What's fireweed good for

The whole plant is edible. Starting at the bottom:

I thought I'd seen references to its toxicity, but it
seems that's to livestock and anyhow refers to a
different kind of plant than what north Americans
call fireweed.

The starchy root can be roasted after scraping off the outside.
They are OK in the spring before the plant blossoms but become
bitter later in the season. Parboiling in two changes of water
first helps.

So the solubility of the bitter compounds most be
much greater than that of starch.

Young leaves and shoots are good in mixed salads and can be cooked
like any other vegetable. Older shoots are tough but the pith of
older stems is consumable when peeled.

Young leaves of lots of things are edible - more often
it's a texture thing that prevents us from eating, say,
oak leaves rather than oakleaf lettuce. There are
enough exceptions, of course, to prevent one from
recommending stuffing stuff willy-nilly into one's
mouth, but some leaves reputed to be poison, I'm
thinking of tomato here, are edible and harmless in
moderate quantities.

The flower buds and blossom are the best part. They can be eaten raw
or cooked and used to flavour jellies and syrups. If you have bees
to help you the honey is amazing.

That makes sense.

... We eat the most kinds of animals. Don't mess with us. We run this rock

Au contraire, it's the organisms we don't see that
run this rock. Pound for pound, viruses probably
have more influence than anything else.

+

Brown chaud-froid doesn't have tomato -
The chaud-froid described above is "chaud-froid tomatee").

That makes sense.

Gringoire and Saulnier's precis of the Escoffier:
Chaud-froid (white) - veloute made with aspic
Chaud-froid (brown) - demiglace made with aspic, truffle
essence, Madeira. May be made with various game essences.

Title: Paraguayan Pira Caldo

Looks sort of interestingly fusion in the way Filipino
recipes often are. Until I got to the cheese part.

Paraguay cheese is a cow's milk curd soft white cheese. Instead of
using Paraguay cheese, we opted to use another soft white cow's milk
cheese that is far easier to come by: mozzarella.

We're talking mild cheese and mild fish, so the combo
may be okay, but why muddy the waters?

Sauteed scallops over Thai-spiced risotto
categories: Canadian, main, shellfish, fusion, muddying the waters
servings: 4

400 mL coconut milk
950 mL stock or water
1 atalk lemon grass, chopped
2 kaffir lime leaves
2 ts red curry paste
3 Tb sweet butter
3 Tb minced fresh onion
6 lg shiitake mushrooms, sliced thin
1 ts minced ginger
2 c Arborio rice
2 Tb lime juice
60 mL grated Parmesan
3 Tb chopped cilantro
s, p
450 g sea scallops, trimmed
lime wedges for garnish

Combine coconut milk, stock or water. lemon grass, lime
leaves, and curry paste; bring to a boil. Remove from
heat and let stand 15 min. Strain stock, return to pot,
and bring to a simmer.

Melt 1 Tb butter in large heavy pot over medium-high
heat. Saute mushrooms, onion, and ginger until soft.
Stir in rice. Add 120 mL hot stock and stir until
liquid is absorbed. Continue adding stock 120 mL at a
time, stirring continuously. When all stock is absorbed
and rice is creamy, stir in lime juice, cheese, and
cilantro. Correct seasoning with salt and pper. Cover
and keep warm.

Season scallops and sear in remaining butter until
done, 1 to 2 min per side.

Divide rice among 4 bowls. Top with scallops and garnish
with lime wedges.

after Mary Mackay, Terra Breads, excerpted from The
Girls Who Dish, Whitecap Books (1998), via Recipes from
Granville Island
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