Thursday, June 17, 2010

MIFS #172 - Wild Flower Fritters

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Summer is in full swing now. There is heat and humidity, full gardens, swim dates, and wild flowers everywhere. The wild flowers are beautiful. Many of them smell incredible, but did you know that many of them are also edible.

Last week we went on a walk to harvest some of those edible wild flowers. We found daylily, milkweed, and elder flowers. Though not exactly the healthiest way to enjoy your wild flowers, we decided to make fritters with our freshly picked finds.

If you've made fruit fritters before, making flower fritters is exactly the same. You make a thin pancake batter. Dip and fry. To make them extra special, dust with powdered sugar and cinnamon.




Wild Flower Fritters
Edible Wild Flowers - Daylily, Elderberry, Milkweed, and Queen Anne's Lace all work well. Gently shake or rinse to clean.


Fritter Batter
1 Cup flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 C buttermilk
1 TB. vegetable oil
1 egg, beaten

Combine the dry ingredients. In a separate bowl mix oil, egg and buttermilk.  Stir into the dry ingredients.

To make the fritters, heat several inches of vegetable oil in a pan (or use a deep fryer.) When the oil is hot, gently dip the flower into the batter, and shake off the excess. If the batter seems too thick, stir in more milk. Drop the battered flower into the oil. Fry until it turns a light golden brown. The time this takes will depend on what kind of flower you are using. Remove from the oil and drain on a paper towel.

Mix 1 cup of powdered sugar with 1 tablespoon of cinnamon in a small bowl. Dip hot fritter into the mixture and gently toss to coat. Shake off the excess and allow the fritter to cool a little. Best tasting when still warm!



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4 comments:

  1. Wow! You're such a pioneer! This is a cool idea and I'll have to try it. Thanks for the inspiration :)

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  2. What a cool and unusual recipe!

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  3. I haven't seen this recipe but I wanted to give a warning about collecting Queen Anne's lace to eat. It looks a lot like water hemlock, poison hemlock & fool's parsley - all three are deadly if eaten. So be sure your readers know the difference. This is one reason I haven't been brave enough to try this particular plant. I'm too afraid of poisoning my family.

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  4. Jenny,
    Yes thanks for the reminder. I forgot to mention that when consuming any wild food a positive id essential. A good foraging book will clearly tell you how to identify edible plants.

    The features that distinguish Queen Anne's Lace (wild carrot)are that it has a hairy stalk, and that it smells like carrot.

    But again, a wild plant book is essential for a positive identification when you are foraging!

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