If you follow this blog with any regularity, you may remember a post back in 2018 where I discussed the origin of the Dandelion Green Salad. Or "German Potato Salad" as Mom used to improperly call it. ( She also called Crepe's "Swedish Pancakes"... ) Mom had a way of mislabeling things so she would sound "well traveled. " But when the truth was eventually discovered, it only reinforced the fact that my Mom lived her entire life within 10 miles of the place she was born. It's a small world after all...
It never fails that I inevitably end up beating up my Mom in some form over her cooking whenever this topic comes to light. Yes! She was a bad cook. Yes! Dandelions are Weeds that she fed her family. True! Mom also bragged about cooking and feeding other "irregular things" to us and extended family. 
( If you are a Clemense, you may be questioning what she brought to all those Family reunions. If you are a Genther, You probably know now why the chicken tasted different.) I'll spare the stories of Liver, deer heart, Boiled Pork, and freezer burned Fish fry. Let me just say that my Brother and I "learned" to eat just about anything... Which still haunts both of us to this day.
But on to the Dandelions! I blogged about how I reverse engineered the recipe back in 2018. Since that time, I think I have only made it one other time. 2020 was already a fully packed foraging year. Our freezer is still packed with Berries and my pantry still has some Hops, Dried Tomatoes and a few mushrooms! I'm sure Dandelions simply got overlooked.
 |
| Cleaning and trimming the Dandelions. |
But the rainy weather and chilled temps piqued my memory of Springs of the past. Yesterday, Cheryl and I went out and harvested a bowl full of Dandelions so I could cook them up in one of Mom's Traditional dishes. I still am not 100% on the Ratios of ingredients,
but it tastes fine enough for me. And since I'm the only one who eats it, I can afford to be creative.
The ingredients are simple. Potatoes, Eggs, Bacon, Onion. ( I like Sweet onions... Mom probably used Yellow onions.. because they were cheap and awful!) Dandelions.. and a splash of Vinegar.
 |
| Mix Everything in a bowl! |
Mix them all up in a bowl. ( As was Mom's traditional cooking method.) Add the Dandelions into the mix before the potatoes have a chance to cool. (They will soften the leaves.) When all the mixing is complete... Serve some up!
 |
| Mom's Tip: Appearance is tasteless. |
Sure, it is not very pretty from this view point. ( Mom was NEVER one to worry about the aesthetics. She only worried if it was edible, filling, and somewhat healthy. She would have made a great camp cook for a long cattle drive. ) BUT... It is an awesome taste from the past. Tangy vinegar with the slight bitterness of the Dandelions. Mixed with Bacon and eggs.. I have to control myself or I will certainly eat it all in one setting. 
Couple of things I learned this time. One: It is helpful to cut up the larger Dandelion leaves, if they are fairly large. Two: I could probably back off on the eggs and bacon a bit. However, I love BOTH! And even though there are no rules... and you can never have too much of a good thing, I would probably add less to help make the ingredients go further.
Otherwise... That is it! Did I bash on Mom too much in this post? Maybe. Then again, she was crazy and after spending the first dozen informative years of my life with her, 
My brother and Dad ( If Dad were still alive) would attest that we are only now, ABLE to get our payback after she has passed on the the Great Wide Yonder.
Dad was never able to get a word in edgewise when she was alive. And My brother would simply try to out scream her! Which rarely worked. Somehow we all survived. ( Well, Dad at least outlived her by 9 years.) But she made at least one Tasty Dish that I still love and remember. And that is what I think of whenever I make this dish... Thanks Mom. I know this is how you would want to be remembered..... Update! I DID make some of this back in 2020. Funny how I forgot. 2020 had a lot going on in it.. so I will have to cut myself a little slack.
2 comments:
My favorite spring dish is wild parsnip, it takes a lot of prep to dig it up and wash it, but it is yummy in a stir fried sort of way.
I'll have to try some dandelion greens. They are looking good!
I've already made nettle tea and in a month I can have some other weedy greens! Yipee!
Dandys are greens, if you had a big family you would surely feed them what was available. My Mom has learned to cook...but everything is smothered in the cheap yellow onions she buys them by the bag at the rate of one bag per week....that is 3 or 4 pounds of the onions! Yuck...we rarely use onions. Some of the stuff she fed to us as kids I shudder to think about...
Glad you liked the tasty flashback you made! Have some bacon with that bacon:)
Post a Comment