Harvesting Nettles

You want to harvest them when they are about 4" tall, or if past that, harvest only the top 4". Wear some substantial gloves, so you don't get stung. If you look at them closely, you will see that they are literally covered with tiny organic hypodermic needles. Brush up against these and they will break off easily, injecting you with a mix of acetylcholine, hydroxytryptamine, and a histamine. For some, the irritation is minor and lasts a few minutes; for others it can result in welts and burn for hours. You can cook them up like greens (most people add them to a pot of other greens like turnips or collards; they have a little bite if you eat them straight) or dry them to use as herbs. They are high in iron and vitamin C. Either the cooking or the drying will break down the irritating chemicals, rendering them harmless. Dried they have a natural anti-histamine quality, which is probably why you have heard they are useful for allergies. Sometimes even the stinging can be good! They have been a folk remedy for arthritis for generations, and modern medical research is backing that up.

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Nettles Recipes
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Nettles 101: Tips for handling nettles
(Copyright © 2004 Jessica Prentice: www.stirringthecauldron.com)
1. Don’t touch fresh nettles with your bare hands. Use tongs or a large fork to move them.
2. Cook nettles until ‘soggy’ or completely wilted before eating. A quick sauté is not sufficient to de-activate the sting. If making nettle tea, be sure to strain nettles out and don’t eat the leaves unless they’ve been thoroughly cooked.
3. If picking wild nettles for eating, harvest only the top four inches of the plant.
4. You may want to remove thick stems from nettle tops before cooking.
5. Nettles combine well with less ‘green’ tasting greens such as chard, spinach, kale, collards in such dishes as spanakopita, baked pastas, quiche, omelettes, & frittatas.
6. Sorrel and nettles combine nicely for a lemony-green flavor
Nettle Soup (Jessica Prentice)
Ingredients:
• 3 Tablespoons butter or olive oil
• 2 leeks, cut into rounds
• 1/2 pound wild nettle tops
• 1 quart filtered water
• 1 bouquet garni (little bundle of herbs tied with a string) containing any or all of these: a bay leaf, sprigs of thyme, parsley stems, and sage leaves
• 2 egg yolks
• 1/2 cup crème fraiche, sweet cream, or half and half, or to taste
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Nutmeg to taste
Procedure:
1. Sauté leeks in butter or olive oil. Add water and bring to a boil.
2. Add nettles (being careful not to touch them with your bare hands!), bay leaf and water.
3. Cover, bring to a boil, and simmer until the nettles are very soft.
4. Meanwhile, in a bowl, whisk together the egg yolks and the cream, crème fraiche or half and half.
5. Remove the bouquet garni from the soup, turn the heat to low, and puree using an immersion blender, adding a generous pinch of salt and a grind of pepper.
6. Take a ladleful of soup and stir it into the egg mixture.
7. Return the egg-nettle mixture to the soup and stir gently over very low heat (do not let it boil again)
8. Grate some fresh nutmeg into the soup, taste and add more salt as necessary to make it savory and delicious I like to serve this with a dollop of crème fraiche and a little fresh ground pepper and nutmeg on top.

Pot Roasted Quails with Nettles and Chicory (Phil Vickery)
<www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipe..._1551.shtml>
Preparation time less than 30 mins., cooking time 30 mins to 1 hour
The unusual flavours of nettles and chicory complement the strong taste quail perfectly.
Ingredients:
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tbsp safflower oil (or sunflower oil)
• 30g/1oz unsalted butter
• 4 plump quails, tied up by the legs
• salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 head of chicory, (110g/4oz), finely shredded
• 55g/2oz young nettle heads, washed, squeezed out and roughly chopped
• 1 small onion, peeled and finely chopped
• 1 clove of garlic, peeled and chopped
• 2 tbsp caster sugar
• 100ml/3½fl oz strong chicken stock
• 12 seedless grapes, sliced in half.

Method:
1. Preheat the oven to 220C/425F/Gas 7.
2. Heat the oils and butter in an ovenproof pan with a lid.
3. Season the quails well with salt and pepper and add to the pan. Brown all over for a few minutes. When nicely browned remove from the pan.
4. Add the chicory, nettles, onion and garlic to the pan (it is best to use rubber gloves when handling the nettles). Cook over a high heat for about 10 minutes, so they wilt and start to stew down.
5. Add salt and pepper and caster sugar and stir well.
6. Add the chicken stock and pop the quails on top. Cover with a tight fitting lid and cook in a hot oven for about 30 minutes. Do not overcook the birds, or you will lose the delicate flavour. Remove the pan from the oven and leave to stand for 15 minutes.
7. lift out the quails and put on a serving dish. Stir the grapes in to the nettle and chicory mixture and spoon over the quails.

you want to get them while they are young and have not flowered... l pack some in a pint jar and cover with boiling water for a while and then drink the tea and eat the protien.packed leafs... raw nettle pesto is great but takes a lot to do that... folding the leafs in on themselves makes them easyer to eat right off the plant but guess from many years of loving them they don't really sting me much... dried nettles is a super food...

Perhaps a little off topic, but I just made a nettle soup and arghhh it tasted so good :P

I used :
3 handfuls freshly picked nettles (about 1/4 carrier bag, you can use more if you like)
2 red-skinned potatoes (I used desire)
2 sticks celery
1 white onion
2 cloves garlic
Handful of spinach
1 vegetable stock cube
Knob of butter
Olive oil
1L boiled water......
and a generous sprinkling of nutmeg, wirth an iddy bit of chili powder!

First of all I fried the pots, onion and garlic in some olive oil and butter, for about 10 mins. After that I added my stock and water, brought to the boil, and then threw in the 'greens' (spinach, celery, nettles). I boiled this for about 15-20mins so the potatoes would be nice and soft and to make sure my nettles wouldn't sting the hell out of my mouth! After that I let it all cool a little and spun it about in the liquidiser - and voila, Nettle Soup :D Mmmm