Chapter Ten
From Tree to Table
Recipes from Trees (with Love!)
Many recipes on the internet include tree products. I am not nearly the pioneer person that many are, but I do work with tree fruits, spices, and saps in my cooking life. I wanted to share with you a few of my favorites.
It is fun experimenting with new and natural products, and I was amazed at the number of people already cooking with tree products and using those natural resources for health healing.
I am an avid user of natural products and use organic, natural products wherever possible because I wrote two books on essential oils, a cookbook for heart-healthy eating, and two books on Bach Flower remedies for people animals.
I am including nineteen recipes from tree crops for your enjoyment and experimentation. If you’re already a tree product aficionado, some of these may already be on your radar. If this is new to you, please have fun with them! I have left the recipes intact with the original ingredients I learned to cook with. But I do modify many of them and substitute certain ingredients with others to promote a healthier, fat-free diet for myself. You are welcome to experiment and find your comfort level with recipes.
The recipes include
• Acacia Fritters
• A lmond Roca
• Appl e Pie Bars
• Avocado—Guacamole with a Sri racha Kick
• Baobab Ba nana Bread
• Cheery Cher ry Cobbler
• Chestnuts, Ov en Roasted
• Coconut-Lime A lmond Bark
• Coffee-Infuse d Brownies
• Elderb erry Syrup
• Hemlock Tree Sap W ound Salve
• Lemo n Cleaners
• Linden Tea
• Mouthwatering Oliv e Crostini
• Mu lberry Pie
• Orange Incense for Your Home
• Palm Heart and Artichoke F ried Cakes
• Pine Needle Tea
• Rowan Berry and A pple Jelly
I love how the magic of the forest comes into our homes, and there is no better way to properly invite them into your life than to prepare meals and products with them. There’s a little something for everybody in these recipes and, above all, I encourage you to have fun and enjoy the exciting journey from tree to table.
Acacia Blossom Fritters
Ingredients
• 15–20 acacia flow er bunches
• 1 cup (150 g) of all-purpose flour (or alm ond flour)
• 1 ½ cup of ice-cold sparkling water (yes, it must be sparkling)
• a pin ch of salt
• peanut oil for frying
• sea salt for sprinkling
• acacia honey for drizzling + sugar for sprinkling (swee t version)
Directions
1. Pick fresh acacia blossoms and clean them from dirt o r insects.
2. Mix flour and salt in a bowl.
3. Slowly, using a small stream, pour sparkling water into th e mixture.
4. Stir with a whisk, removing all lumps.
5. Add 1 to 2 inches of peanut oil to a pan wide enough to accommodate the blossoms. Heat the oil to 350° F (175°C).
6. Holding the flowers by their stems, dip them into t he batter.
7. Carefully shake off excess batter. You want them light a nd fluffy.
8. Gently place your flowers in the oil and allow them to fry to a golden brown. Don’t crowd the pan. Once they have cooked on one side, flip them over, using a slotted spoon. Watch for a golden-brown color to know they are done.
9. Remove the fried flowers from the oil and place them on paper towels to absorb the excess oil. Lightly sprinkle with salt or drizzle with honey or dust with sugar or stevia for a swee ter treat.
Almond Roca
Allow me to set the scene and explain why this is a special recipe. My father guarded it all his life, but now I can share it with you. Imagine a snowy, blustery day in early December in the Pacific Northwest. You could count on rain and snow this time of year when I grew up in Bellingham, Washington. Snow was a critical part of my recipe.
Each Christmas my father would make his famous Almond Roca for our neighbors and friends and us. Everyone was my dad’s friend, so he made several big batches every year and gave them away as gifts. He was famous for his Almond Roca and heart.
It was a family affair—me, my mom, and my dad. I would chop the nuts, dad would cook up the bubbling toffee and stir the pot, and my mother would continually warn us not to burn ourselves. My dad always cooled his candy on the back of the car in the carport, which was covered with snow. It cooled faster that way and we got to eat it sooner. If you don’t have snow around when you make yours, the refrigerator will do nicely. I’m not even going to mention the nutritional benefits because it was Christmas, and we were celebrating. You will have to be your own monitor.
Almond Roca Secret Recipe
You will need a heavy pan, a wooden spoon, and a candy thermometer for this recipe, plus the
Ingredients
• 2 cups chopped toasted almond s, divided
• 1 cup packed light b rown sugar
• 2 sticks salted butter—no substitutes or it won’t work
• 2 cups milk chocolate or semi-sweet chocolate chips (buy the good stuff; it makes a big d ifference)
Directions
1. Toast the almonds in a pan or oven to get them slightly golden brown. (Be careful not to b urn them.)
2. Cool and then and chop the almonds into semi-co arse bits.
3. Coat a high-edged, nine-by-twelve-inch cookie sheet wi th butter.
4. Sprinkle 1 cup of toasted almonds on bottom o f the pan.
5. In a heavy saucepan, melt butter on medium heat, frequently stirring as not to burn. Add brown sugar when butter has melted. Stir until gently boiling. Reduce heat to medium or medium-low. Set your timer to boil for 10 minutes precisely while stirring without ceasing. This is a crucial stage. Your toffee can burn in an instant if you don’t keep stirring or if your candy thermometer isn’t i n the pot.
6. Pull your pot off the heat when it has reached the hard-crack stage (290–300°F), or when the oil starts to separate from the sugar. You’ll know. If you let your mixture reach 320°F, you will have soft candy and not the crisp kind that we want. (Don’t look away for a second. This is critical cand y-making!)
7. Remove your mixture from the heat; boldly stir it one more time to mix up the butter and sugar. Pour the hot mixture over the almonds on the cookie sheet. Use hot pads to make sure you have a firm grip and don’t spill this mixture. It will burn you.
8. Wait a few minutes for the mixture to set up. When the top part is almost hard to the touch, you can score the setting candy with a long knife so you can break it into even squares. (Skip this step if you don’t care about un iformity.)
9. Chill the cooling mixture out in the cold if that’s your part of the country or use the refrigerator. When the mixture has completely cooled (30 to 60 minutes), bring it out and set it on the counter. Wipe off the top of the Almond Roca if a buttery film has coated the top. This will help the chocolate topping adhe re better.
10. In a double boiler, melt your chocolate chips carefully, and when it is spreadable, pour it onto the toffee in the pan, smooth with a spatula, and quickly sprinkle the rest of the almon ds on top.
11. Sprinkle with the remaining toasted almonds and gently press them into the chocolate.
12. Now, for the hard part. You must wait until this mixture has cooled again before breaking the Almond Roca apart into chunks with a sharp knife. Store in a covered container. My dad liked to use tins with foil sheets between t he layers.
Please enjoy this recipe and think of my dad, the Irish leprechaun, when you smack your lips and smile.
Apple Pie Bars
Ingredients
For the crust (you can also use a premade crust for recipe)
• Coo king spray
• 1 cup (2 sticks) butter , softened
• ½ cup granul ated sugar
• ¼ cup packed light b rown sugar
• 2 ½ cups all-pur pose flour
• ½ teaspoon k osher salt
For filling
• 6 apples, peeled, cored, and sliced
• Juice of ½ lemon
• ½ cup packed b rown sugar
• 1 teaspoon groun d cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon pure vanil la extract
• ½ teaspoon k osher salt
For topping
• 1 ½ cups all-pur pose flour
• 1 cup chop ped pecans
• 1 cup packed b rown sugar
• ½ teaspoon k osher salt
• ¾ cup (1 ½ sticks) butt er, melted
• Caramel, for serving (premade i n the jar)
Directions
1. Preheat the oven to 350°F and line a nine-by-thirteen-inch pan with parchment. Then grease with cooking spray. In a large bowl using a hand mixer, beat butter and sugars together until light and fluffy. Add flour and salt and mix until just combined.
2. Press into the prepared pan about half an inch up the sides. Bake until lightly golden, or 2 minutes.
3. In a large bowl, toss apples, lemon juice, brown sugar, cinnamon, vanilla, and salt together. Spread apple mixture over t he crust.
4. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, pecans, brown sugar, and salt. Stir in melted butter until coarse cl umps form.
5. Sprinkle crumb topping over apples and bake until the top is golden and apples are soft, abou t 1 hour.
6. Let cool at least 15 minutes, then slice into squares and drizzle with caramel befor e serving.
Avocado Guacamole with a Sriracha Kick
Ingredients
• 4 rip e avocados
• 3 medium toma toes, ripe
• 1 clove finely min ced garlic
• 1 cup chopped s weet onion
• 2 teaspoons fresh l emon juice
• 1 teaspoon white wine vinegar (or regular white vinegar if y ou prefer)
• 1 tablespoon srir acha sauce
• ½ teaspoon kosher salt (add salt to taste, but remember to use sparingly)
• ¼ teaspoon fresh gro und pepper
Directions
1. Remove skin and pits from avocados. Dice avocadoes into sma ll pieces.
2. Finely mince one medium-size clove of fre sh garlic.
3. Dice the tomatoes into sma ll pieces.
4. Dice the onion into sma ll pieces.
5. Combine onion, avocados, and tomatoes with salt, pepper, garlic, vinegar, sriracha, and lemon juice. Mix well. Taste. You can also add a little more lemon juice if you prefer a tar ter taste.
6. Serve with anything you want: veggies, home-baked tortilla chips, home-baked whole wheat pita triangles, or top a chicken taco s alad. Yum.
Baobab Banana Bread
Ingredients
• 3 medium overripe bananas (mashed into lar ge chunks)
• 1 cup dairy or nondairy milk (almond or oa t is fine)
• 1/3 cup vegetable, sunflower, or light olive oil
• 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar (can use lemon juic e instead)
• 1 teaspoon vanil la extract
• 1½ cups Bao bab Powder
• ½ cup light b rown sugar
• 1 teaspoon bak ing powder
• ½ teaspoon b aking soda
• ½ tea spoon salt
• 1 teaspoo n cinnamon
• Dash of nutmeg
Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. Grease nine-by-five-inch nonstick loaf pan with vegetable oil or cook ing spray.
3. Using a large bowl, mash the bananas into chunks; add vanilla, oil, milk, and apple cide r vinegar.
4. Mix until well combined.
5. In a medium bowl, combine flour, baobab powder, sugar, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt, and baki ng powder.
6. Combine wet ingredients with dry ingredients and fold until just combined. Do not over mix.
7. Pour into your greased baking pan and bake for 45 to 55 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean from center of bread.
8. Let loaf cool before removing from pan (10 to 20 minutes).
A Little Bit Cherries
Trees produce over one hundred types of cherries. Generally, cherries are classified based on their sweetness or or sour cherries.
The most popular sweet cherry types are dark red Bing cherries, deep black Chelan cherries, and sweet dark cherries known as Lapins. In the sour category there are Montmorency cherries and Morello cherries. Apart from having red or dark red skins, other types of sweet cherries have yellow skins with a light red blushing and yellow flesh. I have chosen a sour cherry for you.
Cheery Cherry Cobbler
Initially, preheat your oven to 350°F.
Ingredients
Wet mixture
• 5 cups sour cherries (like Montmorency cherries)
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch
• ¾ cup sugar, plus 2 tablespoon s, divided
Dry
• 1 ½ cups flour
• ½ teaspoon fin e sea salt
• 1 ½ teaspoons b aking soda
• 4 tablespoons unsal ted butter
• ½ cup milk
Note: For a shortcut, you can use Bisquick instead of making the biscuits scratch.
Topping alternative with Bisquick
• 1 cup Bi squick mix
• ¼ cup milk
• ¼ cup sugar
• 2 tablespoons but ter melted
Mix together and dollop onto the wet mixture in place of the biscuits. Top with ice cream, whipped cream, or frozen yoghurt serving.
Directions
1. Combine the cherries, ¾ cup of sugar, and cornstarch in a bowl. Stir softly t o combine.
2. Let the fruit macerate for 30 minutes while preparing the biscuit dough. (If you are using the Bisquick mix, follow the cobbler directions on the back of the box instead of below.)
3. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, baking soda, and remain ing sugar.
4. Slice the butter thinly, toss it in the dry mixture, and cut in with a metal pastr y blender.
5. Drizzle the milk slowly to moisten the dough and gently stir to combine. Stir enough to combine but no more. (You want fluffy n ot tuffy.)
6. Place on a lightly floured board and knead five to six times to merge in gredients.
7. With a pastry roller, roll out dough to be a half-i nch thick.
8. Cut into biscuit rounds (use a floured glass or a biscui t cutter).
9. Pour the cherry mixture into a casserole or baking dish and top with the biscu it rounds.
10. Bake until the biscuits are golden and the cherry juices have bubbled and are thickened, about 4 5 minutes.
11. Allow to cool for 15 to 30 minutes befor e serving.
12. Top with whipped cream and or ice cream. French vanilla i s awesome.
Chestnuts, Oven Roasted
Roasting is one of the best ways to enjoy chestnuts. Bitter when raw, roasted chestnuts have a delicate and slightly sweet flavor with a soft texture like sweet potato. They’re especially popular around the Christmas holidays and easy to make at home. (Make sure you are not using horse chestnuts, which are poisonous.) Recipe takes about 20 minutes to prep finish.
Ingredients
• ½ pound chestnuts, unpeeled and unroasted
Directions
1. Heat the oven to 425°F.
2. Using a sharp paring knife, make an X-shaped cut on the round side of each chestnut. (This critical step keeps them from exploding from internal pressure when heated and makes peeling easier after roasting.)
3. Arrange chestnuts on a baking rack or a bak ing sheet.
4. Transfer the chestnuts to the oven and roast them until the skins have pulled back from the cuts and the nutmeats have softened.
5. The actual time required will depend on the chestnuts but will be at least 15 to 2 minutes.
6. Remove the nuts from the oven and pile them into a mound in an old towel.
7. Wrap them up, squeeze hard—the chestnuts should crackle—and let them sit for a fe w minutes.
8. Pull and snap off the dark shells to reveal the yellowish-white chestnuts. While peeling, make sure to also remove the papery skin between the shell and the chestnut.
Coconut-Lime Almond Bark
Ingredients
• 1 package (10–12 ounces) white chocolate ba king chips
• 4 teaspoons c oconut oil
• 2 to 4 drops green foo d coloring
• ½ cup sweetened shredded coconut, light ly toasted
• ½ cup chopped almond s, toasted
• 1–2 tablespoons grated lime zest
• 2 drops natural lime oil f or cooking
• You can add ½ cup cranberries and other dried fruit s you like
Directions
1. Line a nine-inch-square baking pan with foil; set aside.
2. In a double boiler, melt the chips and coconut oil and stir unt il smooth.
3. Stir in food coloring, shredded coconut, lime oil, almonds, and lime zest.
4. Spread into the pre pared pan.
5. Chill until firm, 10 to 1 5 minutes.
6. Break into sma ll pieces.
7. Store in an airtight container at room te mperature.
Coffee-Infused Brownies
Ingredients
• You will need a packaged brownie mix that calls for water
• Use ingredients described on package
• Measure out the amount of water; only use espresso coffee instea d of water
• ½ cup m ocha chips
• ¼ cup of waln uts pieces
Directions
1. Mix all ingredients together following package ins tructions.
2. Add the mocha chips and walnuts to the prepared batter and stir t o combine.
3. Pour into eight- or nine-inch b aking pan.
4. Bake according to package ins tructions.
5. Cool and serve.
Elderberry Syrup
Traditionally, elderberry is most often taken as a supplement to treat cold and flu symptoms. (Caution: too much can cause issues.)
Ingredients
• ¾ cup dried el derberries
• 3 cups water
• 1 teaspoon dried cinnamon or 1 cinn amon stick
• 1 teaspoon dried cloves or 4 wh ole cloves
• 1 tablespoon fresh ginger or 1 teaspoon dr ied ginger
• 1 cup raw honey
Directions
1. In a large pot, bring the elderberries, water, cinnamon, cloves, and ginger to a boil.
2. Reduce the heat, cover, and simmer until the liquid has reduced by half, about 40 to 4 5 minutes.
3. Allow the liquid to cool, and then drain the liquid using a fine-mesh strainer or ch eesecloth.
4. Press all liquid out of the berries using the back of a wooden spoon. Disc ard skins.
5. Add the raw honey to the liquid and mix well.
6. Store in an airtight glass container in the refrigerator for up to t wo months.
Hemlock Tree Sap Wound Salve
For External Use Only
Equipment
• Double boiler or Pyrex 1- or 2-c up measure
• Saucepan
• Straine r or sieve
• Metal or glass containers
• Wooden spoon fo r stirring
Ingredients
• Dried sap or resin (about the size of a penny or nickel)
• 2 oz. jojoba, apricot kernel, carrot seed, avocado, or olive oil
• 1–2 oz. beeswax chips, flakes, or pellets
Directions
1. Collect some dried sap (resin) from a wounded eastern hem lock tree.
2. Using a double boiler, heat the sap until it becomes liquid. (Never heat the pine sap directly over a flame because it will burst int o flames.)
3. Strain the heated pine sap through a sieve to remove dirt, bark, or particles.
4. Once again, in the double boiler, add in 1 to 2 oz. chosen oil, depending on the size of your piece of resin. Combine in the doub le boiler.
5. Add 1 oz. beeswax chips, flakes, or pellets to add firmness.
6. You may need to add more oil or more beeswax to get the oure you want.
7. I like to test the mixture at this point. I spoon a little into a small jar or tin and wait for it to harden. Once it has solidified, I check it for texture. If it is too soft, I add more beeswax; too hard, I add more oil.
Note: this recipe can be used for any pine or conifer resin you find in nature.
Lemon Cleaners
Lemons have an incredible range of household uses. Here are a few.
Clean copper-bottom pots and pans: You can clean your copper-bottomed pots and pans with lemon juice. Copper fixtures, like lights and colanders, can also benefit from a lemon juice cleaning. Cut a lemon in half. Dip it in some salt and clean spots from your copper. This same mixture of lemon juice and salt can also be used to clean coffee makers, microwaves, and food storage
Add the mixture to vinegar: Although vinegar can be a great cleaning ingredient, it can have a disagreeable scent. Adding lemon juice to vinegar when cleaning will neutralize the smell.
Countertops: Countertop stains can be removed by squeezing lemon juice and allowing it to sit on the stain for a few minutes. Scrub the area with a little baking soda on a sponge and watch the stains disappear. Tip: Don’t leave the lemon juice sitting for too long on your countertop. It can do damage if left unchecked.
Drains: Lemon rinds can be ground in your garbage disposal to freshen the drain. Hot water with a little lemon juice poured into the drain will it.
Bleaching: Lemon juice is a natural bleaching agent. Spray a little lemon juice onto white linens and white clothing and allow them to dry in the sun. Stains will be naturally away.
Degreasing: The acid in lemon juice cuts right through grease and is excellent for removing grease from the stove and
Glass Cleaning: With or without vinegar, lemon is an effective glass cleaner. If you decide to add vinegar to the solution, the pleasant smell of lemon overrides the smell.
Linden Tea
known as Tilleul in France
• Find a linden tree in your yard, neighborhood , or park.
• Strip leaves off a branch along with buds an d flowers.
• Trim back stripp ed branch.
• Make sure the leaves dry either in the shade or on pap er towels.
• Steam the leaves (like you would vegetables) on your stove for about a minute. (For a different flavor, try roasting them in a skillet for 2 minutes instead of steaming.)
• Spread the leaves, buds, and flowers on a baking sheet and dry them in the oven at 250°F for 20 minutes. Check after 20 minutes. If they are not crispy, add another 1 minutes.
• Allow the leaves to cool, maybe overnight, and then store them in an airtight container. Make sure they are completely dried and cooled befor e storing.
Make Your Tea:
1. Place a small handful of the dried leaves in each cup. Add boiling water. Steep to the color you wish, strain, and drink. If making in a teapot, experiment with how much of the dried leaves you need to reach the color y ou prefer.
2. This tea goes well with baklava, honey lace cookies, or a lovely cinnamon s pice cake.
Mouthwatering Olive Crostini
Ingredients
• 1 can (4 ¼ oz) chopped ripe olives (or brined and aged)
• 1 can (4 ¼ oz) chopped black olives (or olive of yo ur choice)
• 1/8 teaspoon ch ili flakes
• ½ cup grated parme san cheese
• ¼ cup butter , softened
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 garlic clov es, minced
• ¾ cup shredded part-skim mozzare lla cheese
• ¼ cup minced fre sh parsley
• 1 French baguette, sliced in quarter-i nch slices
Directions
1. Mix all of the ingredients (except the baguette) together.
2. Preheat oven to 400°F.
3. Place the sliced bread onto a coo kie sheet.
4. Brush a light coat of olive oil onto the bread.
5. Cook for 8 to 10 minutes until bead is golden an d toasted.
6. Allow to cool for 5 minutes and then spread the mixture onto each br ead slice.
7. Reduce oven heat to 350°F.
8. Return cookie sheet and prepared bread slices to the oven and cook for an additional 8 to 1 minutes.
9. Remove from oven, allow to cool for five minutes, transfer to a serving plate, and se rve warm.
Mulberry Pie
Ingredients
• 1 prepared pie crust (2 crusts), frozen o r packaged
• 3 ½ –4 cups mulberries (fresh or froze n, thawed)
• 1 orang e (zested)
• 1 tablespoon or ange juice
• 1 tablespoon apple sauce, u nsweetened
• 1 cup sugar, raw sugar, d ate sugar
• ⅓ cup flour or al mond flour
• ¼ tea spoon salt
• 1 tablespoon butter or butter substitute
Directions
1. Preheat oven to 375°F.
2. Line the bottom of a nine-inch pie plate with one of the two p ie crusts.
3. If using frozen fruit, be sure to let the mixture stand and drain for 45 minutes befo re mixing.
4. Mix mulberries with orange zest and ora nge juice.
5. In another bowl, combine sugar, flour, and salt.
6. Stir dry ingredients into the mulberr y mixture.
7. Pour the mulberry mixture into the prepared pie crust.
8. Dot with butter, and top with the remaining pie crust. A lattice fashion allows the berries to seep through the crust.
9. Cover the edges of your pie with foil or a pie edge protector. Bake for an hour, or until you can see that the pie is bubbling and begins to ooze out of the crust.
10. Cool before slicing. Enjoy with some vanilla ice cream, frozen yogurt, or whip ped cream.
Orange Incense for Your Home
Ingredients
• Dried orange peels (add in lemon or lime if you wish; see rec ipe below)
• Whole cinna mon sticks
• Wh ole cloves
• Whi te vinegar
• Sweet orange essential oil (optional)
• Small or mediu m saucepan
Directions
1. In a small saucepan, add a handful of dried citrus peels, a cinnamon stick, and a f ew cloves.
2. Cover with a ½-inch to 1 inch of water.
3. Add 2 to 3 tablespoons o f vinegar.
4. Bring to a low simmer and leave over a low flame for an hour or two. Check every 20 to 30 minutes in case the water evaporates. The vinegar serves as an air freshener, while the cinnamon, cloves, and oils will fill your space with a warm fragrance. Add a few drops of sweet orange essential oil about halfway through to intensify the scent.
How to Dry Peels
1. Peel severa l oranges.
2. Place the peels on a parchment-paper-lined coo kie sheet.
3. Turn oven on the lowes t setting.
4. Place cookie sheet with peels in oven and set for 30 minutes. Check to make sure they are crisp. If not, leave for another 15 minutes. Allow to cool and store in an airtight jar w ith a lid.
5. With dried orange peels, you can make the incense in the recipe above, and you can also put the dried peels in a blender and blend until you have a finely chopped peel. Use this as seasoning for cooking in meats, desserts, or as a topping.
6. You can also continue to grind the peels into a fine powder suitable and refreshing for using on your face.
Palm Heart and Artichoke-Fried Cakes
Ingredients
For cakes
• 14 oz. canned hearts of palm drained, dried, a nd chopped
• 14 oz. canned artichoke hearts drained, dried, a nd chopped
• 2 garlic clo ves minced
• 2 teaspoons Italian parsl ey, minced
• 2 tablespoons dried onions (don’t use fresh onions, o nly dried)
• 1 teaspoon Dij on mustard
• 1 egg, ligh tly beaten
• ¼ cup mayonnaise
• ¾ cup panko b readcrumbs
• light extra virgin olive oil for frying
Panko crust
• 1 cup panko breadcrumbs (white or wheat)
• 1 teaspoon ground bl ack pepper
• 1 teaspoon fin e sea salt
Garnish for serving (optional)
• Ga rlic aioli
• Le mon wedges
• Fresh be an sprouts
• Hummus
Directions
1. In a large mixing bowl, combine all ingredients for hearts of palm cakes, mi xing well.
2. In a shallow dish or pie plate, mix panko crust ingredients: panko breadcrumbs, sea salt, and ground bla ck pepper.
3. Divide cake mix into eight equal mounds. Form each mound int o a patty.
4. Place each patty in the panko crust mix, turn, and pat on both sides to cover. Transfer each coated patty to a large plate or bak ing sheet.
5. Freeze the cakes for 20 to 30 minutes to se t them up.
6. Heat olive oil in a frying pan over medium- high heat.
7. Working in two batches, fry cakes in olive oil for 3 to 4 minutes on each side or until lightl y browned.
8. Double the layers of paper towels on a serving plate. Add cooked patties to plate to drain.
9. Serve while still hot with garlic aioli, lemon wedges, a nd hummus.
Pine Needle Tea
Gathering of Needles
Do not pick needles off any pine tree. Yew, Norfolk Island pine, and Ponderous pine are toxic to humans. Make sure you know the tree you are extracting needles from, and make sure you have permission. Suggested pine species are the eastern white pine and Douglas fir It is also best to buy pine needles already harvested for you unless you really know trees.
Directions
1. Start with cl ean hands.
2. Wash your needles in clear water . Pat dry.
3. Cut off the ends of your needles and roll them around between your palms to releas e the oil.
4. Place the needles in a cup.
5. Add 1 cup of boil ing water.
6. Steep for 1 5 minutes.
7. Remove needles and enjoy.
8. Add lemon or honey to taste.
Enjoy your tea and lap up all those healthy vitamins A and C nutrients.
Caution: Pregnant women or women intending on becoming pregnant should not drink this tea.
Rowan Berry and Apply Jelly
Rowan tree fruit typically needs something sweeter to balance their bitter taste. Apples do the trick.
Gather:
• Rowan fruit: Be on alert because the birds may get them before you do. Pick your berries as soon as they are ripe and fre eze ahead.
• Wash under running c old water.
• De-stalk the fruit.
• Never eat the fruit raw . This could result in digestive and liver problems.
• Prepare and sterilize jelly jars for storing the jelly. Set t hem aside.
• 3 pounds of row an berries
• 3 firm apples (cored and chopped Bramley or Granny Smi th apples)
• Juice of one lemon
• 6 wh ole cloves
• 5–6 Junip er berries
• 6 pints cold water
• 3 pound s of sugar
Directions:
1. Place the rowan berries, chopped apples, lemon juice, cloves, and Juniper berries in large soup kettle or stockpot.
2. Cover the fruit with c old water.
3. Boil on high heat, then reduce heat to low and simmer for about half an hour until the berries have almost lost their color and the sugar is dissolved. Turn off the heat, cover, and cool fo r an hour.
4. Pour the jelly and apple mix into a muslin bag or a jelly bag and hang the bag overnight to drip into a pan below, or you can use a stool to help drain the mixture. Tie twine around the seat of the stool, attach the muslin bag (or jelly bag) full of berries and apples underneath the stool. Place a drip bowl underneath and leave alone to drip for 12 hours. Or you can use a large sieve and allow the juice to drip through the fruit pulp into b owl below.
5. Next morning, take 4 pints of the rowan apple juice, pour it into a large pot, and add 3 pounds of white su gar to it.
6. Boil on high heat until you reach a simmer. Reduce heat and allow to simmer. You will need to watch your jelly now.
7. As the liquid simmers, a white film may appear. Skim that off. Allow the jelly to simmer for approximately 45 minutes and begin checking for doneness.
8. Test your jelly to see if it is ready to set by taking a spoon full of the liquid out of the pot, allowing it to cool on a plate, and, if it wrinkles, the jelly is ready to go into jars.
9. Carefully ladle the liquid into your jars. Allow to fully cool (to cold) before putting the lids on. Tighten and label.
10. Finished jelly can be stored in a cool, dry place for months. Once opened, the jar needs to be stored in the refr igerator.
11. The flavor of the jelly improves after aging s ix months.
You now have bragging rights for fresh jelly.