Part of the challenge with participating in a blog hop with a food theme is that there are no surviving menus from Carolingian era (eighth and ninth century Europe), the time period for my novels. Not exactly a surprise when you consider that few people, including cooks, could write.
But we can make some pretty good guesses. Dandelions, for example, are an Old World plant, introduced to the States by the Puritans. It is not too much of a stretch to imagine these hardy, easy-to-grow perennials with a long season in medieval peasants’ gardens or simply harvested from the meadows near their homes.
Peasants did not eat meat every day, and the summer would be a good time to let animals grow and get as big as possible. However, if they were having a good spring, they would have had plenty of vegetables, including chickpeas, and as anyone who’s ever weeded a flower bed know, dandelions were reliable. Add a little barley, and you have a meal.
So, an inventive medieval peasant woman might have created something like the following recipe, transforming tough, bitter greens into something tasty.
Note: I gathered the dandelion greens from my backyard, where we use no pesticides, herbicides, or chemical fertilizers. Nor do we have dogs. I would have spent much less time cleaning the greens if I had harvested the dandelions when the leaves were dry and the trees were not exploding with pollen.
Dandelions and Chickpeas over Barley
1 gallon bag full of dandelion greens (This may seem like an awful lot but they will shrink.)
3 tablespoons salt per 8 quarts of water
2-3 spring onions
1 cup pearled barley (Closest to I can get to what medieval folk might have had in the small Indiana where I live.)
1 1/2 tablespoons of butter
1 can of chick peas (OK, Anachronism Police, I know full well canned food did not exist during the Middle Ages. But chickpeas were in Charlemagne’s gardens. They could be used fresh or dried for later. I’m also cheating by using an electric stove instead of a cook fire, and I’m not about to give up my dishwasher. So there.)
- Set about 8 quarts of water on the stove to boil.
- Start the barley and prepare according to package directions.
- Clean the dandelions thoroughly.
- Chopped the greens into 2-inch pieces. You should have about 10 cups. (Really, they will shrink.)
- Chop the onions.
- When the water is boiling, add salt.
- Add greens. Cook until ribs are tender, about 10 minutes. (Don’t worry if the greens are still bitter at this stage. They will be tasty when sautéed.)
- Drain the greens and pour cold water over them.
- Squeeze out excess moisture. (Told you they would shrink.)
- Melt 1 tablespoon butter in a skillet.
- Add onions. Cook a few minutes until softened.
- Add the greens and sauté until butter is absorbed. This takes only a few minutes.
- Add chickpeas and cook until heated through. This takes only a few minutes.
- Add remaining butter, and it’s ready to serve.
Thanks for visiting this stop on the blog hop. I invite you to check out the authors below for their thoughts on food. All of us are offering giveaways.
My prize is an e-book of my first novel, The Cross and the Dragon, a tale of love amid the wars and blood feuds of Charlemagne’s reign. To enter, leave a comment in this space only, with your e-mail address so the winner can be contacted. To get an extra entry, mention that you’d like to get an e-mail (just one, I promise) announcing the publication of my second book, tentatively titled The Ashes of Heaven’s Pillar. The contest closes Friday, June 7, 2013. A winner will be selected at random and be announced in an update to this post.
Update: The winner of this giveaway is Marsha, and I will soon contact her. Many thanks to all who commented. I enjoyed our conversations.
Hop Participants
- Random Bits of Fascination (Maria Grace)
- Pillings Writing Corner (David Pilling)
- Anna Belfrage
- Debra Brown
- Lauren Gilbert
- Gillian Bagwell
- Julie K. Rose
- Donna Russo Morin
- Regina Jeffers
- Shauna Roberts
- Tinney S. Heath
- Grace Elliot
- Diane Scott Lewis
- Ginger Myrick
- Helen Hollick
- Heather Domin
- Margaret Skea
- Yves Fey
- JL Oakley
- Shannon Winslow
- Evangeline Holland
- Cora Lee
- Laura Purcell
- P. O. Dixon
- E.M. Powell
- Sharon Lathan
- Sally Smith O’Rourke
- Allison Bruning
- Violet Bedford
- Sue Millard
- Kim Rendfeld
Marsha said:
This sounds delicious. Great post. Thank you for the chance to win your book and I would love to get an email about your second book. jman1985@yahoo.com
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Kim Rendfeld said:
It turned out pretty well. It is important to both boil and sautee these.
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Nicole said:
A friend of mine thinks of dandelions as weeds, but this looks like a wonderful meal.
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Kim Rendfeld said:
They don’t bother me in the lawn, but I’ve pulled plenty from flower beds and cracks between bricks in the deck. It was fun to experiment with them rather than throw them in the compose pile.
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Tinney Heath said:
It really does sound good. So great that you planned ahead and did this research! I have a copy of your book, so I don’t need to enter to win another; I just wanted to say thanks for a great post.
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Kim Rendfeld said:
Glad you like it, Tinney. This was a fun culinary experiment.
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Elaine Powell (@empowellauthor) said:
Great post, Kim! The meal looks really tasty. And (anachronism police aside :)) I didn’t know chickpeas were a feature of the medieval diet.
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Kim Rendfeld said:
The things we find in research have many fun surprises. Here is a post with a snippet listing what Charlemagne wanted in his gardens: http://replantingthepast.blogspot.com/2012/12/charlemange-and-capitulare-de-villis-so.html
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Sue Millard said:
dandelions will sprout earlier, and are sweeter and less tough if you “straw” them to keep out the light, like forcing rhubarb, celery or chicory. Or stick an old barrel over them. sue@suemillard.f9.co.uk
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Kim Rendfeld said:
Thanks for the tip. I might try that sometime, if I can find a place conducive for blanching.
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Sophia Rose said:
I would definitely try the dish at least once, but I have to confess that it doesn’t sound appealing. I’ve been surprised before though. LOL!
I love medieval stories so feel free to send me an announcement when your new one is available. Thanks for the giveaway opportunity.
sophiarose1816 at gmail dot com
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Kim Rendfeld said:
If you like cooked greens, you might like this. At this point in the season, the greens need to be both boiled and sauteed. They were still bitter after boiling but fine after the sautee, to my relief.
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Jess Schira (@ridingnwriting) said:
I might have to give this a try. It looks interesting and we have an abundance of dandelions right now. On a side note, one of the local restaurants mixes dandelions into their salad mix.
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Kim Rendfeld said:
I’ve heard few people say they’ve had dandelions in salad. I’ve heard they’re tender when they’re young. The specimens that I pulled had been around for a while. At their age, they needed both the boiling and the sautee.
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Debra Brown said:
Enjoyed your meal! I’ll have to check out the dandelion crop out back.
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Kim Rendfeld said:
My harvest was from my backyard. I wish now that I’d pick them when the leaves were dry. They would have been easier to clean.
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reginajeffers said:
I have tasted dandelion wine, but nothing of this sort.
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Kim Rendfeld said:
I’ve had dandelion wine before, too, and enjoyed it. Now that you mention it, I’d be curious to know where that came from. This is the first time I tried to cook with greens, and I found both boiling and sauteeing essential.
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Vee said:
Hi Kim
Food looks yum and your first book sounds very interesting. I love a good romance and this sounds like it has a wonderful background. I would like an email to alert me about your second release 🙂
Vee
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Kim Rendfeld said:
Thanks, Vee. It was good. Historical Novels Review says “The Cross and the Dragon” is “a modern take on a Sir Walter Scott type of romance, and one that will work for a modern audience.”
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Sharon Lathan said:
Wow! This was a total revelation to me. Never heard of dandelions being edible! Not sure I am brave enough to try it, but sure love the enlightenment!
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Kim Rendfeld said:
I’ve known they were edible for some time but never tried to prepare them as part of a meal. I’ve heard leaves are tender when young, but when they’re older they get bitter. Boiling and sauteeing took out the bitterness and made them taste like other cooked greens.
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sylvia faye said:
First your meal does look delicious and healthy. Second, I love the cover of your book and would love to win a copy; however I must say I am not an ebook fan. I am truly old fashioned when it comes to books…I perfe the real McCoy…and like to hold it in my hands and then a real book can be displayed and lent to friends. Truly your book sounds so interesting and history, truth in history is so exciting and never looses my interest.
Thank you for the chance to win and offering it to us. With joy and blessings,
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Kim Rendfeld said:
Readers helped the select the image for the cover, and they have excellent taste. The prize for my part of this blog hop is an e-book, but the novel is also available in print.
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carolwarham said:
Well now I know what to do to surprise the family when they ask that continual question ‘What’s for dinner?’ Thanks for such an interesting idea.
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Kim Rendfeld said:
It was a fun experiment. I hope your family enjoys it.
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margaretskea said:
Hi Kim, Have played with dandelions / had competitions to see who could gather most weight of the heads and often heard of them in salads, (never tried them myself) but this sounds interesting – probably highly nutritious too!
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Kim Rendfeld said:
I’ve heard of them in salads, too, especially after this blog was posted, but I’ve not tried them that way. This is a good recipe for later in the season.
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margaretskea said:
And yes please – do send me an email when next book is out.
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Denise Duvall said:
Your recipe sounds delicious as well as nutritious! Thank you for the giveaway and please send me an email when your second book will be published. denannduvall@gmail.com
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Kim Rendfeld said:
It was quite good actually. I happen to like cooked greens and that’s what they tasted like.
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authormariagrace said:
I may actually try this!
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Kim Rendfeld said:
It was fun to try. The most time consuming parts were waiting for all that water to boil and cleaning the greens. The latter might have taken less time if I had picked the leaves when they were dry. The trees really were also heavy with pollen that day.
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michelle koerner said:
I am definitely bookmarking this recipe!
michelleakoerner@yahoo.com
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Kim Rendfeld said:
Wonderful!
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michelle koerner said:
I would like to receive an email when your second book is released! 🙂
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Mer said:
Thanks for the recipe! I might have to give this a try, as I’d love to find a use for dandelions.
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Kim Rendfeld said:
I was curious about using them, too, since they are so plentiful.
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shaunaroberts said:
Great post! I loved learning about dandelions, which I thought were so pretty as a child.
I also would like to receive a notice of the release of your second book.
ShaunaRoberts [at} nasw [dot] org
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Kim Rendfeld said:
One of my aunts says I picked a lot of them when I was little. I don’t mind seeing them in my lawn.
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Dr. Joan Gordon said:
Kim, I have to tell you that during WWII, my mom took a course in survival cooking and one of the recipes involved dandelions which she obediently prepared for us. I was six years old and was conscripted along with my 14 yr old brother to pick the dandelion leaves. I must confess I did not care for the dandelion dish and excused myself to hide in the bathroom. Your preparation looks delicious, however!
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Kim Rendfeld said:
Thanks for sharing your memories. Mature dandelion leaves can be bitter when raw. The boiling, rinsing, and the sautee took that out. They tasted like cooked greens in the final dish.
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