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Nettles


mcohen

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What do you do with nettles? I've never cooked or even them, but I just bought some so I'm looking for some ideas. Do you just use them in a soup primarily?

Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall has one of the best recipes for nettles that I've ever had. Risotto of nettles and wild herbs.

Shelley: Would you like some pie?

Gordon: MASSIVE, MASSIVE QUANTITIES AND A GLASS OF WATER, SWEETHEART. MY SOCKS ARE ON FIRE.

Twin Peaks

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aboslute must for spring is cream of nettle soup

saute the nettles in butter ...add some chicken stock and puree ...add cream salt and pepper

nothing else

enjoy

why am I always at the bottom and why is everything so high? 

why must there be so little me and so much sky?

Piglet 

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Cook them in soups or as spinach... some people eat the very young leaves in salads but I find it dangerous considering that some larger leaves do have some of those painful hair. Picking nettles can be a pain without gloves.

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What do you do with nettles? I've never cooked or even them, but I just bought some so I'm looking for some ideas. Do you just use them in a soup primarily?

Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall has one of the best recipes for nettles that I've ever had. Risotto of nettles and wild herbs.

this risotto is superb...

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I think I have Nettles in my side yard. how do I know for sure?

stick your bare hand in.....:)

YUP :smile: you learn that they are what they are when you do that!!!

you can also dry nettles and make a very good for you tea!

why am I always at the bottom and why is everything so high? 

why must there be so little me and so much sky?

Piglet 

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I think I have Nettles in my side yard. how do I know for sure?

There are some great pictures of nettles at their various stages of growth here. Aside from their stinging hairs there isn't a definitive feature of nettles (such as squared stems on mint plants and their relatives) that tell you "Ah ha! This is, without a doubt, a nettle." Just look at those pictures and your plants very closely. With your gloves on. :biggrin:

Shelley: Would you like some pie?

Gordon: MASSIVE, MASSIVE QUANTITIES AND A GLASS OF WATER, SWEETHEART. MY SOCKS ARE ON FIRE.

Twin Peaks

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Last Saturday, we roasted a butt and picnic of a Mangalitsa Hog. We served Stinging Nettles and polenta and roasted Delacotta Squash along side.

The nettles were simply dumped in a pot with a bit of boiling water much like spinach. About 5 minutes with salt and a few grinds of pepper. Done..

What a hell of a meal!

Heat takes the sting out of the leaf almost instantly. Nice different fresh flavor.

Robert

Seattle

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What do you do with nettles? ... I just bought some ...

It never occurred to me that my gardening problem might be a commercial crop! :huh:

Various ideas here (and elsewhere on that site)

http://www.downsizer.net/Projects/Finding_...inging_Nettles/

"If you wish to make an apple pie from scratch ... you must first invent the universe." - Carl Sagan

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In Darina Allen's "Irish Traditional Cooking" there is a recipe for Nettle Champ which is, basically, mashed potatoes made with hot milk in which your nettles have steeped for about half an hour. To 675g of hot, peeled potatoes, add 300ml of milk in which you've steeped a cup or so of chopped nettles. Mash all together. Salt & Pepper. Lots of Irish butter. A big spoon.

kit

"I'm bringing pastry back"

Weebl

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I've noticed that most recipes for nettles use potatoes. Is there any particular reason why- what does adding potatoes to a nettle dish do?

I've eaten them sauteed quickly with lots of olive oil, and they were delicious.

This LA Times article from last year has a bunch of good ideas for cooking nettles: http://www.latimes.com/features/food/la-fo...-headlines-food

Thanks. I knew I had read an LA Times article about nettles before, but I couldn't find it when I searched for it. I guess this article must have been in news archive, and one would normally need to pay to read it.

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I've eaten them sauteed quickly with lots of olive oil, and they were delicious.

This LA Times article from last year has a bunch of good ideas for cooking nettles: http://www.latimes.com/features/food/la-fo...-headlines-food

Now, that I think about it, I remember reading about nettles in one of Russ Parson's Farmer Market writeups. Just to complete the story, could you please also link or post that article as well.

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Now, that I think about it, I remember reading about nettles in one of Russ Parson's Farmer Market writeups. Just to complete the story, could you please also link or post that article as well.

Try doing a simple Google search for what you're looking for. I think the LA Times is no longer hiding old news stories in its archives, and they are accessible.

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Now, that I think about it, I remember reading about nettles in one of Russ Parson's Farmer Market writeups. Just to complete the story, could you please also link or post that article as well.

Try doing a simple Google search for what you're looking for. I think the LA Times is no longer hiding old news stories in its archives, and they are accessible.

The LA Times had a feature Food Section article yesterday about spring gratins that has a potato and greens (applicable to nettles) dish that sounded nice.

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  • 3 weeks later...
  • 1 month later...

Okay I just picked all the nettle tops I had on my side of the fence...

Do I use JUST the leaves? Should I wash first?

I hope I have an answer to this by the time I get back from Wawa....

BTW-my elbow was confirmation that I do indeed have Nettles!

Edited by GlorifiedRice (log)

Wawa Sizzli FTW!

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Okay I just picked all the nettle tops I had on my side of the fence...

Do I use JUST the leaves? Should I wash first?

I hope I have an answer to this by the time I get back from Wawa....

BTW-my elbow was confirmation that I do indeed have Nettles!

If the stems are young they should be tender enough to use. Yes, wash them first. What are you planning to do with those elbow-stinging plants? :biggrin:

Shelley: Would you like some pie?

Gordon: MASSIVE, MASSIVE QUANTITIES AND A GLASS OF WATER, SWEETHEART. MY SOCKS ARE ON FIRE.

Twin Peaks

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