{"id":7769,"date":"2012-07-16T17:14:30","date_gmt":"2012-07-17T01:14:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/foodiddy.com\/?p=7769"},"modified":"2012-07-16T17:14:30","modified_gmt":"2012-07-17T01:14:30","slug":"cooking-with-lavender-part-iii","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/foodiddy.com\/?p=7769","title":{"rendered":"Cooking with Lavender &#8211; Part III"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>I&#8217;m\u00a0including\u00a0the main course and dessert in this last lavender cooking post. We tackled <strong>Grilled Salmon with Lavender<\/strong> for our protein of the evening. I was happy to see that Kim added cedar plank cooking to the recipe. Sweet! Glad I had already tried it&#8230; I asked her if she has ever been able to re-use a plank&#8230; her answer was no. So if you find planks on sale &#8211; I saw some this weekend&#8230; stock up! Lots of Summer and BBQ sales going on right now.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/foodiddy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/IMG_0119.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-7770\" title=\"grilled salmon with lavender\" src=\"http:\/\/foodiddy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/IMG_0119.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"475\" height=\"322\" srcset=\"http:\/\/foodiddy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/IMG_0119.jpg 475w, http:\/\/foodiddy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/IMG_0119-300x203.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 475px) 100vw, 475px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Kim purchased some amazing Copper River salmon &#8211; Alaska&#8217;s premiere wild salmon. The pieces were gorgeous! She did most of the pin bone removal, but I caught some stragglers with a pair of pliers. See? I learned something from <a href=\"http:\/\/foodiddy.com\/?p=7599\">my last post on salmon<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>We got to work on the sauce we would be using on the salmon.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Ingredients:<\/strong><br \/>\n4 Tablespoons Clover Honey<br \/>\n6 Tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil<br \/>\n1\/2 Teaspoon Crushed Organic Culinary Lavender<br \/>\n1\/4 Cup White Wine<br \/>\n1 Tablespoon Worcestershire Sauce<br \/>\n1\u00a0Teaspoon Fresh Lemon Juice<\/p>\n<p><strong>Directions:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Place all ingredients in a saucepan over moderate heat, stirring with a wire whisk at all times until ingredients are reduced by one third &#8211; you want the sauce to thicken.<\/li>\n<li>When sauce has cooled slightly, brush on the salmon fillets.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/foodiddy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/IMG_0098.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-7771\" title=\"IMG_0098\" src=\"http:\/\/foodiddy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/IMG_0098.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"375\" height=\"475\" srcset=\"http:\/\/foodiddy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/IMG_0098.jpg 375w, http:\/\/foodiddy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/IMG_0098-236x300.jpg 236w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 375px) 100vw, 375px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>We placed the salmon (skin side down) on the soaked cedar plank while getting the BBQ ready for grilling. I coated the salmon pieces with the sauce and brought them out to the BBQ that was set on high.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/foodiddy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/IMG_0111.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-7773\" title=\"IMG_0111\" src=\"http:\/\/foodiddy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/IMG_0111.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"475\" height=\"317\" srcset=\"http:\/\/foodiddy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/IMG_0111.jpg 475w, http:\/\/foodiddy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/IMG_0111-300x200.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 475px) 100vw, 475px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Total cooking time was about 20 minutes. I opened the BBQ\u00a0lid at 10 minutes and coated with more\u00a0sauce and then turned the heat down to low.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/foodiddy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/IMG_0112.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-7774\" title=\"IMG_0112\" src=\"http:\/\/foodiddy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/IMG_0112.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"475\" height=\"317\" srcset=\"http:\/\/foodiddy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/IMG_0112.jpg 475w, http:\/\/foodiddy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/IMG_0112-300x200.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 475px) 100vw, 475px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>The plank was charred&#8230; however, the smell coming from the BBQ\u00a0was wonderful.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/foodiddy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/IMG_0116.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-7775\" title=\"IMG_0116\" src=\"http:\/\/foodiddy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/IMG_0116.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"475\" height=\"310\" srcset=\"http:\/\/foodiddy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/IMG_0116.jpg 475w, http:\/\/foodiddy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/IMG_0116-300x195.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 475px) 100vw, 475px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>I easily removed the skin before plating. The sauce was delicious, but I preferred the lemon and dill combination from my previous salmon post.\u00a0Our sauce\u00a0was\u00a0a little too sweet and\u00a0needed something to balance that out. Once I added salt to my salmon,\u00a0I was a happy camper. The quality of the salmon was superb.\u00a0Just last night I\u00a0grilled salmon\u00a0(Yes, I&#8217;m a little obsessed now) using a soy sauce, dijon mustard, olive oil and garlic marinade and something about the salmon was off. the marinade was perfect, the piece of fish I got was definitely not Copper River&#8230; and rather than eating a bunch of\u00a0&#8220;not so top notch&#8221; salmon, I&#8217;d rather occasionaly splurge on the\u00a0good stuff. Lesson learned.\u00a0I&#8217;m really sticking to my grocery budget &#8211; so far so good for the month of July.<\/p>\n<p>Now for dessert.<strong> Chocolate\u00a0Lavender Brownies <\/strong>were on the menu for the evening. Marnie and Jaime got to work on the ingredients while the rest of us enjoyed our cocktails.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/foodiddy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/IMG_0132b.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-7779\" title=\"IMG_0132b\" src=\"http:\/\/foodiddy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/IMG_0132b.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"475\" height=\"336\" srcset=\"http:\/\/foodiddy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/IMG_0132b.jpg 475w, http:\/\/foodiddy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/IMG_0132b-300x212.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 475px) 100vw, 475px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>The Ingredients:<\/strong><br \/>\n1 Teaspoon Dried Culinary Lavender Buds<br \/>\n3 Cups Sugar<br \/>\n1 3\/4 Cups All-Purpose Flour<br \/>\n3\/4 Cup + 2 Tablespoons Unsweetened Cocoa Powder<br \/>\n1\/2 Teaspoon Salt<br \/>\n1\/4 Teaspoon Instant Espresso Powder or Instant Coffee Powder<br \/>\n3 Sticks Unsalted Butter<br \/>\n4 Large Eggs<br \/>\n2 Teaspoons Vanilla Extract<\/p>\n<p><strong>Directions:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Butter a 13 x 9 Inch baking dish.<\/li>\n<li>Place the lavender in a spice grinder with one tablespoon of the sugar. Pulse until the lavender is finely ground. Transfer to a large bowl.<\/li>\n<li>Add flour, cocoa, salt, espresso and the remaining ingredients, mix well.<\/li>\n<li>Place the butter in a medium microwave-safe bowl and microwave on high power for one minute at a time until melted.\u00a0 Let cool for a few minutes and then whisk in the eggs and\u00a0vanilla.<\/li>\n<li>Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and pour in the wet mixture. Using a wooden spoon, mix until just combined.<\/li>\n<li>Pour into prepared pan and smooth the top.<\/li>\n<li>Bake for 35-45 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out mostly clean.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/foodiddy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/IMG_0130.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-7781\" title=\"Chocolate Lavender Brownies\" src=\"http:\/\/foodiddy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/IMG_0130.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"475\" height=\"317\" srcset=\"http:\/\/foodiddy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/IMG_0130.jpg 475w, http:\/\/foodiddy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/IMG_0130-300x200.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 475px) 100vw, 475px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>The verdict&#8230; So much butter&#8230; while the flavor was amazing, I couldn&#8217;t get over how greasy they were. I would definitely dial back the amount of butter. Trust me, it didn&#8217;t stop any of us from mowing through our pieces&#8230; but man were they rich. I did indeed taste a hint of the lavender and I liked it a lot. Next time I might even add a little more.Super moist and chewy for sure.<\/p>\n<p>I can&#8217;t say enough about how much fun I had during the entire lavender cooking experience. Cooking with a group of friends\u00a0leads to\u00a0great discussion and sharing of ideas. I&#8217;m excited to get started on\u00a0planning\u00a0the menu for when I host. I&#8217;m definitely going with a &#8220;corn&#8221; theme as I&#8217;ve recieved a lot of great ideas from readers and it seems to be featured in\u00a0food magazines this month.\u00a0We also threw around the idea of incorporating a book into our themes&#8230; Children of the Corn is out&#8230; ha! ha! &#8211; still on the search for one. I just ordered several culinary themed novels, so we&#8217;ll see.<\/p>\n<p>Thanks for following along the past few posts and I promise, non lavender posts are headed your way.<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/foodiddy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/09\/foo1121.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-1460\" title=\"foo1121\" src=\"http:\/\/foodiddy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/09\/foo1121.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"74\" height=\"41\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I&#8217;m\u00a0including\u00a0the main course and dessert in this last lavender cooking post. We tackled Grilled Salmon with Lavender for our protein of the evening. I was happy to see that Kim added cedar plank cooking to the recipe. Sweet! Glad I had already tried it&#8230; I asked her if she has ever been able to re-use &hellip; <\/p>\n<p><a class=\"more-link btn\" href=\"http:\/\/foodiddy.com\/?p=7769\">Continue reading<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[5],"tags":[454,718,447,455,456],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/foodiddy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7769"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/foodiddy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/foodiddy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/foodiddy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/foodiddy.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7769"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"http:\/\/foodiddy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7769\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7786,"href":"http:\/\/foodiddy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7769\/revisions\/7786"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/foodiddy.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7769"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/foodiddy.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7769"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/foodiddy.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7769"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}