Wild foods?

[baymule]

Anybody know what greenbriar is? It is a thorny vine with tendrils like a grapevine has. To make sure it is greenbriar, look for the thorns and tendrils. The tips of the growing vine is tender and tastes like asparagus. I snap them off and eat them raw. The root is a starch and can be eaten also, but I never have.

 

[Denim Deb]

I've never eaten it, but I'm very familiar w/it. There's actually several different varieties.

 

[gardengertie]

wow, of all the things I've done to get rid of greenbriar i never knew you could eat then. going to have to try that. i pick blackberries, muscadines, wild plums, crabapples and apples and peaches from old home places that are vacant. the goats and i went out in the pasture to pick blackberries. i got the berries and they nibbled the leaves. there is a direct correlation of 2 to 1 for the number of berries to chiggers tho. now do i make a cobbler or jam? the cobbler will be great but then gone or the jam will be good this winter. unfortunately there isn't enough for both

 

[sumi]

Oh yum, blackberries! Cobbler sounds delicious, but jams will store for winter... I'd personally go with jam and stretch out the treat as long as possible. But here are some recipes for both:

Blackberry cobbler

Ingredients
1/2 stick butter, melted, plus more for greasing pan
1 1/4 cups plus 2 tablespoons sugar
1 cup self-rising flour
1 cup whole milk
2 cups fresh (or frozen) blackberries
Whipped cream and/or ice cream, for serving
Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 3-quart baking dish with butter.

In a medium bowl, whisk 1 cup sugar with the flour and milk. Whisk in the melted butter.

Rinse the blackberries and pat them dry. Pour the batter into the baking dish. Sprinkle the blackberries evenly over the top of the batter. Sprinkle 1/4 cup sugar over the blackberries. Bake until golden brown and bubbly, about 1 hour. When 10 minutes of the cooking time remains, sprinkle the remaining 2 tablespoons sugar over the top. Top with whipped cream or ice cream.

Chunky Blackberry Jam

1kg (2lb 2.3oz) blackberries
1kg caster sugar
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 pinch salt

Directions

In a stockpot, combine the blackberries, sugar, lemon juice and salt. Bring to a rolling boil, and cook stirring frequently for 15 to 20 minutes, or until the temperature of the mixture has reached 105 degrees C (221*F).

Transfer the mixture to hot sterile jars, leaving 1cm headspace, and seal. Process jars for 10 minutes in a water bath. Refrigerate jam once the seal is broken.

 

[Britesea]

Gardengertie, I like to can some of my wild fruits with just a light syrup or juice for versatility. I can later convert them into jam if I want, or syrup for pancakes, or cobblers and pies, or in muffins... or even just as they are with a little ice cream or something.

I'll have to look up greenbriar; I've never heard of it so I don't know if we have any or not around here.

here's a picture of a couple of weeds I get a lot of in my garden and the land around it. I think we have lambs quarters and purslane here: The one on the right is, I think, purslane; the leaves are fleshy and

the plant hugs the ground. The one on the right- is that lambs quarters?

 

[Britesea]

I ran across this article a while back; thought you might be interested. According to this, the dessert Sumi makes is kind of like a buckle, but without the streusel.
OLD FASHIONED FRUIT DESSERTS

A cobbler is a type of deep-dish fruit dessert with a thick biscuit or pie dough crust that is prepared and then served warmed to guests. It is very similar to a pie except that the crust is thicker and it is traditionally placed only on top. However, over the years, ingredients and preparation methods have been created that bake the cobbler crust on the top for some recipes and on the bottom for others.
In the United States a cobbler is typically made with fruit or berries but in the United Kingdom it is typically a meat dish. In the United States, peach, blueberry and cherry cobblers are among the most popular varieties.

A crisp is a sweet dessert made with baked fruit as the bottom layer, which is topped with a crumbly topping. It is commonly referred to as a "fruit crisp" or as a crisp described by the name of the fruit in the dessert, such as apple crisp, a three fruit crisp, or something similar. A typical crisp combines a variety of ingredients, which include brown sugar, oatmeal and nuts that are mixed with the butter, flour and cinnamon to create a granular topping that is spread over the baked fruit.
Apple crisp is one of the most commonly prepared crisps, especially in the fall when the apples are in season, but other fruits and berries, such as peaches, pears, blueberries, and rhubarb are also used to make delicious crisps. Although it can be served cold, it is most often served as a warm dessert.

A crumble is a dessert with a crumb topping made from flour, sugar, and butter combined into a mixture that is sprinkled over sliced fruit and baked. The topping is made up of basically the same ingredients as a pastry except it doesn't contain any liquid. When the crumble bakes the butter melts and mixes with the flour and sugar to create a crunchy, crumbly topping. A crumble is very similar to a crisp except that the topping for a crisp generally contains oats and often nuts, giving it a coarser texture that the crumbles toppings.
The traditional crumble topping contains flour, sugar, and butter but there are many variations, which some include ingredients such as oats, nuts, and spices. As more of these ingredients are added, the crumble becomes even more similar to a crisp. A crumble also resembles a cobbler, which has a fruit filling with a top crust and no bottom crust. The difference being that top crust of the cobbler contains a leavening agent such as baking powder which gives it more of a smooth bread type texture rather than crumbly. One of the most common crumble desserts is "apple crumble", but it is also common to use blueberries, strawberries, peaches, rhubarb, and plums.

A Buckle is a sweet dessert that is made from a cake batter traditionally topped with berries, which is topped with a streusel type topping. The batter rises up as it bakes and the berries and streusel topping sink at uneven intervals, forming a buckled affect in the cake. Originally, buckle was made as a single layer cake topped with blueberries. However, over the years a variety of berries, fruits and toppings have been added to make different versions of this cake dessert.
Some recipes have the berries folded into the batter and some spread the berries on top. It is also often made with blueberries and another fruit combined into the cake and topped with the streusel coating.

A pandowdy is a sweet dessert that is made with a pastry or bread dough topping that covers a fruit base made from one or several fruits. Apple Pandowdy is the most common version of this dessert. When prepared, the dough is rolled out into thin circular or square shape matching the shape of the deep baking dish containing the fruit. Nuts, such as sliced almonds, are often added to the Pandowdy dough.
There are two methods that can be used to bake the dough for the pandowdy. The dough may be baked separately from the fruit and then added during the baking time or it can be baked with the fruit. When baked with the fruit, the dish is taken out of the oven after a short period of baking time, and then the dough is scored, and pressed into the fruit. The pandowdy is then placed back in the oven to finish baking.
If the dough is baked separately from the fruit, the fruit is mixed with brown sugar or molasses, cornstarch, and spices and then baked until tender and juicy. The baked dough topping is placed on top of the partially baked fruit mixture, pressed down slightly into the mixture and baked with the fruit until the dough is golden brown and the fruit is thick and bubbling. The dough becomes crisp and crumbly, adding a texture that enhances the fruit mixture. Very similar to a cobbler, grunt or slump, the deep-dished pandowdy can be served as a dessert or snack that is typically warm and topped with whipped cream or ice cream.

Brown Betty is a name given to an early era baked pudding dessert made by those who came to America during the 1600's. There are now numerous variations of this dessert that use many different types of fruit, but the most well known is Apple Brown Betty or simply Brown Betty. A combination of tart apples, (Granny Smith and Gala work well or other combinations of two to three semi-tart varieties) are cut into slices and mixed with sugar, cinnamon, vanilla, and lemon juice.
Pieces of bread are torn and baked or browned on the stovetop in butter, basically creating breadcrumbs to be used as a layer or filling. The sweetened and seasoned fruit is then layered with the breadcrumbs to form a baked pudding of fruit and crispy breadcrumbs that is served warm and is often topped with whipped cream or ice cream.

A grunt is a dessert, traditionally served on America's east coast that is a combination of a pie and a cobbler. It consists of fruit, most often berries, which are cooked beneath a crust of biscuit or dumpling type dough. The Grunt was named for the echo of sounds coming from the bubbling fruit under the dough as it cooks. A Grunt is similar in preparation to the Slump with the exception that the Grunt is steam cooked and the Slump is baked.

A slump is a dessert that is basically the same as a grunt as far as ingredients and construction. It consists of fruit, berries, or a mixture of fruit and berries, which are cooked beneath a crust of biscuit or dumpling type dough. The difference between the grunt and the slump is that the slump is baked uncovered instead of steamed. Some recipes call for it to be cooked on the stovetop and others use the oven. The slump was given its name because when served on a plate it has a tendency to slump.

 

[frustratedearthmother]

Wow - that explains it! Thank for posting that info!

 

[baymule]

Well I went and found an article and pics of the greenbriars.

http://www.foragingtexas.com/2008/08/greenbriar.html

The dry vines cut in lengths are great kindling for starting your fires too.

 

[baymule]

I like to make fruit crumbles, they are fast, easy and good!

1 stick of butter, melted
1/3 cup sugar, more or less to taste
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon mace
mix these in the melted butter, then add
Raw uncooked oatmeal, until the mixture is crumbly. Sorry, can't tell you how much, I never measure it

Put fruit in a casserole dish, cover with crumble and bake at 350 until the crumble is browned and the fruit is bubbling at the edges.

I bag up frozen black berries and blue berries so I can have crumbles all year.

 

[Denim Deb]

Britesea, I think you're right on for those being purslane and lamb's quarters.