apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

lisa
I grow herbs on the back fire escape to avoid the street grit.
Back and front is a different world on my street.
Although come to think of it, I just stuck a pepper plant in with the flowers for the front window box. Anyway, I don't worry so much about pollution, but I certainly use potting soil (and not Bklyn backyard dirt) for the window boxes. I think heavy metals et al come in through the roots. The rest of the air I just breathe....

leeds
it's pretty easy to make fresh mozz, but you need the curd. Then you do a taffy pulling sort of thing . . .

I've never really tried it in tea, but I'm thinking it might be nice to add just a little bit for a floral/herbal kind of hit. If you add the lavendar to veggies for grilling, use it in a blend of perhaps thyme or rosemary or marjoram or something. I think it might be a bit strange to do all on its own.

I actually started using mixes myself before graduating to other batter/formed cookies - but now I'm more about cooking rather than baking. I'll let him stick to that - and I'll send your encouragement his way! I've already taught him how to make a few good dishes (so that I don't have to do ALL the cooking! LOL)

I made a Chez Panisse ice cream recipe once with lavender - it's very good. Honey Lavender.

That sounds amazing Faith! We have some Four Seasons Lavender Honey at home that I'd love to try - just didn't know what to do with it! I'm thinking I now have a reason to get that ice cream insert for my Kitchenaid!

guido, taffy pulling -already sounds challenging!
and where do you get the curd (you make it!? hmm)

Eric, yea I'm with you, it's nice to cook but it's nice to take a 'day off' too! I like baking and cooking, but baking was my first love.*sigh*
Anyway-all efforts & attempts are to be appreciated and applauded.
(gotta ask, what went into your frittata?)

Faith - sounds great! unfortunately don't have an ice cream maker :( and my apt. is too small for me to buy one! But I'm getting a wicked craving for anything with lavender with all this talk about it! ummm, honey lavender!

hey leeds
you can make lavender shortbread cookies . . .
that sounds so french
you could do earl grey tea scented ones at the same time
and I bet you could infuse sugar with it for scones etc

the cheese guy at my coop got the mozz curd once
I have no idea what the process is between the cow and the curd
: )
I think you can order it online, or hit up an Italian deli you know that makes fresh mozz . . . dunno actually

hey guido,
you've just made me laugh!! between the cow & the curd, LOL! too cute.
I have this great Italian market I go to, have never looked for curd & then wouldn't know what to do with it! So..just continue buying the fresh mozz.from them for me, I think! I don't think I'm equipped to actually start making cheese myself really. (the market makes the best Italian homestyle food too, you can eat there or take it out; yum!)

thanks for the chuckles and for the cookie ideas, will look it up (being the cookie making type that I am).

Leeds: the fritatta had some sliced chorizo, some herbs and some grilled yellow and green zucchini - nothing all that fancy or Spanish for that matter, other than the chorizo - but was SO tasty. I've got pics on my flickr site if you feel like taking a peek...

I'm thinking lavender scented madeleines would be fantastic!! With Mariage Freres tea? DIVINE!

Eric-looks good. What is Mariage Freres tea?

Mariage Freres tea is REALLY brilliant tea - their Earl Grey is to freakin' die for. If you're into tea at all, this is like the THE platinum standard.

leeds o leeds: by "my guy" i must confess i meant the guy who runs the pork store near my house. he also makes a mean mozzarella in addition to his loverly sausages. (there is no way to make that last sentence nondirty.)

All right, I'll kick it off. I baked like a maniac for a dessert reception for some friends that just adopted a newborn. I made mini meringue tarts - lemon, lime cardamom, and grapefruit vanilla. I also made a huge batch of sugar cookies, some glazed and sandwiched with Nutella, others with jam, and some drizzled with dark chocolate. It was fun, but baking in that sort of bulk is always exhausting!

And now, here's a fun one: my fridge has been dripping inside for a couple weeks. The guy came out this morning and told me I have to turn the thing off for 48 HOURS and let the drain defrost. So, next weekend I am faced with three days without refrigeration, while all my groceries get a field trip to the office fridge and freezer. This is where I need to get creative - a weekend of home cooking, without a fridge. It's positively archaic! But I hope to get some creative ideas out of the situation

I actually did a bit of both. Shopping at IKEA with my boyfriend, going to the market, grilled up some filet mignon and mixed veggies along with a nice ginger sweet potato puree (Saturday night). The boyfriend tried to make cookies but they ended up being kind of, well, dried out and stuck to the bottom of the baking sheet. Not such a triumph.

Made a great spanish frittata for lunch on Sunday and then finally made a big spot of Biba Caggiano's Bolognese sauce to have for both dinner tonight and freeze for lasagne on a rainy day.

Oh, then I threw together a little roasted chicken and peppers for a wrap for lunch today.

And all this whilst it was sunny and delightful out. Thank goodness for floor to ceiling windows!

my risotto (made with arborio, not brown rice) came out delicious but a bit crunchy still. i will need to practice more. oh, darn. :)

on a completely different subject, does anyone have any experience with food care packages? i have a relative headed off to iraq soon and want to send some homemade goodness. it's quite a challenge because the food has to be able to keep for a while without spoiling, molding, or melting. so, chocolate chips are out, but maybe something with dried fruit and honey?

Lamb chops and asparagus on the grill Saturday night (with couscous done on stove) -- delish!

Spent almost all day Sunday planting our garden up in CT: Tomatoes, tons of basil, sugar snap peas, jalapenos, thyme, sage, rosemary, Italian parsley, tarragon, chives. Also planted lilies and gladiolas for cutting. Zinnias and other flowers still to come.

It will be an herbalicious summer!!!

Hi Frank, sounds like you have a green thumb when it comes to planting! I'm planning on setting up a planter box in the apartment for fresh herbs but I'm not sure what would grow well. We have southern exposure with full sun for about 2 hours a day, partial sun the rest of the day. I'm thinking rosemary, lavender, basil, thyme and sage...

We did skirt steak tacos on Saturday, courtesy of Cooks Illustrated, they were delish, threw the steak on the grill and sauted up some onions then fire roasted a poblano and put that with some garlic and other seasonings as well as the juice of 4 limes into the food processor and blended until to a sauce consistency. Once the steak was off the grill we put that into the sauce and grilled up some corn tortillas. I usually won't eat steak, but this was yummy:)

Yesterday was an impromptu grill-out session for lunch. I threw a steak on for the boyfriend, and a Morningstar black bean burger for myself. Steamed some corn, and made salads. Yum.

Did anyone else see the Fix It and Forget It cookbook story on the cover of today's NY Times? I wrote a bit about it on my blog this morning . . . click my name for the link.

Frank and I lead parallel lives, at least this weekend

Sunday, lamb chops and asparagus on the grill
(with brown rice from local takeout) -- delish!

Much planting of herbs, flowering vines, and habanero peppers

Friday night I helped prep for a friend's Cinqo de Mayo blowout -- seeded many many dried chiles for mole, and shredded up a couple organic chickens for enchiladas -- while being stalked by cats.

Saturday was the party - more work, brilliant food, lovely fresh margaritas. No "pinche fresa" grapefruit soda cocktails, but Enrique wasn't there. : )
A case of fresh limes, making an interesting compost after.

Last minute cooked salsas were spun together (beware the hot liquid in the blender, or plunge your arm in a pitcher of ice water)
and got to watch a guy skillfully cut up a whole enormous fish for grilling. I learned alot . . ..

Last year I was grilling marinated skirt steak for tacos, and what I learned then was to keep an hour or more between margaritas, or drink lite beer for all day parties.

I grilled skirt steak too, which I served with a fantastic artichoke and potatoe hash, from the Sunday Suppers at Lucques cookboook. That Suzanne Goin knows what she's talking about.

Sat. night I made secret recipe:)guacamole, the Friend made pasta with black olives, sundried tomato, pine nuts, garlic etc. served warm. I added feta to mine.
Sun. breakfast at friends before all heading out to a 'nature reserve'park:
beautiful thin crepes (didn't know my friend had such talent in him!) served with fruit salad (with ripe mango), maple syrup, locally-smoked bacon, cafe con leche, passionfruit juice, etc.
Sandwiches in the park then home to artichokes with a vinaigrette dip (lemon juice, olive oil, dry mustard, garlic, salt&pepper, whisked until emulsified) & sausages with dijonnaise etc.

And now I have a bunch of cooked artichoke hearts to make a salad (or something) with!
I bought bocconcini & fennel on the way home, I see antipasto in my future..!

guido, food at your friend's party sounds great!
umm, grilled fish!! (had grilled sardines on Sat. for lunch. good. served with a boiled potato, which I drizzled with olive oil, and a salad of lettuce, watercress and tomato.)
I'm thinking of planting some (hot)peppers in my friend's garden, done that before + he has a green thumb(I don't). Jalapenos & what else? (not sure if I'm ready for habaneros..)

why wouldn't you be ready for habaneros?
just one or two in a black bean/roasted corn salad is spectacular, and you can make some crazy hot sauce . . .
: )
I don't actually eat searingly hot food either
habaneros have a gorgeous fruitiness when handled properly (and with gloves)
PLUS they hang on the plant forever once they are ripe so you can use them at will

I wish I could find a serrano plant -- I smelled those for the first time in the lead up to this party and I'm a convert for them over jalepenos
or maybe I've just being lured over to the dark side

principal music by Los Lobos

the two cooked salsas I made were

a. roasted anaheim chiles (seeded and peeled and thrown in blender. alternative is fresh poblanos.)
with
roasted garlic and simmered fresh tomatillos
salt to taste

b. toasted guaillo/chipolte dried chiles (would have prefered pasillas instead of guaillo, but they all went into the mole)
roasted garlic
simmered fresh tomatillos,
and simmer all ingredients until the chiles smooth out.
If it's harsh, they are not cooked enough. 5-10 min cook does the trick.
salt to taste
 
and a salad of fresh nopalitos (VERY labor intensive to dethorn and cube. someone who loves you should take care of this part)
with roasted corn/tomato/lime/scallions/cilantro/s+p
 
Eric, I love Biba.

guido, you're killing me-fresh nopalitos? and in the salad you describe? so not fair...

I made terrific pickled vegs. 2 Summers ago from final harvest of my pepper plants at friend's place and some of his vegs. (cauliflower, etc.)-so good!
The guy has a pear tree & a sour cherry tree at his place too! We've dried cherries (lots of work pitting though) and made cherry nectar (yum). Every year we put the pears to good use (not last year, we were away Sept.). We've canned pears in light syrup with spices, etc.
--oh yea, cherries in rum & cherries in pisco!

I'll go this weekend to local nurseries to see what's available.
Summer!! bring it on!
and hurray to the dark side! :)

Guido -- they had serrano plants at Home Depot (in Norwalk, CT) this past weekend -- one of the peppers we planted.

you guys are such maestros. i am fighting a seasonal cold and delved into the comfort zone of pasta with red sauce and sausages. i live in italian williamsburg and so bought gorgeous links of sausage for ridonkulously cheap as well mozzarella that my guy had just made.

i am seriously thinking of starting up some herbs pants for my fire escape, but do you all ever worry about pollution?

lisa,
wait a second! your guy made mozzarella? what does it involve; want to give us a recipe?

I made ricotta a couple of weeks ago, someone kindly posted a link on the OT- (thanks!)
In case anyone else wants to give it a try:
http://www.101cookbooks.com/archives/000282.html
-I won't make it all the time but it's nice to know how it's done.

Eric, your boyfriend shouldn't give up on cookie making! Prob. just needs to try a different recipe; what kind of cookies are you guys wanting to make? may be able to recommend something. The spanish frittata sounds good!
If you plan to use the lavender in food, what will you use it in?

We did skirt steak last weekend (with a killer coffee, sugar and spice rub) so this weekend, I tried the "super-luxurious cheeseburgers" from a recipe in the new issue of Food and Wine. They were stuffed with gorgonzola and spicy scallion paste.

Normally, I am a little wary of stuffed burgers on the grill not cooking evenly, but these came out great!

Hey Leeds, well, I'm pretty embarrassed to say but he was actually using a packet of oatmeal cookie mix to which he added chocolate chips. I should hang my head in shame, I know - but in my defense I'll say that I've only just started to teach him how to cook. I've made my way through Baking with Julia and taking courses so I'm a bit more advanced than he is, but he's happy so who am I to complain, right? Going to get him a proper half-sheet pan and Silpat and these problems will just go away. Anyway, the frittata was GREAT. Wish I'd chopped the chorizo a bit finer, however.

I've seen this amazing sounding Lavender-Rosemary Apple Biscuit over on Messy Cucina that I'd like to make (but that takes dried lavender). I tend to use a lot of Herbes de Provence in my cooking and that typically adds lavender. A little bit in a stew, tomato sauce etc makes everything just amazing - and try it on grilled veggies! Too good for words! Not to mention that they look pretty. :-D

Thanks, Eric. My friend grows lavender in his garden & I often look at them longingly, wanting to use them in Food!! (And apparently you can make a tea with them or add them to tea, don't know.) On grilled veggies, um? will have to try.

I would not be embarrased about using a mix, esp. to start out with; I find it can give someone the confidence to then try from scratch! I started out making cakes from a mix, then read the ingredients & figured I could 'mix' it myself! I was a kid at the time, but still, it applies to all, I think! Good for him, I send my horray of encouragement!:)

ok! I'm laughing again. Of course I thought you meant your boyfriend! funny. Alright, I'll stop dreaming about becoming a cheesemaker!!

Eric-I'm into tea. I start every day with a cup of Taylors & Harrowgates Irish Breakfast tea. Next time at the tea shop I can look for/ask for Mariage Freres to see if they carry it.

Trust me on this one, Leeds, you won't regret it. I'm a HUGE fan of Earl Grey and seem to have every kind from the UK (Sainsbury's, Marks and Spencer, Harvey Nichols, etc) but have yet to invest in the tin of Mariage Freres. Though, I think I'm going to stop off at my local favourite coffeehouse on my way home and get a cuppa. Speaking of which, its tea time! :-D

actually, I would like to find an Earl Grey with more bergamot, so will look for it, hopefully it has more of it. thanks.

Mariage Freres is pretty heavy on the bergamot - just the way I like it. Same with my Sainsburys EG, its REALLY pungent and I love having a freshly opened box at work with me.

My cooking club had a mystery seasoning night. At the previous meeting, we pulled items out of a bag. I got lavender. I ended up making lavender scones and lavender focaccia. Both were beautiful and both were dead easy -- the scones especially. Just thinking about the fragrance off the warm scones makes me a little woozy. Of couse, you had to get past that "smells like soap" association. . .

Heather, the scones sound dreamy. I'm assuming you incorporate some chopped fresh or dried lavender into the batter, then sprinkle some more on top before baking.

Right, so I'm thinking that lavender scones or focaccia are going to be a must make this weekend! I've had better luck with dried lavender than fresh - seems to just have a better hit of flavour, Leeds. Perhaps Heather has a different experience??

I did use dried lavender, rather than fresh. Lavender was folded into the batter, with coarse sugar sprinkled on top. I'll try to remember to look up the recipe when I get home.

I'd love that recipe if you do manage to find it Heather!! And perhaps we can convince Leeds to try it as well!!!

No convincing necessary, Eric! love scones. I've made the maple syrup scones from NY Times, Mar/Apr?06, a couple of times (with wheat berries), v.good-recommend.

Even better -- with walnuts!

Lavender-Walnut Scones

2 C flour, 1 Tbsp baking powder, 1/4 tsp soda, 1/3 C sugar, 2 Tbsp lavender, 2 Tbsp butter, 1 C buttermilk, 1 Tbsp vanilla, 3 Tbsp walnuts, 2 Tbsp coarse sugar

Combine dry ingredients and lavender. Cut in butter. Add milk and vanilla. Stir until dry ingredients are moistened. Drop dough onto greased baking sheet (about 2 Tbsp). Sprinkle with walnuts and sugar. Bake in 400 degree oven until golden brown (about 15-17 minutes).

Lavender focaccia was made as standard focaccia. Topping was 1 Tbsp finely chopped lavender, 2 cloves garlic, 2 tsp olive oil. Brushed onto bread before baking, then sprinkled with coarse salt and fresh pepper.

thank you, Heather, for finding the recipe! can hardly wait to try it.