Fine Assortment of Cattail Meals

Incase one has never given a try to any of the cattail cuisines, it worth trying the yummy cattail biscuits, or the extra yummy cattail pollen pancakes or simply some cattail pickles or casseroles, or just make it a habit to enjoy any cattail foods, they are healthy and yummy.

There are a variety of foods you can prepare from cattail using various methods of cooking. From boiled cattail wild rice to the various cattail baked products including pancakes, pickles, biscuits and casseroles there are lots of cattail foods that can be enjoyed.

Enjoy rice and soup from the wild

The cattail- wild rice pilaf can be made using wild rice instead of brown rice. There is also the cattail wild rice soup that will stimulate your taste buds.

Cattail- Wild rice Pilaf

Ingredients

The main ingredient here is 1 cup of dry wild rice and it will produce four cups of rice when cooked. Other ingredients are:
2 cups Cattail shoots, sliced (about 30 cattails)
2 Tbsp sesame oil
½ cup chopped green onion
½ cup silvered almonds
2 tsp salt

Preparation

1.) The wild rice should be cooked until it becomes tender.
2.) The onions and cattail shoots are then sauted in sesame oil, until they become tender and translucent.
3.) The rice and the sauted onions and rice are then mixed together.
4.) Salt and the silvered almonds are then added to the mixture.
This rice should be served hot.

Cattail wild- rice soup

This is another unique experience from the wild.

Ingredients

The main ingredient is 1 cup of dry wild rice, which will produce 4 cups of rice when cooked. Other ingredients are:
2 cups cattail shoots, sliced (about 30 cattails)
2 Tbsp sesame oil
½ cup chopped green onion
2 tsp salt

Preparation

1.) The wild rice should be cooked until it becomes tender.
2.) Sauté the onions and cattail shoots in sesame oil in a heavy- bottomed soup pot, until they become tender and translucent.
3.) Add to the pot, the cooked rice, 4 cups of chicken broth or other soup stock of choice and also add salt.
4.) Simmer the mixture in the pot for 15-20 minutes and serve.

Enjoy Cat- on- the- cob with garlic butter

Here around 30- 40 flower heads that have been peeled will be needed. Garlic butter is also another main requirement but this will be made.

Making the garlic butter

Ingredients

12 garlic cloves, crushed
½ cup unsalted butter
½ cup olive oil
1 cup freshly chopped wild greens or parsley or other fresh garden herbs
½ teaspoon salt
This salt will not be necessary if salted butter is used.
The olive oil is used to make the butter nice, creamy and spreadable.
Garlic butter will be made by whipping the butter, olive oil, salt, fresh garlic and parsley together in a food processor until they become smooth.

Preparing the flower heads

1.) The cattail flower heads should be boiled in water for 10 minutes.
2.) The garlic butter is then made in the food processor as described above.
3.) The cattail flower heads are then drained and slathered with the garlic butter.
4.) Finally, the flower heads can be eaten just like miniature corn on the cobs.

Enjoy cattail baked products

Cattail pollen pancakes

These pancakes are scrumptiously delicious. Be sure, after tasting them you will ask for more and more.

Ingredients

Main ingredient is 1 cup of flour and 1 cup of cattail pollen. The other ingredients are:
2 eggs
2 cups of milk
½ cup honey
¼ cup oil
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt

Preparations

1.) All the dry ingredients should be mixed together in a bowl.
2.) Eggs, honey, oil and milk are then added to the mixture and the mixture mixed thoroughly.
3.) The batter formed from mixing, should not be thick to pour. If it is thick, add more water until it has a good pancake batter consistency.
4.) Finally, cook the batter on a hot griddle until it becomes golden brown.

Cattail pollen biscuits

Savor these great golden, mouth watering biscuits and you will almost instantly feel the thousands of delicious particles as they dangle in your mouth. These biscuits will appropriately be made in a food processor and they are made of cattail pollen.

Ingredients

The main ingredient is 1 cup of white flour. Don’t use wheat flour as they don’t make these biscuits light enough. Other ingredients are:
1 cup cattail pollen
¾ cup milk
¼ cup butter
1 Tbsp honey or sugar
3 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt

Preparations

1.) First preheat the oven to 450 degrees
2.) Place the cattail pollen, salt, baking powder and butter in the food processor. Then run the processor on high until you get a course mixture.
Remember: If you don’t have a food processor, cut all these ingredients in 2.) With a fork or paltry cutter until the resultant mixture resembles fine crumbs.
3.) Honey or sugar plus milk are added to the resultant dough of process 2.) And the mixture whizzed until the dough forms a lump. However one should make sure not to over mix.
4.) The lump is shaped into biscuits and baked on ungreased cookie sheet for 10- 12 minutes until golden brown.
Remember: Drop biscuits can be made by increasing milk to 1 cup and also by dropping the lumps by large spoonfuls onto the cookie sheet.
For the ultimate biscuit! Simply use butter milk instead of milk. Also decrease the baking powder from 3 tsp to 2 tsp and add ¼ tsp baking soda.

Cattail flower refrigerator pickles

The recipe explained below for preparing these pickles, is the one found in Wildman Steve Brill’s book called, “Identifying and Harvesting Edible and Medicinal plants.”

Ingredients

The main ingredient is about 30- 40 cattail flower heads, the number that will fit tightly in a quart jar. Other ingredients are:
4 garlic cloves, peeled
4 to 6 bay leaves
1 tsp whole black peppercorns
1 ½ cups of olive oil
1 ¼ cups of water
¾ cup apple cider vinegar (use some of your herbal vinegar .)
3 Tbsp salt

Procedure

1.) The cattails are to be boiled in water for 5 to 10 minutes and drained thoroughly.
2.) The flower heads, garlic, peppercorns and bay leaves are stacked into clean and sterile quart jars.
3.) Combine vinegar, oil, water and salt in a saucepan.
4.) Bring to boil all that has been placed in the saucepan, then remove the saucepan from heat and pour over the cattail heads.
5.) If the liquid does not reach to the top of the jar, add a little more oil, vinegar and water.
6.) Finally cover and let marinate in the refrigerator overnight.
The cattails forms part of amazing food combinations: from whole meals like the cattail wild rice to the superbly delicious pancakes, pickles, casserole and biscuits.