http://www.permies.com Jocelyn Campbell demonstrates harvesting nettles and then cooking nettles into eggs. She starts with harvesting nettles. She cuts off the tops of the nettle plants because those are the most tender. And she leaves the bottom of the plant so it can grow back and we can get more later.
She explains how when you try to pinch the tops of the nettles off instead of cutting, you might accidentally pull out the whole plant. She shows a nettle plant where she had pinched before and it looked like it didn’t recover too well although you could see new growth getting started.
Jocelyn is using some gloves that have a fabric on the back and she points out that the nettles can sting through the glove.
Nettles have more protein than any other plant that I know of. When I have a hankering for hamburger, nettles feed that hankering. While I am typically not a fan of greens, I am a fan of stinging nettles. When cooking, you can use them almost the same ways as with spinach.
Jocelyn washes the nettles by floating them in water. She then rinses the nettles with running water and shakes them dry in a sieve. She uses wooden spoons/paddles to move the nettles.
She cuts the nettles just a little – and leaves the stems in.
Nettles will shrink a bit when you cook them.
Jocelyn thinks the nettles smell woodsy greenery. I think it smells like rain.
The nettles are sauteed in a cast iron pan. A lid is put on for a few seconds. Once nettles have been cooked for about 30 seconds, they loose all of their sting.
Then eggs are added on the side. And then scrambled later.
While eating them Jocelyn thinks they aren’t so good because the eggs are brown from cooking at too high of a temperature. And the nettles didn’t cook down as much as she thought they would.
Music by Jimmy Pardo.
