Nasturtiums are great to have in the garden as they keep away pests from your vegetables, create a weed suppressing cover and look colourful over summer.
After the blossoms fall, pick off the half-ripened Nasturtium seed pods. Continue as your crop develops to drop them into a boiled and strained mixture of:
3 cups white wine vinegar 2 teaspoons Pickling Salt 1 thinly sliced onion 1/2 teaspoon each allspice, mace and celery seed 3 peppercorns
Keep refrigerated and use as a variation for capers.
Blend the chopped eggs with the butter, mayonnaise, cream and cheese, mixing with a wooden spoon.Add parsely, black pepper and salt.Spoon the mixture into the centre of each flower and press in firmly. Arrange the Nasturtium leaves on a platter and sprinkle with oil and vinegar.Place the stuffed flowers on the leaves around the outside of the platter.Fill the gap in the centre with any left-over mixture.Sprinkle with chopped walnuts to garnish.
Source: Old New Zealand Queenstown cookbook
lindylambchops1,
Jan 10, 8:01am
Create Pickling Salt So you want to make pickles, but you don't have any pickling salt. Well, I will describe how to make your own pickling salt rather easily. Instructions Kosher salt Spice grinder. To begin making your pickling salt, measure out the kosher (not iodized because the iodized salt will turn the pickles somewhat brown) salt, a little more than the recipe calls for. Now, put the salt into a spice grinder, and grind the salt into a very fine powder. As fine as you can get it. Notice you will have to use more un-ground salt than the recipe call for. When the kosher salt is ground, the grains get smaller, therefore they are more compact. Once the salt is ground, you will use the amount the recipe calls for. And now that you have your home made pickling salt, you are on your way to making your very own pickles.
raewyn64,
Jan 10, 6:33pm
what kind of pests in particular do they keep away in your garden?
elliehen,
Jan 10, 10:49pm
Bumping for 0800xford for his cooking with weeds request...
0800xford,
Jan 10, 10:52pm
i saw this and it got me thinking
and how dare you use mayonnaise, thick cream and cream cheese in the same recipe ha ha ha
elliehen,
Jan 10, 10:55pm
Now that's a question for uli or buzzy110 ;)
lindylambchops1,
Jan 10, 11:01pm
Elliehen....great idea!LOL @ Oxford!!!Raewyn....they just seem to keep away the general pests that spoil your veg garden.They are great around apple trees for repelling woody aphids.In the glasshouse they will protect against white fly.The nasturtiums secrete a mustard-oil which insects seem to find more attractive than cabbage, cauliflower, sprouts, kohlrabi & turnips.They spread over the ground keeping the soil weed free & moist.Also the flavour improving agent is good for your crops.Particularly good for giving radish a good hot taste.Great for keeping away cucumber beetles!Hope that helps!
jan2242,
Jan 10, 11:01pm
Poor mans capers sounds great, but where do you buy mace from?? I don't think I've seen that in shops?
lindylambchops1,
Jan 10, 11:03pm
Jan.....Mace is a spice made from the waxy red covering which covers nutmeg seeds. The flavor is similar to that of nutmeg, with a hint of pepper and a more subtle note which can be overwhelmed by heavy-handed cooks. Mace is readily available in many cooking supply stores in both whole and ground form, and it has a wide range of uses from desserts to savory roast meats. The versatile flavor can make mace a useful spice to have around, especially since many recipes call for it.
jan2242,
Jan 10, 11:07pm
we only have 2 very useless 4 squares here LOL. If I get to a Bin Inn or a big market will try there. Will save the recipe for then - sounds lovely
uli,
Jan 11, 4:52am
Not sure what "woody" aphids are ....
davidt4,
Jan 11, 5:06am
The vegan cousins of woolly aphids?
uli,
Jan 11, 6:19am
Ahhh - thanks davidt4!
uli,
Jan 22, 6:47pm
Ok - the above - here posted as "lamb chops" own experience - or so we are to believe - actually comes copied and pasted from here:
why she/he chooses to tell us all this is beyond me - as nasturtium seeds are nowhere near the same thing as capers.
So if you really want to "substitute" capers - then please do harvest unopened nasturtium flower buds (which is what capers are - unopened flower buds!) ... and pickle those - not the hard - in-edible seeds!!!
Good luck!
P.S.: Originally the buds were actually not "pickled" as in cooked in vinegar - but fermented - as in sauerkraut ... but that would be too much to ask I guess .... so maybe better buy capers after all ...
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