Cooking With Lavender – Part II

So I left off at lavender appetizers and cocktails… and now I will introduce the salad and our side dish in this post. I think the salad was one of my favorite dishes of the evening. It was easy and elegant at the same time. The dressing was incredible. The goat cheese theme continued… and then it got stinky with some blue cheese in the side dish.

Spinach and arugula dressed with a lavender honey vinaigrette – topped with baked lavender, thyme and panko crusted chèvre.

Salad Ingredients
Spinach
Arugula
Goat Cheese – cut into medallions
Panko Bread Crumbs
Fresh Thyme
Ground Pepper
Lavender

Directions: Combine bread crumbs, fresh thyme, ground pepper and ground culinary lavender in a bowl and mix. There were no measurements involved… just a pinch here and there with the lavender, thyme and pepper  – enough to coat the goat cheese medallions before baking them in the oven. Bake until the panko gets crispy and serve warm on the bed of dressed greens.

Notes from KristenThe Chèvre sliced horribly, it fell apart in the coating… had to form patties to coat. Perhaps a dip in olive oil would help the panko stick better.

Lavender Honey Vinaigrette Ingredients
2 Tablespoons Lavender Honey – Kim made the honey before our get together
Juice of 1 Lemon
1/3 – 1/2 Cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1/4 Teaspoon Sea Salt
1/4 – 1/2 Teaspoon Freshly Ground Black Pepper
1 Large Garlic Clove – finely minced
1/2- 1 Teaspoon Coarse Dijon Mustard

Directions: The dressing was made in a jar. The amount of oil varies depending on how much juice you get out of your lemon. There was lots of tasting between jar shakes and adjustments were made.

Notes from Kristen: Not much measuring with the dressing since it was a basic vinaigrette. 1/3 cup oil – 1/2 that amount of lemon juice. 2 tablespoons honey, 1teaspoon Dijon…no measuring of spices – just several twists of the grinders – taste – adjust. Might use regular honey next time and add lavender to the dressing, since it was a little difficult to detect the presence of the lavender. The recipe could easily be adjusted for thyme, rosemary, basil, etc., just use the same in the coating and dressing.

Kristen had the toaster oven set to 350 degrees F. so the cheese wouldn’t melt too quickly before the panko browned. It took about 15 minutes. We ended up transferring the cheese to the conventional oven to speed up the process.

I grabbed a second cheese medallion because I ran out of the first one and still had greens left… at least that’s the story I’m telling here. OMG, they were fabulous… and the dressing will be made over and over by me for sure. Since Kim made the lavender honey ahead of time, I wasn’t sure what was needed – so I did some research on my own.

Lavender Honey Ingredients:
3 Tablespoons Fresh Lavender Flower or 1 1/2-2 Tablespoons Dried Lavender Flower Buds
16 oz. Honey – Choose a light colored honey like clover honey

Put the lavender flowers and honey into a saucepan over medium heat to gently warm. Stir and mix together the lavender flower and the honey. Allow it to sit over the lowest setting for gentle heat about 1/2 hour then pour while it is still warm into a container that has a lid. A glass jar would be good. Set aside for a week or so in a cool place, then strain out the flowers and re-bottle.

Note: You definitely need to plan ahead by making the lavender honey… or you could just purchase it from Amazon, HomeGoods, World Market, Whole Foods or some other specialty store.

Next up… Sweet Potato Fries Topped with Lavender and Blue Cheese

This was the dish given to me. I was emailed the recipe and I honestly didn’t really study it until I got to Kim’s on Saturday. Things were kind of crazy with hosting 4th of July at the house.

I’m a huge sweet potato fan… not a big blue cheese fan, but I was interested in how everything would taste together.

Ingredients:
2 Yams
1 Heaping Teaspoon Sea Salt – ended up adding a little more later
1/2 Teaspoon Cayenne Pepper – the amount definitely added a kick to the fries
3-4 Tablespoons Olive Oil
Blue Cheese Crumbles – as much as you prefer
2 Teaspoons Ground Lavender – the sprig was just for the photo

Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.
  2. Wash/peel/cut yams into 1/4 inch thick sticks
  3. Put cut up yam into a plastic bag; add salt, pepper and olive oil and shake yam sticks until they are coated.
  4. Line baking sheet with parchment paper (we used a Silpat silicone mat) and place fries in a single layer.
  5. Bake in oven for 20-30 minutes.
  6. Remove from oven, place on serving plate and sprinkle with blue cheese crumbles, lavender and more salt.

The fries took the entire 30 minutes and they never really got crispy – deep fried would have been the way to go for perfection. I heat from the cayenne lessened with the addition of the blue cheese. I think I might have gone a little too light on the lavender, I ended up sprinkling a little more on mine so I could really taste it.

Both dishes were successful – with some minor tweaks, I think they could pair well with just about anything.

Next up – another stab at salmon – Cedar Planked Salmon with Lavender and Chocolate Lavender Brownies. I promise that will be it for lavender – I just got really excited about my new cooking group and wanted to share all of the recipes we used.

Happy Cooking,

 

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Cooking with Lavender – Part I

A couple of months ago I received an email from a friend inviting me to take part in a culinary adventure. She had been wanting to get a group of girlfriends together to cook and share different techniques, ingredient use and found recipes.

How it started… Kim was sharing a meal with her daughter that ended with a lavender and strawberry shortcake dessert with lavender infused whipped cream – She thought it was delicious. This started her quest to learn more about growing her own culinary lavender. Kim wanted to share what she had learned with all of us and I was happy to accept the invite.

She purchased some organic lavender plants from an herb farm in Vacaville, CA. She grew them, harvested them for bundling and drying and did a bunch of research to help plan our menu for the evening. The emails were flying back and forth and just like that, our new gourmet group was formed.

Cooking with Lavender was our first topic, and I’m hosting the second – any ideas or suggestions? I was thinking about using corn. One of the group members voiced some concern over it being too limiting. I’ve actually found some pretty cool recipes and so has Kim, so it might still be an option – maybe combined with something else to make everyone happy.

Kim pointed out the differences in the lavender she had for the evening. Provence lavender has pale blue to purple blooms and with English lavender, the flowers are pinkish-purple. English lavender has the sweetest taste of all the lavenders and is most commonly used in cooking.

She had also purchased some from a boutique for comparison.

She explained that a little goes a long way. Our biggest concern of the evening was to not create a bunch of dishes that tasted like potpourri. The potency of the lavender increases with drying, so we used very little – sometimes questioning… Can you even taste the lavender?

Our menu for the evening started off with Lavender Lemon Drop Martinis.

Ingredients:
3 oz. Vodka
1 oz. Lavender Infused Simple Syrup
1 oz. Freshly Squeezed Lemon Juice

Directions:
Simple Syrup (1 cup water, 1 cup lavender and a tablespoon of culinary lavender buds – strained after you are done heating)
Add all ingredients in a martini shaker full of ice. Shake to combine and strain into the prepared martini glasses. Garnish with a sprig of lavender.

Note: My martini was made with 1.5 oz. of vodka and 1.5 oz. of water after coughing when I took the first sip of the strong one. Ha! Ha! – I’m a total lightweight when it comes to drinking hard alcohol.

I switched to lavender lemonade as the night went on. Kim used the same lavender infused simple syrup and fresh lemon juice for my lemonade.

Next on the menu was the most incredible appetizer ever… Goat Cheese and Lavender Crostinis – No joke, I probably ate 10 of them.

Ingredients:
Goat Cheese
Lavender – ground in spice grinder and added to the cheese
Dried Apricots – chopped into small pieces and added to the cheese
Fig Butter – from Trader Joe’s – added to the cheese
Baguette for Crostini – sliced thin and toasted
Pistachios – chopped and sprinkled on top
Honey – drizzled on top

I don’t have the ingredient amounts, Kim made the appetizers ahead of time and went by taste, not a recipe. A small amount of ground lavender was added to the goat cheese, along with fig jam/butter and chopped dried apricot and then mixed together. The baguette was sliced and toasted and then the cheese mixture was spread on top. Pistachios were then sprinkled and honey was drizzled over everything as the finishing touch.

We also had Roasted Olives with Lavender and Truffle Oil. I unfortunately failed to get a photo.

Ingredients:
8 oz. Greek Medley Olives from Trader Joe’s
1/4 Cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 Teaspoon Culinary Lavender Flowers
1 1/2 Teaspoons White Truffle Oil
Pinch of Crushed Red Pepper

They were served on a pretty glass plate.

The third appetizer of the night was a lavender goat cheese served with Trader Joe’s Raisin Rosemary Crisps. All three appetizers were absolutely delicious.

Three appetizers and cocktails was a pretty fun way to start off the evening. We all took turns creating the dishes assigned to us. I will post the other courses in part II and III. I probably ended up with over 100 photos. Rounding up the recipes has been the hardest part – I think I’ll make little booklets for our next group get together or then again… I could take better notes.

Have you cooked with lavender before or tasted any dishes that used lavender? I really thought it would overpower everything, but it was such a nice compliment. Kim sent us home with our own jars of lavender and I look forward to experimenting in the kitchen with mine.

Cheers to a wonderful night of cooking and dining with good friends… Thanks Kim for the idea and including me in the group.

 

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My Personal Grocery Challenge

I mentioned the grocery challenge in my last post and actually wasn’t sure I was even going to blog about it, but I feel like it might change the content here a bit, so it’s worth mentioning.

I’ve never really been a week by week meal planner. I tend to gravitate towards the same products each week, buy the same proteins, lots of fresh veggies, fruit, dairy and make meals on the fly based on how much I have going on after work.

My grocery list is magnetic and stored on the front of the fridge (So 1980) – if we run out of something, it goes on the list.  I just take the list off the fridge, add items out of the ordinary to the list on my iPhone reminders or shopping list app (So 2012) and off to the store I go.

I use cookbooks, magazines, blogs and other websites to get ideas for my blog, party and family recipes. What I don’t often do is pay attention to the ingredients and whether or not I have the items on hand. Re-buying things I already have, spending more on organic, getting caught up in putting things in the cart because I’ve never tried them or they look appetizing. Cravings get me every single time. Go to the store when you aren’t hungry… yes, yes, I know.

Some people shop at the mall, nope… I hit up my favorite grocery stores. Nugget, Trader Joe’s, The Co-op, Sprouts, Whole Foods, Bel Air…. none of those (with maybe the exception of TJ’s) has the cheapest prices on things. My problem with TJ’s is that I geek out on all of the new products and next thing you know, my cart is full of so many food options that some even go bad before I get to try them. I act like I need food for 5-6 meals a day, when I pretty much stick to the standard 3 meals with an afternoon snack. I buy WAY too much for 1.5 people. I count Dan as a 1/2 because the only meal he eats at home M-F is dinner and 1/2 the time that’s just cereal or something frozen. I eat 3 meals a day – 5 days a week at home and then we basically eat out 1-2 meals every weekend.

I rarely shop the ads, I don’t use coupons, I sometimes take advantage of the farmer’s markets – but even with those, I have no self control. I’m like a 5 year old on Christmas morning. Fava beans… yes, I can figure out something to do with those. Fresh dates… yes, those would be great on salad. OMG!, I’ve never seen purple cabbage…artichokes the size of my head…oh wait, I must buy myself some fresh flowers. Next thing you know, I have enough produce to feed the entire neighborhood and enough flowers to decorate a wedding.

That all changed this month. I went back a year and logged my monthly grocery spending. Wow, what a complete wake up call. It was easy to track because I use the same form of payment for all groceries. Some of the numbers are totally inflated due to me purchasing garbage bags, sandwich bags, foil, paper towels, toilet paper, tissue, band-aids, Advil, etc. AT THE GROCERY STORE. They LOVE people like me. I always used the excuse that I have a busy schedule, my time is more important than driving around to 10 different stores. First world problems for sure. I even annoy myself sometimes.

We do entertain at least one night of every weekend. If we aren’t entertaining, we are bringing food to a friend’s place for a BBQ or other event. I always provide most of the food when hosting, but that changed this month… I started to ask people to bring stuff to save money. Everybody has always offered, I just usually replied with – I got it covered.

I dug through my junk drawer and broke out my club cards. I looked at the ads I usually tossed and made a plan. I knew in some cases I was probably going to have to brand switch, but I tried to keep that to a minimum.

I set out to “date” a bunch of different “new to me” grocery stores. My first date would let me know whether we were going to be compatible or not. If they didn’t carry a lot of my normal items, I’d move on to the next date/store.

Costco didn’t make the cut.  I have no self control. I’ve never walked out of there without extra crap – including jeans, shorts, bathing suits, books and booze.

By searching the ads and online sales, I found eggs for 69 cents. Not my usual brand, but that was o.k. I found super cheap stone fruit… yay for it being in season.

I did a bunch of research and heard and read over and over again that the average family of 4 spends about $170/week on groceries. I took a poll with friends with families and it seemed to be in that general range. Some were much lower at $75-$100/week, others were more in the $150 range, but they did admit to mid week stops for several items they forgot or needed for baseball or soccer snacks, Girl Scout/Boy Scout meetings and other activities.

If the average family of 4 is spending $170/week – $680/month, a single person’s budget would be $42.50/week add on a 1/2 person (Dan) – that’s another $21.25/week, bringing my weekly budget total to $63.75 – $255 a month.

It’s certainly been a challenge.

I made a temporary switch from my beloved Chobani $1.69 at my local grocery store to Yoplait Light – $3.99 for an 8 pack, plus I had a $1 coupon, making it under 40 cents a container. I still bought a few Chobani’s, but I searched and found the cheapest prices at my local Target. Yes, I drove to multiple stores, all within 10 miles of my house.

28 days into the challenge and I’m at $270.35. I went over my budget by $15.35. Not perfect by any means, but so much better than before. This month’s budget also included house hold items such as toilet paper, storage bags, household cleaners, etc. I just purchased those at Target, Home Depot and Walmart on sale – instead of at the grocery store.

I’m working on eating from my pantry and freezer, so that was helpful in keeping the costs down. We did eat out the weekend of my birthday, we still hosted friends for dinner, provided food for a family Father’s Day gathering and a few other events.

I didn’t have to buy a bunch of unhealthy food to keep the costs down… I just had to be a smarter consumer. No more lazy behaviors.

I will continue to map out a loose meal plan and I will continue to check the weekly ads. I signed up for e-coupons on grocery store websites that are in my local area. I actually USE the coupons I get from using store rewards cards and I went into the farmer’s market with a list. I almost put things in the cart on multiple occasions… but I didn’t. I stuck to my plan and cutting my monthly bill in more than 1/2 was worth every extra ounce of time and energy involved in planning ahead.

I realize that everyone has a different view when it comes to how much they spend on food or anything for that matter. Some choose to spend their money on other things, some don’t have the money to spend in the first place, some don’t have many options available to them. I understand and want to be respectful of my readers, but I also wanted to share my own journey of becoming more aware of my spending/grocery buying habits. I wanted to prove to myself that it is indeed possible to still eat healthy while on a budget. A budget that worked for me, not necessarily one that is right for everyone. I wanted to show myself that if I could actually see lots of space on the shelves and drawers of my fridge, freezer and pantry, that I didn’t need to panic. What I had on hand was enough and the urgency to replenish the minute I ran out of something has faded because of that.

Questions for you:

  1. How often to you grocery shop?
  2. Do you have a grocery budget?
  3. Do you shop at more than one store?
  4. Have you ever done an audit on your grocery spending?
  5. Any tips you would like to share with me or other readers? Just leave your answers in comments so we can all join in the discussion.

I knew I had been spending far too much on groceries, but I didn’t realize how much I’d been overspending until I sat down and actually added it all up. Two more days left in the month and I have everything I need to get through it. I’m already starting a July list – it’s going to be a bigger challenge since we’re hosting the 4th of July – but I’m up for it and excited to see how well I can do.

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