Thursday 10 September 2015

Nasturtium Sauce

While the nasturtiums are flowering I thought I would take the opportunity to experiment with as few recipes just in case the CEO gets a burst of enthusiasm for weeding and decides to pull them out. As I had recently dusted off Isabell Shipard's book How Can I Use Herbs In My Daily life?while doing some research on nettles as mentioned in my last post Nettle Fertiliser, I thought I would check out the section on nasturtiums and came across a recipe for Nasturtium Sauce so made some up and it is now brewing away in a cupboard for 2 months.


That is not the sauce in the above photo by the way...that is the Nasturtium Vinegar with Rosemary and Peppercorns and is a lovely colour and tastes great. 

The sauce is easy to make. Firstly pick 3 large handfuls of nasturtiums. As we have all the neighbourhood cats coming into our yard doing what cats do, I washed the flowers and then put them in my 'solar dryer' for a day or so to make sure they were well and truly dry. The recipe doesn't call for this though.

Just simmer the following ingredients in a saucepan for 5-10 minutes:

1/2 litre vinegar
4 finely cut shallots
3 finely cut cloves of garlic
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper (I didn't have any so added a very small amount of chilli powder) 
6 whole cloves




Then add all this to a glass jar containing the nasturtium flowers. Cover it and leave for 2 months before straining. Then add 3/4 cup of soy sauce. Bottle the sauce and use it in stir-fries, on salads and vegetables.  How easy is that!

There are other recipes in Isabell's book including Pickled Nasturtium Buds, Jellied Nasturtiums and Stuffed Nasturtiums. Back in the 1980s we used to eat a lot of Stuffed Nasturtiums and from memory we used cottage cheese. The flowers taste really nice by the way in case you haven't tried them before. 



Apparently nasturtium leaves are a pest deterrent and attract hoverflies which in turn attack aphids on nearby plants. They are good companions to several plants including citrus trees, brassicas, cucumbers and pumpkins. Isabell recommends using it every day for its high vitamin C antioxidant and general tonic action. 

Isn't it great that such a pretty and hardy plant also has so many health benefits?








 

13 comments:

  1. We've eaten them in salads and I've made Nasturtium oil before Nanna Chel. It's an acquired taste, but sort of peppery and quite lovely. I'll have to give the sauce a try! Mimi xxx

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    1. I don't really mind the peppery taste from the leaves, Mimi. I hope the sauce turns out as well as the vinegar did. I use that every day in salads.

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  2. wonderful post
    my nasturtiums don't do all that well, but maybe this season might be better, have a few coming up from seeds
    thanx for sharing

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    1. We have heaps of them at the moment, Selina. It is a lot cooler here though I believe.

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  3. How very decorative it looks. Its a pity that you have to hide them away in cool dark places. How lovely would it be on a windowsill with the sun shining through.

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    1. Well the book didn't say to put it in a dark place but usually most recipes do so I did the same with this one. My problem is remembering where I put it later on. LOL!

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  4. I am sneaking a read of your blog on the train Nanna Chel - I really should be preparing a financial report....meh. Normally I go and make a cuppa before I sit down and read you daily post. I swearyou could turn stones into food - the things you come up with are endless - Nasturtiums indeed! fascinating.

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    1. Phil, preparing a financial report sounds a tad dry at the end of a long day. I hope you get to relax a bit when you get home.

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  5. Isn't it funny - I have Isabell's book sitting on my bookshelf and I refer to it quite often - but have never noticed or stumbled across the nasturtium sauce recipe. It sounds interesting Chel like a lot of other recipes in her book. A very wise and knowledgeable woman she was.

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    1. Blinky, I had never seen the recipe before either although I must admit I hadn't really read about nasturtiums in the book before. I normally read about gotu kola, brahmi and other herbs like that which aren't as common.

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  6. Thanks for this recipe Chel, I have lots of nasturtiums so will get picking. I also have Isobel's book but haven't dipped into it for a while. It is the best reference for anything to do with herbs isn't it? I was very sad to hear of Isobel's recent passing. I can also recommend her book "How can I be prepared with self-sufficiency and survival foods?"

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    1. I have read the self-sufficiency book too as I borrowed it from the library and was actually thinking about it this morning and was wondering if I should buy my own copy. I had never met Isabell but I did speak to her on the phone once and she was just lovely and I was so sad when I heard she died last year.

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  7. I had these planted at the ends of my veg garden beds. I did not realize how big they would get so over planted but they did the job as a bug repellent. I will definitely use them again next summer.
    Haven't got the nerve up to eat them yet though. :)

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