You Can Eat That? Daylily Buds Recipe

We wrote this post last year, after we harvested and cooked daylily buds, but saved it to post in advance of this year's season. So, if you want to try something new, watch your daylily plants for June blooms and harvest before the flowers come out. Once blooming starts, the buds are available for a few weeks.  I don't have the nutritional information - but you can probably find that somewhere! 

Did you know that daylily buds are edible? Yes, you can pick daylily buds, boil them and eat them! They taste a lot like asparagus. Serve with a little butter and salt - yummy! 

These common Daylily Plants bloom all over the Milwaukee area, but be sure to only pick and cook them if you know they haven't been sprayed with pesticides, of course. 

Pick the buds at any time before they bloom, the size doesn't matter. 

These buds could be picked, but leave the flowers. 

Freshly picked daylily buds, ready to trim and wash.

Any size bud can be cooked before bloom, the large one here is acceptable, as is the tiny one. 

Remove the stems, only cook the buds. 

Rinse the trimmed buds in clean water and drain.

Bring enough water to boil to cover the buds, adding about a teaspoon of salt. 

It's OK if the buds float in the water. 

Cover the pan, lower the heat to simmer and cook for about 3 minutes, or until tender. 

Drain, and serve. We like to add butter and salt. They taste a lot like asparagus. 

Low Fat Cornbread

• I needed to make some cornbread to go with our gumbo, but I also wanted to try cutting the fat in the recipe. I've used liquid egg substitute before, and also have tried replacing oil with unsweetened applesauce. This time I had a pouch of baby food carrot/apple puree, so I tried that. I also used skim milk. The results were great. My husband actually liked it better than the usual; he said it was much less crumbly than usual cornbread.  Here is my adjusted recipe from the Quaker Corn Bread box. 
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• 
  
• Low Fat Cornbread
• 
  
• 1 cup Quaker Yellow Corn Meal
• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 4 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 cup skim milk
• 1/4 cup liquid egg substitute
• 1 pouch baby food puree, applesauce or carrot/applesauce blend, or 1/2 cup regular applesauce.
• 
  
•  
• 

Preheat oven to 425° F. Spray 8-inch square pan or pie pan with non-stick cooking spray. In large bowl, combine corn meal, flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Add milk, egg substitute and baby food puree. Beat until fairly smooth, about 1 minute. Pour batter into prepared pan and bake in preheated oven for 20 to 23 minutes, or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Serve hot with butter and/or honey. Of course, if you use butter, you eliminate the fat-free part, but it's still lower in fat than usual.   

Gumbo, Milwaukee Style

Gumbo - Milwaukee Style
We tried gumbo at several different restaurants in Alabama and Louisiana in February, and they were all a bit different, and each one claimed to be "the best".  After a month back in cold, damp Wisconsin, Garry was craving some, so I gave it a try. I started with the recipe from Kevin Belton's "Big Flavors of New Orleans" cookbook, and had to make some adjustments with ingredients that were available at my local grocery, as well as cutting the quantity by half. My apologies to Mr. Belton. His PBS show, Kevin Belton's New Orleans Kitchen, is one of my favorites! He's very entertaining and passionate about cooking. I've made some other dishes from his book. I'm calling this "Milwaukee Style Gumbo", since I had to substitute frozen shrimp, crab and okra, and chicken broth instead of fish stock. I used Usinger's Andouille Sausage and Penzey's Cajun Spice mix. I also replaced green pepper with red pepper just because we don't care for green pepper. 

Gumbo - Milwaukee Style
Makes approximately 6 servings

1 box (32 oz) chicken stock or broth
1 cup water
1 bay leaf
1/2 cup vegetable oil
3/4 cup flour
1 small onion, chopped
1 red or green pepper, diced
1 rib of celery, diced
1 box frozen okra
1 lb frozen raw shrimp, cleaned, shelled, deveined, thawed and rinsed
2 links Usinger's Andouille sausage
1 cup of frozen lump crabmeat 
2 TBS Penzey's Cajun Spice Mix 

Put the stock or broth in a large dutch oven with the water and bay leaf, bring to a boil and turn down to simmer. 

Make the roux (thickener for the gumbo), by warming the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the flour gradually, whisking it in. Keep stirring over medium heat with a wooden spoon as it bubbles and then begins to turn brown. Take it off the heat when it turns peanut butter color, and pour into a separate bowl. It will continue to cook a bit and turn browner. 

Flour and oil beginning to cook.
Remove from heat when it is peanut butter color.

Roux continued to cook and get darker brown after
I removed it from the pan

Wipe out the skillet, and add 2 tsp oil to the pan, along with the red or green pepper, celery, and onion. Cook about 5 minutes over medium heat. 


Add the vegetables to the simmering broth. Add 2 TBS Cajun spice mix, roux and okra. Stir well and simmer for 30 minutes. 

Note: 2 TBS of Penzey's Cajun spice mix made a medium-hot gumbo. Use more or less to your taste. 

Cut the sausage into 1/2 inch slices. Add the sausage, shrimp, crabmeat. Simmer 5 minutes. 

Don't overcook the shrimp or they will be rubbery. Serve over rice, if desired. 

The cornbread was another recipe test. I've posted the recipe, Low Fat Cornbread.

Grilling Salmon on the Salt Plate

Grilling Salmon on the Himalayan Salt Plate

We received a salt plate as a gift and were anxious to try it. For once, I actually READ INSTRUCTIONS before using something new. I found that it is only to be used on a grill or gas range (we have electric), not in the oven. So, following directions, we slowly heated the salt plate on our gas grill on the deck. 

Garry had been fishing with his friend Scott Kelly on Lake Michigan out of Port Washington in July. They caught their limit of 10 fish by 6:45 a.m.  They caught Coho salmon, Chinook salmon, and steelhead trout. 

We tried fresh Coho salmon on the salt plate that night. Here's the fish seasoned with lemon pepper, on the heated salt plate. We didn't oil the plate and the fish came off easily. 

Our tasty meal! 

Camping in Cassville, WI

Camping - Nelson Dewey State Park 
Garry and I took a long weekend at the end of July and camped for a few days in Nelson Dewey State Park, near Cassville, WI, on the Mississippi River. The park is small and the campground wasn't crowded. There were a few short hiking trails. The scenery was beautiful and we learned more about Wisconsin history by taking a tour at the Stonefield Historic Site, including the Dewey Mansion. We thought it was rather funny that Governor Dewey wanted to make Cassville the capital, since it is basically at the end of the state. 

We only saw one deer - I think this is Bambi!

River view from the park

View of Stonefield Site from Nelson Dewey State Park

The river was high and there was some flooding.

I had to ask my botanist coworker what this thorny tree was -Honey Locust 

We tried to get to the river from this road 

OK, we turned around. 

Cool web in the woods! 

Quiet, shady campsite on the hill above the railroad tracks and river.

Grilled Portobello mushrooms with crabmeat

I love cooking while camping, but it was very HOT on this trip, so we didn't cook a lot. This isn't a great photo - but they tasted good! I took 2 portobello mushroom caps, scraped out the gills, and stuffed them with a combination of crabmeat, bread crumbs, Parmesan cheese and basil. Then I wrapped them in foil and grilled for about 15 minutes. Yummy! The original recipe called for shrimp, not crab and we'll try that next time. 

Oven Fried Fish Recipe

Garry has a great recipe for oven fried fish, which we hope is a healthier alternative to the deep-fried version. A few weeks ago he went fishing with his friend and caught their limit of 25 bluegills each. So, after a lot of fish-cleaning (by Garry, not me), we shared some with our family and had a good meal. 

The method is easy. You just need your fish, cleaned and filleted, olive oil in a spray bottle (I use a Misto) and some Bakin' Miracle coating mix. We've also used Fryin' Magic, but it seems too salty for our taste. We like to stop at local grocers when traveling, and our last experiment with "hot Cajun" coating mix resulting in burning mouths. 

1. Preheat your oven to 500 degrees, with your rack or racks close to the center of the oven.
2. Pour some of the coating mix into a shallow pan or bowl. 
3. Spray your baking sheet with olive oil. 
4. Coat each fish filet in the coating mix and place them on the pan. 
5. Then - here's the trick to crispy fish: Take your Misto or spray bottle of oil and hold it about an inch from the fish fillet, and spray a bit on top. It should wet the coating and sort of drip down the sides. 
6. Bake at 500 degrees for 8 minutes. No need to turn the fillets. You can add a little time if they are larger than average. Serve with lemon, tartar sauce, or our favorite, malt vinegar. 

 Bluegill fillets ready for the oven

Baked and ready to serve! 

Spring Turkey Hunting

In May, during turkey hunting season, Garry had been getting up at 4:30 a.m. to take some friends turkey hunting on some private land owned by his friend, and going out alone to  "play with the turkeys", (his words), calling them and taking photographs. 

3 Jakes 

We always have a supply of wild turkey meat in the freezer.  Here is the recipe we like for turkey gumbo. Turkey Gumbo Recipe.  It's a good way to use up the tough turkey legs. 

Big tom seen while taking photos

Melanistic (black color phase)Turkey from South Dakota, 
mounted by Garry Senk. 

Wild Turkey & Sausage Gumbo

Originally printed in Turkey Call Magazine, May-June 2007
Makes 8 to 10 servings

1 turkey carcass, minus the breast meat
1/2 cup cooking oil
1/2 cup flour
1 1/2 large onions, chopped
1/2 green pepper, chopped
1 stalk celery, chopped
1 1/2 lbs Andouille or smoked sausage, cut into 2 inch pieces
salt
red and black pepper
1/4 cup chopped parsley
1/4 cup chopped green onion tops
hot cooked rice
gumbo file powder, optional

Boil the turkey carcass for three hours, or until meat falls off the bones. Cut up turkey meat and set aside. Reserve broth, add water to make 2 quarts, if necessary. Discard bones. Combine oil and flour in a large pot. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until a medium brown roux is formed. Add onion, green pepper, and celery, cook about five minutes or until tender, stirring constantly.  Add sausage, turkey meat and broth. Simmer one hour.  Season to taste with salt and pepper. Stir in parsley and green onion, simmer 10 minutes. Thicken with gumbo file powder, if desired. Serve over rice. 

Pheasant Poppers

Pheasant Poppers!

This is one of our favorite recipes, which can be served as an appetizer or main dish. Guests ask for it. It could also be made with other thin cuts of poultry. 

Makes 12 pieces

Ingredients

2 pheasants, (4 thighs, deboned and split, 4 breasts, split to make 8 pieces)

6 medium jalapeno peppers
4 oz cream cheese (not whipped style)
12 slices of bacon (not thick cut)
Cajun seasoning blend (optional) or salt & pepper
24 toothpicks (soaked in water for a few minutes)

Begin by cleaning the meat and checking for pellets if using wild game. 

Place meat on a tray and sprinkle with Cajun seasoning or salt and pepper if you prefer a less spicy finished product. 

Cut each pepper in half, scoop out the seeds and membranes, and dispose.
(You might want to wear plastic gloves while working with hot peppers).



















Fill each pepper half with cream cheese.

Wrap each pepper half with one slice of meat, followed by one slice of bacon. 
Secure with a toothpick on each end.


















Grill over medium heat. We use the top shelf of our gas grill. Cooking time is approximately 20 minutes total, turning them mid-way through cooking. Watch for flare-ups from the bacon grease, and douse with a spray bottle of water if needed.








Plate up and enjoy! 

Ready to eat! 

Spicy Orange Sesame Marinated Pheasant Kebabs

The marinade recipe is from Ducks Unlimited Magazine, May/June 2016.

Ingredients

2 Pheasant breasts, cut into strips

Marinade (makes about 2 cups)
1 cup low sodium soy sauce
1/4 cup olive oil
1 TBS Asian sesame oil
1/4 cup orange juice concentrate
2 TBS freshly squeezed lemon juice
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and minced
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper

Combine marinade ingredients in large bowl or pan. 
Marinate for 1 hour.
Thread strips of meat onto skewers. If using wooden skewers, soak them in water for about 30 minutes before using.
Grill on medium heat for about a total of 10 minutes, turning halfway.
For maximum tenderness, do not overcook the meat.

Meat in the Marinade

Making the Marinade

Skewered Up!

On the grill, along with some Portobello mushrooms

Ready to eat, with a side of quinoa pilaf and
Portobello Mushroom.