Violets are Up!

Originally uploaded by nodigio

Just because we’re in a recession/depression is no reason to turn to dull, insipid foods. I rather think that jazzing up the dinner table is an excellent way to lighten the doom and gloom of the news blaring at us from all sides about how horrible things are. In my garden, you’re encouraged to eat the daisies. And the roses, and the violets, and the lavender, and clover, and all the rest of it.

Flowers serve many purposes. They can make a yard look pretty. They add color and fragrance and texture. They can disguise a vegetable garden and make it look ornamental for those of us who live in neighborhoods with strict lawn laws. And they can be eaten.

In the last post, on Potagers or Ornamental Edible Gardens, I provided a list of edible flowers. In this post, I’d like to share with you how to eat flowers.

First and foremost, make sure the flowers you plan to eat are indeed edible. The list I provided is a lengthy but by no means comprehensive list. If you have any doubt about the edibility of a flower, don’t eat it.

Next, make sure the edible flower grew under edible conditions. Fertilizer used on it has to be labeled safe for food crops. Double ditto for pesticides. Organic and non-toxic pesticides are best. If you have any doubt about the type of fertilizer or pesticides used on the flower, don’t eat it. This means you don’t eat flowers from florists at all (they spray the flowers with preservatives and pesticides that are not food safe), or from nurseries or garden centers unless it was labeled as safe to eat.

Do not eat flowers picked near roadways. Many of thee plants have been blasted with herbicides and pesticides you do not want to ingest. If you are wildcrafting your flowers, do your best to make sure the flowers have not been sprayed with herbicides, pesticides, or not safe for food fertilizers. When in doubt, don’t pick them to eat.

If you have allergies or food sensitivities, introduce edible flowers a little bit at a time and only one type of flower at a time. If you’ve never eaten flowers before, start with small amounts because large quantities of flowers can cause even the most robust digestive system a bit of upset.

With all these don’ts out of the way, we can look at all the dos.

Pick the flowers the same day you plan to eat them or preserve them for later eating.

Shake them over a trash can to dislodge any dirt or bugs.

Remove the stamens.

Wash them under a fine spray or in a strainer placed in a large bowl of water. Skim any bugs that float to the top of the water and dispose of them. Drain and let dry on absorbent towels out of direct sunlight. They will retain their color and odor if dried quickly.

If you are not going to eat or preserve them right away, place them in a heretically sealed container with a moist paper towel. They can be refrigerated up to 10 days this way. If the flowers get limp, they can be revived with a short bath in ice water. A really short bath – too long and the ice will leach the flavor from them.

When you are ready to eat or preserve them, remove the petals individually. You may need to wash them again lightly. Pat or spin dry in a lettuce spinner. Lay the petals out on a cotton dishtowel or sheet of cotton muslin to dry as you proceed to the next step.

With very sharp scissors, cut off the white bases. These are usually very bitter. You want your flowers to be tasty, not overshadowed by bitterness. Except in very rare instances, it is the colored portion of the petal that you eat. The stamens, pistils, white bases, calyx, leaves, and stem are not eaten. In some cases, you will eat the bud, and for some plants, the leaves and stems are also edible, but for the most part, it’s the pretty petals you eat.

As you snip off the white bases, discard any petals that are browning, discolored, contain insect egg cases, or otherwise look inedible.

You can reassemble the flower using a bit of thick yogurt, cream cheese, icing, clear gelatin, or something of similar edible adhesive texture if you want to use the flowers whole as a garnish.

Once you have clean, de-whited flower petals, you are ready to use them in recipes.

At this point you can use them fresh or you can dry them to use later.

Drying Edible Flowers

To dry flower petals, spread them out in a single layer on a fine mesh screen. Let them dry in a dark, dry place and seal them into an airtight jar as soon as they are crisp-dry. Some flowers will lose their flavor as they dry, so dry a few and sample them before saving them – unless you are saving them for their color. Keep them out of direct light as much as possible because they will fade. Some flowers that keep their flavor when dried are roses, jasmine, citrus blossoms, linden flowers, elder flowers, chamomile, mint, sage, bee balm, lavender, calendula, and daylilies.

Flower Confetti

You can take a variety of colors of edible flowers and cut them into slivers and small bits to use as an edible confetti garnish. If you have one of those rolling herb slicers, those work quickly and well to make flower confetti. Flower confetti can be used in butters, cream cheeses, as a colorful garnish for cream soups, meats, punches, ice cream, whipped creams, iced cakes.

Flower Butter or Creamed Cheese

1/2 – 1 cup chopped fresh or dried petals
1 lb. sweet unsalted butter or cream cheese
Finely chop flower petals and mix into softened butter. Let mix stand for several hours at room temperature, then refrigerate for several days to bring out the flavour. Can be frozen for several months. Wonderful on breads or used in sugar cookie or pound cake recipes.

Flower Jelly

2 1/2 cups apple juice OR white wine
1 cup fresh strongly scented flower petals
4 cups sugar
1/4 lemon juice
1 – 2 drops food coloring (optional)
3 ounces of liquid pectin
fresh flower petal confetti (optional)
Bring the juice or wine to a boil and pour over petals. Cover and steep until the liquid has cooled, then strain out the flowers leaving only the liquid. Combine 2 cups of the flower infusion with sugar, lemon juice and , if you want, food coloring. Bring to a boil over high heat and as soon as the sugar has dissolved, stir in the pectin. Return to a rolling boil, stirring and boiling for exactly 1 minute. Remove the jelly from the heat and skim off any foam. Let jelly cool slightly and add more flower petals (if desired), then pour into sterilized jars. If petals do not stay suspended, stir jelly as it cools until petals stay in place. Process in hot water bath according to jelly-making directions. Yields: 4 – 5 half pints

Flower Honey

1/2 – 1 cup fresh or dried petals
1 lb. mild-flavored honey
Add chopped or crushed flowers to the honey. Loosely cover the jar and place it in a pan half full of gently boiling water. Remove from heat, and let it sit in the hot water for 10 minutes. Remove the jar from the water and let it cool to room temperature. Allow the jar of honey with flowers to sit for 1 week. The flowers can then be strained out if desired. It will last indefinitely in a cool dark place.

Flower Syrup

1-cup water (or rosewater)
3 cups sugar
1/2 – 1-cup flower petals, whole or crushed
Boil all the ingredients for 10 minutes, or until thickened into a syrup. Strain through cheesecloth into a clean glass jar. This keeps up to 2 weeks in the refrigerator. It can be added to sparkling water or champagne for a delicious beverage. Or, it may be poured over fruit, pound cake or pancakes.

Flower Liqueur

4 cups vodka or brandy or a white wine or mild ale
1-cup sugar
1 – 2 cups flowers
Place lightly bruised petals in a jar with the booze and steep for 2 days. Then, add sugar and steep for 2 weeks, shaking vigorously once or twice a day to let sugar dissolve. Strain and filter into a clean decanter.

Candied Flowers (one method, there are others)

1 egg white
100 proof vodka
superfine granulated sugar (you can make this by processing regular granulated sugar in a blender)
thin artist’s paintbrush
violets, pansies, Johnny-jump-ups, rose petals, lilac, borage, pea, pinks, scented geraniums
wire rack covered with a fine mesh screen
Beat the egg whites until frothy. Add a couple of drops of vodka to the egg whites to help the flowers dry quicker. Using fresh picked flowers, paint each flower individually with beaten egg white using the artist’s paintbrush. When thoroughly coated, sprinkle with fine sugar and place on the wire rack to dry. Flowers are completely dry when stiff and brittle to the touch. They can be stored in an airtight container and put in the freezer for up to a year.

Flower Oil

1/2 – 1 cup fresh or dried flowers
1 quart vegetable oil
Add the flowers to the bottle of oil and place in a pan of water. Simmer the water with the bottle in it gently for at least 30 minutes. Remove it from stove and cool. Cover bottle tightly, and let steep a week before straining. If dried flowers are used, they may be left in the oil. Fresh flowers should be drained after one week as they lose their color.

Flower Sugar

1 cup fresh edible flowers
1 pound granulated white sugar

Mix the flowers and sugar together and store in a tightly covered jar in a dark place for 1 week. Sift the flowers out of the sugar and store the flavored sugar in an airtight jar in a dark place. Keeps at least 1 year.

Flower Vinegar

1 cup fresh flowers
2 cups vinegar

Steep for 1 week, strain out the flowers. For a stronger vinegar, repeat with fresh flowers one more time. Keeps at least 1 year

Flower Teas

¼ cup fragrant dried flower petals
1 cup dried tea leaves (pu-ehr, black, oolong, green, or white)

Blend well and store in an airtight jar or tin. Use 1 teaspoon of mixed flowers and tea per cup of hot water.

Stuffed Flowers

Use large flowers from squashes or hollyhocks or similar trumpet shaped flowers.
They can be stuffed with flavored rice, ground meats, vegetable purees, creamed cheeses, ice creams, sweetened whipped creams, and small trumpet-shaped flowers can be stuffed with butter and used to garnish meats or vegetables.

Flower Rice

1 cup raw rice
2 ½ cups water
Dash of salt
2 -3 tablespoons calendula petals or flower confetti

If using the calendula, steam the rice with the calendula. If using flower confetti, toss the flowers into the cooked rice just before serving.