![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Things that sting you!
Feb. 24th, 2010 01:15 pmSo the last couple days of class have been pretty awesome.
On Monday we skinned skate wings (these guys, the "sting ray" fish. I don't know if these guys had "stingers," but they sure as hell had denticles--these rows of extremely sharp cat-claw looking things along one section of the top side of the wings. Which would cut you up no matter how much you tried to be careful).
That was really cool, and I saved a bunch of the skin because I want to try tanning it! I will just have to figure out how.
Then we went to Cougar Mountain and harvested nettles. They are at a perfect stage right now, tiny and tender and delicious. Yes, they are delicious. Only now do I understand just how delicious.
After gathering a large basketful for use in class (like, laundry hamper basket sized), we filled up our own gallon ziplock bags for personal use.
I had heard about the benefits of nettle tea as a hair rinse, so it was my plan to do that with them. I got them home and put them in boiling water for a few seconds, with the idea of freezing them for later--blanching them briefly will stop the enzyme action from going on, ensuring that it doesn't keep on maturing in your freezer.
When I got them out they smelled so good that I immediately started eating them, first with my bare hands, and then on a plate, while I watched RuPaul's Drag Race. Oh yes indeed, it was a good evening.
They prickled a bit on occasion--not a nettle-sting prickle, though--I think it might have just been the roughness of the hairs, or maybe I could have boiled them a few seconds longer.
I'm not sure how to describe them--comparing them to spinach comes to mind, because you can cook spinach greens as a pot-herb, but it's not exactly comparable. They're just rich and delicious. And have lots of iron and protein and vitamins. I really recommend it.
My dad didn't quite understand how the stinging properties of nettle worked, and wanted me to wash the pot out really carefully, lest, I dunno, the sting juice get all over things and sting us? Nettles sting you because they're covered with hollow hairs--especially on the underside of the leaves and the stems--which are connected to glands containing formic acid. The hairs act like little needles, injecting the formic acid into you.
Luckily this is easily destroyed by just boiling the plant for a few seconds or more. Mine can't have been in there for more than 15 seconds, and they were fine. If you don't want to get stung while harvesting, take some gloves and scissors.
* * * *
Tuesday, we made and ate lots of delicious nettle foods. First we just had the greens boiled, with a sprinkle of parmesan cheese. Then we made a couple of pizzas, one with the traditional sauce and cheese, plus some nettle greens on them, the second a vegan one with nettle pesto which was SO FREAKING GOOD that I am going to make it tonight and have it on pasta.
Nettle pesto is easy:
A buncha cloves of garlic
A cup of olive oil
Some salt
As many nettle leaves as will easily blend up in your blender with those things, maybe 1/2 to 2/3 full.
We also had nettle ale, which is pink, and sparkly, and kind of sweet, and does not actually taste like ale. But which is very good. I will try to convince my father to make a big batch of it. I may go out harvesting today.
* * * *
What else? I went to The Nock Point the other day and finally got my arrows. I highly recommend them (they're in Montlake Terrace). They didn't just hand the arrows off to me--they cut them to length by actually measuring my draw length, then had me shoot them in order to see whether they flew well. They didn't--they were too stiff for my bow's current draw-weight--and so they replaced them with some excellent and probably more expensive arrows for free, then checked to make sure THOSE were shooting well.
So I got some shooting practice in, and some tips. I was a bit nervous because I'd never shot at that distance (20 yards), let alone in front of someone, but it went okay and I didn't miss too horribly. YAY I LOVE MY BOW, now I just need to get a hay bale or something and set it up.
On Monday we skinned skate wings (these guys, the "sting ray" fish. I don't know if these guys had "stingers," but they sure as hell had denticles--these rows of extremely sharp cat-claw looking things along one section of the top side of the wings. Which would cut you up no matter how much you tried to be careful).
That was really cool, and I saved a bunch of the skin because I want to try tanning it! I will just have to figure out how.
Then we went to Cougar Mountain and harvested nettles. They are at a perfect stage right now, tiny and tender and delicious. Yes, they are delicious. Only now do I understand just how delicious.
After gathering a large basketful for use in class (like, laundry hamper basket sized), we filled up our own gallon ziplock bags for personal use.
I had heard about the benefits of nettle tea as a hair rinse, so it was my plan to do that with them. I got them home and put them in boiling water for a few seconds, with the idea of freezing them for later--blanching them briefly will stop the enzyme action from going on, ensuring that it doesn't keep on maturing in your freezer.
When I got them out they smelled so good that I immediately started eating them, first with my bare hands, and then on a plate, while I watched RuPaul's Drag Race. Oh yes indeed, it was a good evening.
They prickled a bit on occasion--not a nettle-sting prickle, though--I think it might have just been the roughness of the hairs, or maybe I could have boiled them a few seconds longer.
I'm not sure how to describe them--comparing them to spinach comes to mind, because you can cook spinach greens as a pot-herb, but it's not exactly comparable. They're just rich and delicious. And have lots of iron and protein and vitamins. I really recommend it.
My dad didn't quite understand how the stinging properties of nettle worked, and wanted me to wash the pot out really carefully, lest, I dunno, the sting juice get all over things and sting us? Nettles sting you because they're covered with hollow hairs--especially on the underside of the leaves and the stems--which are connected to glands containing formic acid. The hairs act like little needles, injecting the formic acid into you.
Luckily this is easily destroyed by just boiling the plant for a few seconds or more. Mine can't have been in there for more than 15 seconds, and they were fine. If you don't want to get stung while harvesting, take some gloves and scissors.
* * * *
Tuesday, we made and ate lots of delicious nettle foods. First we just had the greens boiled, with a sprinkle of parmesan cheese. Then we made a couple of pizzas, one with the traditional sauce and cheese, plus some nettle greens on them, the second a vegan one with nettle pesto which was SO FREAKING GOOD that I am going to make it tonight and have it on pasta.
Nettle pesto is easy:
A buncha cloves of garlic
A cup of olive oil
Some salt
As many nettle leaves as will easily blend up in your blender with those things, maybe 1/2 to 2/3 full.
We also had nettle ale, which is pink, and sparkly, and kind of sweet, and does not actually taste like ale. But which is very good. I will try to convince my father to make a big batch of it. I may go out harvesting today.
* * * *
What else? I went to The Nock Point the other day and finally got my arrows. I highly recommend them (they're in Montlake Terrace). They didn't just hand the arrows off to me--they cut them to length by actually measuring my draw length, then had me shoot them in order to see whether they flew well. They didn't--they were too stiff for my bow's current draw-weight--and so they replaced them with some excellent and probably more expensive arrows for free, then checked to make sure THOSE were shooting well.
So I got some shooting practice in, and some tips. I was a bit nervous because I'd never shot at that distance (20 yards), let alone in front of someone, but it went okay and I didn't miss too horribly. YAY I LOVE MY BOW, now I just need to get a hay bale or something and set it up.
