All too often, we get caught up in having everything done a certain way when it comes to cooking, especially when it comes to seasonings. We, Americans tend to be more prudish in what/how we season our food, relying mostly upon salt to create flavors. One of the great things food scientists and test kitchens are encouraging people to do these days is build layers of flavor WITHOUT adding tons of salt. Now, there is nothing wrong with salt, but we have to realize it is not the only way to make foods taste good. Two of my favorite, super versatile flavorings are rosemary and lavender.
I am sure most of you are familiar with rosemary in both it's dried and fresh forms. If nothing else, you may have seen in growing in a shrub along a walkway or in someone's garden. It is fairly easy to grow, and when properly groomed, can certainly be a fragrant, decorative addition to your garden. I remember the first time I heard of rosemary. I was a child, probably 8 or so, and it was around Easter. My mother wanted to make leg of lamb for the first time, which meant she and I would spend time researching cooking methods and spices. I remember when we went to the store to get the meat, we had a conversation with the butcher about how to cook it, and what spices were typically used with it. Of course, he mentioned mint jelly, and my mother bought an obligatory jar, though I don't think she had any serious intention of using it. He then mentioned rosemary. My mother located the fresh rosemary, and I remember thinking it looked unappealing since it seemed to be just a twig, similar to a young pine twig. When we got home and I got to smell the rosemary, I instantly fell in love. It actually did remind me a bit of the piney woods that surrounded our house. At any rate, I remember helping my mother cover the leg of lamb in oil and the spices and us excitedly waiting for it to finish cooking. I loved the earthy, piney, flowery taste it gave the lamb.
As I grew older, I expanded my use of this elegant herb to include beef. I can't get enough of the beef/rosemary combo. To me, it's almost better than lamb with rosemary. A few years ago, I heard of using rosemary to scent sugar. At first, it seemed like an odd pairing, but the more I thought about the beautifully floral scent of the herb, things started to make more sense. In nutrition, one of the standard labs was the snickerdoodle cookie lab. Don't ask me why a nutrition class would make cookies, I was simply following the directions of my predecessors. Don't worry, I have since done away with the lab to opt for something a bit healthier. Any any rate, one good thing to come out of the snickerdoodle lab was me obtaining a great sugar cookie base. One crazy summer, I got the wild idea to take out the cinnamon coating, and add rosemary. This single stroke of genius has led to rosemary lemonade, a rosemary/ginger cocktail and a simple rosemary-lavender tea.
This brings me to my other love. Le lavender! While I am not fond of the color, the flower not only has a soothing smell, but it also has a full bodied, luxuriously floral taste. Depending upon how well preserved your flowers buds are, a little goes a long way. It can be very easy to overwhelm a dish when using lavender flowers, so proceed with the utmost caution and discernment. I have found a few teaspoons of lavender in whipping cream pound cake is absolutely heavenly. It takes a plain pound cake to a whole new, far more elegant level. I am not a big chocolate person, and when I do indulge, it tends to be white chocolate (not real chocolate, I know; don't judge). The famous chocolate boutique, Cocoamoda (www.cocoamoda.com)in Calvert, Texas creates exquisite chocolate confections with old-world charm. I have been blessed enough to have visited a few times, and each time, I fall in love. The mastermind behind the sweet treats, is as charming and winsome as his creations. With the exchange of but a few words, you two become BFFs and the deal is sealed with a hug. It is in this setting, that I was introduced to one of my absolute favorite things EVER...the white chocolate lavender truffle. Words cannot adequately express the delight these truffles bring, so I will not tarnish their good and tasty name, by attempting to describe them.
Lavender and mint make a soul soothing tea that scents the whole house. It does a far better job than chamomile tea at relaxing your and helping you find that happy place deep inside. Herbs De Province can seem mysterious and intimidating to use because different mixtures contain different things, but many include lavender. Some suggestions for working with lavender in savory applications are: lamb, chicken and of course a hearty yeast bread. Given how bland chicken can be, I would suggest seasoning with lavender and something that can stand up to it like lemon or orange, otherwise the poor bird would be overwhelmed. Lamb is rich enough on it's own to handle a liberal sprinkling of lavender. You will find the floral punch really rounds out of the flavor of the lamb and gives it an almost buttery flavor.
Thank you for entertaining my ranting, and I hope you gleaned something from it!
Sunday, April 27, 2014
Wednesday, April 23, 2014
Spring has sprung!
I was invited to the lovely home of an even lovlier family, and tasked with bringing a dish. The hostess thoughtfully created an event on FB to help guests coordinate the sides and such. In my laziness, I waited until late to weigh in with what I wanted to bring, so there were only a couple of things left. I opted for the rice dish and deviled eggs. I wasn't worried about the deviled eggs, but I did know I wanted to do something a little different. Not going to lie, the rice dish intimidated me a bit. I grew up eating rice regularly, and I love it in pilaf, risotto, stir-fried and in pudding, but it's not something I really set out to make on any sort of regular basis as an adult. Each time I think of making something with rice, the first thought that pops in my head is, "ain't nobody got time for that". Given that I had a 10 pound bag of dried rice sitting in my pantry itching to be used, I figured I may as well get over myself and dive in. I knew I wanted something colorful and chocked full of veggies (I mean, how else would I get the color?).
At any rate, I went to the store and picked up any veggie that looked "fun". To my utter delight, as I was getting some pine nuts in the bulk bin section, and saw organic wild rice on CLEARANCE!!!! I probably shouldn't have been so excited, but dude, CLEARANCE!!! In my head, I was thinking I would be feeding millions, so I left the store with enough stuff to last the rest of the year. I was also thinking there would be no leftovers, so I'd planned on making a lamb based dirty rice for the week (I mean, I did have a freakin' 10lb. bag of rice, after all). At any rate, below you will find my recipes, scaled down a bit from the originals (that I am STILL eating). I had plenty of leftovers, so I didn't need to make a seperate dish for the week, I just ended up adding stuff to the leftover rice (that did not originally contain meat, btw).
Festive Bacon Deviled Eggs
Yield 12 servings (2 pieces per serving)
1 dozen eggs
1/2 cup mayo
1 t dried parsley
1/3 cup bacon pieces
1/3 cup chopped grape tomatoes, seeded
pinch or two of salt and pepper
Extra tomato, bacon and fresh parsley for garnish (optional)
Hard boil the eggs. Before peeling, make several cracks in the shell and let them sit in cold water for about 10 minutes. This will help stop the cooking and the water will seep between the shell and the egg white to make shell removeal eaiser.
Once the shells have been removed, halve each and put the cooked yolks in a small mixing bowl. Add the other ingredients, and mix until creamy. Taste for salt and pepper.
If you are wanting to make a more impressive presentation, place the yolk filling in a pastry bag and pipe it into the cooked whites. Garnish with extra chopped tomato and bacon. Just before serving, rain parsley over the eggs.
Notes: If you're a mustard fan like myself, you can add 1 1/2 t mustard to the filling to give it some pep. Extra yumminess!
Easter Rice
Serves 10 (1 cup servings)-great way to sneak veggies in kiddos
2 cups dry rice
1 cup wild rice
1 lb. ground lamb
Olive oil
1 leek, halved and sliced
4 shallots, minced
1/3 cup shittake mushrooms, chopped
1/3 cup baby bella mushrooms, chopped
1/2 bunch of kale, finely chopped
1 1/12 cups carrots, cut into matchsticks
1 rib of celery, minced
2 t dried mint
1/4 cup pine nuts
1/2 cup parmesan cheese, grated
6 cups of chicken stock
salt and pepper to taste
In a large pot, add about 4 T olive oil to a pan. Turn the heat onto med-high, and add rices and shallots.
Saute until rice browns lightly.
Add ground lamb, and mint. Brown lamb (you should be able to smell the mint).
Start adding veggies with a couple of pinches of salt, stirring after each addtion until they are covered in oil (add 2-3 T of oil if the mixture seems dry).
In a small, dry pan, toast pine nuts until you can smell them (be careful that they do not burn!). Add the nuts to the pan with all the rice and meat.
The veggies should be have had time to sweat a bit, so go ahead and at the chicken stock at this point. Let everything boil for about 7 minutes, then turn the heat down to low and simmer until very little liquid remains (probably 15 minutes).
Turn off the heat, and remove from the burner. Allow the rice to sit until all liquid has been taken up by the rice. Nothing should be sticking to the bottom of the pot.
Fluff the rice, mix in the parmesan cheese, and serve!
Note: You can brighten the whole dish by squeezing half a lemon's worth of juice on just before serving. Add creaminess by mixing in marscapone or goat cheese.
At any rate, I went to the store and picked up any veggie that looked "fun". To my utter delight, as I was getting some pine nuts in the bulk bin section, and saw organic wild rice on CLEARANCE!!!! I probably shouldn't have been so excited, but dude, CLEARANCE!!! In my head, I was thinking I would be feeding millions, so I left the store with enough stuff to last the rest of the year. I was also thinking there would be no leftovers, so I'd planned on making a lamb based dirty rice for the week (I mean, I did have a freakin' 10lb. bag of rice, after all). At any rate, below you will find my recipes, scaled down a bit from the originals (that I am STILL eating). I had plenty of leftovers, so I didn't need to make a seperate dish for the week, I just ended up adding stuff to the leftover rice (that did not originally contain meat, btw).
Festive Bacon Deviled Eggs
Yield 12 servings (2 pieces per serving)
1 dozen eggs
1/2 cup mayo
1 t dried parsley
1/3 cup bacon pieces
1/3 cup chopped grape tomatoes, seeded
pinch or two of salt and pepper
Extra tomato, bacon and fresh parsley for garnish (optional)
Hard boil the eggs. Before peeling, make several cracks in the shell and let them sit in cold water for about 10 minutes. This will help stop the cooking and the water will seep between the shell and the egg white to make shell removeal eaiser.
Once the shells have been removed, halve each and put the cooked yolks in a small mixing bowl. Add the other ingredients, and mix until creamy. Taste for salt and pepper.
If you are wanting to make a more impressive presentation, place the yolk filling in a pastry bag and pipe it into the cooked whites. Garnish with extra chopped tomato and bacon. Just before serving, rain parsley over the eggs.
Notes: If you're a mustard fan like myself, you can add 1 1/2 t mustard to the filling to give it some pep. Extra yumminess!
Easter Rice
Serves 10 (1 cup servings)-great way to sneak veggies in kiddos
2 cups dry rice
1 cup wild rice
1 lb. ground lamb
Olive oil
1 leek, halved and sliced
4 shallots, minced
1/3 cup shittake mushrooms, chopped
1/3 cup baby bella mushrooms, chopped
1/2 bunch of kale, finely chopped
1 1/12 cups carrots, cut into matchsticks
1 rib of celery, minced
2 t dried mint
1/4 cup pine nuts
1/2 cup parmesan cheese, grated
6 cups of chicken stock
salt and pepper to taste
In a large pot, add about 4 T olive oil to a pan. Turn the heat onto med-high, and add rices and shallots.
Saute until rice browns lightly.
Add ground lamb, and mint. Brown lamb (you should be able to smell the mint).
Start adding veggies with a couple of pinches of salt, stirring after each addtion until they are covered in oil (add 2-3 T of oil if the mixture seems dry).
In a small, dry pan, toast pine nuts until you can smell them (be careful that they do not burn!). Add the nuts to the pan with all the rice and meat.
The veggies should be have had time to sweat a bit, so go ahead and at the chicken stock at this point. Let everything boil for about 7 minutes, then turn the heat down to low and simmer until very little liquid remains (probably 15 minutes).
Turn off the heat, and remove from the burner. Allow the rice to sit until all liquid has been taken up by the rice. Nothing should be sticking to the bottom of the pot.
Fluff the rice, mix in the parmesan cheese, and serve!
Note: You can brighten the whole dish by squeezing half a lemon's worth of juice on just before serving. Add creaminess by mixing in marscapone or goat cheese.
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