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

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Tepary Beans de la Olla with Sweetfern

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Tepary Beans de la Olla with Sweetfern

Tepary Beans de la Olla, with sweetfern. This is a great place to use sweetfern leaves as you would a bay leaf.

Tepary Beans de la Olla with Sweetfern is my take on one of the most classic recipe for beans I know of. Frijoles de la Olla basically means “beans of the pot”, and is a famous, simple Mexican staple. Traditionally, as I understand it, the pot is important, and should be either a clay or earthenware vessel, with the beans slowly cooked for hours on end until tender. 

Sometimes herbs like epazote are added to the classic prep, but, when my friend Sam Shaperow sent me a recipe for refried beans scented with the leaves of Myrica pensylvanica, I had to try his version. After I cooked a batch, I noticed how aromatic and delicious the broth was. After mashing everything up to make refries though, the subtle scent of the myrica leaves disappeared, so I assumed that the mashing must have diluted or negated the flavor somehow, so the next time, instead of refried beans, I just made frijoles de la olla, and it turned out so well I served the dish (using sweetfern instead of Myrica pensylvanica as the flavor is stronger) to 200 people at the Midwest Wild Harvest Festival. 

Sweetfern or Comptonia peregrina leaves with seed

Sweetfern leaves. The original recipe I modified this from used Myrica pensylvanica, but I found I prefer the more robust taste of sweetfern.

The recipe is super easy, the only tricky thing might be getting ahold of some sweetfern leaves, which love to grow in rocky, acidic, sandy soil. Serve them with a dollop of sour cream or Mexican crema like a soup, or as a side to your favorite Mexican meal. 

You can use your favorite beans here, but I really like the heirloom tepary beans from Ramona Farms. Ramonas is an indigenous-owned company specializing in indigenous crops like tepary beans and specialty corn products. They’re reasonably priced, and your money goes to a great cause. Check them out. 

Tepary Beans de la Olla with Sweetfern (1)

Tepary Beans de la Olla with Sweetfern (1)
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Tepary Beans de la Olla with Sweetfern

Slow cooked tepary beans scented with sweetfern, cooked in a clay pot. Serves 4-6
Prep Time10 mins
Cook Time5 hrs
Course: Side Dish
Cuisine: Mexican
Keyword: Sweetfern, Tepary beans
Servings: 4

Ingredients

  • 1 cup dried tepary beans or your favorite bean (I used Ramonas black tepary beans)
  • 1 medium onion diced ¼ inch
  • 1 large clove garlic finely chopped
  • 4 cups water
  • 2 oz chunk of smoked meat cut into small cubes or left whole (optional, you can also use a smoked ham bone, etc)
  • A small handful (5-6 3-4 inch leaves) of dried or fresh sweetfern leaves wrapped in cheesecloth for easy removal
  • Kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste

Instructions

  • Combine all ingredients into a pot, put in the oven at 250F and cook for 4-5 hours, or until the beans are tender and taste good to you. After an hour, remove the sweetfern and discard. Other, more common beans will cook quicker than tepary beans, which are notorious for taking a long time to cook.
  • Alternately, you can simmer the beans on the stovetop. Whatever method you choose, make sure to check on them from time to time to make sure the beans are covered with a layer of water so they don't dry out, which can cause them to split.
  • When the beans are tender, season the mixture to taste with salt, and serve as a simple side dish or a rustic soup with a dollop of sour cream, cheese, chopped scallions, cilantro, etc.

Related

Previous Post: « Sweetfern Shortbread Cookies
Next Post: Dried Venison Soup with Timpsila (Bapa Wohanpi) »

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FORAGER | CHEF®
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Author: The Forager Chef’s Book of Flora
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Alan Bergo
HALP! I’ve been keeping an eye on two loaded mul HALP! I’ve been keeping an eye on two loaded mulberry trees and both got a bunch of fruit knocked down by the storms and wind. 

If anyone in West WI or around the Twin Cities knows of some trees, (ideally on private property but beggars can’t be choosers) that I could climb and shake with a tarp underneath, shoot me a DM and let’s pick some! 🤙😄

TIA

#throwadogabone #mansquirrel #beattlefruit #mulberries #shakintrees
Lampascioni, or edible hyacinth bulbs are one of t Lampascioni, or edible hyacinth bulbs are one of the more interesting things I’ve eaten. 

These are an ancient wild food traditionally harvested in Southern Italy, especially in Puglia and the Salentine Peninsula, as well as Greece and Crete. I’ve seen at least 6-7 different names for them. 

A couple different species are eaten, but Leopoldia comosa is probably the one I see mentioned the most. They also grow wild in North America. 

The bulbs are toxic raw, but edible after an extended boil. Traditionally they’re preserved in vinegar and oil, pickled, or preserves in other methods using acid and served as antipasti. (Two versions in pic 3). 

They’re one of the most heavily documented traditional wild foods I’ve seen. There’s a few shots of book excerpts here.

The Oxford companion to Italian Food says you can eat them raw-don’t do that. 

Even after pickling, the bulbs are aggressively extremely bitter. Definitely an acquired taste, but one that’s grown on me. 

#traditionalfoods #vampagioli #lampascione #cucinapovera #lampascioni #leopoldiacomosa #foraging
Went to some new spots yesterday looking for poke Went to some new spots yesterday looking for poke sallet and didn’t do too well (I’m at the tip of its range). I did see some feral horseradish though which I don’t see very often. 

Just like wild parsnip, this is the exact same plant you see in the store and garden-just escaped. 

During the growing season the leaves can be good when young. 

They have an aggressive taste bitter enough to scare your loved ones. Excellent in a blend of greens cooked until extra soft, preferably with bacon or similar. 

For reference, you don’t harvest the root while the plant is growing as they’ll be soft and unappealing-do that in the spring or fall. This is essentially the same as when people tell you to harvest in months that have an R in them. 

#amoraciarusticana #foraging #horseradishleaves #horseradish #bittergreens
In Italy chicken of the woods is known as “fungo In Italy chicken of the woods is known as “fungo del carrubo” (carob tree mushroom) as it’s one of the common tree hosts there. 

My favorite, and really the only traditional recipe I’ve found for them so far is simmered in a spicy tomato sauce with hot chile and capers, served with grilled bread. 

Here I add herbs too: fresh leaves of bee balm that are perfect for harvesting right now and have a flavor similar to oregano and thyme. 

Makes a really good side dish or app, especially if you shower it with a handful of pecorino before scooping it up with the bread. 

#chickenofthewoods #fungodelcarrubo #allthemushroomtags #traditionalfoods #beebalm
First of the year 😁. White-pored chicken of t First of the year 😁. 

White-pored chicken of the woods (Laetiporus cincinnatus) are my favorite chicken. 

Superior bug resistance, slightly better flavor + texture. They also stay tender longer compared to their more common yellow-pored cousins. Not a single bug in this guy. 

#treemeat #ifoundfood #foraging #laetiporuscincinnatus #chickenofthewoods
TBT brisket face 💦. Staff meal with @jesseroes TBT brisket face 💦. Staff meal with 
@jesseroesler and crew @campwandawega
📸 @misterberndt 

#staffmeal #brisket #meatsweats #naptime
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