The view from the kitchen window includes all varieties of blooming beauties on these late-spring days.

Why not add the petals of some of those flowers to the dishes you are cooking?

The petals of pot marigolds, or calendula, are recommended for salads, as are chive blossoms, rose petals and dandelions.

The bright yellow dandelion you remember from warm afternoons during childhood also can be battered and fried. The delicate young flowers are said to taste like fried mushrooms when prepared this way.
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This week, we continue with the use of fresh herbs as well as that of preserved herbs and spices.

Another visit with Dotti Hydue of Morriston has provided me with additional information on the herbs growing in her garden.

She carefully sought out just the right sprigs of several of the growing herbs and snipped them to provide this week’s picture.

The Italian Parsley, also known at “flat leaf” Parsley, came out of the regular garden which showed many changes in growth since last week’s visit.
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It’s easy to add a dash of homegrown lemon flavor to recipes, even if you don’t live in the tropics! All you need to do is grow your own lemon herbs. Lemon balm, lemon verbena, lemon grass, and lemon thymes, mints, and basils all add a bit of zest to recipes. To help you get started in the kitchen, we gathered six fun cooking ideas that are sure to put a citrus swing into your favorite summer dishes.

Herb butters. Combine 5 tablespoons of any of the lemon herbs (except lemongrass) with 1 stick of softened unsalted butter. Mix well. Refrigerate in an airtight container or freeze. Melt over vegetables, poultry, or fish, or spread on fresh bread.

Herbed salts. Pour a layer of sea salt into a wide-mouth glass jar that has a nonmetal lid. Layer even measures of fresh lemon herbs with sea salt, ending with a salt layer. Loosely cap the jar. The herbs impart their flavor into the salt as they dry (this takes 2 to 4 weeks). Remove the herbs when dry. Grind some of the herbs into the salt for a stronger flavor. Use the salt to season meats, vegetables, and popcorn.
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Total time: About 50 minutes

Servings: 6 to 8

3 pounds asparagus

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

4 shallots, peeled and thinly sliced

Coarse sea salt
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* 12 zucchini flowers with zucchini attached
* 4 cups (330g) Bio-Nature Organic
* Garganelli Pasta*
* 3/4 cup (180ml) Colavita extra virgin olive oil
* 2 cloves garlic, crushed
* 16 grape tomatoes, halved
* 80g pecorino cheese or parmesan, grated
* 1 cup small basil leaves
* 1 cup small purple basil leaves

Method

1. Remove flowers from zucchini, then gently open and use your fingertips to remove and discard yellow stamens. Tear flowers into petals and set aside. Cut zucchini diagonally into 5mm-thick slices. Read the rest of this entry →