Here's an image of some Alder Cones from my garden this morning. Each cone is about 20 mm long.
D200 with Nikon 105mm VR Macro Lens ( VR Off )
F11, 0.4 sec, Iso 100
Tungsten Light
20 frames with 1mm focus adjustment between exposures
Stacked in Helicon Focus
Finished in Photoshop CS2
Bye for now.
Alder Cones
Moderators: rjlittlefield, ChrisR, Chris S., Pau
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georgedingwall
- Posts: 207
- Joined: Tue Aug 01, 2006 11:15 am
- Location: Invergordon, Scotland
- Contact:
Alder Cones
Last edited by georgedingwall on Sun Mar 02, 2008 1:59 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Nice! Looks like they were made of marzipan. 
Recipe:
Alder cone smoked grouse with fern root glaze & salal sau
Yield: 4 servings
2 tablespoon Licorice fern root
2 tablespoon Gewurztraminer icewine
¾ cup Water
3 cup Dried alder cones
2 Wild grouse breasts, bone in and skinless
Juniper & Salal Berry Sauce:
1 ⅓ cup Water
1 ½ cup B.C. Pinot Blanc wine
3 ½ cup Salal Berries
1 ½ tablespoon Maple syrup
1 ½ tablespoon Black peppercorns
8 Juniper berries
1 ½ tablespoon Balsamic vinegar
Directions:
In a small covered sauce pan, gently simmer fern root in icewine and
water for 20 min. Pour into a glass jar, seal and let stand at room
temp for 12 hours. Strain into a small saucepan and boil, uncovered,
on high until reduced to a thick syrup. Set aside.
Heat alder cones in a large aluminum foil lined sauce pan over high
heat until they smoulder. Reduce heat to low; place grouse breasts
directly on top of the smouldering cones. Lightly brush the breasts
with the fern root glaze; cover pan tightly. Smoke breasts for 3
hours or until cooked but not dry. Remove the meat from the bone and
serve with Juniper-Salal Berry Sauce.
For the sauce: Pour 1 cup water and the wine into the bottom of a per-
forated double boiler. Place the salal berries in the top section.
Cover; simmer gently for two hours. Gently press berries with a
rubber spatula to extract remaining juice. Discard berries; reserving
syrup in the bottom of the double boiler.
To the salal syrup, add the maple syrup, peppercorns, juniper berries,
remaining water and balsamic vinegar. Bring to the boil and
immediately remove from the heat; let stand an hour before returning
to the heat. Cook, uncovered, until slightly thickened. Refrigerate
until needed.
Recipe:
Alder cone smoked grouse with fern root glaze & salal sau
Yield: 4 servings
2 tablespoon Licorice fern root
2 tablespoon Gewurztraminer icewine
¾ cup Water
3 cup Dried alder cones
2 Wild grouse breasts, bone in and skinless
Juniper & Salal Berry Sauce:
1 ⅓ cup Water
1 ½ cup B.C. Pinot Blanc wine
3 ½ cup Salal Berries
1 ½ tablespoon Maple syrup
1 ½ tablespoon Black peppercorns
8 Juniper berries
1 ½ tablespoon Balsamic vinegar
Directions:
In a small covered sauce pan, gently simmer fern root in icewine and
water for 20 min. Pour into a glass jar, seal and let stand at room
temp for 12 hours. Strain into a small saucepan and boil, uncovered,
on high until reduced to a thick syrup. Set aside.
Heat alder cones in a large aluminum foil lined sauce pan over high
heat until they smoulder. Reduce heat to low; place grouse breasts
directly on top of the smouldering cones. Lightly brush the breasts
with the fern root glaze; cover pan tightly. Smoke breasts for 3
hours or until cooked but not dry. Remove the meat from the bone and
serve with Juniper-Salal Berry Sauce.
For the sauce: Pour 1 cup water and the wine into the bottom of a per-
forated double boiler. Place the salal berries in the top section.
Cover; simmer gently for two hours. Gently press berries with a
rubber spatula to extract remaining juice. Discard berries; reserving
syrup in the bottom of the double boiler.
To the salal syrup, add the maple syrup, peppercorns, juniper berries,
remaining water and balsamic vinegar. Bring to the boil and
immediately remove from the heat; let stand an hour before returning
to the heat. Cook, uncovered, until slightly thickened. Refrigerate
until needed.
The meaning of beauty is in sharing with others.
P.S.
Noticing of my "a" and "the" and other grammar
errors are welcome.
P.S.
Noticing of my "a" and "the" and other grammar
errors are welcome.
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Mike B in OKlahoma
- Posts: 1048
- Joined: Fri Aug 04, 2006 10:32 pm
- Location: Oklahoma City
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georgedingwall
- Posts: 207
- Joined: Tue Aug 01, 2006 11:15 am
- Location: Invergordon, Scotland
- Contact:
Hi Doug,
Bye for now
They don't get much bigger. There is some variablility in size. The ones in the image are in the mid-sized range. They tend to grow in width as the scales open, but the length remains pretty much the same. A bit like me when I used to be fat.beetleman wrote:How big are they when they mature? Great job on the stack.
Bye for now
-
georgedingwall
- Posts: 207
- Joined: Tue Aug 01, 2006 11:15 am
- Location: Invergordon, Scotland
- Contact: