Clockwise from right: Wild Rice with Hazelnuts and Dried Blueberries; Toasted Pecans Candied with Maple Sugar; Dried Rosehips; Toasted Sunflower Seeds Candied with Maple Sugar; and Squash Biscuits with Acorn Flour. Photos: Chris Emeott
Cooking with foraged ingredients has remained a significant part of Ruth Alliband’s life, and her bookshelf is lined with a diverse selection of recipe books, many of which center around wild-harvested foods. Last year, while dreaming up a silent auction item for Sustainable Stillwater MN’s (SSMN) annual gala, Ruth recalls asking herself, “Why don’t I just do something?”
Her Forager’s Dinner became one of the most popular silent auction items of the night.
Last December, Ruth hosted the winning bidders for the Forager’s Dinner, which included four courses that highlighted ingredients that can be harvested wild in the St. Croix Valley.
Guests enjoyed an array of appetizers, including Candied Catnip Leaf Before-Dinner Mints, Caramelized Seed Mix and Chaga Tea. Smoked Turkey and Acorn Soup was served next, accompanied by Squash Biscuits with Acorn Flour. For the main course, Ruth made Indigenous Bison Tacos, Maple-Sage Roasted Vegetables and Wild Rice with Hazelnuts and Dried Blueberries. A Raspberry-Rose Hip Wojape Sauce brought a bright color and flavor to the plate. The meal concluded with a Cranberry Black Walnut Pound Cake and Vanilla Ice Cream with Violet Syrup.
She was assisted in the kitchen by relatives of her late second husband, who helped finish and plate the dishes while she entertained the guests. “One of my volunteers bought this package for her mother because it was her mother’s birthday,” Ruth says. “They enjoyed themselves a lot, and so did we!”
Recipes
Cranberry Black Walnut Pound Cake
“From my recipe files. I substituted black walnuts for regular walnuts some time ago and now will not make this recipe unless I have black walnuts on hand. Recipe makes 12 to 16 servings.” —Ruth Alliband
- 3/4 lb. unsalted butter
- 1 lb. powdered sugar, sifted
- 6 whole eggs
- 1 Tbsp. lemon juice
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
- 2 cups cake flour, sifted
- 2 Tbsp. lemon rind, grated
- 1 cup black walnut pieces, coarsely chopped
- 1 cup fresh or frozen cranberries, coarsely chopped
- powdered sugar for dusting
Heat oven to 300 F. Lightly butter and flour a 9-inch tube pan or Bundt pan; set aside. Cream the butter and powdered sugar in a mixing bowl, beating until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, continuing to beat. Add the lemon juice and vanilla. Gently fold in the flour, followed by the lemon rind, black walnuts and cranberries. Pour batter into the prepared pan. Bake in the preheated oven for about 90 minutes. Test by inserting a toothpick: it should come out clean. Cool cake in the pan on a wire rack for about 10 minutes, then unmold and place on a rack to cool thoroughly. Sprinkle with sifted powdered sugar. Serve at room temperature.
Smoked Turkey and Acorn Soup
From The Sioux Chef’s Indigenous Kitchen by Shawn Sherman. “It is, I think, one of the standouts of the dinner. It’s so flavorful and so surprisingly good … The secret to this soup is the acorn flour. It adds a nutty flavor while thickening the broth. If this is not available, stir in the same quantity of hazelnut or corn flour.” —Ruth Alliband
- 2‒3 turkey legs, smoked
- 5‒6 cups water
- ½ cup leeks, chopped
- ½ cup acorn meal flour
- maple syrup, to taste
- maple sugar, optional
- salt, optional
Put turkey legs into a soup pot, and cover with water by about 2 inches. Set over high heat; bring to a boil. Reduce the heat, and simmer until the meat is so tender it falls off the bones, about 20‒30 minutes. Remove the turkey legs, pull off the meat, and discard the bones. Return the meat to the broth, and add the leeks. Whisk in the flour, and return to low heat. Simmer until the soup thickens. Season to taste with maple sugar and salt.
Wild Rice with Hazelnuts and Dried Blueberries
“Adapted from Native Harvest by Barry Kavasch, a Connecticut ethnobotanist. We sautéd the hazelnuts used in these recipes in either walnut oil or butter to give them a toasted flavor. We drizzled Wojape sauce on top of the wild rice.” —Ruth Alliband
- 2 cups wild rice, washed in cold water
- 5 cups water
- 2 wild onions (or regular onions), diced
- 1 cup shelled and dried
- hazelnuts, diced
- 2 cups dried blueberries
Combine the rice, water and onions in a large kettle, bring to a boil. Cover and simmer for approximately 40 minutes or until most of the water is absorbed. Add the hazelnuts and dried blueberries, mixing thoroughly. Steam, covered, for an additional 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Serve hot, and top with Wojape Sauce.
Raspberry-Rose Hip Sauce
From The Sioux Chef’s Indigenous Kitchen, Shawn Sherman, 2017. Alliband also often uses plums and other tart fruits as the base for this easily customizable recipe.
- 1 cup raspberries
- ½ cup fresh rose hips or ¼ cup dried rose hips
- ½ cup or more of water, as needed
- maple syrup, to taste
Combine the raspberries, rose hips and water in a small saucepan and set over medium heat. Bring to a simmer and cook until the raspberries have collapsed and the rose hips are soft. Strain through a fine-mesh strainer, pressing out as much of the pulp as possible. Sweeten to taste with the maple syrup. Serve alongside dishes like wild rice or bison to add a bright flavor to any plate.
Squash Biscuits with Acorn Flour
“The core of this recipe is from the Dallas Morning News. Acorn flour has been used as a staple for a much longer time in human history than wheat flour. The meats of acorns are shelled out of the acorn. They must be boiled for about two hours to leach out tannic toxins. I started a second kettle boiling, transferred the acorns, poured off the water in the first kettle and after a while began to boil that, transferring the acorns about 5-6 times. The water becomes a coffee-colored brown. At the end of this time, I laid the acorn meats on a flat surface to dry, then ground them to a gritty meal in a blender/food processor. It is a dark chocolate brown and can be stored with other dry staples. Tip: We ended up adding more flour than the recipe called for until the dough was the right consistency to make drop biscuits. Recipe makes 12-14 biscuits.” —Ruth Alliband
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 cup acorn flour
- 1 Tbsp. baking powder
- ½ tsp. baking soda
- ¾ tsp. salt
- Dash of cinnamon
- 3 Tbsp. brown sugar
- ½ cup butter, melted
- 1 cup squash, cooked and mashed
- ⅔ cup buttermilk
Preheat oven to 450 F. Sift flours, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon. Add brown sugar, and set aside. Beat melted butter into the squash in a medium-sized bowl. Add dry ingredients, stirring a little at a time, alternating with buttermilk. Mix just well enough to moisten all ingredients. Form into a ball and turn out onto a lightly floured board. Lightly pat the top side with flour as well, because it is a rather sticky batter. Roll out to ⅓-½ inch thickness with a floured rolling pin. Cut with a floured biscuit cutter. Bake 20-25 minutes.
Ruth Alliband’s Forager’s Dinner returned as a silent auction item at this year’s Sustainable Stillwater MN Gala Mission: Possible, An Evening of Climate Action in October.
