Couch Canapé
A Journey of Small Bites
The couch has been the destination of all my travel of late. Complex chronic disease has forced me into mostly supine convalescence. In the morning, I make my way from bed ...
This treat is inspired by my own longing to walk familiar paths of the Chugach just outside my window. This recipe is the flavors of a hike from Prospect Heights to Near Point, using ingredients I foraged in the past there. The recipe should be tweaked to ingredients at hand, simply remembering the formula of base, schmear or drizzle, star ingredient, and garnish. When dreaming about a hike up the mountain, I came up with an array of other combinations. Two other standouts were: a roasted morel bedded down on nettle compound butter topped with a fireweed blossom, and pickled blueberries atop spruce tip cream cheese with a wild rose petal adornment. I imagine I will craft them all as I continue to dream about saunters amongst my favorite plants. Read the related story, "Couch Canapé." Both the story and the recipe were first published in the Summer 2023 issue of Edible Alaska.
Ingredients
SERVINGS: Makes 12–20 toasts, depending on size and toppings
- Crackers or thinly sliced bread of choice, cut into 2-bite portions (I use my own lentil toast recipe. Link below.
- 1 handful of wild chives
For the whipped feta
- 1 7-ounce block feta cheese
- Juice of 1 clementine or mandarin, about 3–4 tablespoons
- 1 tablespoon aquafaba (optional)
- ¼ cup plain yogurt
- 2 tablespoons rose petals, fresh or dried
For the roasted devil’s club
- 2 handfuls of young, soft devil’s club buds (learn how to harvest them mindfully at ediblealaska.com)
- Salt
- Oil
Preparation
Preheat your oven to 350° F. Lightly toast your bread in the oven on a parchment paper-lined sheet pan, if desired. Remove and let cool. Meanwhile, place the ingredients for the whipped feta in a food processor and blend until smooth and spreadable. Spread devil’s club buds on a parchment-lined sheet pan, drizzle with oil, and sprinkle with salt. Cook until crisp and lightly browned, about 10 to 15 minutes. Assemble your canapés: spread a hearty schmear of feta atop the toasts or crackers, bed down a single devil’s club bud on each, adorn with a bit of wild chive.
Eat in repose, imagining an ascent up Near Point.
About this recipe
Note: the whipped feta recipe offers opportunity to adjust for your canapé variations. Substitute any edible flower or herb (nasturtium, mint, fennel frond…) in the same ratio, or swap out the acid (lime, lemon, a special vinegar…), or add spices (green coriander, dill seed, young garlic…) to serve as a perfect bed for your main ingredient.
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