Pickled, tender Angelica stems are a good introduction to working with the plant, and I’m surprised I didn’t try it sooner after all the years I’ve worked with it. Angelica (my local species should be A. atropurpurea) is fascinating, and delicious in the right place, but was frustrating as it doesn’t obey some of the…
Angelica
Angelica Blossoms (Zavirne)
“These angelicas grow wild near abandoned ruins and damp places. In February the Salentines go feverishly in search of them. This is the moment when the incipient flower-heads are still enclosed in their sheaths right up against the greenish-purple stem. You cut these sheaths with a knife”. –Patience Grey, Honey From a Weed. I love…
Winter Pavlova
Sunday, Wednesday, spring, summer or winter–anytime is a good time for pavlova. If you’ve ever had one, I’ll bet you’re agreeing with me, especially if you’ve eaten one gilded with fresh berries in the height of summer. If you’re not familiar, pavlovas are a desert made of a meringue nest, the top chiseled out or…
Roasted Beets with Snowsweet Apples, Angelica and Dried Cranberry
Here’s a great alternative to the horrific Midwestern holiday salad of mayonaise, cool whip, fruit jelly and stuff I think is called ambrosia. Mayonaise, fruit jelly, and, nope, not for me, I’ve never liked the stuff. What I do like, is roasted beets, preferably dressed in a creamy something, along with crunchy apples and thick,…
Strawberry-Rhubarb Crisp, With Angelica
From the first time I smelled angelica I’d been trying to figure out the perfect use for it in a dessert, which is easier said than done. Like truffles, the flavor is very strong alone, and almost soapy, but when mixed with too many things, the taste and aroma disappear completely. To further compound things,…
Angelica Seed Pound Cake
When I was dreaming up what to serve at the Slow Food MN’s Wild Things dinner last year, I knew I had to have an interesting dessert. Most of the other dinners of the previous years didn’t include a sweet option to finish the event, so I wanted to up the ante. Whatever the dessert…
Rhubarb Compote With Angelica and Dried Cherries
I’ve been really excited to work with angelica stem in it’s fresh state this year. It’s flavor is so interesting, so powerful. The problem is there really are no culinary resources online or otherwise for how to use it. I know I wanted to use it in desserts though, especially some sort of a peach…
Candied Angelica
Have you ever cooked with angelica? Most people haven’t, heck, most people haven’t even heard of the stuff. It’s available though, especially if you garden. More likely is that you’ve seen it sold via fancy French food companies. If you’re a food nerd like me, the first thing you may have thought of is: how…
Angelica
Michael The Archangel. Masterwort. The Holy Ghost. Angelica. It has a number of names, is usually about 8 ft tall, purple, looks like it came out of a Doctor Suess book, and is just as fascinating as it sounds. It’s taken me the better part of six years to find this plant. There’s lots of…