Shaking Off the Winter Blues
Your first spring tonics
I'm out on the road and not sure I’ll have time to write beyond note-taking. In case I can’t make my Tuesday deadline, I’ve chipped off an excerpt of a story from last June that was filled with optimisms for a post-COVID world. The recipes from that piece are spring tonics that are relied on to cleanse the blood of winter’s sluggishness. Two are from the 18th century and require gathering fresh herbs. (The Chestnut School of Herbal Medicine is a good source for safely identifying and gathering herbs.) Two require a good measure of vinegar, a safe ingredient that has been valued for centuries for medicinal use. Rest assured that I have made and tasted all the recipes, including the last one, and have lived to tell the tale.
A Spring Tonic
(From the Van Rensselaer family’s cookbook)
15 meadow plants, leaves, and roots, gathered while they’re still young*
1 bottle good white wine
1/4 cup honey
1 1/4 cups good fruit brandy (homemade is best)
Clean the meadow plants under a strong stream of water. Shred the leaves and dice the roots. Place the leaves and roots in an earthenware or glass jug or bowl and pour the wine over the plants. Cover with a cloth and let steep for at least three days, stirring occasionally.
Remove cover and pour the wine and plants into a stainless steel saucepan. Bring to a boil over a medium flame. Remove from heat and strain the liquid through a fine-meshed sieve into a bowl. Press the leaves and roots with the back of a spoon to extract any remaining juices. Discard the leaves and roots.
While the liquid is still hot, add the honey, stirring until the honey dissolves. Let cool completely. Add the fruit brandy and stir.
Pour the liquid into a container (a wine bottle is preferred, but you can also use a plastic milk carton) and let sit in a dark cool place until the following spring. It can be bottled or used directly from the container.
Take two tablespoons in the morning and at night.
*Suggested plants: licorice, milk thistle, yellow dock, wild thyme, burdock root, dandelion, beets, parsnip, carrots, lovage, chicory root, wild yam root, nettle leaves, violets (leaves and flowers), mint, mustard greens, chickweed, watercress, wild arugula.
A Tonic Soup
(Recommended by Dr. John Fothergill, 1712–1780)
6 cups water
2 sweet onions, sliced
2 fresh burdock roots
1/4 cup yellow dock root
½ cup dandelion roots
1 fresh young beet
1 young parsnip
1 medium new potato, diced
2 young carrots, diced
2 ounces kelp
1 lovage stalk, chopped
1 cup chopped dandelion leaves
1 cup chopped yellow dock greens
1 large garlic clove, diced
Fill a large soup pot with the water and add the onion, roots, beet, parsnip, potato, carrots, kelp, and lovage. Bring to a simmer over a low flame and cook for about 30 minutes, or until roots and vegetables are tender.
Add dandelion leaves, greens, and garlic, and simmer only a few minutes more, just until the greens are wilted.
Makes 4 to 6 servings.
Dandelion Salad to Cleanse Winter Blood
(As told to me by Miss Glover, Atlanta, circa 1979)
1 bunch fresh young dandelion leaves, coarsely shredded
4 strips bacon
1 firm sweet onion, cut into thin slices
salt and pepper to taste
3 to 4 tablespoons good cider or herb-flavored vinegar
Sort through the dandelion leaves and discard stems and any leaves that seem tough. Place in a large salad bowl.
In a skillet, sauté the bacon until crisp. Add the onions and briefly cook, turning once or twice just to wilt. Remove bacon and onions with a slotted spoon and mix in with the dandelion leaves, tossing briefly. (You don’t want to drain the bacon and onions, but let the grease gently coat—not drown—the leaves.)
Sprinkle the salad with salt, pepper, and the vinegar. Adjust seasonings to taste.
Makes 2 servings.
An Oxycrate
(Recommended by Dr. Robert Wallace Johnson, The Nurse’s Guide, and Family Assistant 1719/1720)
4 tablespoons white wine vinegar
1 ½ ounces honey
1 quart water
Mix all together in a bottle and cork. Lay down for a week or more. Take 1 tablespoon in the morning.
They’re keepers,
Love the recipes.