Herbs Archives

Steamy and Savory

January 15, 2015 by theblogbloom.com 9 Comments

I know it’s kind of old news at this point but… OH. My. Gosh. It’s cold.

Super cold.

So cold that just today the schools around us had their first full day since before Christmas.

So cold that two nights ago Adam’s truck read -5. Like actual -5 degrees. NOT -5 degrees with windchill.

So cold that my car sounds like it’s a pissed off teenager and just wants to go back to bed every time I turn it on.

Poor Marley.

… That’s the car’s name. It’s a Highlander. Get it?

Like Bob…?

Anywhoo… I feel Marley’s pain.

Getting my toes out from under the covers the very few mornings of 2015 has been challenging. All I want to do it stay cuddled up in bed where it’s warm. I don’t want to have to face the elements. I don’t even want to face my tiled bathroom floor with bare feet.

And, while smoothies and green drinks are so very “in” for breakfast this time of year, I am just not feeling it. I know I should, but the thought of ingesting something frozen while the temperature with windchill flirts with -20? Sorry. Nope. Not happening.

So while the Green Smoothie Goddess on one shoulder get’s shushed, the “let’s make Belgium Waffles with hot maple syrup” Devil on the other chimes in.

And, so does reality.

No, my mind doesn’t go to how many calories would be packed into those waffles (not first at least), but rather to the fact that I have no time for that with a iced over car to warm up!

Note: When you garden and have chickens you acquire a lot of accessories… and, inevitably, you and your spouse lose your places in the two car garage.

But the other morning I discovered something in my pantry, just past the maple syrup, that I had totally forgotten about: Oatmeal.

Oatmeal reminds me of cold mornings in high school. My dad was and still is an early riser claiming he works best in the morning. More power to him. So if it was really chilly he would have oatmeal going on the stove and would top a cup of it with brown sugar as I ran out the door to catch my ride.

A lot of people have poor memories of oatmeal calling it things like “mush” but this was pure goodness that warmed me on the coldest mornings from the inside out.

Perfect for these cold Midwest mornings… except, I am kind of trying to limit sugar. Nothing crazy, but I didn’t really want to add it to anything so I decided to go with a more savory option adding chopped fresh rosemary and a drizzle of healthy fat packed olive oil.

Herbs like thyme would also work great and the grow very well on a windowsill that gets a lot of sun this time of year. For an extra burst of brightness a little lemon juice is delicious.

I get it. This sounds a little weird. But, oatmeal is a grain and we flavor grains like breads, rice and pasta with these ingredients all the time. On oatmeal, with a pinch of salt and pepper, it all works together and is incredibly vibrant and refreshing.

Exactly what I need to wake me up on a cold morning.

Depending on your preference you can use steel cut oats, rolled oats or even instant with this recipe. I use rolled oats because they are basically identical to steel cut oats in terms of nutrition and take a quarter of the time to cook.

Oatmeal with Herbs and Olive Oil

2015-01-15 10:47:02

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Ingredients

1 cup of cooked oatmeal
1/2 tablespoon of olive oil
1/2 tablespoon chopped herbs (Rosemary, thyme, etc)
Pinch of salt and pepper
Spritz of fresh juice from a quartered lemon

Instructions

Top cooked oatmeal with all ingredients, stir to combine.
Eat right away.

Bloom. https://www.theblogbloom.com/

Souper Soup Accompanist

October 9, 2014 by theblogbloom.com 1 Comment

Ladies and gentlemen… Soup season is upon us!

Colder, dreary, gray days are brighter and cozier with a scratch made soup warming on the stove top.

Last weekend was a prime example: the weather was mean. It was windy. Brutally cold for the first weekend of October. And apparently, Chicago even saw snow…!

Miserable? Kinda… Okay, yes. But, a perfect weekend for soup.

And I hit it kind of hard.

I had soup for every meal (besides breakfast…) from Friday dinner to Monday lunch. There was a tomato soup that I had canned a few weeks ago with the garden tomatoes. A trip to Panera where I settled on black bean soup because they were out of broccoli cheddar and chicken noodle soup. (Apparently I wasn’t the only one with soup on the mind…) Adam even got on board with the desire for soup and made a chicken gumbo straight out of this months Bon Appetit using the garden’s carrots, celery and herbs.

Side Note: The gumbo was fab. Pick up a copy today. The tailgating story the recipe was a part of was so neat and made both Adam and I kind of wish we had gone to school in the south. Not that we don’t love our Boilers… but… yeah. It looked pretty fun.

As I was out by the herbs snipping a few sprigs of thyme for Adam’s gumbo, I also snipped a tall sprig of rosemary.

My rosemary has done amazingly well in comparison to last year. This time last year I had given up on it. But, this year, I am considering bringing my container of rosemary inside when the temperature dips below freezing to see if it will continue to grow throughout the winter.

I fanned the sprig of rosemary by my nose.

It’s piney scent reminded me instantly of Christmas. Some say that rosemary’s scent is good for your memory and if that’s true I don’t find it ironic at all that it transports my memory to Christmas time.

My mom was good about making gifts for the neighbors, family friends, people at church and our teachers at Christmas time. Some years it was cookies, others maybe candies and gourmet coffee grounds. But, one year in early high school, she made loaves upon loaves of rosemary focaccia bread. It smelled like I was walking into the freshest bakery every time I came home that December.

And, not only did the bread smell great, it tasted great too. Mom would, of course, also make plenty of loaves for the family and freeze them. They would be brought out throughout the winter on Sunday afternoons when she would make soup for lunch and it was awesome because it would feel like Panera in my own home.

As I ran my fingers along the piney leaves of the sprig I decided that it was time to make my rosemary parmesan focaccia.

(Plus, I was due for something other than soup…)

Every winter, by January, I have this recipe memorized. But, since I hadn’t made it for about six months, I was a little rusty and had to dig the recipe out of the archives.

It’s a little labor intensive (just a little, I promise) and isn’t something you can make quickly, but it is absolutely perfect for a Sunday afternoon as a soup simmers on the stove top or in the crock pot.

The recipe also makes a lot of dough so I typically make two loaves and it freezes great. So, it is good for a crowd… or for saving for the next Sunday when you want to be a little lazy.

Rosemary Parmesan Focaccia

2014-10-09 09:16:41

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Ingredients

1 3/4 cup warm water
1 package dry active yeast
1 TBS sugar
3 cups flour
2 cups bread flour
1 TBS salt, plus more for adding to top
1/2 cup olive oil, plus more for lining bowl and topping
3 TBS fresh rosemary, chopped
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
Freshly cracked black pepper for adding to top

Instructions

In a small bowl, dissolve the sugar into the warm water. Add the package of yeast and lightly stir with a wooden spoon. Set aside until the yeast is foamy. This will take at least fifteen minutes.
Using a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook bowl, combine the flours, salt, oil and yeast mixture.
Mix until ingredients just come together.
Once the dough forms a ball and pulls from the sides of the bowl, increase the mixer's speed to medium and knead for about ten minutes. The dough should be smooth. If it is too wet, add a little flour. Too dry, add a bit of water.
Transfer the ball of dough to a slightly floured surface and knead a couple times by hand.
Coat the inside of the mixing bowl with oil and put the ball of dough into the greased bowl, turning it to coat the dough with oil.
Cover the bowl with a damp towel or plastic wrap and let the dough rise until it doubles in size. This will take about an hour.
After an hour, prepare a pan (I divide the dough and use two round cake pans but you could use a jelly roll pan) with a little oil and spread dough out in the pans using your hands.
Once dough is fitted to the pan(s), poke holes throughout the top using your fingers.
Cover pan(s) with plastic wrap or a slightly damp towel and let rise for another hour.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Top the bread with a drizzle of olive oil and sprinkle on chopped rosemary and parmesan cheese. Season with salt and pepper.
Bake about thirty minutes, or until the top is golden brown. Rotate the pans halfway through to ensure even browning.
Let bread rest twenty minutes after removing from oven.
Cut and serve or store in a container or wrapped in foil for about a week. To freeze, wrap tightly in foil after completely cooling and use within three months.

Bloom. https://www.theblogbloom.com/

Celebratory Chimichurri

August 16, 2014 by theblogbloom.com 2 Comments

In the last post I wrote about my current love affair with sage.

But, honestly, I really can’t play favorites when it comes to herbs. I love any and all herbs.

I wrote about sage’s ability to ward off evil spirits and negative vibes just with it’s scent, but I think all herbs are able to elevate anyone’s low mood. Even just walking past my potted herbs, I can feel my head clear and a better mood come on, just because of their scent.

Pretty parsley.

But fresh herbs don’t just elevate moods, they also elevate any dish.

Herbs add a subtle interest, extra freshness, and even more “Mmm” to anything from pasta to meats to veggies and even eggs!

This week we celebrated my Birthday and celebrations at our house usually include steak. We do filets for our anniversary because that is what Adam had prepared the night he proposed. Adam’s about as “guy” as it comes, so steak is always on the menu for his Birthday. And I, by no means, would ever turn down a good steak so it seemed appropriate for my day too.

But, I decided to switch it up from big filets and chose to do flank steaks topped with fresh and flavorful chimichurri sauce starring many of my garden’s herbs.

Chimichurri can pull double duty as a marinade and a topping for beef, seafood, chicken, or whatever you want. It’s super versatile and the variety of fresh herbs and spice will enhance the flavor of a meal without covering it up.

I topped our steaks with the sauce to add some dimension to the super easy to prepare (just a few minutes on the grill!) cut of beef. Making it simple enough for a midweek dinner, but special enough for a Birthday.

… And to be paired with champagne.

Cheers to another year!

Chimichurri Sauce

2014-08-16 09:12:36

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Ingredients

1/2 bunch parsley, finely chopped
2 tablespoons fresh oregano, finely chopped
4 garlic cloves, crushed and minced
1/2 cup green onions, finely minced
1 small hot pepper, seeds removed and finely diced (I used a Serrano pepper because that is what was ready in the garden)
1 teaspoon of red pepper flakes
2 tablespoons of red wine vinegar
Juice of half a lemon
1/2 cup of good olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

Combine all ingredients in a bowl and mix well with a whisk.
Store in the fridge and use within 48 hours.

Bloom. https://www.theblogbloom.com/

Ice Cream and Me… “Mint” to Be.

July 24, 2013 by theblogbloom.com 6 Comments

Fun Fact #1: July is National Ice Cream Month.

Fun Fact #2: Indiana is the #2 producer of regular and low fat ice creams in the Nation.

Fun Fact #3: I love making (… and eating) ice cream.

Adam and I received an ice cream maker for our wedding from my cousin. It wasn’t on the registry and it was one of those small appliances I wondered if I would ever use. My mom made ice cream from time to time growing up but, I had never given it a try. I was entertaining taking it back, but something told me just to open the box and take a look at it.

Thank goodness I did.

I now joke that ice cream brought me to life.

… But, there is a little truth to this.

The summer after Adam and I got married there were changes with my role across the nation and because I was not in the position to move, I had to walk away from the company. And work all together.

Jobs in my field and skill-set were nonexistent within an hour drive from our country home, so I was, >gulp< unemployed.

A word I never thought I would be. I graduated on Deans List. I had worked one job, if not two, since I was fifteen. Every day was hard.

You may be thinking, “Are you kidding? No work? Sounds wonderful.”

And it was for… oh, about five days.

I could only apply for jobs so much without going crazy. I had no schedule. No need to get out of gym shorts. No need to turn off The Kardashian’s, even though I had already seen the episode four times. All of my friends were at least an hour away and, weird, at work. Like I should have been. I was pretty pathetic. I even remember one –bad– day wondering if I would ever work again.

Then you realize you have spent a whole day and have not said one word aloud. Then you snap.

And then, I opened the ice cream maker.

It wasn’t the kind with ice and a hand crank that I remembered from childhood. It was sleek and ran electronically. And there were recipes in the manual. A recipe for Peanut Butter Cup Ice Cream; Adam’s all-time favorite. I had to make it. (Side note: Who was the genius who put chocolate and peanut butter together? I mean, seriously. Genius.)

I beamed to my mom on the phone about how easy and fun it was to make and how great it turned out. She must have beamed to her girlfriends about how wonderfully domesticated I was becoming (God knows she wasn’t talking about how great I was at my job…) because a couple weeks later I received a late wedding gift from one of her friends who lived in the neighborhood. It was the, then very brand new, Jeni’s Splendid Ice Cream at Home Cookbook and a check with “For lots and lots of heavy cream!” in the memo.

Jeni’s Ice Cream originated in my hometown of Columbus. She is now very well known for her unique flavors and fresh ingredients, but when she was just starting out years ago she had one shop (She now has multiple and is expanding like crazy out of Ohio) near my uncle’s house.

He was a bachelor until he married a wonderful woman from England in 2008 and he would often take my little sister and me on “dates.” They were to neat places and are all so memorable. One time we wanted to try sushi, so he took us to his favorite sushi restaurant and ordered a BOAT of sushi for the three of us just so we could try a lot of different rolls. There were also dates to a trendy stone oven pizza place and even fancy steak houses. But one thing was always the same: the night ended with ice cream at Jeni’s.

Jeni’s is a far cry from the typical vanilla. She uses crazy spices like lavender and cayenne. Sounds nuts, I know. But, it’s wonderful! As far as I know, Jeni’s was the first to create the flavor “Salty Carmel.” It was at Jeni’s that I learned I loved bourbon, even though I was well below the drinking age, with her bourbon butter pecan. The warmness of the bourbon mixed with the creamy ice cream and salty nuts. Divine.

The cookbook is beautiful. Playful, rustic photos adorn the colorful pages. The recipes vary in difficulty. I will be honest; the ice creams can be difficult for novice cooks. I made the Salty Carmel ice cream when I got the book and was challenged. I felt like I had fifty things going on. My kitchen was MESS when it was all said and done. But, it was good, so I will still consider it a win.

The sorbets are much simpler. I made her Watermelon and Lemonade Sorbet last summer and the hardest thing about it was cutting the watermelon.

A few days ago, Jeni’s Twitter account began posting about the “Backyard Mint” flavor. Different tweets mentions how it “Has returned!” and that the ice cream in her stores is made with “fresh-picked organic peppermint from Jorgenson Farms.” (Jorgenson Farm’s is just outside Columbus.)

This got me thinking. I have fresh, organic peppermint in my backyard. And I was yet to use my ice cream maker this summer. Perhaps I should give it a try?

Sure enough, it was in the cookbook so I made plans to get it going after work yesterday.

I will list my take away’s from this creation, but I am not going to list the recipe because:

1. I feel like I am friends with Jeni after eating at her store for nearly a decade and before she made it big. It feels wrong to do it without her permission.
2. I am new to the blogging world and I am not real-life friends with Jeni. I am not sure what copyright laws are out there.
And, 3. You should probably just go buy the book. You won’t regret it.

The process of making the ice cream was pretty easy. I loved tearing into my fresh mint leaves before adding them to the sugar cream mixture. They smelled so strong and vibrant.

The mint needed to steep in the finished cream for at least four hours. I kept mine in the fridge for about six.

Before bed last night, I strained the mint leaves out, put the flavorful cream into the frozen ice cream bowl and let the machine spin for about fifteen minutes. Then the mixture looked like ice cream and was pulling from the sides of the bowl.

I slopped the finished product into a container and let it freeze until after dinner tonight.

As Adam and I split the bowl, we both commented on how rich and creamy it was. We loved the light, freshness of the mint.

I asked him what he thought a good mix in might be for next time. To get ideas going, I said, “Peppermint Patties.” Adam chimed in with “Oreos.” Then, after taking a bite and thinking for a while, it came to me. “Thin Mints.”

Adams face lit up.

Nailed it.

So, what’s in our Garden?

June 24, 2013 by theblogbloom.com 1 Comment

Written May 28, 2013.

Strawberries– Adam’s favorite. They probably won’t be that great until next year as they are a spring plant. However, the deer beg to differ. They seem to like the big strawberry leaves coming out of the ground. We are lucky there have not been more casualties with the other plants around the strawberry bed thanks to their hoofs and appetites. And, the deer are very lucky that it is not deer season, or else they would be seeing more casualties on their end thanks to my shot gun bearing, camouflage wearing husband.

Please note the deer tracks.

Spinach– We could eat spinach every night. We were able to transplant eight spinach plants that we started from seeds. We bought eight more from the store that had been started and transplanted them into the ground.

Caesar, Iceberg and other Lettuces

Cabbage and red cabbage– These plants are doing so well. They were one of the first plants we transplanted into the ground.

Broccoli– Another hardy plant that is thriving.

Zucchini and Squash– Since transplanting these plants have never looked 100%. Their leaves have gone from green to yellow and back to green again. I really hope these plants take off because I love zucchini and squash on the grill. Adam’s also a huge fan of chocolate zucchini cake. Yes, I am that sneaky wife who hides veggies in dessert. Just wait ‘til we have kids.

Peas and green beans– We tried to grow green beans a couple years ago and maybe got one serving out of our plants because it was so dry. Hoping for some better luck- and weather- this year.

Carrots– We planted these straight into the ground and have not seen anything happen since. I really hope there is some magic going on under ground…

Green onions– These were planted right into the ground and look great. I am so happy because this is the best addition to any stir-fry or Mexican dish.

Cucumbers and pickle cucumbers– This is my favorite vegetable. I cannot wait to see how they do. So far, it’s not bad, but that deer has made some close calls with his feet.

Peppers– Currently, we only have sweet and poblanos. Great, yes. But, I need jalapenos. For salsa, chili, appetizers, etc. etc! When I purchased the large amount of seeds at the home and garden store back in early April on packet was sucked under the conveyer belt. At that point, I probably had fifty seed packets so I wasn’t even going to try to begin to figure out which one was missing. But, it was my beloved jalapenos.

Tomatoes– The definition of summer in my book. We have roma’s, cherry, better boys, and best boys. I love a good, August tomato. With all these tomato plants we hope to give canning a good try. (… Things I have never done before. I am already a little nervous.)

Herbs:

All the herbs are in their own planters as herbs have a way of taking over if they are not contained.
We have basil, oregano, thyme, parsley, cilantro, and rosemary.

Potting soil really brings out the color in my mani.

I am sad because the rosemary is not growing like I wish I would. Rosemary is one of my favorite herbs. It is great for chicken, vegetables like carrots or asparagus, and even makes good kabob skewers for some extra favor.

I planted a tomato plant with the basil because I read that, if planted together, they help fight off bugs. So, it’s an experiment.

The parsley and cilantro did great in the starter kits, but I must have sent them into a little shock when they were transplanted into larger planters. The cilantro started to turn a little pinkish purple, which I read was a sign of stress. I am hoping they get used to their new homes. I would think they would have loved the extra root-room. But, as always, you learn something new every day.

My stressed out cilantro. Any one else have ideas on why it’s turning red?

Oh, and I can’t forget our chickens! We have twelve birds that made the move to their beautiful coop that Adam built in late May. The coop is about eight feet by eight feet with a little door so the chickens can roam in about a thirty foot long fenced in area. We still are not 100% sure how many egg layers we will have as they won’t lay eggs until October or November. At this point we are pretty sure we have about four boys. They are getting little crown combs on the top of their heads. And definitely have a stronger, more seeming to be testosterone fueled demeanor.

It’s a boy…?

I never thought I would say this, but we LOVE the chickens. They are a lot of fun to watch and have been pretty simple to take care of.

Adam could watch the birds for hours.

In fact, we love everything about this garden. We were afraid when planning it that we might be getting in over our heads. But, so far (knock on wood), it’s been enjoyable work and it’s really neat to see things change every day. Most nights, Adam and I catch up over a beer or a glass of wine as we walk through the garden. Sure beats sitting in front of the TV!