Guest Author - Deborah Adams
"Wildman" Steve Brills Cookbook and Video
If you are interested in foraging and natural foods you will enjoy this informative video. "Wildman" Steve Brill, forager and environmental educator, shares his expansive knowledge of wild plants, nuts and berries with us, explaining the differences in plant structure and how to distinguish between edible and non-edible plants that look alike. When foraging you can run across poison ivy and Steve shows you how to recognize the plant and also how to recognize another plant that can help prevent the rash from poison ivy. That's a plus in brush and forests where you are liable to run into this plant.
Steve doesn't rest on his own laurels but suggests several good books for further reading and teaches us why wild plants have more flavor and nutritional value than many of the modern day "technically enhanced and watered-down" foods found in the markets. Peppered with humor and an interesting "Brillophone" demonstration, Steve uses this video to educate us on several plants/trees including the black walnut, black cherry, lamb's quarter's, chicken mushroom, burdock and wrinkled rose. He further defines these plants into range, habitat, edible parts, poisonous look-alikes, nutritional value and cooking suggestions.
He shares a wonderful recipe called "Kinpira Gobo" with us using some of the foraged ingredients described on his video. If you like spicy vegetable dishes you will enjoy this recipe! Steve describes his cookbook "The Wild Vegetarian Kitchen" in which you will find many wonderful vegetable dishes. The video ends with a segment on Ticks & diseases and tips to help avoid them.
The Wild Vegetarian Cookbook by "Wildman" Steve Brill
A survivalist, environmentalist, naturalist and forager MUST SEE! This cookbook is a valuable resource for anyone interested in vegan/vegetarian and natural cooking. "Wildman" Steve Brill guides you through the process of foraging (in the field or in the supermarket) and preparing and serving wild and "not so wild" natural foods.
Steve starts the book off with a very interesting page on the history of how he started his foraging days. He explains what makes wild foods special and how to prepare healthy, tasty foods and preparation methods. There is a very good section on uncommon ingredients offering alternative, healthier ingredients for other "less healthy" ingredients. Bread bakers and wine makers are addresses in special sections describing various methods and ingredients. Cooking with wild foods leads us into the recipes section of the book which is divided into seasons following a selection of tasty "unwild" food recipes.
Non wild food recipes include recipes such as tofu whipped cream, buckwheat noodles, garam marsala and many others. The wild food divisions include Winter, early, mid and late Spring, Summer and Autumn recipes. Each of these divisions then lists the wild ingredient with information on that ingredient (such as Wild Thyme or Wild Grapes) and then follows that with recipes relating to that ingredient in that season. This cookbook is easily navigated by season so you won't have any problem finding what you need any time of the year.
Some of the wild food recipes offered are Redbud Cornbread, Spaghetti with Wild Garlic, Wild Blueberry Jam and Wild Apple Ice Cream to name a few. All in all there are over 500 mouth watering recipes using ingredients available in nature and many available in the supermarkets, ethnic, gourmet and health food stores. Healthy, wholesome, vegan, vegetarian, natural - are all fit descriptions for the dishes you will find within the pages of The Wild Vegetarian Cookbook by "Wildman" Steve Brill.
If you are interested in this video please stop by "Wildman" Steve Brill's site and see what all he has to offer including his "Wild Vegetarian Kitchen" cookbook plus Steve offers many foraging tours throughout the year.
"Wildman" Steve Brills Cookbook and Video
