Plantain biscuits....

[spiritofold]

We're off out to the woods in a bit to collect plantain seed for making some kind of biscuit.
When we get back im thinking of washing them to try and get rid of the husks then grind
the crap out of them with a pestle and mortar (or my newly made saddle quern) then form
into biscuits and bake.

The camera is coming as well

Andy >>>>>----------------------------------<>

 

[IntrepidStu]

We're off out to the woods in a bit to collect plantain seed for making some kind of biscuit.
When we get back im thinking of washing them to try and get rid of the husks then grind
the crap out of them with a pestle and mortar (or my newly made saddle quern) then form
into biscuits and bake.

The camera is coming as well

Andy >>>>>----------------------------------<>

Excellent Andy, Ill be watching this thread intently. All the plantain seeds where I live have already dispersed.

Out of interest, is it Ribwort, or Greater Plantain, and can you post lots of picys mate.

Cheers.
Stu.

 

[Toadflax]

Just for info, you might want to have a look at this thread for some more info: http://www.bushcraftuk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=25809. I never made flour so I'd be interested to see how you get on with that.


Geoff

 

[Singeblister]

looking forward to seeing the results

 

[Mungo]

We're off out to the woods in a bit to collect plantain seed for making some kind of biscuit.
When we get back im thinking of washing them to try and get rid of the husks then grind
the crap out of them with a pestle and mortar (or my newly made saddle quern) then form
into biscuits and bake.

The camera is coming as well

Andy >>>>>----------------------------------<>

My first thought was 'what the heck is a saddle quern?'. My second thought was to look on the interwebby thing.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quern-stone
http://www.swanseaheritage.net/article/gat.asp?ARTICLE_ID=33&PRIMARY_THEME_ID=5

Hmmmm. Interesting.

Mungo

 

[Toddy]

I use a saddle quern at work and it's really effective I've got a big mortar and pestle that sits on the kitchen floor for stuff like this at home, and size does make a difference. If you can find sandstone it hollows out quickly enough with a bit of granite to make a pretty useful quern in no time.

cheers,
Toddy

 

[spiritofold]

The biscuits are made and the pics have been taken. Just reducing the file sizes so they
load quicker. I made three types, plain, with salt, and with honey. The plain ones are just that, very bland tasting, ok if you have nothing else i spose. The salty ones are better tasting, gives your mouth something to think about while your chewing. The honey ones are the best! I guess they're the neolithic equivalent of digestives. The kids would only eat the honey ones, saying the others were awfull.

Anyway, i'll try and get the pix on here later

 

[spiritofold]

This is what we started with, 11oz of mixed plantain.

 

[spiritofold]

 

[spiritofold]

I put a third in a sieve and gave a good stir around to remove some of the husks.

 

[spiritofold]

I squeezed the water out and then started grinding it on my quernstone.

 

[spiritofold]

After a few minutes it went all kind of pulpy, the starch was obviously being released.

 

[spiritofold]

I added some local honey, just guessed it would make them better

 

[spiritofold]

Then formed them into fat biscuit shapes.

 

[spiritofold]

After 45 minutes on medium heat

 

[spiritofold]

 

[spiritofold]

So, there you go. Kind of bushcrafty

I'll definately try cooking them in the embers of a fire. I just reckon it could help flavour them more. I used seed that was still green/purple as well as seed that was brown and ready. When grinding it it goes really sticky and slippery from the starch being released.

 

[spamel]

I reckon on a flat hot stone by the fire would give you some very nice treats! Got to find a dog wee free patch of plantain to gather up and try.

 

[john scrivy]

Fantastic stuff Spirtofold really enjoy this type of post

 

[Roibeard]

They look tasty. Really interesting texture on the cooked biscuit.

How long did it take to gather that quanitiy (the 11 oz) of seed?