Forum Host- Joined
- May 12, 2010
- Location
- Now Florida but always a Kentuckian
Milkweed is a perennial that grows in colonies to five feet tall. It has large oval, opposite leaves. The stems and leaves exude a milky juice. It is found in dry fields and roadsides. The rough pods have the silky-winged seeds. Young shoots are edible before the leaves unfold. Young pods can be used as a substitute for okra, and the flowers are cooked into sugar.
In Kentucky and Tennessee, milkweed is considered a tonic. It is believed to be good for you.
Fried milkweed: Cut shoots in small pieces, boil fifteen minutes in salted water. Drain. Fry in small amount of fat. Add in eggs, salt and pepper and cheese.
Milkweed soup: shouts: gather shoots while young and tender. Do not gather after July. Wash, cook, drain. Add more water, rice, bacon drippings, salt, pepper, or wild onions. Cook over a slow fire until done. Pods: boil a hambone, add young milkweed pods cut in small pieces, several wild onions or ramps, and a handful of rice. Cook slowly. Add salt and pepper before serving.
Milkweed greens: cook one pound very young stalks in water with salt and butter, covered for 10 minutes. Drain. Add more butter and chopped wild onions.
From: "Foxfire 2", which has ghost stories, spring wild plant foods, spinning and weaving, midwifing, burial customs, corn shuckin's, wagon making and more affairs of plain living. This 1973 edition. page84.
In Kentucky and Tennessee, milkweed is considered a tonic. It is believed to be good for you.
Fried milkweed: Cut shoots in small pieces, boil fifteen minutes in salted water. Drain. Fry in small amount of fat. Add in eggs, salt and pepper and cheese.
Milkweed soup: shouts: gather shoots while young and tender. Do not gather after July. Wash, cook, drain. Add more water, rice, bacon drippings, salt, pepper, or wild onions. Cook over a slow fire until done. Pods: boil a hambone, add young milkweed pods cut in small pieces, several wild onions or ramps, and a handful of rice. Cook slowly. Add salt and pepper before serving.
Milkweed greens: cook one pound very young stalks in water with salt and butter, covered for 10 minutes. Drain. Add more butter and chopped wild onions.
From: "Foxfire 2", which has ghost stories, spring wild plant foods, spinning and weaving, midwifing, burial customs, corn shuckin's, wagon making and more affairs of plain living. This 1973 edition. page84.
Bringing the