Fertility Kitchen

Nettles are therapeutic plants known to be high in iron and therefore wonderful to supplement women's diets during certain times of their cycle. We found wild nettles on our Herbal Plant Walk in Tennessee Valley a few weeks ago.

This is a great soup you can make with foraged wild nettles. I tested this one myself recently, and it was delicious.

Ingredients

• 1 onion, peeled and chopped
• 3 garlic cloves, peeled and finely minced or put through the garlic press
• Olive oil or coconut oil
• 8 cups of broth (I use chicken broth)
• 4-6 potatoes, peeled and cubed (more potatoes= thicker and more creamy; less=thinner)
• 6-8 cups of wild nettle leaves, washed well

Instructions

1. In a large soup pot, heat the oil until hot, and add the onion
2. Sprinkle on a touch of salt, and saute until the onion starts to soften (about 5-7 minutes)
3. Add the garlic and saute for a minute or two more
4. Add the broth and potatoes and bring to a low boil
5. Turn down heat and simmer for about 20 minutes or until the potatoes are soft. (If using homemade broth, I also like to salt it a bit at this stage too)
6. Add the nettles leaves, and cook for about five more minutes
7. You can mash up the soup a bit with the back of a wooden spoon for a rustic soup, or you can puree it into a smooth soup (which I did, and prefer)

For those who can have dairy, finishing this soup off with some cream would be great too!

Salt and pepper to taste, and serve.

Fresh from the lovely aftermath of our recent Herbal Plant Walk, here is a recipe you might enjoy. Blackberry brambles yield berries mid-summer, so this one should be doable quite soon.

Ingredients

• 4 lb blackberries
• 1/4 lb dried elderberries
• 2-1/3 cups granulated sugar
• water to 1 gallon
• 1 tsp pectic enzyme
• 1/2 tsp acid blend
• 1 tsp yeast nutrient
• wine yeast

Instructions

• Boil 2 quarts of water.
• Meanwhile, wash and sort the blackberries and put them in a nylon straining bag. Tie the end, put in the primary fermentation vessel, and mash fruit.
• Add dried elderberries to boiling water, reduce heat and simmer 20 minutes.
• Add sugar to the primary fermentation vessel, untie nylon bag, and pour boiling water into bag.
• Carefully retie end and stir liquid well to dissolve sugar.
• Cover and allow to cool.
• When lukewarm, stir in acid blend, pectic enzyme and yeast nutrient.
• Recover primary fermentation vessel.
• After 12 hours, add yeast.
• Gently squeeze bag twice daily for 7 days to extract flavors.
• Drain bag, squeezing gently, pour liquid into secondary fermentation vessel, and fit airlock.
• After fermentation dies down (5-7 days) top up and refit airlock.
• Rack into clean secondary fermentation vessel, top up and refit airlock every 2 months for a total of 4 times.
• Bottle and age for 6-12 months.

Voila.... in a good 6 months to a year, you just might have some yummy blackberry-elderberry wine!

One thing that will help you weather the storm of the Year of the Tiger? Nurturing eating habits, starting with healthy and delicious homemade chicken soup.

This chicken soup is extremely nourishing to the entire body and is especially important for anyone who is sick or has an irritable bowel. It's great for making in large batches and storing in the freezer. This is a two-step recipe, so before making the soup, you must make the stock (broth). You can make a big batch of broth and store some of it in the freezer to use in other recipes.

TO MAKE THE STOCK:

Ingredients:

• 1 medium whole chicken including neck, gizzards, etc. (Go for organic, free-range chicken. It's better for you and better for the chicken.)
• 4 quarts cold filtered water
• 2 T apple cider vinegar
• 4-5 T extra virgin coconut oil
• 2-4 chicken feet* (optional, but important for added nutrients & taste)
• 3 carrots, scrubbed and coarsely chopped
• 3 stalks of celery, coarsely chopped
• 2 medium size white or yellow onions, coarsely chopped
• 4 inches of ginger, grated
• 4 cloves of garlic, chopped
• 2-3 T Celtic sea salt (substitute unrefined sea salt if unavailable)
• 1 bunch parsley

TIP: Jewish folklore considers the addition of chicken feet the secret to successful broth; you can get the feet from a healthy butcher such as the one at Whole Foods.

After rinsing and drying your chicken, cut off the wings and legs and remove the neck, fat glands and the gizzards from inside the cavity. Place the chicken and all its pieces in the largest stainless steel pot you can find. Add the water, vinegar, salt, coconut oil, and all the vegetables except the parsley. Let stand 30 minutes to 1 hour. Bring to a boil, and remove the scum that rises to the top. Reduce heat and simmer for 12 to 24 hours. The longer you cook the stock, the richer, more flavorful, and more nutritious it will be. About 20 minutes before finishing the stock, add the parsley. This will impart additional mineral ions into the broth.

Remove whole chicken and pieces with a slotted spoon. Let cool and then remove chicken meat from carcass, set aside in fridge. Strain the stock into a large bowl and set that aside in fridge as well.

TO MAKE THE SOUP:

Ingredients:

You can substitute any vegetables or herbs that are in season. These are some of my current winter favorites.

• Collard greens, chopped
• Kale, chopped
• Carrots, cut in thick slices
• Celery, chopped
• Broccoli, cut into pieces
• Baked squash, cut into large pieces
• Oregano
• Thyme

Fill a very large stainless steal pot with stock, cut up vegetables/herbs of your choice, and chicken meat. Bring to a boil and then remove from heat immediately. Use ladle to dish out soup into containers for storage. You will want to do this right away, as the soup will continue to cook in the large pot (and you will spare the vegetables from being overcooked). Store excess in freezer, then reheat and season to serve!

TIP: For a Thai twist: add coconut milk and fresh-squeezed lemon or lime just before serving.

Recipe adapted from: Fallon, Sally. Nourishing Traditions. Washington DC:  NewTrends Publishing, Inc, 1999. Rubin, N.M.D., C.N.C., Jordan. Patient Heal Thyself. Topanga: Freedom Press, 2003.

Here's a hot toddy idea from Fertility Kitchen to help keep you warm, cozy and healthy through the holiday frenzy:

Mulling spices can be added to cider (or even wine) and heated to a slow simmer in a saucepot on the stovetop. They lend a spicy, festive flavor to your hot beverages and double as medicinal herbs that fortify your body against the chill of winter.

Here are some ideas for spices to mix and match for your own personalized medicinal mull:

Whole Clove Buds (ding xiang)

Cloves are harvested in the Far East and used globally as a warming spice to add a slightly peppery flavor to food. In Chinese medicine, cloves impart a warming, stimulating effect on the digestive system (and are, incidentally, a natural parasite-expeller). Cloves affect the kidney, spleen and stomach meridians, and are wonderful for warming stomach qi and fortifying the kidney yang.

Whole Cinnamon Stick (cinnamomum verum)

Also native to the Far East, cinnamon has been used in Traditional Chinese Medicine for centuries as an antidote to fevers and menstrual issues. Many cultures prescribe cinnamon for indigestion, and it's often recommended by modern herbalists for vomiting and nausea. Chinese herbalists will prescribe it for maladies brought on by cold (asthma and backache, in addition to digestive issues) because of its intense warming effects.

Orange Peel (chen pi)

Because most of the vitamins and nutrients in the orange are concentrated in the peel, dried orange peel is a valuable herbal medicine. Among its many benefits (one of them being it's deliciousness), orange peel is an anti-inflammatory as well as an anti-bacterial and anti-fungal agent.

At Acupuncture Kitchen, we often prescribe Chinese herbs to our patients on a more specific, individual basis. But don't be afraid to experiment with natural remedies at home in between your session!

Here's a recipe from the Fertility Kitchen that reflects our body's need for warming, wintery flavors this time of year:

Ingredients

• 2/3 cup coconut milk
• 2 tablespoons ghee (clarified butter, a staple of Indian cooking and easy to find at Indian groceries or health food stores)
• 2 teaspoons loose oolong tea leaves
• 6 oz of 73% cacao, chopped
• 1 cup unsweetened, Dutch-process cocoa powder
• Cardamom powder
• Tangerine zest

Preparation

1. Bring the coconut milk and ghee to a slow boil in a small, heavy saucepan and stir in the tea leaves. Remove from heat and let steep for 5 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, finely grind the cacao in a food processor and transfer it to a bowl.
3. Pour milk through a fine-mesh sieve onto the cacao, pressing on and discarding the tea leaves, then whisk until smooth.
4. Add in the tangerine zest.
5. Chill this ganache, covered, until firm (about 2 hours).
6. Spoon level teaspoons of the ganache onto a baking sheet.
7. Pour cocoa in a bowl, then dust your palms lightly with it.
8. Roll each piece of ganache into a ball (wash your hands and re-dust as they become sticky).
9. Drop several balls at a time into bowl of cocoa and turn to coat.
10. Transfer as coated to an airtight container, separating layers with wax paper.