HOW TO STOCK EDIBLE PLANTS IN THE DEEP-FREEZE

In İstanbul the edible plants are not available as long as they are in the Egean region of Turkey. It is usually from April to May only that we can find them on the stalls of the open air markets. However, loving to consume edible plants, I could stock them in my deep-freeze  the whole year long without loosing much taste to them. This way I could enjoy my favourite börek the entire winter (click here for the recipe) :)

 

Back in may, I bought so many edible plants, it was a bit of work to manage all that stocking process because you have to be quick otherwise the plants wilt and loose taste. But it was worth in the end of all that effort. 

I used more or less the same process for all the edible plants that I stocked:

mellow,

goosefoot,

wild mustard, 

lambs quarters (white goosefoot, pigweed) - see picture below

patience dock,

wild radish (see picture below),

dandelion,

golden thistle,

nettle. 

That’s what I did:

Depending on the edible plant, I steam-cooked the plant in my pressure cooker. As an alternative to steam-cooking in the pressure cooker, you can boil some water in a pot and soak the plants in the boiling water and take them out immediately with the help of a strainer. I find the steam-cooking method the most convenient as you don’t have to bother yourself with dripping water all around. 

As for the duration of steam-cooking, it depends on the plant: For something quite rhizomorphous like golden thistle it took longer. For all the other kinds of grean leaves like dock I steam-cooked them until they are bright green in colour (meaning 1 – 2 minutes). In the case of plants with harder stems such as mellow, I cut their stems apart and steam-cooked them seperately and for 3 – 4 minutes.  You have to see it for yourself because region per region, the same type of plant might have a harder stem or leaves. See the pictures below for a few examples of how the plants looked before and after steam-cooking in the pressure cooker. 

After steam-cooking the plants, I squeezed them to get rid of the excess water and put them in the deep-freeze bags in portions that I thought I could use.Time to vacuum-seal the bag: Holding the open part of the deep-freeze bags between my index finger and thumb, I put in a drinking straw in the bag and I sucked the air out of the bag. Without letting much air back in, I sealed the bag with a coated wire. When the plant cooled down a bit, I put the bag in the deep-freeze.

wild radish, jointed charlock, wild charlock

steam-cooked wild radish: bright green after 1 - 2 minutes of steam-cooking

Lambs quarters, white goosefoot, pigweed

 

steam-cooked lambs quarters: bright green after 1 - 2 minutes of steam-cooking

BÖREK WITH MALLOW, GOOSEFOOT AND FETA

This is the börek in my dreams! It is extremely delicious! 

I used to see goosefoot on the stalls in the open air markets here; but a few years ago I did not like it so much when I tried it raw in the salad. It was too crunchy for my liking. But this plant does just wonders in the börek! A must try!

goosefoot is just delicious in börek

Ingredients: (serves 3 – 4)

2 thin flaky dough (known as yufka or phyllo)

For the stuffing:

A handful of mallow, washed and drained

Half a bundle of goosefoot, washed and drained

200 gr. Feta, grated

grated feta

1 tea spoon of dried red pepper flakes (optional)

For the sauce/milky wash

1 egg white

Half a glass of milk

2  spoons of olive oil

Half a glass of sparkling water

2 spoons of yoghurt

 

For the top of the börek/ for the glaze

1 egg yolk

Black cumin or sesame seeds 

Method:

1. Keep the stalks and the leaves of the mallow seperately. Steam-cook the mallow leaves for 1 minute. Alternatively you can soak them in boiling water for a minute and take them out immediately. As for the stalks, steam-cook or boil them for 10 minutes as they are harder. Chop the mallow.
2. Steam-cook the goosefoot for 1 - 2 minutes. Alternatively you can soak them in boiling water for 1 - 2 minutes and take it out and drain.
3. Mix the ingredients of the filling.
4. Whisk the ingredients of the sauce. Add 2 -3 spoons of this mixture into the mixture for the filling.
5. Lay one of the phyllo over a flat area. Cut it into half. Set one of the halves apart in order to use later. Moisten the phyllo with a 3 – 4 spoons of the sauce (or 6 -7 dessert spoons).
6. Take ¼ of the börek filling and place it on phyllo going parallel to the long end of the phyllo. Fold the left and right ends inside with 1 cm. and start rolling the phyllo over the filling.
7. Place the roll in an oven dish by giving it a spiral shape.
8. Apply the same process for the rest of the phyllo; going over the spiral shape in the middle everytime.
9. Brush the egg yolk over the börek.
10. Sprinkle the rest of the milky wash over the börek.
11. Sprinkle black cumin or sesame seeds.
12. Bake the börek until it becomes golden on top in a pre-heated oven at 200 degrees celcius. 

Step 1 & 2 - mallow and goosefoot chopped

Step 3

Step 5 - cut the phyllo into two from the middle

Step 6

Step 6 - start rolling

Step 6 - that is what you will get after having rolled each phyllo over the filling

Step 7

Step 8

Step 9 - 10 - 11

börek with mallow, goosefoot and feta - just delicious!