Maple-Sriracha Grilled Trout or Salmon

If you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen. – Harry S. Truman

Get your grill on this weekend.

No, I haven’t fell off the face of the earth, but it has been a while since my last post. I have a bunch of recipes stocked up to post, too. I just don’t seem to have it in me during this heat to get around to writing.

It’s glorious in Nova Scotia this weekend. Supposed to be approaching 30°C in many parts under wide open blue skies. Don’t get me wrong, I love the warm weather, but when it’s about 28° in the house at bed time it doesn’t make for good sleeping. 

BBQ grill pan, made from 5 layers of foil. Cheap!

So I’ve been tired and lazy. Or at least that’s my excuse. We’re in the process of installing ceiling fans. That might help...some.

One thing you can do to keep the inside temperature low(er) is to prepare as much food as you can outside, on the grill. It saves you turning on that blasted oven and heating the house up even more. 

You can cook a myriad of things on the grill besides steaks, sausage and hamburgers. But so many alternatives are either fragile or small. It sucks to have things fall apart or slip down onto the coals or flame.

That’s where tin foil comes in. No, you do not need to invest in a barbecue grill pan. Simply make a temporary baking sheet out of 4 layers of foil, roll up a rim, and you’re ready to go.

I love salmon and trout, and they’re two that benefit from using a grill pan. They fall apart the moment they start to cook. Nearly impossible to get off in one piece. 

So this is a recipe you really should try. Make no mistake. This is good stuff. Very good stuff. And simple and fast too, if you think 12 minutes is fast.

This recipe is also a bit unusual – at least the salad is. It’s raw swiss chard. Before you go “yuck,” consider it also has maple syrup dressing. Maple syrup makes everything good.

The weather is amazing, you should be outside with a cold beer or icy drink, and it’s too hot to cook inside. The perfect “storm” for a fantastic outdoor recipe!

Maple-Sriracha Grilled Trout

Marinade: 15 min  |  Grill: 12 min  |  Serves 4-6

2 large trout fillets, or salmon

2 tbsp maple syrup

1 tbsp soy

1 tbsp rice vinegar

1 tsp sriracha sauce

2 tsp veg oil

foil pan

Mix together all the ingredients except the fish in a small bowl. This is your glazing sauce.

Place the fillets, skin side down, on a foil pan big enough to accommodate them without overlapping. Brush with the glazing sauce and sprinkle with cracked black pepper. Let sit for 15 minutes on the counter. 

If you don’t have a foil pan, you can make one by folding 4 or 5 layers of aluminum foil onto itself and then folding up the edges to catch drips. (Easy and cheap.)

Heat the grill to 400°F. Place the foil pan directly on the grate, close the lid and cook for about 12 min. Baste twice while the fish cooks.

Test the fish for doneness with a fork. If the fish flakes easily and is opaque it is done. Don’t over-cook.

Swiss Chard salad

1 bunch chard, chopped

1 medium onion, sliced

1/2 medium cucumber, sliced

3 tbsp pine nuts

dressing

3 tbsp oil

1 tbsp rice vinegar

1 tbsp maple syrup

1 tsp curry powder

generous pinch of salt & pepper

Combine the dressing ingredients in a small jar and shake well. Combine the vegetables and pine nuts in a bowl, pour over the dressing and toss well.

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Salmon with Cucumber, Lemon and Dill

Moving fast is not the same as going somewhere. – Robert Anthony 

Simple, fast and delicious.

Yesterday was a bit of a “day.” As much as the country life in this village is far less stressful, whenever you need to attend a client meeting it sure puts a dent in your hands-on work time.

Unless you teleconference, at least 1 hour of the day is spent on travel alone.

Simple, fresh, tasty.

Yesterday I had a working meeting with a great local client of mine that ran to over twice what I anticipated. I’m not complaining. We accomplished a lot and it will save on the other end of the work.

But by the time I finished running some “town” errands 5 hours had evaporated. 

When I arrived home I then had to do the work that was waiting for me all day... It was pretty difficult to stay inside because yesterday felt like a very late spring day – about 16°C. Gorgeous.

I needed a quick and uncomplicated dinner. But at the same time I wanted to put something nutritious and appealing on the table.

I had a few weapons in my arsenal to accomplish it. I had bought salmon, lemon, a cucumber and some dill. The rest is stuff many already have hanging around.

On a warm day there’s precious little that tastes better than salmon with a cucumber salad. It really hits the spot. It’s also unbelievably light on the sweat equity necessary to make it.

Tips and tricks?

Make the lemon butter first. You can use it warm, but if it has started to re-set it then melts down over the salmon. It will separate if you let it sit, which is perfectly normal. Just whisk it briefly and it will come together and be beautifully creamy.

You can also make the salad ahead. The acids in the dressing acts on the onion if you do. It mellows the taste. No need for a fancy sweet onion. Just a regular yellow one works just fine.

Use an English cucumber. They are firmer through the centre than field cucumbers. That means less moisture will come out into your dressing.

If you can’t find decent salmon at a reasonable price try steelhead trout. It looks and tastes much like Atlantic salmon and is cheaper as well.

Outside? You could do this recipe on an outdoor grill surfaced with foil just as easily. Keep this one in mind as the weather turns warmer, like this weekend... fingers crossed.

This whole dinner for four took about 20 minutes. Not too bad when the outdoors is beckoning!

Salmon with Cucumber, Lemon and Dill

Prep 10 min  |  Bake 6 min  |  Serves 4

1 tbsp vegetable oil

1 whole salmon filet, or salmon portions for 4

1 English cucumber, thinly sliced

1 medium onion, thinly sliced

juice of 1 lemon

1/4 cup sour cream

1/4 cup mayonnaise

1/4 cup + 2 tbsp fresh dill, chopped

1/4 cup butter

salt and pepper to taste

smoked paprika, to taste

Melt the butter in a small saucepan. Stir in the juice of 1/2 a lemon and 2 tablespoons dill. Let cool if you wish, while you make the rest of the dinner. Remember you can whisk the butter back together in a matter of seconds if it separates.

To make the salad, slice an English cucumber using a mandolin (or finely slice) and place in a non-metal bowl. Slice the onion and add to the cucumber. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Mix together the sour cream, mayonnaise, juice of the last 1/2 lemon and 1/4 cup dill. Pour over the cucumber and onion and let sit while you cook the salmon.

Turn the broiler of the oven on high. Heat the oil in an oven-proof pan. Sear the salmon, skin side down, until it appears opaque half way up the fish, about 2-3 minutes. Season the top with salt and pepper.

Place the pan under the broiler, about 4” away, and finish cooking the fish. This will take another 2-3 minutes. Remove from the oven and sprinkle the top with smoked paprika.

Serve the salmon with the cucumber salad. Drizzle the top of the fish with the lemon dill butter.

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How to Wine Poach Salmon

Necessity is not an established fact, but an interpretation. – Friedrich Nietzsche 

A necessity.

Some things everyone really needs to know how to do: ride a bicycle, swim, tie your shoes...

In a culinary sense, poaching salmon is almost as important. At least to me it is (thanks, Nietzsche).

It’s such a simple thing, but so many people seem to be able to bollocks it up like nobody’s business. I used to be one of those people, but no more.

For liquid you could add just water, or water with a little
vinegar or lemon. But I find 100% wine is best.

Salmon is quite a delicate – and expensive – fish. So you may as well try to cook it to perfection whenever you are lucky enough to have it. For simple preparation this can’t be beat. And it’s impressive too. Any perfectly cooked piece of fish is, though.

It’s a shame that salmon is so expensive. It’s among the most beneficial fish we can eat. It's mostly because of the omega-3 fatty acids it contains.

Two servings of salmon per week can potentially reduce your risk for cardiovascular disease and heart attack. 

A Swedish study (decades long) also found a 30% reduction in prostate cancer among men who consumed salmon regularly. Omega-3 fatty acids also play a role in preventing depression.

Salmon is one of the best sources of omega-3 fatty acids (EPA and DHA), which are important for heart health. Most salmon in grocery stores is farmed salmon. Notwithstanding the controversy over salmon farming and wild populations, the health benefits of eating either are the same.

So if you’re looking for wild salmon watch what you buy. Wild salmon is alsways labelled as “wild.”

This is one of those recipes that take no time and no fancy techniques or ingredients. Try this one the next time you’re having someone over for a romantic dinner for two. Just halve the amount of fish, not the other ingredients.

There were two of us so that’s what I did. For side dishes I prepared broccoli and quinoa. Both take the same amount of time to cook as the fish.

Wine Poached Salmon

Prep: 5 min  |  Cook: 10 min  |  Yield 4 portions

4 salmon portions, about 1” thick each

1 medium onion

rind of 1/2 lemon

1 tsp whole black peppercorns

1/2 tsp tarragon

1/2 to 3/4 cup white wine (depending on surface area of your pan)

1/4 cup butter

1/2 tsp salt

lemon wedges

Place the onions in the bottom of a sauté or frying pan with a lid. Trim the rind from 1/2 a lemon and julienne. Add the lemon, peppercorns and tarragon to the onions.

Then pour in the wine and add the butter. Lay the salmon on top of the onions and sprinkle with salt.

Cover the fish, bring to a boil and reduce the heat to medium low. Let the fish cook for 8-10 minutes for 1” thick pieces. Make sure not quite all the wine evaporates. If your lid doesn’t fit well you may have to add a slight bit more

To serve, remove the salmon and turn the heat up under the pan. Cook for a minute or two until almost all the wine has evaporated. 

Strain out the solids and pour the flavoured butter over the plated fish. Serve with a lemon wedge.

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Recipe: Salmon Burgers with Basil and Garam Masala Mayo

You ain't supposed to get salmon when they're swimming upstream to spawn. But if you're hungry, you do. – Loretta Lynn

Basil leaves on top, flavoured mayo and salmon.

I was lucky to get a few minutes to go to the grocery store today. It was my first day back after a week of vacation and, oddly, work was still there. It certainly felt like I was swimming upstream. I suppose I should be thankful – and I am.

Regardless, I usually get a few mental minutes before noon to dream up what to have for dinner. Today I did not. So I went to the grocery with nothing more than a hope to find something cheap, or on sale, or both. That, and an odd craving for fish.

The mixture will be wet. Shaping is easier with wet hands.

As I walked up to the fish display I could see that my wish wasn’t going to be granted easily. The "sale” item was previously frozen haddock – at a whole dollar off regular price per pound. Not much of a deal I would say. And a little unappetizing.

Just as I was about to turn away some small packages caught my eye. They were “salmon trimmings.” Trimmings are what’s leftover from the fish after the in-store fishmonger cuts all those expensive salmon portions for which they charge outrageous prices.

I looked at them and wondered what on earth I could do with “scraps.” The price was right – about $4/lb. Chowder? No… And then I thought of fish cakes, but who wants to boil potatoes before getting down to the real business of making them?

Then it struck me. Salmon “burgers”! You need small pieces of fish anyway, and you can incorporate other things in them for complexity as you wish. I decided to keep it fairly simple. Just green onions (99¢). It was a good choice.

The trick with making patties is to add enough binder to keep them together, but not make them tough. I did the trifecta: egg, bread crumbs and flour. The additions held the fish and green onions together with no crumbling. Success. (I’ve made fresh fish burgers before and they fell apart. One must learn from their mistakes.)

Every good burger needs a good sauce so I opted for a “curry” mayo that had a boost of fresh grated ginger (25¢)  for spicy freshness. To top it all off, basil leaves ($2) with lettuce ($1.27) added another great taste.

The two packages of trimmings I purchased cost me less than $4 and made enough good size burgers to serve 4 people with an additional side dish, or 2 people without.

It’s amazing how creative you can become when you’re trying to squeeze maximum benefit out of your money.

I’ll be making these again. I hope you try them, too. There’s not much you can buy – that’s not on sale – to feed a family for what these "burgers" cost.

Salmon Burgers

Prep: 15 min  |  Cook: 8-10 min  |  Serves 2-4

for 4 burgers

350 g salmon trimmings

1 cup fresh breadcrumbs

1 egg

1 bunch green onions, chopped finely

1/4 cup flour

1/2 tsp salt 

1 tsp cracked black pepper

lettuce

basil leaves

Garam Masala mayonnaise

3/4 cup mayonnaise

1 tbsp Garam masala

1 tbsp grated ginger, including juice

The basil leaves add a lot of interest to these burgers, as does the mayo.

Take the salmon trimmings and, one by one, squeeze them in your hands to break up the flesh. Leave some bigger chunks in the process. (Alternatively, you could chop the salmon.)

Add the breadcrumbs, egg, green onions, flour, salt and pepper to the salmon. Mix well.

Place some vegetable oil in a  frying pan and heat until a few drops of water sizzle in the pan.

Take a 4” ring (like a large muffin cutter or similar) and press 1/4 of the mixture down into it and out to the edges. (Using wet hands will help greatly with this.) Repeat with remaining salmon.

Fry the patties on both sides until golden brown.

While the burgers are frying mix the mayonnaise with the Garam masala and grated ginger.

To assemble, place some lettuce on half of a bun, top with a salmon burger, then some whole basil leaves and the mayonnaise.

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Recipe: Salmon Teriyaki (Tare) with Long Beans

Do not follow the ideas of others, but learn to listen to the voice within yourself. Your body and mind will become clear and you will realize the unity of all things. – Dogen (Buddhist monk and philosopher, 1200-1253)

Just-cooked salmon bathed in sweet homemade teriyaki sauce.

I’m on a bit of a barbecue run here lately. This post is no exception. It’s actually for teriyaki sauce, but I certainly couldn’t just write about making the sauce. I had to use it. Hence the salmon. 

The sauce recipe is for one that is a little on the “thick” side so it stays put on the grill. That's a functional necessity in my book.

I love salmon, and I love teriyaki. Together they are an amazing twosome. There are some tricks to make teriyaki salmon and I will get into them in a moment, in the recipe below.

What exactly is teriyaki?

Well, it’s actually not the sauce… Teriyaki is a Japanese cooking technique where foods are broiled or grilled in a sweet soy marinade. Because it is a marinade it is often quite thin. The marinade itself has now become so recognized as "teriyaki" it has taken the name. The actual name for the sauce is “tare."

The word “teriyaki” comes from the combination of two Japanese words: teri, the shine given by the marinade, and yaki, the cooking technique itself. Traditionally the meat is either dipped in the sauce or brushed with it as it cooks to get the glistening coat associated with the technique.

Many different fish and meats are used in teriyaki. In Japan, mackerel, eel, tuna, salmon and trout are common. In the west you will find chicken, pork and beef on the menu as well. Teriyaki is common in bento boxes (small lunches) where it is served cold.

Teriyaki sauce is a fairly simple combination of soy sauce, rice wine, sugar or honey, ginger, and garlic. It is heated and then either boiled down or thickened. Since I wanted a little extra thickness, I resorted to cornstarch.

On the barbie or under the broiler

This sauce does have a very high sugar content so if using it under a broiler or on the barbecue be warned that it burns quite easily. As such, cook over reduced heat or a little further away from the broiling element in your oven than you normally would.

Think of the possibilities. You could serve a veritable feast of teriyaki for your next backyard gathering. With one sauce you could have fantastic teriyaki chicken, hamburgers and shrimp skewers. Yes, hamburgers. 

As a side note, Japanese McDonald’s offers a pork Shogun Burger that is a patty brushed with teriyaki sauce. Not to be outdone, Burger King has its own Whopper Teriyaki. The McD’s version is served with lettuce only; Burger King uses tomato as well.

I’m starting to want one of those... Sometime this summer I will make it.

Speaking of making, make this sauce. You will be glad you did.

Thick Teriyaki Sauce

Time: 10 min  | Yield: 250 ml (about 1 cup)

1/4 cup naturally brewed soy sauce (look for it on the label)*

3/4 cup Chinese rice wine

1-1/2 tp ground ginger

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1/4 lb grated palm sugar (or light brown sugar)

1 tbsp cornstarch, mixed with 1 tbsp water

Mix together all ingredients except for the cornstarch and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook for 5 minutes. Mix the cornstarch with the water and add to the sauce. Cook, stirring, until the sauce thickens and becomes glossy.

* Naturally brewed soy sauce is what it sounds like: naturally brewed and fermented. It cost very little more (if at all) than other kinds and the taste is so much better than ones manufactured quickly without natural brewing.

Teriyaki Salmon

Cook: 24 min

Salmon portions, 1” thick – one per person

Teriyaki sauce, from above

Cracked black pepper

A little sesame oil

Line a baking sheet or other oven proof pan with heavy foil. This makes clean-up far easier.

Place the salmon in the pan and sprinkle a little sesame oil around each piece. Baste the salmon portions liberally with the sauce and sprinkle with some pepper.

Set the rack about 8” away from the heating element and turn it on high. Broil for 7 minutes. Flip the filets, baste and pepper and broil the second side for a further 7 minutes. The fish will be browned from the sauce but not quite cooked through.

Turn off the broiler, turn the heat on in the oven to 350°F and bake for 10 minutes longer. 

Plate the salmon and baste with more teriyaki just before serving.

Gingered Long (or Snake) Beans

Prep: 5 min  |  Cook: 10 min  |  Serves 4

1 lb Chinese long beans

1” piece fresh ginger, chopped

2 garlic cloves, chopped

1/2 tsp red chilli flakes

1 tbsp sesame oil

Trim the beans into 4” long pieces. Blanch in boiling, salted water for 5 minutes. Drain and set aside.

Heat the oil in a frying pan. Add the ginger, garlic and chilli flakes. Sauté for about 2 minutes.

Add the beans and toss to coat well. Let fry for about 5 minutes, then serve.

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Recipes: Seafood Béchamel with Parmesan Rösti

A new idea is delicate. It can be killed by a sneer or a yawn; it can be stabbed to death by a quip and worried to death by a frown on the right man's brow. – Ovid

A nice little dinner, if I do say so myself.

Seafood is known for being delicate in flavour. Fried potatoes – not so much. This may not sound like a marriage made in heaven, but the the seafood and rösti do go together in a most wonderful way.

What is seafood béchamel?

Seafood béchamel is a delicate concoction of various seafoods that is baked in a creamy sauce. I gilded the lily by adding some parmesan.

Don’t let the term “béchamel” scare you off. If you can add flour to butter in a pot and thicken it with milk you can make a perfect béchamel. Béchamel is one of the 5 “mother” sauces of French cuisine we all should know. (see HERE)

To add a little more veg to the dinner I started off with a mirepoix. That's French cuisine-talk for  a vegetable flavour base usually consisting of celery, onions and carrots sautéed in butter (of course).

Things aren’t quite as daunting in the kitchen when they’re explained, are they?

Simplicity itself. Grated potatoes and onion, salt and pepper.

What on earth is rösti?

Rösti is a fantastic dish of German-Swiss origin. It’s essentially grated potatoes and onions that are pan fried in a little oil (or fat). Mmmmmm… This is an excellent variation on baked or boiled potatoes if you’re in need of a break from either.

Many ingredients can be added to the basic recipe, including bacon, cheese, apples, herbs, etc. Traditionally it is served in German-heritage Switzerland  as a breakfast accompaniment. Think of it as sort of “home fries.” It could be easily topped with a poached or fried egg.

Although usually fried, rösti can also be baked if you're worried about the extra fat or oil – but it's potatoes already so why worry... I usually pan fry it as one very large rösti but it also can be divided into individual portions before cooking. It's your choice.

If done properly rösti is a just-cooked, crusty, delicious, different accompaniment to your dinner. Because it’s essentially potatoes it can also stand up to much heartier fare than seafood. In fact, seafood is probably the last thing people would consider pairing it with.

But it works – and works well at that. I hope you enjoy!

The seafood is "just" cooked.

Seafood Béchamel*

Prep: 15 min  |  Bake 30 min  |  Serves 4-6

350 g haddock, cubed

454 g shrimp

Mirepoix:

1/4 cup butter

1 medium onion, diced

2 garlic cloves, chopped

250 g mushrooms, quartered

1 medium carrot, diced

1 stalk celery, dced

Béchamel from the mirepoix:

2 tbsp butter

1/4 cup flour

2 cups milk

3/4 tsp tarragon

1 tsp salt

1 tsp cracked black pepper

1/4 cup parmesan, grated

Preheat the oven to 400°F. Melt the butter in a sauté pan. 

Add the onion, garlic, mushrooms, carrot and celery. Sauté in the butter until the vegetables have softened. The mushrooms will absorb some of the butter.

Then add the additional butter and sprinkle with the flour. Mix well. Slowly pour in the milk, stirring to prevent lumps from forming. Stir in the tarragon, salt and pepper. Taste and adjust. If the sauce seems a little thick don't worry. Juice from the seafood will come out and thin it while baking.

Place the cubed fish and whole shrimp in an oven-proof dish. Pour the béchamel on top and then sprinkle with the parmesan cheese. Bake for 30 minutes until golden on top.

* Any combination of fresh seafood can be used including raw lobster, scallops, oysters, salmon, sole, tilapia, and so on. Just make sure the weight volume is the same as listed ion the recipe.

NIcely brown on both side. Cut into wedges to serve.

Parmesan Rösti

Prep: 10 min  |  Pan fry: 20 min  |  Serves 4-6

3 tbsp olive oil

2 large (or 4 medium) potatoes, about 4 cups grated

1 small onion, grated

1/2 cup grated parmesan

1 tbsp four

salt and cracked black pepper

Grate the potatoes and onion in a bowl. Squeeze out any excess moisture with your hands. Mix in the salt and pepper and parmesan.

Heat the oil in a frying pan on medium high. Press the potatoes into a flat round in the hot pan. Let cook until well browned on one side. Loosen underneath after a few minutes to prevent burning.

Then flip the rösti and cook on the alternate side. Add more oil if necessary. Cook each side for about 8-10 minutes, taking care not to burn the surface. You do want a nice from crust, though.

Serve a wedge of the rösti with the baked seafood on the side. Sprinkle with more parmesan if desired.

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Recipe: Pan Roasted Salmon with Maple Orange Glaze

I never drink water because of the disgusting things that fish do in it. – W. C. Fields 

Interestingly, the salad didn't really taste like cucumber. Recipe is below.

I was looking forward to this all day. I usually go over to a local grocery store at lunch to buy whatever is relatively affordable for dinner. Sounds familiar doesn’t it. (Cheap is the inspiration for much of my cooking.)

Salmon for four (or two very hungry) people.

Well I was more than a little surprised to find salmon on sale. And a pretty good sale too at $4 off the regular price per pound. It still made it shudder-inducingly expensive but you have to eat fresh fish every once in a while.

Salmon is very good for you and should be included in your diet regardless of what you hear. Studies have shown the benefits far outweigh the risks of consuming fish.

Some important benefits of eating salmon are: cardiovascular health, cancer defence, depression fighting properties, heart health, brain function health, muscular degeneration prevention, and deep vein thrombosis protection to name just a few. These are all due to the high Omega-3 fatty acids and other healthful elements found in salmon, wild or farmed.

So there you have it. Now the trick is to cook it so that it’s more than passably tasty. Maple and orange are a marriage made in heaven. Salmon is also always best roasted when prepared inside. Outside it’s a different story. Planked salmon is the way to go.

Cook on the stovetop until the salmon is opaque
up the cut sides. This is about 3/4 the way there.

Many of the towns and villages throughout Nova Scotia host planked salmon fundraisers during the summer months. My home village of Greenfield is among the most famous. I’ll post about it in July when the fire department does theirs. People come from miles and miles away to enjoy salmon wired to planks, bathed in butter and roasted facing an open fire. Mmmmmm...

But enough about the future. I’m hungry tonight. Salmon should be cooked as one governs a great nation – don’t overdo it (according to Lao Tzu…). I tend to agree. Overcooked salmon is dry. Follow my directions and you’re (almost) guaranteed to have a delicious meal that will have people asking for the recipe – or better yet, seconds!

Roasted Salmon with Maple Orange Glaze

Prep: 10 min  |  Cook: 15-20 min  |  Serves 4

900 g fresh salmon filet (4 serving pieces)

1 tbsp vegetable oil

2 tbsp maple syrup

1 tbsp soy sauce

1 tbsp grated orange rind

1 tsp cracked black pepper

Preheat the oven to 400°F.

If using a single filet, cut the salmon into four equal serving portions. Try to ensure all your pieces are of relatively equal thickness. Heat the oil in an oven-proof pan.

In a small bowl mix together the remaining ingredients. Brush the filets liberally with the mixture, making sure to use all of the glaze.

Place the salmon skin side down in the hot pan. Let the salmon cook in the pan until it turns opaque up the sides of the fish. The tops will still be raw but the bottoms will have released from the pan.

Place the pan in the hot oven and roast the salmon until it is cooked through. This will take between 10-15 minutes depending on the thickness of your filets. The flesh will flake easily and be opaque. Do not over cook or the salmon will dry out.

Serve with a salad. I made…

Cucumber Radish and Tarragon Salad

Prep: 10 min  |  Serves 4

1 large cucumber

6-8 radishes

1 tbsp chopped fresh tarragon

2 tbsp orange juice

2 tbsp sesame oil

salt and pepper

Slice the cucumber and radishes with a mandolin into very thin pieces. Toss with the chopped tarragon.

Mix together the orange juice, oil, salt and pepper and whisk well. Pour over the vegetables and toss again.

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Foraging 31: Sweetfern

You don’t love a person because they are beautiful. They are beautiful because you love them. – Unknown Author

Dewy sweetfern in (very) early morning.

Isn't that a sweet quote? This post is about an edible plant, but sweet is sweet...

Comptonia peregrina is native to eastern North America, from southern Quebec south to the north of Georgia, east to the Atlantic coast and west to Minnesota. The common name is Sweetfern (or sweet-fern), which is confusing as it isn't a fern at all! Another common name is Fern Gale. The plant is a member of the Bayberry family.

What's so special about this plant? The leaves are aromatic. If you pick the leaves and rub them between your hands a pleasant, sweet fragrance is released. Ergo, the first part of its name.

About sweetfern

Sweetfern is a deciduous shrub, which means it looses its leaves in the winter. Sources say it can grow to 3 feet tall, although I am hard pressed to remember seeing it grow to more than 2 feet in Nova Scotia. It has a woody stem with multiple branches off from the main stalk. Sweetfern tends to grow in poor soils and seems to favor pine stands – possibly because of the increase in soil pH due to the pine needles.

The leaves do look somewhat "fern-like."

As a side note, did you know that pine needles under rhododendrons can increase acidity of the soil and help them flourish? Just gather pine needles, fresh or brown, and let them decompose around the rhodo stock.

Sweetfern is used as food by the larvae of some butterflies. It is also a non-legume nitrogen fixer. The resemblance of the leaves to those of a fern have given it its common name though the plant is obviously not a fern.

Folkloric Uses

Some native Americans are said to have used sweet fern leaves to treat poison ivy. Jewelweed (an earlier post) has the same anti-poison ivy properties. I do know I would have an easier time in Nova Scotia locating sweetfern than that elusive plant. 

Sweet Fern tea made from the leaves is supposed to help stop diarrhea, and it is possible that the leaves may have insect repellent properties, aside from some butterflies who use them as a source of food...

Because of their potential insect repellent properties sweetfern is supposedly able to increase the longevity of fruit in bowls. I have never tried it so I don't know. But I can imagine crushing the leaves would definitely add aromatic enjoyment to your kitchen or living room.

Sweetfern nutlets in winter. Photo: we'moon in the woods, Flickr ccl

Uses in cooking

Sweetfern flowers and therefore produces seed. The subsequent nuts are supposedly edible. "Ontario Trees and Shrubs" list the "nutlets" as edible, so I have to believe they are. I've never tried (or noticed) them...

Sweetfern can be used as a herb in as many dishes as you're willing to try. To dry it just hang branches inverted for 1-2 days. They dry quite quickly and can be saved whole or crumbled. I have seen recipes where they are used with scallops, fish and chicken. Google "sweetfern recipes" to find out more.

Here's a recipe to use the leaves in a tea. I know the smell of sweetfern well. Picturing it in a tea is an interesting idea. I'm definitely going to gather some before it is all killed by frost to try over the winter months.

Photo: Frank Gruber, Flickr ccl

Sweet Fern Tea

Recipe is for 1 cup. Increase as desired

1/2 cup dried sweet fern leaves
for every 1 cup water (or to desired strength)
honey or sugar to sweeten

Crush the leaves and either tie up in cloth or place in a tea strainer. Pour boiling water over the leaves and allow to steep for 5 minutes. You may need to press some of the liquid out of the leaves when straining as they will absorb and expand somewhat.

Remove the steeped leaves, sweeten, sit back, relax and enjoy!

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