Prep Time: 10 min

 

Cooking Time:  15 min

 

Ingredients:

• 1 cup cider vinegar
• 3 heaping TBSP honey
• 1 tsp salt
• ¼ cup of water
• 2 tightly packed cups spruce tips
• 2-3 peels of lemon zest  
• 1 pint (500 ml) jar

 

 

 

 

 

1. Place the cider vinegar, salt and water in a sauce pan and bring to a boil. 
2. While the brine is heating, clean the spruce tips by rinsing in cold water.
3. Pack the spruce tips in a mason jar.
4. Peel the rind of a lemon using a paring knife or vegetable peeler. Try to only peel the zest of the rind (yellow) from the lemon and scrape off any white pith. Add the zest to the mason jar with the spruce tips. 
5. Once the brine reaches a boil, remove from heat and stir in honey.
6. Carefully pour the hot brine into the mason jar completely submerging the spruce tips. 
7. Leave jar to cool on counter stirring 3 or 4 times in the first few minutes to ensure all spruce tips are submerged in the hot brine.
8. Once cool cover with a lid. Will store in a cool dark place for months or indefinitely in the fridge. 

 

 

 

Prep Time: 10 min

 

Cooking Time: 20 min

 

Ingredients:  

• 2 bunch Asparagus, tops 

• 1 lb bottom removed

• 2 tbsp Wild Leeks, cleaned

• 1 Fresh Dill
• 650 ml lemon, juiced
• 1 cup vegetable stock
• 3/4 cup frozen peas
• 2 tablespoon yogurt, plain
• To taste, olive oil, salt

 

 

 

1. Blanch asparagus tips in boiling water for 2 min, and shock in ice water to stop cooking. Reserve for later. 
2. Coarsely chop leeks and asparagus. 
3. Heat a heavy bottomed pot on medium high with oil
4. Add leeks and asparagus and sweat for a few minutes, until asparagus brightens. 
5. Add stock, bring to a boil and simmer for 15 min
6. Ready a blender. Remove soup from heat, and blend on high until very smooth
7. Use some of the blended soup as liquid to blend the frozen peas. This will cook them through. 
8. Blend in yogurt and lemon juice
9. Place spear tips in bowl and pour hot soup over top. 

 

 

Prep Time: 6 min

 

Cooking Time: 0

 

Ingredients: 

• 30g wild leeks
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 1 tablespoon dijon mustard
• 1 lemon, juiced
• 3 tablespoons, olive oil
• 2 tablespoons yogurt, plain
• to taste, salt

 

 

 

 

 

1. Place all ingredients except oil and yogurt in a blender. 
2. Mix on high
3. Slowly drizzle oil in until incorporated. 
4. Lower speed and add yogurt. 
5. Reserve for salad

 

 

Prep Time: 10 min

 

Cooking Time:  0

 

Ingredients:

• 1 cup Mayonnaise 
• 1/2 Lemon, juiced
• 1 Dill pickle, small dice
• 1 tsp Yellow Mustard
• 3-5 Young wild leeks, chopped
• 6-10 Capers (optional)
• to taste Salt and Pepper 

1. Combine all ingredients in a bowl
2. Adjust seasoning and lemon if necessary
3. Chill and serve as dipping sauce

 

 

Bursting with lemon and spice, this Easy Sheet Pan Sumac Chicken is both healthy and fast and the perfect weeknight dinner solution.

 

Course: Main Course

Servings: 4 servings

Calories: 573

 

Prep Time: 10 mins

Cook Time: 35 mins

Total Time: 45 mins

 

Ingredients:

• 6 tbsp olive oil, divided
• 3 tbsp sumac spice
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tbsp brown sugar
• 1 tsp paprika
• 1 tsp dried basil
• 1 small head cauliflower, chopped into small florets
• 12 ounces petit rainbow carrots
• 1 pound chicken thighs (bone-in, skin-on if you can find them)
• 1 pound chicken drumsticks
• 1 lemon, thinly sliced
• 1 small red onion, cut into wedges
• 1/4 cup fresh parsley , chopped
• 1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
• Juice from 1/2 a lemon
• 3 cloves garlic, minced

Instructions:

• Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Line 2 baking sheets with foil and set aside.
• In a medium bowl whisk together three tablespoons olive oil with the sumac, salt, brown sugar, and paprika.
• In a large mixing bowl toss the carrots and the cauliflower with half the olive oil and spice mixture. Transfer the vegetables to the prepared baking sheets, dividing them between the two sheets.
• In the same large mixing bowl, rub the chicken with the remaining olive oil and spice mixture. Transfer chicken and lemon slices to the baking sheets and arrange among the carrots and cauliflower.
• Transfer baking sheets to the oven and bake for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes toss vegetables, add the onion to the baking sheets and rotate pans. Cook for an additional 15-20 minutes, or until internal temperature reads 165 degrees F

 

Mix together the remaining 3 tablespoons olive oil, parsley, cilantro, lemon juice and minced garlic in a small bowl. Spoon mixture over cooked chicken and vegetables and serve immediately.

 

Staghorn Sumac Spice

To find sumac, look along the edges of woods, roadways* and along banks and other non-wooded but unmaintained areas. Staghorn sumac trees are short – between five and 15 feet tall – and the branches have between 4 and 15 pairs of long, pointed leaves. The most prominent feature are the clusters of bright red berries that top the trees in the late summer and early fall.

 

Harvest Sumac when the cone like clusters are vibrant and full and the little hairs that envelope each seed are intact. Rain can sometimes wash them away and If you wait too long to harvest they may get buggy. Clip Sumac clusters just below the end of the cone away from the trees.

 

Drying: Lay the whole clusters on a tray sheet and leave to rest in a dry space for a couple days. You want them to be dry when you process so nothing molds.

 

Cleaning: After drying, rub the hairy clusters to break them apart until the individual berries fall away onto the tray sheet. Pick out larger seeds and twigs/leaves.

 

Processing: Place sumac berries into a blender/grinder and pulse a few times until it seems the hairs have separated from the seed. Your blender/grinder will not grind up the actual seed, it is too hard, but it will separate the little hairy layer from the seed. Without a blender/grinder option: In batches, crush berries using a blunt object to grind. Pour the ground sumac into a medium sieve and shake over a bowl until you have separated the hairs from the seed. Discard the seeds and twigs/leaves. Repeat until you have processed all your Sumac.

 

Storing: Lay the ground sumac out on a large sheet tray for 24 hours to make sure it dries and store in an airtight jar. The spice will last more than a year stored in a cool, dry pantry.