Tag

edible flowers

Lilac Lemon Drop Martini

written by Ali

We’ve lived in our little coastal town for just slightly over a year now. One of the best parts about being settled in is that I got to start gardening at the start of gardening season. As a result, we have peas, radishes, and kale looking great, along with about a half dozen pots of assorted herbs. (I want all the mints, please.) Even better, we’ve been able to watch the established plants – the rhododendrons and lilacs – start blooming.

Which, combined with an obsession with learning all about what can be foraged here, has led to a lot of research on what’s edible in my own backyard. I learned last year that lilac flowers are perfectly safe to eat. However, last year, the lilacs were just about done when I figured that out, so I managed one cocktail and then made a note to myself to do some more experimenting this year.

First off was lilac jelly. Of course, once I’d made that, I had to try it in a cocktail, which resulted in this lilac lemon drop martini. This is a fruity and floral martini – perfect for early grilling or for a fancy brunch. If my itty bitty Meyer lemon tree grows up to actually produce Meyer lemons, I can imagine using them in place of regular lemons. If you have a bit of lilac sugar hanging around, it makes a great sugar rim for the lilac lemon drop martini.

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Lilac Lemon Drop Martini

Ingredients

2 1/2 ounces vodka
juice from one lemon
1 ounce lilac jelly

Instructions

Combine all the ingredients with ice in a cocktail shaker. Shake to combine. Strain in to a martini glass (you may have to press down on the jelly as it strains to get it into the cocktail).
Serves 1. Enjoy!

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May 18, 2018 0 comment

Farmer's Market Pickles and Preserves

Lilac Jelly

written by Ali

I have to make a true confession at the start of this post – before I made lilac jelly, I’d never made jelly before. I’ve preserved about a thousand different things, but have only made jam, preserves, and pickles. Jelly has always intimidated me. However, I learned last year that lilacs were edible and I learned this year that you can make lilac jelly. Once our lilacs went into overdrive blooming, I decided it was time to try it out.

I learned a few things in the process of doing this. First, lilac blossoms are downright sticky. The first step to making this jelly is to separate each little blossom from the whorl of blossoms that make lilacs so lovely. Expect excessively sticky fingers in this process. The second is that lilacs lend themselves to a lovely pink color after they have been infused. I had kind of expected a bland looking jelly and instead got these lovely little gems instead. Lastly, expect that your entire house will smell like lilacs for days. Definitely not a bad problem to have.

Once you have your lilac jelly, make use of it by spooning some into Greek yogurt, slathering it on a bagel with a little cream cheese, or adding some to a lemon drop martini. You won’t be disappointed.

Recipe is adapted from here.

Yum

Lilac Jelly

Ingredients

2 cups lilac blossoms, washed (be sure to use flowers that haven't been treated with pesticides)
2 1/2 cups boiling water
1 lemon
1 box Sure Jell Pectin or 6 tablespoons Ball Real Fruit Classic Pectin
3 cups sugar

Instructions

(Note - I really liked how quickly this set with the Ball Real Fruit Classic Pectin - if you can find this, I highly encourage using it with this recipe).
Gently separate all lilac blossoms from their stems. Place the blossoms in a jar or bowl with a lid. Pour the boiling water over the blossoms. Let cool, cover, and place in the refrigerator overnight.
Prepare 4 half pint or 7 four-ounce jars for canning.
Strain the blossoms over a medium saucepan. Add the lemon juice, and pectin to the infusion and stir to combine. Bring to a rolling boil and add the sugar. Stir to dissolve and bring back to a boil. Once at a hard boil, cook for one minute. Skim off any foam that has formed.
Ladle the jelly into your prepared jars. Leave 1/4 inch headspace. Boil in a hot water canner for 10 minutes. Remove from the water and set aside to cool.
Jelly can be stored in a cool dark place for up to a year.
Enjoy!

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May 13, 2018 0 comment

Baked Goods Breakfast

Chamomile Tea Scones

written by Ali

For the 30th edition of Novel Food, I opted to make chamomile tea scones. I wasn’t sure I was going to make a recipe by the deadline for this edition of Novel Food. The move, the new job, and so on, have cut into both reading and blogging time. Fortunately, I had a bit of a break this weekend and had the bonus day off on the 4th of July, so have been catching up on a lot of things, including reading and cooking. One of my favorite “cute” mystery series is Laura Childs’s tea shop series, featuring intrepid heroine Theodosia Browning. I adore Theodosia, with her blue eyes and her unruly auburn hair. She has a great dog (Earl Grey) and runs a perfect little tea shop in Charleston, SC. And of course, she keeps running into dead bodies and has to lend a hand to the local law enforcement to figure out whodunnit.

Yep – these books are a bit contrived. But they are an awesome palate cleanser to what I’ve been reading lately: Jo Nesbo’s latest featuring poor Harry Hole, who can be pretty despondent; the most recent JD Robb, filled with a fair amount of violence; and a paperback by Kate Slaughter – also kind of dark. It was definitely time for a little break, so I bought the two most recent Laura Childs’s paperbacks: Devonshire Scream and Ming Tea Murder. My inspiration for my chamomile tea scones actually comes from Devonshire Scream. In addition to running a great tea shop, Theodosia employees a spectacular baking chef named Haley, who keeps whipping up the most divine scones. Between scones and tea, I couldn’t help eyeing my lovely chamomile crop out in the garden and thinking, hmm, what could I make?

These chamomile tea scones are light and fruity. They make use of the whole chamomile flower, and if you are like me, and a bit too lazy to dry them for tea, make great use of an edible flower. Plus, they would be great being served aside a cup of tea – chamomile or other.

Now, I generally don’t share candid behind the scene photos on my blog posts, but couldn’t resist sharing what I’m calling the cat catastrophe.

First photo there is a shot of me trying to set up the scene to photo these scones. Initially, I only had one cat helping (not unusual). But then, our ancient calico, Carmen, decided she needed to supervise. Supervision meant sitting observing from the cat tree. And then it involved sniffing the chamomile. Which then led to attacking the chamomile, getting a claw hung up in the napkin, and knocking over the tea cup and drenching everything. Really – not helpful. I mopped it all up and started over. Fortunately, the chamomile tea scones were all unharmed. The cat was totally unashamed. She sashayed over to the couch and finished supervising.

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Chamomile Tea Scones

Ingredients

2 1/3 cups flour
¼ cup sugar
2 ½ teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
½ cup butter
½ cup milk
1 egg
2 tablespoons sour cream
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/3 cup finely chopped chamomile flowers

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
In a medium bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Cut the butter into slices. Add the butter into the dry mixture and either use a pastry cutter or your hands to incorporate the butter until it forms pea size chunks. Add the milk, egg, sour cream and vanilla and gently incorporate until all the flour/butter mixture is wet and sticks together in a shaggy dough. Add the chopped chamomile flowers and gently incorporate.
Turn the dough out onto a parchment lined baking sheet and form into a circle. Cut the dough into twelve pieces that radiate out from the middle of the circle. Gently separate each piece – you want just a bit of space between each scone so that they can rise.
Bake for 20-25 minutes or until the tops of the scones are golden brown.
Makes 12. Enjoy!

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This recipe is linked up to Novel Food #30. Hop on over to check out all the great literature inspired recipes.

This post is also linked up to Treat Petite for July 2017.

July 5, 2017 10 comments

Beverages

Lilac Infused Spanish Gin and Tonic

written by Ali

This lilac infused Spanish gin and tonic is the first cocktail I’ve created in our new home. One of my favorite things about living in a place that’s a little bit more remote and has lots of gorgeous natural resources is the ability to do some backyard or neighborhood foraging. Ok – I confess, I have a pair of clippers in my car and just might have wandered around the place where I work to trim off a few fir sprouts to infuse recently. I waited until everyone was mostly gone for the day. It’s usually much easier when what I’m looking to forage is in my own backyard, like the lilacs I used for this lilac infused Spanish gin and tonic. We are really, really lucky that we have a beautifully landscaped yard at the house we are renting. The rhododendrons are absolutely going crazy and they are so colorful. We also have lilacs blooming.

Lilacs are an edible flower. I’ve seen them all decked out in sugar for cakes, but have also read they can be used to infuse spirits, like gin or vodka. I’ve got lilacs, so I didn’t want to waste this brief window of opportunity to try it out, so cut a couple of sprigs and infused away. I was pleasantly surprised by the end result. The gin becomes very floral, but not overwhelmingly so. In fact, I thought it gained a hint of vanilla flavor, which was lovely.

I kept this drink very simple: infused gin, a few strips of Meyer lemon peel, and about six juniper berries, all topped off with ice and tonic water. It was a perfect quick cocktail for a hectic week. This is also super easy to make, as the lilacs only need to infuse overnight (anything longer and I think they’d become too strong).

Yum

Lilac Infused Spanish Gin and Tonic

Ingredients

1/3 cup lilac flowers, gently washed and separated
6 ounces gin
6 juniper berries
several strips of peel from a Meyer lemon
Tonic water

Instructions

Combine the gin and lilac blossoms in a jar and cover. Refrigerate over night. Strain the gin before using.
Combine 2 ounces of the lilac infused gin, the juniper berries, and the Meyer lemon peel in a cocktail glass. Add ice and top with tonic water. Enjoy!

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Sometimes, I get help. Daisy kept trying to drag off my lilac spray.

May 26, 2017 0 comment

Breakfast Farmer's Market Freezer Meals Lunch Recipes

Squash Blossom Quiche

written by Ali

I planted one summer squash plant this year for one purpose alone: to have access to squash blossoms for this squash blossom quiche. Squash blossoms seem like they have become a thing, like kale and bacon. I suspect I was first introduced to the fact you could eat squash blossoms through reading Martha Stewart’s magazine, but I think the first time I actually tried one was at a coastal restaurant that served them stuffed with shrimp and cheese and deep fried them. At the same time, we had a farmer at our local market that would come to market each weekend with trays and trays of both baby zucchini and squash blossoms, so I decided to experiment and see what I could make of them.

The simplest preparation for these that I cook is to throw several into a quesadilla. The blossoms add a mildly peppery taste. The most complex preparation that I cook with these is this quiche. I really like the combination of egg and blossom, and this is a recipe that freezes up nicely, so is great for lunch with a simple salad to accompany it. It also makes a great weekend brunch recipe.

Squash Blossom Quiche
Serves 4

4 small potatoes (or 1 large)
1 tablespoon olive oil
5 eggs
1 cup milk
½ cup Swiss cheese (or other mild cheese)
1 teaspoon salt
Pinch freshly ground black pepper
4 or 5 squash blossoms, stamens removed

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Slice the potatoes to ¼ inch thickness. Layer them on a baking sheet covered in parchment paper and drizzle with the olive oil. Bake for 25 minutes or until both sides are slightly crispy.

Drop the temperature on the oven to 375 degrees. In a medium sized bowl, combine the eggs and milk and beat until combined. Add the Swiss cheese, salt and black pepper and stir until combined.

In a non-stick cake pan or pie pan, layer the potato rounds so that they overlap a bit and cover the bottom of the pan. Gently pour the egg, milk, and cheese mixture over the potatoes. The potatoes may float – they’ll settle into the bottom as the quiche cooks. Lay the squash blossoms on top. Bake for 40 – 50 minutes or until the egg is fully set (check for doneness by inserting a knife or toothpick into the middle of the quiche – if it comes out clean, the quiche is done).

August 4, 2016 0 comment

Farmer's Market Salad Vegetarian

Cucumber and Nasturtium Salad

written by Ali

If you read my Pesto, Tomato, and Mozzarella Pasta Salad post, you may have noticed my beginnings of an inventory of my urban container garden. In addition to the tomatoes and basil, I’ve also planted a White Wonder cucumber. I was attracted to this one because it grows well in a pot. I’ve been very impressed by how abundant it’s produced cucumbers. The only casualty so far has been a very early stage cucumber that the dog ran over – the cucumber has climbed down the side of the pot and is sidling its way toward the grass, so this wasn’t much of a surprise, as it’s in the dog’s traffic pattern for playing fetch.

I also planted a zucchini and an eggplant, neither of which seem particularly enthusiastic about producing anything. I also planted some fennel, though they are taking their time to produce fennel bulbs as well. For now, my harvest has been cucumbers, three cherry tomatoes, basil, and some fennel fronds. I can live with that.

I also planted a few edible flowers this year – scented geraniums, marigolds, chives, and nasturtiums. The nasturtiums looked so pathetic for so long, I almost thought I was going to have to give up on them. Then, one day in late June, they started blooming and I now have a pot of riotous dark red nasturtiums that are overwhelming the lavender plant I shoved in for good measure. For some reason, our dog, Daisy, likes to nibble on the nasturtiums and the chives. I guess she knows her edible flowers.

I gathered a handful of cucumbers last night and a few nasturtiums. They blended together perfectly for this cucumber and nasturtium salad. I had fennel salt on hand from last weekend: my fennel is producing fronds, at the very least. The only part of this recipe that takes a little bit of time is the fennel salt – but most of that is very hands off.

Cucumber and Nasturtium Salad with Fennel Salt
Serves 4

5 or 6 small to medium cucumbers, peeled and sliced.
8-10 nasturtium flowers, gently washed and patted dry.
3 or 4 tablespoons pine nuts
Fennel salt (link to recipe here) to taste
Olive oil to taste

Place the cucumbers in a bowl. Separate the nasturtium petals and toss over the cucumbers. Add the pine nuts and gently combine. Sprinkle with fennel salt and drizzle with olive oil.

Enjoy!

July 15, 2016 0 comment