Foraging Link Roundup - Harris

In the interest of creating a comprehensive blog on the subject, I'd like to include some popular web links about foraging in Toronto and the GTA in general.  Any suggestions? If so, put them in the comments!

Ten Foods to Forage in the City

Torontoist on Foraging

The Toronto Star on Foraging

The Toronto Star on Morels

Vegan for a Week! - Justin

As part of getting to know my food a little better, I thought I'd challenge myself to a new meal plan that would bring me closer to the roots of my vegetable ingredients.  Let me know what you think! This was a real challenge for me, as a proud meat eater, but it was completely worth it in the end.

Foraging Day 7 - A Day in the Garden - Greenwood and Danforth Community Garden

Day 7 – Day in the garden

Today’s foraging took the form of going through my community garden plot. Although I’ll write about this elsewhere on the blog, I wanted to include a day to reflect on the utility of having a community garden right in the middle of the city in order to provide fresh produce for families like mine. Although I work hard at maintaining my garden, it remains a place of refuge and foraging for my daughter, my partner, and I. We find delicious food here, and today I made up a little ratatouille from the zucchini, eggplant, and heirloom tomatoes that I’ve grown this year.

In this case, I’ll let my three year old daughter offer her feedback: “You’re a good cook, Daddy! Soooooooo tasty! I like it!”

You just can’t argue with that.

Foraging Day 6 - Sunflower Seeds - Harris

Day 6 – Sunflower seeds

In the vacant lot next door (the house is being rebuilt), the previous owners have left what have grown into sunflowers. Nobody seems interested in them, so I harvested their seeds and roast them myself. Today was a simple task, but was immensely rewarding.

I recommend that this salted, roasted treat be enjoyed in your back yard alongside a delicious wheat 

beer (best brewed in-house, of course). That’s a recipe that I’ll happily pass on to anyone who’s interested.

Harris

Foraging Day 5 - Macerated Cherries - Harris

Day 5 – Macerated Cherries

I KNEW this was going to be a treat. Who doesn’t like macerated cherries on ice cream, in a drink, or elsewhere? The real joy of this is that a neighbor has a nice and old cherry tree whose fruit is starting to ripen!

In the process of asking for permission to pick these little red gems from their tree, I was informed by my neighbours that they actually have a great difficulty dealing with this fruit each year. The tree produces so much that they often are left to rot on the tree and litter the ground. In this case, lesson learned. Not only did I bring home a bucket full of cherries this time, but I’ll definitely be back for more soon!

So, here’s a rough recipe for my macerated cherries:

2 cups of Bing cherries, pitted

1 1/2 cups of granulated sugar

1 1/2 cups of water

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/4 cup of brandy

With a little gin and tonic, these were absolutely delicious!! Please (if you’re of age, of course)    enjoy one TODAY. There’s no excuse when these delicious cherries can be found nearby. I suspect, though, that gin may not be so easily located in my neighborhood (unless going to the LCBO can be considered foraging).

Harris

Foraging Day 4 - Mint - Harris

Day 4 - Mint Jelly

Today was going to be easy. I just knew it. For one thing, my back yard is full of mint. Anyone who’s grown mint or lived with it (the best way I can describe a garden or backyard that has been lost to the plant) knows that it goes WILD in no time at all. No matter, though, since I’m going to collect a bunch of this delicious herb and make up a jelly for use with lamb I recently brought home from school.

Here’s a rough recipe for mint jelly to go with lamb:

Ingredients:

2 c. minced mint leaves
1/2 c. water
1/2 c. sugar
4 c. apple juice (see apple jelly recipe)
Green food coloring

Method:

Wash and mince mint leaves to equal 2 cups. Add water and sugar, let stand several hours. Heat to boiling and strain.

Cook apple juice and when nearly to jellying point add 1 to 2 tablespoon of mint juice. Finish cooking, skim, pour into sterile glasses and seal.

Let me just say, this was a delicious addition to my meal! What a treat, and found right here!

Harris

Foraging Day 3 - Morels, etc. - Harris

Day 3 – Morels.

I’m going to say right at the outset that I was unable to find any morels, despite having looked. After looking around online a fair bit, I sent a couple emails to people who seemed to have found morels in Pickering themselves. After a bit of advice, I went out myself to a little park area in North Pickering to have a look one moist weekend. Sadly, after looking for a little while, I had no luck.

Due to my failure (perhaps due to inexperience), I bought some dried morels at home instead, rehydrated them, and fried them up for use in a risotto. As I enjoyed the risotto though, I thought of how close I must have been to finding these elusive treasures right here in the GTA. Truly, the centrepiece of a meal like this could easily have been a valuable fungus right under our noses the whole time.

As an alternative to finding some morels today, I thought I'd reflect a little on a discovery I made a few weeks ago. In my backyard I learned that the vines growing on the fence will soon produce grapes! Behold!

In the coming weeks, as they ripen, I think I'll make some jelly!  

Harris