| Author | Content |
Allwild
East, TX
(Zone 7b)
March 22, 2009
02:16 PM Post #6303999
| So this pokeweed is sprouting up everywhere.
What's the best way to cook it?
Aside from the fact that the root is deadly toxic and the berries are poison, the tender young greens make a tasty dish full of healthy goodness, so they say; as long as you boil the tar out of it, like three times, changing the water each boil before preparing with your favorite seasonings. Maybe I'm feeling like living dangerously (haha), but I would like to try some and have read much about it but I don't know anyone first hand who has eaten it (or maybe lived to tell about it). That's not a good arguement when trying to talk my DH into having some with me, by the way. I'm thinking ~ get rid of it now before it becomes a problem with the dogs chewing on it or something!
So is anyone planning on some tender poke salad this spring? If so I would love to read your stories, cooking tips and experiences. Does it really taste like asparagus?
Aside from the yummy goodness, does it take care of your rheumatoid arthritis, or combat your DH's fungal infections?
Click the image for an enlarged view.
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garden_mermaid
San Francisco Bay Ar, CA
(Zone 9b)
March 22, 2009
08:05 PM Post #6305463
| We used to crush the poke berries and use it as a magenta lip stain when I was a child. I'm still here to tell about it. LOL!
Most of the folks I know cook the leaves until tender and then pour them out in a colander, rinse with cold water until cool enough to handle, then squeeze out the greens, chop and saute with what ever seasonings you favour. That's bacon for some, onions and garlic for others.
Here is further information and some recipes from the Tennesee Polk Salad Association:
http://www.rockytopgen.com/polksalad/index.html
| Quoted: | Poke Sallet
-- Southern Living Cookbook: Cooking Across The South
Gather all the sallet you can find (it cooks down.) Pick 6 to 7-inch shoots. Wash and clean; swim the shoots in plenty of water in a big pot and boil until tender.
Meanwhile slice a pan of country bacon and fry out the grease. When the poke is tender, drain off the water it was cooked in and cover it with cold water. Squeeze it out of the cold water into the hot bacon grease. Salt to taster and cook slolwy until hot through. Serve with the fried bacon and hot cornbread.
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"Polk Salad" SAUT.
-- Recipe Excerpted From: http://www.recipesource.com
3lb "Polk Salad" -- fresh
1md Onion -- diced
1tb Baking soda
1/2c Bacon fat
3 Eggs
Note: "Polk Salad" is a spinach type vegetable that grows wild in the woods. Dissolve the baking soda into a pot of boiling water. Add "Polk Salad" and cook for 3« minutes. Drain and discard the water. In a FRESH pot of boiling water, cook the "Polk Salad" until it is limp and looks like cooked spinach. Heat the bacon fat in a skillet, add onions, the Polk salad, and the eggs, and saut‚ until eggs are done.
Serving Size: 6
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"Polk Salad" And Eggs
-- Recipe Excerpted From: http://www.grits.com
1 1/2 lb. Poke Leaves & Stalks
5 Thick Slices Salt Bacon
1/2 t. Salt
6-8 Eggs
Directions: Select tender young polk greens, include some tender stalks, not over 6 inches long. Cut stalks like you would celery. Clean well rinsing several times.
Parboil and discard water. Add fresh water and 1 slice of bacon. Cook until tender. Fry rest of bacon until crisp and set aside.
Add greens, salt and eggs to dripping cook over low heat for 20 minutes. |
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Allwild
East, TX
(Zone 7b)
March 23, 2009
09:40 AM Post #6307450
| Oh thank you so much for all the information garden_mermaid! It is exactly what I needed and I am glad you are here to tell about it! hahaha! I was really just joking. Squeezing the poke out in cold water after boiling and draining-good additional info, for starters. And I will be enjoying the website listed, who knew there was a poke salad association!
Thank you again. |
roadrunner
Hereford, AZ
(Zone 8a)
March 26, 2009
11:27 AM Post #6322387
| I lived to tell about eating the ROOTS!!
At 5 YO my cousin and I were digging in my Mom's flower bed and came up with something we thought might be those long whitish radishes...very bland tasting...needed salt...told Mom ..Salt Please..."How many of these have you eaten"/...OH...she's gonna get me good...so I say NONE...long story short...both girls ended up having the doctor called for us and they poured everything down us...the doctor said an ounce of them could be fatal for a child. Thank goodness I wanted SALT!
To this day neither my cousin nor I can drink coffee...we throw up at a teaspoonful...we think it was due to our experience with Poke Root!!
Mom did cook a lot of the young tender greens though. Jo |
Allwild
East, TX
(Zone 7b)
March 26, 2009
12:05 PM Post #6322537
| Well I am glad you are here to tell about it too!! You would think something so toxic would at least taste terrible... OH, but that is left for the stuff that's good for us!! I'm guessing coffee was something they poured down you to cause it to nauseate you today.
I ate LOTS of dirt and mud pies as a child but I don't remember getting in trouble for it; mom probably thought I needed the minerals LOL. Sour grass was also a favorite and nasturtium nectar! But we probably didn't have poke in Salines, CA?
I haven't had any poke salet yet, but my dh is heading home this evening, so maybe this weekend I can talk him into having some. Most all the recipes include pig-fat and although I read that it does something for the poke, I'm not sure if it's just for taste or something more? |
ByndeweedBeth
scio, oregon, OR
(Zone 8a)
March 30, 2009
10:01 PM Post #6342922
| It probably gives it some taste! |
catz54wld
Saline, LA
June 18, 2009
03:48 PM Post #6706837
| My husband cooks them by boiling the leaves and rinsing them,4 x"s. After straining them the 4th time he adds seasonings and chopped eggs.Cooks them with a little cooking oil or bacon grease few minutes to get the flavors in good. |
Allwild
East, TX
(Zone 7b)
June 18, 2009
05:10 PM Post #6707303
| Well, I did prepare some poke this spring. I boiled 3 times, changing the water. After the 3rd boiling, I squeezed all the liquid out.
I sliced and cooked several strips of bacon until crisp, remove bacon, in grease saute 1 chopped onion a couple of minutes, add 2 minced garlic cloves and a large tomato diced, cook another minute, add poke, salt & pepper, throw bits back in and toss.
I must say it tasted very good (probably because of the bacon fat). But it reminded me of the overcooked spinach that I ate as a child.
It made me wonder if all of that boiling is really necessary or if it is just the way we used to cook back in the days? I've been meaning to look into that further.
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grits74571
Talihina, OK
June 22, 2009
04:12 PM Post #6724200
| I have "been there done that " but they are just not that good ,and have to say you best get rid of them while you can it is a nasty weed here in southeast Oklahoma |
pandora125
Symsonia, KY
(Zone 6b)
June 29, 2009
03:52 PM Post #6754877
| Allwild, my granny used to cook poke like that. And she also froze it for later. I did try it but never liked it. We picked the young greens come springtime for her to cook.
I always heard that all parts of poke are poison. I guess the cooking and draining and cooking and draining removes or dilutes the poison? |
catz54wld
Saline, LA
July 15, 2009
04:58 PM Post #6823733
| Allwild, you can try not cooking it so many times, but unless I'm mistaken, it can clean you out well enough.My father-in-law and his folks lived thru the depression eating what they could and poke salad was one of the staples.they found it wild in the woods and elsewhere. |
Allwild
East, TX
(Zone 7b)
July 15, 2009
06:51 PM Post #6824198
| Hi catz & pandora,
It seems we have gotten away from eating wild greens and herbs like our elders before us did. I would like to do it more myself.
Everything I've read says to cook several times, changing the water to remove toxins. I remember when you could get poke in the can LOL, it was Allen's Poke Salet Greens.
Apparently they stopped selling because they couldn't find enough producers; and that wasn't all that long ago. I also read that you can eat the larger leaves too but you have to remove the center membrane but never eat the roots those are poisonous.
Found these fact and more at this fun little website: http://www.georgiabamboo.com/ThePoke/Page/tabid/56/Default.a... |
Pagancat
(Sheryl) Gainesboro, TN
(Zone 6b)
September 12, 2009
08:45 AM Post #7054708
| Hello from Gainesboro, Tennessee, the home of the Poke Salet annual festival. For real.
My neighbor informed me that you should use the young, small leaves from the plant, so I pulled 3 or 4 off and ate them. I mentioned it to him later, that's when he told me that they had to be cooked or were poisonous.
So, 2 years later, maybe a little dumber but no other noticeable effects... |
Allwild
East, TX
(Zone 7b)
September 12, 2009
05:20 PM Post #7056295
| pagancat, thanks for telling your story. That brings me back to wondering how poison the young poke leaves really are? Guess I shouldn't though and just accept the fact that I don't have a science lab. LOL
So when does the Annual Poke Salet Festival begin? I've got huge plants growing around here now and it seems there are some bugs that really enjoy eating the leaves. I like to think the poke is keeping the bugs off my garden plants! |
Pagancat
(Sheryl) Gainesboro, TN
(Zone 6b)
September 12, 2009
06:21 PM Post #7056509
| The festival is usually right around Mother's Day, I guess that's just the first of two seasons. I'm pulling them out like crazy right now; once they go to seed, they're yours forever! |
leaflady
Hughesville, MO
(Zone 5a)
October 04, 2009
10:54 PM Post #7135683
| How many times you need to cook it depends mostly on how mature the leaves are. If the plants are small like the little ones in your picture once should be enough with a cold water rinse. Then cook for just a few minutes in water to keep from burning with just a bit of liquid smoke added to it, with turkey bacon or 97% fat free ham, some chopped onions and just a touch of seasoned salt without MSG. This a low fat, moderate sodium, nutrient packed dish. If you use lots of onion and bacon or ham all you need is some cornbread or biscuit and maybe an apple dessert for a complete meal. If you don't want the ham or bacon, use the onion and some butter or Parkey ff spray. Never use stick oleo.
If you cut off the parent plant every few weeks it will sprout again giving you nice tender greens without the strong acidic sting. I like the greens when the sprout is less than 6" tall. 12" tall max for nice tender greens and stems. You don't need to pitch the stem if the plants are small. You can also use the very top of mature plants to have nice tender greens and stems.
This message was edited Oct 5, 2009 7:46 PM |
Allwild
East, TX
(Zone 7b)
October 04, 2009
11:18 PM Post #7135733
| Great info ladyleaf! Thanks for the cooking instructions, I'm now looking forward to trying them come spring.
Nice to know about the tops of the mature plants...but won't be able to try that now since something has eaten every leaf from the poke plants (not sure what). But the pretty berries are still hanging there. I think there are some birds that will eat the berries...although it may make them act strange! It seems like I read that.
Click the image for an enlarged view.
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leaflady
Hughesville, MO
(Zone 5a)
October 04, 2009
11:23 PM Post #7135751
| Do you have grasshoppers or locust there? They will sometimes strip a plant. The wild birds here eat the berries during the winter. I've never heard about strange behavior from eating the berries. Some people here make jelly from the berries. I tried once. Nasty smelling stuff and it never did set up. I found the recipe in a magazine on living off the land. |
Allwild
East, TX
(Zone 7b)
October 04, 2009
11:36 PM Post #7135784
| Lots of grasshoppers~I keep finding them in my garden! and there seems to be more locusts around this year.
Hmmm interesting about the jelly too. Does it taste any good?
Maybe it was something else I was reading that the birds will get drunk off of the berries... |
leaflady
Hughesville, MO
(Zone 5a)
October 05, 2009
08:48 PM Post #7139115
| Please go back to the recipe and note that there should be a little bit of liquid smoke added to the last bit of water used to keep it from burning when you add the meat and onions. I'm sorry I forgot to add that last night. |
