Milkweed Pods

It's my day off today and the bench is full of hubby's motor bits-meaning, no welding for me right now.  So, I gathered up my baby and we took a drive.  My purpose was to pick as many red clover heads as possible since they are starting to go to seed, which is what I was doing.  I have a 2.5 gal. pail that I got 1/2 full today (another post).  I ended up on a dirt road with a bridge going over a creek that I thought might have a trout in it, pounced on a grasshopper for my hook and gave the spot a try.  To make a long story short, I got nothin' in terms of a fish.  By this time, my pail was decently full of red clover, and I was inspecting some burning nettle that was too bug-infested for a decent harvest, when my eye was drawn across the road to where a house used to be many years ago, but had burned down and the place was abandoned.  I seem to remember the old man that lived there years ago, had quite a nice patch of rhubarb and I was going to see if I could find some.  Emma and I walked over and up into the old driveway.  Alas, no rhubarb, but was there ever a giant crop of milkweed!  The pods are just right for harvest right now and I quickly grabbed an extra pail.  Emma and I harvested a whole pail full and there is still more to be had and even some blossoms yet (I'll go back for those later when I've taken care of this batch of stuff). 

By the time we were done hunting today, we had milkweed pods, red clover and a bucket of black walnuts.  SCORE!

For those of you who have never tried milkweed pods, I should tell you that when they are young like they are now and still green, especially the little ones 1-2 inches in length, taste much like a cross between fresh asparagus and green beans.  You can eat them fresh off the plant, but as always, try your wild food in moderation so that you know if you are allergic or not AND wild food is different in that when you are new at eating it, you can get the shoots if you eat too much at first.  Long story short, don't be a glutton.  Also, please do not harvest your wilds near cultivated fields where you know pesticides have been used or busy roads due to pollutants and poisons that will ruin your foraging experience.  I am lucky in that I live in a place that is surrounded by swamp and back roads. and the farmers here don't spray much if at all.  At least not near my house.

Anyway, milkweed pods! here is how you can fix 'em:

Here they are as they look when you pick them.  They should be nice and green on the outside and the insides should be tightly compacted with white seeds.  If there is any brown, you need to discard.

In this stage, the milky part is not bitter.  Bitterness comes with age. Next, you want to wash them off and get rid of any bugs, dead flower parts, etc.  Make sure to boil your pods once and drain off the water before cooking.  They can make you sick if you eat them without parboiling them one time. Trust me here.  I know.

After this step, I like to cut them in half and make them a little bit more bite sized.  You can also see in there and make sure there is no brown.  Cut off the funky ends if you want.

Next, prepare your coating.  A handful or so of flour, some Cayenne pepper, black pepper, chili powder and onion powder.  You can use garlic powder in there too, but I buy my garlic chopped up in the jar (GASP)! and add it to the pan with the oil.

 Mix your dry stuff together and coat your pods

Then add them to the pan with olive oil and your garlic and sauté them until they are golden brown.

And there you go!  I suppose they would be crunchier if it was a more deep-fry situation, but I try my very best to behave myself.  Eat these with baked fish and brown rice.

It's just like fried okra, but without the slimy that okra has and it's free!

I plan on taking some and putting them in the freezer.  In order to do this, you want to boil some water in a pot, then add your pods.  When the water starts boiling again, take them out and run them under cold water to stop the cooking process.  Then, bag them up and put them in the freezer.  When you are ready to use them, slice them when they are still frozen and put them in soup, make them like I did above, just sauté them in butter with some other fresh veggies for stir fry--whatever.