Prepare a dish - PEP BB foraging.sand.dish

This is a soup I make every fall during maitake/hen of the woods season. It's basically a cream of mushroom soup using maitake with the addition of chestnuts. It's a super delicious house specialty I have made for at least a decade. First, a goodly amount of chestnuts are cut in half, boiled for 25 minutes or so, strained and then shelled. Onions are chopped and then a luxurious amount of the mushrooms. I melted a stick of butter and some beef tallow in the pot and then sauteed the onions and mushrooms with some diced pork belly. Company arrived at this point and I failed to document the following steps. Next two handfuls of cornmeal were added quickly followed by raw cows milk, just like making a gravy. More liquid was added and then the chestnuts which were simmered for a while longer. Seasonings go in from this point on (to taste): thyme, tamari, salt, black pepper, and red pepper flakes. I crushed and added some dried black trumpet mushrooms and stinging nettle. I forgot to add parsley. Just before pureeing with an immersion blender (stainless) I add a bunch of crushed garlic cloves and remove from heat. Puree and serve. This fed 5 of us the first night. Picture of finished soup is actually the leftovers from the next day, they were added to brown rice with stir fried veggies which was also delicious. Transforming leftovers into new dishes would be a good BB for the food prep badges.

Please be gentle if I'm not doing this right, but I think maybe I've got a badge bit?


Dandelion Pesto

Ingredients:

1 c. or so dandelion greens

1 medium drizzleish olive oil

handful toasted pecans

salt (to taste)

~5 drops lemon juice

an appropriate amount of hard cheese

[list]almost forgot garlic[/list

Instructions:

Mash it all up however you can. Spread on something crunchy.

It wasn't amazing or awful, but I wouldn't make it again without some major flavor addition. I still ate a good bit of it on the bread and then some crackers. I only had the jarred shakey cheese because that's what my roommates buy. It definitely would be better with a good parm, and I would probably consider putting some other seasonal herbs in to flavor it a little more. All I had were thyme, oregano, and sage and wasn't in the mood for them yesterday. I think standing up against fresh basil pesto is probably hard for any herb, not just a bitter green!

Mike Haasl wrote:
To complete this BB, the minimum requirements are:
Prepare a dish (soup, salad, entree, side, etc.) that uses at least a cup of one of:
- burdock root (must be cooked)

To document your completion of the BB, provide the following:
 - A picture of one of the plants in the wild
 - A picture of obviously more than a cup of foraged ingredients (or pic of the ingredients in a measuring cup)
 - A picture of the finished dish
 - A description of what the dish is

Clarifications:
 - This is "Foraging" so the plants can not be cultivated by you.

I sauteed sliced burdock root with bratwurst, greens, onions, and topped with sauerkraut.

Mike Haasl wrote:
To complete this BB, the minimum requirements are:
Prepare a dish (soup, salad, entree, side, etc.) that uses at least a cup of one of:
- dandelion (blossoms or leaves)

To document your completion of the BB, provide the following:
 - A picture of one of the plants in the wild
 - A picture of obviously more than a cup of foraged ingredients (or pic of the ingredients in a measuring cup)
 - A picture of the finished dish
 - A description of what the dish is

Clarifications:
 - This is "Foraging" so the plants can not be cultivated by you.

I made polenta/corn grits and added 2 cups of dandelion leaves. The creamy, salty polenta offsets the bitterness of the dandelion leaves.

Mike Haasl wrote:
To complete this BB, the minimum requirements are:
Prepare a dish (soup, salad, entree, side, etc.) that uses at least a cup of one of:
- dandelion (blossoms or leaves)

To document your completion of the BB, provide the following:
 - A picture of one of the plants in the wild
 - A picture of obviously more than a cup of foraged ingredients (or pic of the ingredients in a measuring cup)
 - A picture of the finished dish
 - A description of what the dish is

Clarifications:
 - This is "Foraging" so the plants can not be cultivated by you.

I made a salad with whatever leftover produce I had: carrots, tomatoes, bell peppers, red cabbage, romaine, and 1+ cup of dandelion. I let everyone pick their own salad dressings, I don't dress a salad.