Hosta Shoots and Snow Peas

Gave this spring green a quick try and it was interesting. Out in the garden, cut off some young hosta shoots just coming up, not having opened yet. Once they've opened they are still edible but apparently a bit bitter. The flowers are also edible but I haven't tried them (yet). I added snow peas because I only had a handful of tiny shoots and it worked...crispy snow peas and mild, tender hosta shoots. Next spring I'll be on the lookout earlier for more.

Ingredients:

hosta shoots

snow peas

butter

Heat butter in a frying pan on medium to medium high heat. Add the hosta shoots and snow peas and sauté 3-5 minutes. That's all! You can add a little salt and pepper if you like but I found no need for it.

Follow hotandcoldrunningmom on Pinterest. You can scan the pincode seen here with your phone if you're on a desktop. If you're on a phone just screenshot it, go to the Pinterest app, click camera. Then instead of taking a pic use the option to use one of your photos. Click on the screenshot you just took and go right to my Pinterest profile where you can follow me 🙂

Crispy Fried Zucchini Flowers

Crisp and light, and a most typically perfect Italian appetizer. And your zucchini plant is bursting with flowers! But which blossoms do you pick for frying? The male flowers do not produce fruit so they are the one's you want unless you have a great abundance of blossoms then go for some of the female flowers as well. The female stems look swollen like a small zucchini while the male ones have thin stems. Don't pick all the males  because they are needed for pollination of the females.

Ingredients:

8 zucchini flowers

2 tbsps flour

2 tbsps cornstarch

3 - 4 tbsps water

pinch of salt

1/4 cup olive oil for pan frying

Pick your zucchini blossoms just after they have closed in the morning if possible. Carefully open them and pinch out the long narrow protrusion and cut off the stems and thin green, spiky leaves on the side of the flower. A little stowaway bug might be inside too so cleaning out the middle of the flower is important. They may be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for one day.

Combine the flour, cornstarch, water and salt making a thin batter similar to pancake batter. Let it rest 30 minutes. Heat oil in a frying pan to medium high. It's ready when a drop of batter in the oil sizzles. Usually you would dip each flower individually in the batter but this is a small batch so they can all go in the bowl at once. Stir gently and fold to coat.

Fry the blossoms a few minutes then flip and fry until the batter is golden on all sides. Remove to a paper towel to absorb any excess oil then serve hot.

Serve on their own or with a marinara sauce for dipping.

You might also like Stuffed Peppers and Pumpkin Flowers:

https://hotandcoldrunningmom.blogspot.com/2016/08/stuffed-peppers-and-pumpkin-flowers.html

Follow hotandcoldrunningmom on Pinterest. You can scan the pincode seen here with your phone if you're on a desktop. If you're on a phone just screenshot it, go to the Pinterest app, click camera. Then instead of taking a pic use the option to use one of your photos. Click on the screenshot you just took and go right to my Pinterest profile where you can follow me 🙂

Lemon Lavender Loaf

This quick little loaf cake features floral notes of lavender paired with the fresh taste of lemon.

This 🠋 is not how you want your loaf to turn out! Not every recipe turns out the way you want. So sometimes you've got to let it go and try another one. 

Here's the recipe for one that will turn out right!

Ingredients:

3/4 cup milk

2-3 tsps dried lavender buds

1/3 cup butter, at room temperature

1 cup sugar

zest of 1 lemon

2 eggs

1/4 cup plain or honey Greek yogurt

1/2 tsp vanilla

2 cups flour

1 1/2 tsps baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

purple colouring (optional)

Glaze:

2/3 cup icing sugar

1 tbsp lemon juice

1/2 tsp vanilla

more lavender buds and lemon zest to top

Preheat the oven to 325°F and grease and flour a 9 X 5" loaf pan.

In a small saucepan warm milk and lavender to a simmer then remove from heat. If you want to use purple colouring, add it to the milk. 

In a large bowl cream the butter and sugar together then beat in the eggs and zest. Add the yogurt and vanilla. Mix flour, baking powder and salt together in a separate bowl. In two or three additions, add some flour mix to the butter mix, then add some milk continuing until just combined. Don't over mix.

Pour into prepared pan and bake at 325°F for 55-60 minutes or until cake tester comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes then remove from pan to cool completely on rack.

Combine the glaze ingredients and drizzle or spread over the loaf, adding lavender buds and zest right away before glaze sets.

So pretty💜

And here's some info on growing and collecting lavender:

https://hotandcoldrunningmom.blogspot.com/2021/07/lavender.html

Loaf adapted from: reluctantentertainer.com

Bee Balm Shortbread

Here's another recipe using edible flowers.
This time... Red Monarda or Bee Balm. A perennial flower that attracts butterflies, birds and bees.

Pick the flowers in the morning after the dew and rinse them off then let them dry, hang if possible.

You'll need:

1 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup icing sugar
2 cups flour
2 tbsps bee balm petals

Cream butter and sugar together.  Normally unsalted butter is used in shortbread, but I prefer salted. Add the flour and mix until dough forms a ball. Incorporate the petals. I tried some chopped and some not. Chopped is probably the better way to go.

Roll dough on a floured board to 1/4" thickness. Cut out and place on a parchment lined baking sheet. I also tried using a cookie stamp. The image stayed pretty well on the baked cookies.

Bake at 350 F for 10-12 minutes.

The flavour is very mild, sort of minty.
But I love the look of the red petals in the cookies!

This might interest you as well...

http://hotandcoldrunningmom.blogspot.ca/2016/08/pork-tenderloin-with-bergamot-bee-balm.html

Stuffed Peppers and Pumpkin Flowers

While making a little filling for my peppers I needed some herbs. When I went to get the basil I spied the pumpkin flowers. So I thought why not....so here's my very first attempt at stuffed flowers. 

First of all, be very sure you aren't bringing any unwanted hitchhikers into the kitchen. One of my flowers actually had a wasp sitting inside! Once I got rid of him I put the flowers in a plastic bag a blew some air in it so the flowers would keep from wilting before I got to them. 

So here's the filling:

1 lb ground beef
375 g sausage meat (I used a sweet basil flavour)
3 red peppers, halved
3 pumpkin flowers
2 green onions, sliced
1/2 cup corn niblets
some finely chopped zucchini (1-2 tbsps)
some chopped basil, mint, coriander (about 1 tsp each)
1 tbsp tomato paste

Brown the beef and sausage lightly in a large saucepan and remove from heat.

Drop pepper halves in a pot of boiling water for 1 minute then remove to an oiled baking dish.

Mix the cooked meat with green onions, corn, zucchini, herbs and tomato paste. Fill the peppers and the flowers taking care not to tear the flowers.

Give the petals a twist to keep the flower closed.

Bake in a 400 F oven for 20 minutes. Remove the flowers and continue baking another 10-15 minutes for the peppers.

I drizzled some Sriraccha mayo on the peppers that I had leftover from this teriyaki salmon skewers recipe.
http://hotandcoldrunningmom.blogspot.ca/2016/08/teriyaki-salmon-skewers-with-sriraccha.html

Just mix 1/4 cup mayo with 1 tsp sriraccha sauce.

Pork Tenderloin with Bergamot (Bee Balm) Sauce

Bergamot, as in Scarlet Bee Balm (Monarda) not Bergamot orange, is a perennial flower that I've had in my garden for many years.

I have just discovered that it is a savory herb used to make tea or to add flavour to breads and meats. It has a mildly minty taste.

Marinate your pork tenderloin in olive oil, lime juice, salt and pepper for a couple of hours. Then roast it in a 400 F oven or barbecue for about 20 minutes. Let it rest.

While the meat is resting make up the sauce.

2 tbsps butter
1 green onion, sliced
1 tbsp flour
1/4 cup chicken stock
2 tbsps white wine
2 tbsps chopped bergamot leaves
1 tsp chopped parsley
1/2 tsp thyme leaves
1 tbsp 10% cream
salt and pepper

In a small saucepan melt the butter and sweat the green onions. Whisk in the flour. Cook 1 minute then add the chicken stock and white wine.

Whisk until smooth and add the bergamot, thyme, parsley, salt and pepper to taste. Simmer a couple more minutes and remove from heat. Add the cream.

Serve with slices of pork.

Adapted from: http://backyardpatch.blogspot.ca/


If you like this you might also like to try cooking with nasturtium.

http://hotandcoldrunningmom.blogspot.ca/2015/11/salmon-with-nasturtium-vinaigrette.html

And here's another using Bee Balm...

http://hotandcoldrunningmom.blogspot.ca/2016/08/bee-balm-shortbread.html

Nasturtium Vinaigrette

This vinaigrette is beautiful on a green salad, sprinkled with extra dried nasturtiums. Fresh nasturtium flowers are edible and would also be a great addition.

Here's the link to make nasturtium capers and dried nasturtium flowers

http://hotandcoldrunningmom.blogspot.com/2015/11/dried-nasturtium-and-nasturtium-capers.html

Ok, on to the dressing:

4 green onions, chopped
3/4 cup olive oil 
1/4 cup white wine vinegar
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 tbsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp sundried tomatoes, finely chopped
1 tbsp honey
1/2 tsp dried nasturtium flowers, crumbled
1 tbsp nasturtium capers

Aren't these homemade nasturtium capers like wow!

Chop the white part of the onion quite finely, but the green part can be more coarsely chopped. Add everything to a jar and store in refrigerator 1 week.

Try it in this recipe, White Fish with Nasturtium Vinaigrette:

http://hotandcoldrunningmom.blogspot.ca/2015/11/white-fish-with-nasturtium-vinaigrette.html

Dried Nasturtium and Nasturtium Capers

Not only are these nasturtiums beautiful to look at, but the flowers are edible, whether you use them fresh from the garden or dried.

Cut the flowers leaving a good length of stem so that you can tie them together.  But first run them under cool water to clean.  Very important! I actually found a little green worm hiding inside one of the flowers! Gently shake out the excess water and lay on a towel to pat dry.

Tie with kitchen string and hang to dry for a couple of weeks. Here they are in between the almost-ready-to-crumble mint.

Once dried like this

remove from stems and crumble the petals like this.

Store them for later use as garnish or mild peppery seasoning.

You can make Nasturtium capers too! Just go out into the garden and harvest the little green seed pods.

I started with a very small batch for my first attempt at capers but next year I'll be making a lot more of these pickled beauties!

1/4 cup Nasturtium seed pods
9 tbsps cold water (divided in 1/3)
1  1/2 tsp coarse salt (divided in 1/3)

1/8 cup white wine vinegar
pinch or 2 of sugar
bay leaf
thyme

Place the seed pods in a glass container and add 3 tbsps cold water to cover and 1/2 tsp coarse salt. Set aside uncovered for a day. It will be a bit smelly, like a mild rotten egg smell. I kept my capers in the garage because I was warned of this but it really wasn't that bad. Drain and rinse each day for 2 more days brining in water and salt each day for a total of 9 tbsps water and 1  1/2 tsp salt.

On the fourth day drain and rinse the pods then pack them gently into a jar.  Add a bay leaf and some thyme. Bring the white wine vinegar and sugar to a boil and add to the jar and seal. Process in a hot water bath for 1o minutes.  
So there you have it......FREE CAPERS!

And you can use the rest of the seed pods you gather to save and plant next year to start all over again. 

Here's a link for Nasturtium Vinaigrette:

http://hotandcoldrunningmom.blogspot.ca/2015/11/nasturtium-vinaigrette.html

You might also like to try this Chicken Marbella with capers:

http://hotandcoldrunningmom.blogspot.ca/2013/11/chicken-marbella.html