her mother used burdock instead of dandelion root).

Slice roots and a carrot into thin strips.
Stir fry in a bit of sesame oil. Add soy sauce and a dash of chili pepper to taste.

]

I am sorry I have just tried this and the bitter aftertaste was so strong it made my hairs stand on end. I used frost sweetened parsnips as well as carrots, and small quantities of dandelion with a large chunk of parsnip was pretty nice. I will try it again during winter to see if the cold improves the dandelion roots taste. Jerusalem artichoke would probably work with what I have tasted. It might be the Canadian winter or you have nice dandelions, and I have really nasty ones, or i am a fussy eater.