Salad burnet

[eirish]

I've never grown the stuff before, but there's some already in my garden. Somehow I had the idea that it was a dainty, tidy thing - ha! I've been digging out wayward shoots today and boggling at the roots on them.

So, does anyone know...
a. how to use it - any recipes beyond the obvious chuck-in-a-salad?
b. how to foil its plans for world domination (other than letting it have it out with the ground elder)

If anybody round here wants a division, let me know - I've dug out half a dozen today and there's more where that came from.

[Kleftiwallah]

Is this is the plant with the flowerhead a bit like lavender in makeup and crimson / maroon in colour?

If so my Dad used to make wine from the flowerheads. Cheers, Tony.

[eirish]

Looks like it is - I've not seen it flower yet. Wine, eh? interesting.

[GardenFaery]

Salad Burnet is listed as an ingredient in some French and Italian recipes, and is often available in markets there in bunches with other herbs and salad greens. Salad burnet also was very popular in Elizabethan England. At that time it was not uncommon to be served a goblet of wine with leaves of Salad Burnet floating in it, "[to] make the hart merry and glad, as also being put in wine, to which it yeeldeth a certaine grace in the drinking".

Sharing the same properties, but to a lesser degree, as the medicinal herb Burnet (Sanguisorba Officinalis), Salad Burnet has been used for over 2000 years. The Latin scientific name, Poterium Sanguisorba or Sanguisorba Minor, translates as "drink up blood" referring to its astringent qualities. It has been used to prevent hemorrhages and internal bleeding. Knowing this, soldiers of old would drink tea made from the herb before going into battle in hopes that any wounds they received would be less severe. It was also used as an anti-Plague tonic -- one of 21 herbs combined and dissolved in wine.
(Sally Bernstein - garden guides)

There you go.. you're growing an anti-plague tonic plant LOL

More modern uses I would guess...

(Wiki) It is used as an ingredient in both salads and dressings, having a flavor described as "light cucumber" and is considered interchangeable with mint leaves in some recipes, depending on the intended effect. Typically, the youngest leaves are used, as they tend to become bitter as they age.

and...

Another herb cheese spread I've enjoyed with Salad Burnet is:
8 ounces cream cheese
2 green onions or 1 small shallot, minced
3 Tbsp. chopped fresh sald burnet
3 Tbsp. chopped fresh dill
1-2 Tbsp. mayonnaise or sour cream
1/2 tsp. dried mustard
1 1/2 tsp. curry powder
2 Tbsp. chopped fresh chives
pinch salt

Blend cream cheese with onions, herbs, and mayo or sour cream. Add the mustard and curry, blend in the chives. Flavors increase as it sits. Keeps several days in the refrigerator, or I like to form into log roll and freeze. Then cut off amount I want for individual servings. I do this with a lot of herb cheese and butter recipes.

Also salad burnet is great in gin and tonic. Put in ice cube trays and freeze. Put a few cubes in glass and 1 or 2 sprigs of salad burnet in each glas with your favorite gin and tonic recipe. Makes a nice change from traditional Mint Julep Y'all.

A nice sauce for grilled or poached fish is:

1 cup creme fraiche
2 Tbsp. salad burnett vinegar
1 1/2 to 2 Tbsp. minced shallots
1 tsp. dried mustard
1/4 tsp freshly ground white pepper
3 Tbsp. chopped salad burnet leaves
2 tsps. chopped chives
salt to taste
Mix all ingredients. Let set for several hours before using. Put small amount on each portion of fish. Use in other dishes in place of mayonnaise.

(Henriette's Herbal Homepage)

[northepaul]

And I was going to say I add the leaves to salad!!

[eirish]

GardenFaery, those sound gorgeous!! Thank you!