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Have you ever sat on bare earth and closed your eyes and let your awareness sink down, down, down? This is one of my favorite meditative practices to do in the early days of spring when the earth is slowly emerging from snowmelt. It’s a bit like deep diving for me; I can feel my energy move into the earth, sensing treasures and splendor and mystery, then come back up to re-join my body. Each time I dive that awareness downwards, I get a little further. I’ve noticed a profound difference in conducting this meditation on various rock formations. 

Sometimes when I have really good focus, I can picture myself almost swimming through the substrates below me, imagining the jerky motions of live ammonites or giant trilobites swimming alongside me. Other days I get distracted by the plant and mushroom life just below the surface instead, the juicy bulbs that have not yet converted their energy into producing leaves and flowers, the sprouting seeds, the community of tree roots. Cozily snuggled into a vision of the earth is a wonderful way to spend an evening before drifting off to sleep. 

These appetizers are my savory take on ammonite fossils as inspiration. The star of the show is the onion jam, which is sweet and slightly crunchy and filled with flavor from wild herbs. A lacy crepe pattern emphasizes the mollusc’s inspiration, and some brown bread, mustard, and ham round out the experience to be a delightful and filling exploration of the earth’s deep mysteries. 

Herbed Onion Jam

This lovely savory-sweet jam is as versatile as it is delicious. Try it paired with melted brie cheese or simply spread on some toast or crackers! 

Ingredients: 

6 c. diced sweet onions

2 Tbs. olive oil

Salt and pepper to taste 

1 c. chardonnay (or other dry white wine) 

1 c. sugar

¾ c. white wine vinegar

½ c. water

2 dried bay leaves

3 leaves fresh yarrow 

4 sprigs fresh thyme

2 juniper berries

1 tsp. Mustard seeds

Directions: 

1. Saute the onions in the olive oil in a large pot over medium heat until they start to brown and soften, about 20 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. 

2. Stir in the white wine, sugar, vinegar, and water. Keep stirring until the sugar dissolves. 

3. Wrap the bay leaves, yarrow, thyme, juniper, and mustard seeds in a piece of cheesecloth and add it to the pan, submerged in the liquid as much as possible. 

4. Bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce the heat to medium low and let it simmer until the onions are soft and translucent and the liquid in the pan is syrupy, about an hour and a half. Remove and discard the herb bundle, then pour the jam into sterilized glass jars. Let cool to room temp, then store in the fridge for up to two weeks. (You can also use the water bath canning method to preserve it for longer.) 

Lacy Ammonite pancakes: 

These beautiful decorations turn an open-faced sandwich into something special. It may take a couple of tries to get the hang for making them, but have faith! I use my foraged curly dock seed flour to give them a lovely dark color and toasty, nutty flavor, but you could use buckwheat flour instead if you’d prefer. 

Ingredients: 

¼ c. all-purpose flour

¼ c. curly dock seed flour (or buckwheat flour)

1 tsp. Baking powder

Pinch sugar 

¼ tsp. Salt

2 Tbs. melted butter, 

¾ c. milk

1 egg 

Directions: 

1. Whisk together the flour, dock seed flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt. 

2. Add the melted butter, milk, and egg to a blender and blend briefly. Add the dry ingredients and blend until the mixture is smooth and about the thickness of heavy cream. Let rest while you heat up a non-stick skillet over medium heat. 

3. Pour the pancake ingredients into a squeez-able condiment bottle or piping bag with a fine tip. 

4. Once the pan is hot, draw a spiral about 3” across with the batter. Go in and add squiggly lines to make it look like an ammonite. Once the batter no longer looks wet or shiny, gently flip it over and cook the other side for about 30 seconds. 

5. Repeat the process to make more ammonites. 

(H)ammonite Open-Faced Sandwiches Recipe: 

Ingredients: 

Onion jam, above

Ammonite lacy pancakes, above

Brown bread (rye is great) 

Seedy mustard

Slices of ham

2 ½ - 3” circular pastry cutter. 

Directions: 

1. Set the oven on “broil.” Use the pastry cutter to cut even circles out of the brown bread and place them on a cookie sheet. When the sheet is full, place them on an upper rack in the oven to toast them briefly (keep a constant eye on them - this goes fast.) 

2. Cut the ham into circles with the same pastry cutter. Spread the bread with seedy mustard, then place the ham on top. Spread on the onion jam and top with an ammonite pancake. 

3. Serve warm or cool. 

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