- [Narrator] This program made possible by Forest River.

(upbeat music) We have always been dedicated to helping people experience the joy of the outdoors by building a full range of recreational vehicles.

At Forest River, your needs, interest, and lifestyle are at the forefront of everythi Forest River, follow the river.

To learn more visit forestriver.

- I'm just right now positively identifying this sword fern.

And it's got a little peculiarit I love this when this happens.

Look at that, a little lobe there the bottom of the leaf.

You can learn a lot about plant identification from watching these films, but you cannot learn it all.

Turn to your books, go online.

But most importantly, find a local edible wild plant t learn from them firsthand so you can have 100% accuracy and you can enjoy the "Wild Harvest" safely.

(gentle music) That's such a beautiful and delicate little flower.

There's so much to learn about local foraging and wild harvesting.

And over the years I think one of the greatest lessons that I've learned is that there are many species o that actually benefit by our harvesting of them.

We help them to spread out more to shoot out more roots.

See, in reality, the loving, res and helping wild plants to not only survive but to thrive, that's the essence of the "Wild (upbeat music) You know what, Paul, it's almost invariably the case that I come out looking for a wild edible plant and I find something better.

And you see this little guy, all these beautiful little white flowers all around us, this is western spring beauty.

This is our plant and it is just a wonderful treat.

Now, the thing about the spring beauty is this, it's in decline, it's felt in a lot of areas.

And the reason for its decline is not over-harvesting, it's actually for a lack of harv This is one of those plants that benefits by being disturbed, by being thinned out, by having its seed spread.

So, in this case, we've got all this spring beauty all around us, this is a massive patch, by the so we're very, very lucky.

But I want you to harvest these responsibly.

This is gonna be your job, so there's a couple of tricks to Number one, if you see a rather large potato like corm, as they call it, leave that one, it was shoot out more flowers, more flowers, more seeds.

Let those large ones continue to put out lots of flowers, go for the medium ones.

And there's one other technique that I'd like to share with you If you see dense clusters of the which there are a few patches ar go for those first and don't take them all.

Harvest responsibly, take one or And what you're doing then, you're creating some room in the for perhaps the larger of them to grow even larger, put out even more flowers and spreading more seeds.

- This is a treat.

- All right, I'll leave it to yo And oh, one more thing, as always remember, plant meet c chef meet plant.

This plant lives here at 365 day you're here just today.

So, get to know the plant, get to know the area and just let that inspire you.

Though you've got to be careful about which variety of spring beauty you're finding as some are endangered in certai others are abundant and spread across much of North America in all kinds of habitats.

(gentle music) But wait a minute, wow, that was this isn't spring beauty.

It may even be a plant that's to This is spring beauty, they were beside each other.

The corms of each were actually And I pretty much just was ready to throw this into the collection dish.

Oh my gosh, I actually did do it I threw this little plant in the 'cause I was so focused on the c and not looking at the flower.

And I threw this in and this is not spring beauty and could be poisonous.

You've gotta be careful.

I'll let this guy go back here, enjoy the rest of his life right Ah, you know Paul, it's great that I can get you up into the hills and you can check out the wild f So, I'm walking along the fence and I see this guy.

I bet you know what that is?

- [Paul] Uh, not precisely.

It looks like it's from the balm - That's pretty crazy that you're eating it without checking to make sure that it's not like a joke I'm gonna play on you.

Say yeah, that's highly toxic.

- I'm kind of counting that you're gonna direct me to something that's worthy of co - Yeah, no, it's catnip.

So, mint family and raw, cooked, whatever you want to do with the It's the mint family.

And it's a wonderful, I actually make a lot of tea out but in the kitchen it's all on y - Fun, here's one for you and right now my mind is, (imitates explosion) I have catnip growing out the re It just kind of pops up, but I never processed that I could use the catnip.

I always thought, "Well, cats li I'll leave it for the cats."

- In the end this is a wonderful treat in the kitchen.

It's mint, basically.

You can see all the tall dead stocks from last year and there's tons of it here.

So, what I'd like to do is I'm gonna leave you here just for a minute.

And now that you know you've got western spring beauty, I've got a treat for you for the third ingredient.

You're gonna wait for me here?

I'll be right back.

- Should I be nervous?

- [Les] Not at all, you should b - So he says.

- Originally from Southern Europ the Middle East, Central Asia an catnip is now naturalized throughout North America and New And you can find it everywhere, so the harvest is usually abunda All right, well, we've got the spring beauty.

We've got the cat nip, two vastly different plants, really?

So, for the third and final ingr and the one big surprise of the is that it was something that I had to process.

So, last year when this particular plant was ripe I thought I have to do it.

So, I pulled out the ladder, I went over to the tree, I gathered all of the fruit.

I went into the kitchen, I spent days processing them so that I could bring you my very own homemade sugar-free yet wonderfully delicious and sweet crab apple jelly.

- [Paul] That's not what I was expecting at all.

Well done.

- [Les] That's good, eh?

- You nailed it, that's really g - Kevin?

- [Kevin] Mmmm, that's good.

- Ain't that good?

- My initial thought is I've got to separate flavors because I have three very dynamic ranges of flavor.

The catnip, which is minty and strong and herbaceous, it's big, it's not a mild flavor The crab apple jelly, well that's sweet and round and It's not as in your face as the raw catnip, but nonetheless, both of them are a lot stronger than the spring beauty and that's just so delicate.

I've got to think my way around and how to get the best out of e and every one of 'em.

It's not often I have a chance to set up a kitchen right where we're harvesting a special ingredient like the spring beauty.

To actually see it growing and to think about preparation.

I have this feeling that with an ingredient that's s I could easily overdo it, over complicated.

What I really wanna do is celebr and showcase all the little subtleties that it holds.

My first course, I've got an idea which involves the spring beauty, it will be the star of the show.

One thing I noticed, when I tried it it had this pea like quality to and that's the stem and the flow The corn was a little bit different, however, that had a radishy texture.

In fact, I think I'm gonna try some here pretty quick, Les is out getting me some.

And I think for the salad I actually will need a fair amou So, I hope he delivers.

- That's good, I think I've got what you need, Paul.

- How'd you make out?

- I think I made it really well, but you tell me.

There you go.

- Nicely done, gosh, they're bea I'm carefully cutting the flower from the corm.

I don't wanna tear it, I want a nice clean cut just like when you're doing any sort of flower arrangement, a fresh cut on the flower stem helps it drink.

And I plan on soaking the stems and the blossoms in water just so they have a chance to st and crisp and fresh.

Well, one thing's for certain, there's a different yield of the corm versus the flour.

I'm not getting a huge quantity to work with.

So, I think what I'll do is I'll keep those maybe as a ga but the sweet spot right here is actually the sweet ingredient the stem and blossom.

So, chill, so relaxed.

I'm thinking I'll make a salad that I can accentuate that pea l that's in the stem and the bloss but also use these little nuggets to garnish the plate.

I think it's gonna be fun.

And this little guy here, now it's time for me to play with this crazy idea.

Little sugar, a little salt.

Next, it's time to get the other stuff ready for this salad.

So, for this I've got to be care These radishes have to be paper I've got some pre cooked red pot and they're pretty soft on purpo so I'll just marinate for a couple of minutes.

Some catnip.

Good, all right.

So, this salad is a riff on the mimosa salad.

Now, a mimosa is a tribute salad essentially celebrating flowers that are popping up through the Very much like this area would have been a few days ago.

Hey, Les, youhungry?

- Yep, as a matter of fact, I am - Good timing than - Oh, wow, that just looks beautiful, Paul.

- Remember I sent you shopping?

- Yeah.

- For a food safe spray containe - Okay, do tell, I haven't got a - It is a saline that I made.

So salt, a little bit of sugar and a little bit of spruce.

- Okay, wonderful.

- Let's dig in.

Make sure at some point you get a nice mouthful of the flower and the stem.

- Hmm, very fresh, very light.

Here's my reaction to you.

First of all, the flavor is deli So, I'm not denying it's very fr it's very open and vibrant in my The raw corms that are in there actually are a wonderful crunch 'cause it's like a radish textur They are like little mini radish even though they're called little potatoes, they're more like little mini ra However, the potato is overtaking the spring beauty.

So for me, I would have wanted t to be maybe even equal portionin of the spring beauty to the pota to really feel like I'm eating mostly spring beauty.

- For me it's a chance to learn.

And the thing that everyone has is a different perspective on fo So, when I was making this dish I was trying to bring a lot to t perhaps too much.

Still my goal was to celebrate the spring beauty but to give something that had some bulk to it as well, because it's so delicate.

So, to listen to your comments is a good thing because I'm listening, and I hear you, and I don't disagree.

- [Les] Well, that's terrific, the end comment is that it's still delicious.

I'm excited to see what you got for the second round.

- [Paul] Cheers.

- Okay, time for a little plant on this little spring beauty.

And the wonderful thing about being able to identify this flower here and now is that finally I'm looking at a that actually is in full bloom.

It has its pedals showing.

It's one thing to identify a pla when you cannot see the bloom, you have to go by a lot of other factors with the leaves, and the stems and the roots.

But when you've got the blooms it's just more information and it certainly is an advantage in identifying claytonia lanceol So, how do we determine that this definitely is claytoni Well, first of all let's take a look at the leaves.

These particular leaves are on either side of the stem, they're opposite and they're lan which is to say, lance shaped re Now, let's take a look at this little flower here.

What are the characteristics of And I need some help.

Don't say anything, let's just say I'm like a fine vintage now, okay?

All right, oh, there it is.

Five petals, five stamens.

So, the petals, the petals of th the stamens, the male sexual par which is in the middle of the flower, usually.

And that's what we're looking at amongst other things with this particular bloom.

The flowers are usually pink or and then they often have these little stripes that are everything from a very to almost a red color.

They're just a beautiful little and they are the first flower to bloom in the spring after the snow.

And you come out, and you look f and there they are just covering of the forest floor with a beautiful pink and white display claytonia lanceolata, spring bea (gentle music) - I'm excited about the next dis It's a chance for me to use Les's delicious crab appl It's gonna be a beautiful base for our barbecue sauce.

It's really simple.

Crab apple jelly in the pot, have a little cider vinegar.

Now, barbecue sauce is really all about the balance of sweet and sour.

Mostly it's made with tomatoes but this is gonna be better.

So, right now I've got the jelly and that's melted.

Now it's just reducing it down allowing that extra moisture in there to evaporate, and also that process thickens i Cucumber's the foundation of a salad called raita, which is cucumber, onions, mint and yogurt, a little salt.

What I'm doing right now is salting the cucumber and allowing some of that cucumber water to leach out.

But I also want to use this as a chance to get some of that catnip flavor into it, almost like doing a quick pickle All right, I'm just gonna let it hang over the bowl in this sieve.

So, all that liquid that's in th falls away from the cucumber just leaving me the flavorful catnip cucumber slices behind.

Raita also normally has onions.

In this case I think an onion might be too strong, so I'm using a shallot.

(gentle music) Good stuff.

Shallot, and a lot more catnip.

All right, just gonna let that s for a couple of minutes.

Oh, that's a nice piece of pork.

This is kind of a fun moment for I'm flattening the pork chop.

What this does is it allows me to cook it quickly.

And because I have a lot of surf it's gonna capture more smoke from the barbecue which is gonna work with the crab apple barbecue sauce, and give a platform to stack all the other ingredien I'm also leaving the fat on the because as it cooks that will re and it will drip onto the charco adding smoke, adding flavor.

- [Les] Paul, have you got a lig - I do.

- Thanks, usually I just rub two sticks together.

(Paul laughing) - Oh, look at that, there's floating, my pans hot.

They're done, yep.

All right.

- Is it dinnertime?

- It is.

- Well, there's nothing about th that doesn't look fantastic.

Okay, should I just dip and go f - Sure - Okay, all right.

- Yeah, play around with the fla So, next to the crab apple barbe you have the catnip in a raita s and that's not- - Oh, there was a kick to that.

Oh, I was thinking is gonna be all sweet and crab appley, and it is at first.

And then kaboom, you get that burst of spice and it's right at the back of my but in a good way.

- Here's how you deal with that, have a bite of the catnip salad.

Let's see what that does to your after having the spice.

- Oh yeah, you nailed it there.

That is actually, I think done to perfection.

There's the corm.

Mmm, oh, Paul, I mean the magic of the spring b and even just looking at it, it looks wonderful.

I'm so grateful that you took my crab apple jelly and turned it into barbecue sauc I never would have thought that.

I thought you were just gonna put it on something as a bit of a sweetener sort of but to turn it into barbecue sau what a great trick.

And you're right, I love what you've got going on the combination of flavors.

I actually really enjoy dishes when you can do a little journey on the plate going from one to the other, to that's just makes the eating mor - Yeah, it really does tell the of where we are right now.

- It's my turn.

I went real simple this time.

Catnip tea, nothing more, nothin This is a wonderful calming tea, I drink this tea, oh, probably every night if I can.

And it just is a very soothing effect on the mind and it's very calming and good for the stomach as well, have a taste.

- Oh, that's good.

- Isn't that great?

- And how well does that fit with this meal?

- Once again, palette cleanser and what a great chance we've had to enjoy the spring beauty with such a bounty around us.

It's been 35 years of gathering plants for me and this was the first time in m that I find myself in an area with such a wonderful abundance of spring beauty that I can enjoy the bounty.

I don't know, maybe it's a spiritual thing.

Maybe all these plants, and trees, and flowers, they let us know.

they avail themselves to us when they're ready, when the time is right.

And today for Paul and I, this was the right day to enjoy the spring beauty in the "Wild Harvest".

(upbeat music) - [Les] If you'd like to continu to "Wild Harvest" with me and Chef Paul Rogalski, then please check out our website at wildharvestfilms.com where we have recipes and forgin along with deleted scenes and ou from the making of "Les Stroud's Wild Harvest".

- [Narrator] Directly inspired by the series, "Chef Paul and Expert Forger, Le bring you the "Wild Harvest Season Two Recipe Book".

Highlighting all of Paul's dishe and complete with behind the scenes stories, it is available for 29.99.

In addition, a DVD of this season is also available for 19.99.

To order, please go to wildharvestfilms.com, "Wild Harvest TV show" on Facebo or "Les Stroud's Wild Harvest" o (gentle music) (birds chirping) - [Narrator] This program made possible by Forest River.

(bright music) We have always been dedicated to helping people experience the joy of the outdoors by building a full range of recreational vehicles.

At Forest River, your needs, interest and lifestyle are at the forefront of everythi Forest River, follow the river.

To learn more visit forestriver.

(bright music)