am hungertuch nagen
if you literally translate that german expression it says something like *nibbling on the hunger cloth*. that saying always annoyed me, as long as i can remember. because no matter how little money my family had or how bad things where all around, there was always food on the table.
i think i might have jumped the gun with my last post and my recent comments probably led you to believe that i am actually more than broke and everything is going down the drain. no, i can't affort a new computer right now. but this one might work just fine for a couple of more months! hey, and i wouldn't be a *glass half full-person* if i let a silly computer problem get me down, right? if life hands you financial lemons ... take a stroll trough your neighbourhood and look for delicious rambling weeds you could cook for dinner!
... uhm ... say what?! is the [dinner for one] lady a bag lady now??
no, i am not completely coo-coo. well, at least not yet! but my current *misery* (is it, really?) made me think. how did my mother and my grandmother do that? how did they feed a busload of hungry yaps several times a day with delicious, filling and above all cheap meals? how did they creatively alter recipes and just make the most of the produce from their own backyard? well, i don't have the luxury of a backyard, but i do have a lovely neighborhood where interesting *things* grow wild. interesting things i used to eat when i was a child! that's not weed! that's not worthless green garbage! when i was strolling my block the last couple of days, the delicious smell of elderflower tickled my nose i immediately thought of those amazing fritters my grandmother used to make. they where merely fried blossoms dipped in pancake batter, and they where unbelievably delicious.
elderflower fritters / elderflower pancakes
first, gather a couple of elderflowers. you don't need to wash them, just make sure that you remove any insects from the blossoms or the stalks - we want the fritters to be vegetarian, right?
[ since i worship mister anthony bourdain and his approach towards food around the globe i might even fry me up some high-protein bug, what do you think? na, just kidding! ]
now mix 125 g flour (i used half whole wheat and half regular white flour), one egg, 250 ml milk and a dash of salt and leave it to rest for at least half an hour [or make *your* favourite pancake batter, i am sure it will work just as good!]. make sure the batter is really thick, because it needs to cover all the blossoms in the end. too runny is not good!
in the meantime heat a knob of butter in a small frying pan. dunk the flower heads in the batter then place them flowerside down in the pan.
if your batter is too runny you can spoon some more over the flowers in the pan. you only need to fry one side, just wait until the batter sets. if you want the fritters more pancake-style you can cut off the main stalks and flip them over. if you deep fry them in hot oil, they probably look a little more appealing, but i totally like them pancake style! i even had so much batter left at the end that i made a regular pancake that covered the last floret entirely ... yummie too! [see the rest of the pictures here]
dust the florets with icing sugar and eat while still warm! vanilla ice cream on the side is also a very very good idea :)
while i never was a fan of those elderflower drinks that became so popular over the last couple of years as a fizzy refreshment throughout the summer i just love love love compote of ripe elderberries. it was my grandmother's trademark dessert and my mum makes it equally well. i guess this autumn it is finally time for me to tackle this heirloom recipe! i'll still have some time until then, so i better not munch away those bushes lining the streets in my neighborhood!
