1. Persimmon (featured in November 16th blog post)
2. Starfruit (featured in November 19th blog post)
3. Lavender
4. Cactus
5. Chimichurri
6. Peri-Peri
7. Masala
In this post, I spotlight the aromatic Lavender! I will continue to highlight each trend, with a recipe or two that I recommend. Please feel free to bookmark and/or follow this blog so you can get a great snapshot of all seven in the weeks to come. I also welcome any recipes that include Lavender, even homemade skincare recipes that feature lavender that you would love to share.
#3 Lavender: What is Lavender? What does it taste like?
(Picture from http://www.peachykeenorganics.co.uk)
Many of us have lavender growing in our gardens, and I know that I certainly love including lavender in my backyard to savor the wonderful scent! Lavender is used in a variety of ways, both fresh, dried and lavender oils. The chefs in the Provence region of France have been cooking with lavender for centuries. Lavender often brings a natural, yet elegant and sweetly floral flavor to a variety of cuisines.
(Picture of Dagoba Organic Chocolate Lavender Bar, from www.dagobachocolate.com)
One of the truly interesting food products that I found that contains lavender is the "Dagoba Organic Chocolate Bar". This chocolate bar contains dark chocolate, lavender and blueberries. It sounds completely divine, and the Dagoba website claims that it is "terrific with a glass of zinfandel". SOLD! They offer a box of 12 bars for $36.00. What amazing hostess gifts these bars would make with a lovely small dried lavender bouquet tied to the bar with some natural colored raffia! (hint, hint...to any of my holiday guests!)
The lavender recipe, and image, that follow were found on Epicurious.com. I found many truly interesting lavender recipes, including many with a Provence theme (with cornish game hens, and other fowl). I thought this one seemed so very versatile to make a unique and interesting holiday dessert truly special!
(photo by: Sang An, from www.Epicurious.com)
Honey Lavender Ice Cream
Yield: Makes about 1 qt
Active time: 20 min Start to finish: 8 hr (includes steeping, chilling, and freezing)
Ingredients:
2 cups heavy cream
1 cup half-and-half
2/3 cup mild honey
2 tablespoons dried edible lavender flowers*
2 large eggs
1/8 teaspoon salt
Special equipment: a candy or instant-read thermometer; an ice cream maker
Preparation:
Bring cream, half-and-half, honey, and lavender just to a boil in a 2-quart heavy saucepan over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, then remove pan from heat. Let steep, covered, 30 minutes.
Pour cream mixture through a fine-mesh sieve into a bowl and discard lavender. Return mixture to cleaned saucepan and heat over moderate heat until hot.
Whisk together eggs and salt in a large bowl, then add 1 cup hot cream mixture in a slow stream, whisking. Pour into remaining hot cream mixture in saucepan and cook over moderately low heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, until thick enough to coat back of spoon and registers 170 to 175°F on thermometer, about 5 minutes (do not let boil).
Pour custard through sieve into cleaned bowl and cool completely, stirring occasionally. Chill, covered, until cold, at least 3 hours.
Freeze custard in ice cream maker. Transfer ice cream to an airtight container and put in freezer to harden.
Cooks' notes:• To cool custard quickly after straining, set bowl in a larger bowl of ice and cold water and stir until chilled. • Custard can chill up to 1 day before freezing. • Ice cream keeps 1 week.
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