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Elderberry

Source of Recipe

Unknown


Recipe Introduction

Mostly east of the cascade monuntains.

List of Ingredients

Berries may cause nausea if eaten in abundance.
Cooked are fine.
Flower for tea. Also fried in a batter.

Notes from, First ways;

There are three main kinds of elderberry, American (black), Sambucus nigra, which is a shrub up to 4 meters tall; blue, Sambucus cerulea, a tree up to 12 meters tall that grows in dry, open habitats; and red, Sambucus racemosa, which likes stream banks, moist clearings and open forests. I see red elderberry most often in the local parks. The distinction between these kinds matters not at all in terms of harvesting flowers. But when the berries come around for eating, the black and blue are far, far tastier, and good to eat raw, whereas the red must be cooked first because they reportedly contain higher levels of toxins in them. The red elderberries are indeed red, or else yellow-orange. The black and blue berries are good candidates to become jam, syrup, wine, etc.

There are actually even more varieties of elderberry, especially in urban and suburban settings, where people like to plant it as an ornamental. Normally the flowers are a spray of white, but the one I found was pink and growing on a purple tree. I knew it was elderberry because of the leaf pattern and shape of the flowers.

All parts of all elderberry species other than the flowers and berries contain cyanide-producing compounds, so it is a good idea to avoid the leaves, stems and bark when harvesting for food or medicine. (end).


rest of plant, including the green berries toxic.

Red elderberry; (Pending proof)
Berries, cook first. (rest of plant contains a cyanide producing glycoside.
(Alderleaf wilderness college. Chehalis, Green river, Klallum, Makah, Quileute, Quinalt, Skagit, Skokomish, Skykomish, Snohomish, Squaxin, and Swinomish.)
Flowers dipped in batter and fried. Petals can be eaten raw. (Pending proof)


Recipe

Elderberry flowers
For the flu.

Tincture recipe: Fill glass jar with flowers. Then fill halfway with Everclear or similarly ridiculously strong alcohol. Fill rest of the way with water. Cover and let sit in dark place for six weeks. Voila.


Another recipe for elderflower Liqueur; (from Hank Shaw)
Mercifully, it could not be easier. Simply pick off enough flowers to loosely fill a quart Mason jar and pour over your alcohol.

Snip the flowers off the stalks into a quart Mason jar. Remember the stalks and leaves of elderberry plants are toxic, so snip off as much of the stems as you can. Getting them all is not possible, but spend some time removing the stems.
Cover the flowers with the alcohol and seal. What alcohol? Your choice, really. Typical is 80-proof vodka, but I prefer 100-proof vodka. And once a year I use Everclear or some other 151-plus proof alcohol. Why? The flavors and aromas of elderflowers are not all extractable by water, or alcohol for that matter. I find that the higher the alcohol content, the cleaner and purer the elderflower flavor. Of course, if you use Everclear, you will need to cut the liqueur with lots of water or ice — otherwise it will knock you down in a hurry.
You will want to submerge the flowers completely in the alcohol. If you don’t, the top layer of flowers will oxidize from contact with air, turning brown. This doesn’t harm your liqueur, and for years I made it this way and it was fine. But a better way to do it is to use a narrow-necked jar and fit another, smaller jar into the opening to create an airlock. Or, you can weigh the flowers down with a small plate or jar lid or something.
Keep in a cool, dark place for as long as you like, but at least a few days. I typically hold mine for two weeks, although I used to do a month. The longer you steep the flowers, the darker the liqueur gets.
Strain twice. First through a fine-meshed strainer to remove the flowers and debris. Then strain it again through the same strainer, only with a piece of paper towel set inside it. This second straining removes very fine particulates, like the pollen. You can skip this second straining, but your liqueur will be cloudy.
For a quart’s worth, add between 1/4 cup and 1/2 cup sugar, depending on how sweet you want it. Seal the jar again and shake well to combine. If you are using Everclear, a good way to get the sugar into the liqueur — and dilute it enough to make it drinkable — is to mix the sugar with an equal volume of water, heat it until the sugar is completely dissolved, cool it back to room temperature, and then add it to the liqueur.
Put the jar back in the pantry, and shake it from time to time until the sugar has dissolved. When it is, you are ready to drink it. It will last forever.

Elderflower liqueur is especially good ice cold on a hot summer’s afternoon, or neat during winter. Keep in mind the liqueur will darken as it ages into a deep amber. This is normal.