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Award-winning chef, author and forager Alan Bergo. Food is all around you.

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Japanese Knotweed Mousse with Wild Mint

Jump to Recipe Print Recipe

japanese knotweed mousseA simple mousse dessert you can make with my basic sweetened knotweed puree I discuss in this post here, stored in the freezer. If you have fresh knotweed, just cook some with sugar or maple syrup to taste until it releases the water, puree until very fine, then reduce to a thick puree, cool and proceed as per the recipe below.

japanese knotweed mousse
Print Recipe
5 from 3 votes

Wild Peppermint-Knotweed Mousse

Yield: 4 cups, enough to serve 4 people
Prep Time15 mins
Cook Time10 mins
Setting Time3 hrs
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Keyword: Japanese Knotweed, Mousse
Servings: 4

Ingredients

  • 1 cup knotweed puree see recipe
  • 3 leaves of leaf gelatin 1 tablespoon powdered gelatin can be substituted
  • 1 tablespoon chopped wild mint (Blefilia hirsuta)
  • 2 cups heavy whipping cream chilled
  • 1 tiny pinch kosher salt
  • 4 tablespoons powdered sugar

Instructions

  • Chill a mixing bowl and beaters in the freezer. Heat the knotweed puree on low heat in a pan until warmed through, but not boiling. Stir the chopped mint into the knotweed. Meanwhile, soak the gelatin in very cold water for 10 minutes, or until the gelatin is completely limp. Remove the gelatin from the water, then add to the warm knotweed puree and whisk until the gelatin is incorporated. Chill the pan in the fridge for 10 minutes.
  • Meanwhile, combine the cream and powdered sugar in a chilled bowl. Whip the cream until stiff peaks form. Remove the pan with the knotweed from the fridge, then whisk to loosen the puree. If the puree doesn't seem to be setting, reheat the puree and add a little more gelatin, then repeat the process.
  • Fold 1/3 of the cream into the knotweed mixture, then gently, and thoroughly fold in the rest. Put the mousse in a container, pressing plastic down onto the surface of the mousse to prevent oxidization. Refrigerate the mousse until set, and slightly stiff, preferably overnight.
  • To serve the mousse, spoon it into a pastry bag and pipe it into whatever dish or vessel you like.

Notes

I made this with some wild peppermint, but warm spices like cinnamon, cloves, cardamom, and nutmeg would be great in it's place during the winter. It's great served with toasted cake or biscotti too, pictured is toasted strips of wild rice flour pound cake.

 

Related

Previous Post: « Chicken Heart Confit
Next Post: Rowanberries in Syrup »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Rick

    April 11, 2020 at 4:31 pm

    This looks amazing! At what point do you add the chopped mint?

    Reply
    • Alan Bergo

      April 11, 2020 at 5:01 pm

      I adjusted that. Thanks for letting me know.

      Reply

Trackbacks

  1. Japanese Knotweed says:
    March 29, 2020 at 11:29 am

    […] After cooking, the sweetened knotweed puree can be used for all kinds of things: cake fillings, frosting, or something like the simple mousse below. See the knotweed mousse recipe here. […]

    Reply

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FORAGER | CHEF®
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Author: The Forager Chef’s Book of Flora
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Alan Bergo
Had a blast on the last day of the @wild.fed shoot Had a blast on the last day of the @wild.fed shoot cooking in the Garden of Eden, a.k.a Sam Thayer’s orchard. 

We’d planned on making ground squirrel, bullfrog and crayfish gumbo but only the crayfish came through. Luckily I had some back up andouille just in case. 

It’s may not be traditional, but gumbo with crayfish broth, a heap of @mushroomforaginginmn porcini, milkweed pods (in lieu of okra) wild rice and crayfish-chanterelle salad didn’t suck. 6 of us polished off a gallon 😁.

H/o to chef Lenny Russo who I pestered with questions on frog-based foods beforehand. Hyper-local meals like this are what we made at Heartland in St Paul during my tenure there. 

@danielvitalis 
@grantguiliano 

#ditchlobster #mudbugs #gumbo #crayfish #wildrice #wildfed
Long, fun day snatching crayfish out of the water Long, fun day snatching crayfish out of the water by hand with Sam Thayer and @danielvitalis for @wild.fed 

Daniel and Sam were the apex predators, but I got a few. 

Without a net catching crayfish by hand is definitely a wax-on wax-off sort of skill. Clears your mind. 

They’re going into gumbo with porcini, sausage and milkweed pods today. 

#crayfish #ninjareflexes #waxonwaxoff #normalthings #onset🎥🎬
Working all day on preps for cattail lateral rhizo Working all day on preps for cattail lateral rhizomes and blueberries for this weeks shoot with @wildfed 

Been a few years since I worked with these. Thankfully Sam Thayer dropped a couple off for me to work with. They’re tender, crisp and delicious. 

Sam mentioned their mild flavor and texture could be because they don’t have to worry about predators eating them, since they grow in the muck of cattail marshes. 

I think they could use a pet name. Pond tusk? Swamp spears? Help me out here. 😂

Nature makes the coolest things. 

#itcamefromthepond #cattail #rhizomes #foraging #typhalatifolia
I liked the staff meal I made for Mondays shoot so I liked the staff meal I made for Mondays shoot so much we filmed it instead of the original dish I’d planned. 

Cooked natural wild rice (not the black shiny stuff) is great hot, cold, sweet or savory. It’s a perfect, filling lunch for a long day of berry picking. 

I make them with whatever I have on hand. Mushrooms will fade into the background a little here, so I use a bunch of them, along with lots of herbs and hickory nut oil + dill flowers. 

I’m eating the leftovers today back up in the barrens (hopefully) getting some more bluebs for another shoot this week w @wild.fed 

#wilwilwice #wildrice #chanterelles #campfood #castironcooking
Baby’s first homegrown mushrooms! Backyard wine Baby’s first homegrown mushrooms! Backyard wine caps on hardwood sawdust from my lumberjack buddy.

Next up blewits. Spawn from @northsporemushrooms

#winecaps #strophariaaeruginosa #allthemushroomtags
It’s wild cherry season. I’ll be picking from It’s wild cherry season. I’ll be picking from my favorite spot tomorrow a.m. and have room for a couple helpers. It’s at an event on a farm just south of St. Cloud. 

If you’re interested send me a message and I’ll raffle off the spots. Plenty of cherries to go around. I’ll be leading a short plant walk around the farm too. 

#chokecherries #foraging #prunusvirginiana #summervibes
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