Eat Ground Elder!

[ChickenChaser]

Hello This is my first post so I'm dipping my toe for the first time. I keep chickens in my back garden, grow my own veg, compost anything that I'm allowed too, have stopped flying unless essential with work and am loving reading and utilising everyone's tips. (love the one about using an old t-shirt cut into squares & then laundered post-use instead of loo roll - can't wait to try it out on the in-laws)

Like a lot of gardeners I speak to, I struggle with Ground Elder marching its way through my beds - and have recently read that it is edible. I can say on good authority that it is (48 hours on, still typing and not tripping) and have made soup, an omlette and am using it like spinach tonight to mix with home made cheese (if anyone's interested in that 'how-to', I'm happy to impart) to stuff into canneloni tubes, like the classic Spinach and Ricotta pasta dishes. It's just one more step to reducing the amount of hair I pull out and getting something else for free

Can't wait to try out more of your tips,

Miranda

[snapdragon]

wow
errm does anyone have a link to a picture of the suspect/victim/foodstuff ?
I have no idea what this looks like but have a 'something' invading my garden and don't know if it's ground elder or not

[ChickenChaser]

Hi Snapdragon,

I have looked at a few links, but the best source of different images I've found is by looking at Ground Elder on Google images, as it takes on slightly different guises.

Here is a link to some recipes and more info on the stuff though. And we've just had the recipe I mentioned for canelloni and it was great.

http://www.downsizer.net/Projects/Findi ... some_Weed/

Right, off to put the chooks away....

Miranda

[Thurston Garden]

It is edible, that's why it's here. If I remember correctly it was introduced by Monks in Monastery gardens as a food. Now it's everywhere! I hate the stuff and often see it after weeding every time I close my eyes

[Cheezy]

It is edible, that's why it's here. If I remember correctly it was introduced by Monks in Monastery gardens as a food. Now it's everywhere! I hate the stuff and often see it after weeding every time I close my eyes

Hah, that's me and marestail!

Really I do, because I'm always on th elook out for the bloody stuff I can sometimes see marestail when I close my eyes!

I know I'm loosing it

[ChickenChaser]

OOh, I never knew you could eat marestail - right, on with the shoes....

[ina]

Not mare's tail - ground elder is edible! Mare's tail (or at least some kinds of it) can be toxic!

[ChickenChaser]

Thank god we haven't been cursed with it on our patch!!!!

Mind you, might have made for an interesting weekend

Going to look for a good book on foraging - any recommendations?

And when I was a child I used to regularly pick wild mushrooms and be able to identify good from bad, but that instinct seems to have left me from my days in the wilderness of plastic packaging....

Any fab books/websites out there that anyone can point a finger to?

The rain has really brought up the ground elder, so I'm going to try it as eggs florentine this morning. Yum Yum.

CC

[MrsD'ville]

DH was cursing ground elder earlier so this might solve a number of problems at one fell swoop! More ground elder recipes please, and how do you make cheese at home without laboratory/dairy??!

[ChickenChaser]

Hi Mrs D'ville,

Basically, treat ground elder as you would spinach and make a direct swap in recipes. Just remember to use the younger shoots, as the considerabley older leaves can produce a laxative effect.

As for cheese, we make a ricotta type cheese, or Paneer type like what is popular in Indian cuisine.

I boil up approximately 2 pints of milk and when it starts to rise in the pan, set it to simmer, then add an acidic medium, such as lemon juice or white wine/cider vinegar to curdle - I'd say about a 2/3rds teacup full maximum for this amount of milk. Simmer for about 5 minutes, then strain through some loose weave cloth such as muslin, or an old t-shirt!

Mix some salt through the remaining mass to taste and chill - this is great in canneloni type recipes or cut into cubes and fried - it is lovely in curry.

I made a Tuscan bean soup yesterday with Ground Elder - organic tinned tomatoes, onions, haricot beans, garlic, olive oil, seasoning, sage, rosemary, a couple of little courgettes and a handful of GE, then broke up some left over bread and put it in for the last few minutes of cooking - like a cross between Pappa al Pomodoro and Ribbolita.

Hope that helps,

Miranda

[MrsD'ville]

That sounds wonderful! I'll give both a go when I have a wee bit more time, ah, time, I remember that!