vendredi 1 octobre 2010

W is for Weeds



Tu me mets l’eau a la bouche — You are making my mouth water


I’d been thinking for a long time of starting a society for the appreciation of dandelions (SAD), as we have so many in the garden. Then Georgette gave us some delicious dandelion jam. Problem solved. In French dandelions are known as pissenlits, literally ‘wet the bed’, as folklore claims that is what they make you do. Below, for anyone who wants to love and appreciate dandelions, and is willing to take a risk with their bed linen, is a recipe for dandelion jam.

Incidentally, we have found a foolproof way of dealing with weeds. If someone French points to something in the garden and tells us it’s a weed, we explain that in the UK it’s considered to be a sought-after plant. And if a visitor from the UK remarks on the profusion of weeds in our flowerbeds, we simply explain that, in France, they are considered welcome and attractive additions to all the best gardens. (With apologies to the QWIG Gardening Group.)

Dandelion flower jam

Ingredients:
250 g dandelion flowers
1 1/2 litres water
750 g sugar for each 1 litre juice
1 lemon juice
2 oranges

Method:

Wash the oranges and cut into pieces without peeling them. Wash
the dandelion flowers and dry them in a soft cloth. Cook them in
the water with the oranges for an hour then strain. Measure the
juice, and then add the lemon juice and the appropriate weight of
sugar. Cook a further hour. Cool before putting into jars. It should set OK, 
but if it still looks runny at the end of the cooking time, add some vegetarian gelatin.

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