Herbs and Spices

Candied Lemon Balm Leaves

This is a favorite kid activity around here! Beat an egg white with a tiny bit of water. Dip fresh lemon balm leaves in the mixture, then dip in sugar. Lay the coated leaves on a parchment lined baking sheet. Place the baking sheet in a 200°F oven until the leaves look dry, but not browned. Check after 20 minutes and every 5 to 10 after that.

Use to decorate ice cream, cakes, cookies, cupcakes and other confections.

Found at: The Nerdy Farm Wife

Roasted Lemon Balm Chicken


Ingredients:

  • Handful of fresh lemon balm leaves, stems removed
  • 1/4 cup or so of fresh sage leaves
  • 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter, softened
  • Salt and pepper, to taste
  • 1 large roasting chicken
  • 1 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil

Preheat oven to 400°. Trim herb leaves from stems; wash and pat dry. Set sprigs aside. Chop two-thirds of the leaves, and combine with the butter, salt, and pepper. Rinse chicken and pat dry. Loosen the skin in several places and insert the herb butter underneath. Rub chicken with salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Insert the remaining herb sprigs into the cavity of the chicken. Place breast-side-down in a roasting pan. Bake 30 minutes, then turn chicken over. Bake about 20 minutes longer. Makes 4 to 6 servings.

Found at: Bay Witch Musings

Lemon Balm-Apple Sorbet

Ingredients:

  • 2 large apples, chopped
  • 1 cup lemon balm leaves
  • 2 cups water
  • 1 cup honey
  • Juice of 2 lemons

Puree apples and lemon balm in a blender or food processor. Transfer puree to a sauce pan. Add water and honey. Simmer over low heat until thick and bubbly. Strain. Add lemon juice, stir briskly, and cool. Place mixture in an ice cream maker and freeze. If you don’t have an ice cream maker, freeze, then blend the mixture just before serving. Garnish with fresh lemon balm sprigs, and serve with scones or tea biscuits.

FREAKING DELISH!!!

Found at: Bay Witch Musings

Savory Fenugreek and Coriander Pancakes

Thin, soft Indian flat breads with a savory fenugreek and coriander flavor. These pancakes feature fresh fenugreek leaves — also known as “methi” — an annual herb that I was lucky enough to get my hands on. It is commonly used in Indian cooking and that includes the seed and ground powder from the seed. Slightly sweet, with a hint of bitterness, it is well worth using the fresh herb, but if you can’t find it — and this is sometimes a challenge — substitute about 3/4 cup dried fenugreek instead.

Most Asian and Indian grocers carry the dried leaves, seeds and powder, and often the fresh leaves. These grocers will also carry chickpea flour and chapati (or “atta”) flour, but for 1/2 cup of chapati flour you may substitute 1/3 cup sifted whole wheat flour and combine with enough pastry flour to make 1/2 cup.

Masala paste:

  • 4 to 6 green chilies (or fewer if preferred), seeded and chopped
  • 1 clove garlic, crushed
  • 1-inch fresh ginger, finely sliced
  • 1/4 teaspoon sea salt

Pancake batter:

  • 1 cup brown rice flour
  • 1/2 cup chapati (atta) flour*
  • 1/3 cup chickpea (besan) flour
  • 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
  • 1/2 tablespoon ground coriander
  • 1 teaspoon turmeric
  • 1/2 teaspoon paprika
  • 1/4 teaspoon asafetida
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons sea salt, or to taste
  • 2 teaspoons coconut sugar or brown sugar
  • 2/3 cup whole fat yogurt
  • 1 1/2 cups warm water, or as needed
  • 1 2/3 cup fresh fenugreek leaves (methi), roughly chopped*
  • 3 tablespoons ghee or sesame oil for frying, or as needed

Instructions:

*Substitutions: Substitute 1/2 cup chapati flour with 2 parts sifted whole wheat flour and 1 part pastry flour. Substitute fresh fenugreek leaves with 3/4 cup dried fenugreek leaves.

For the paste, combine the chilies, garlic, ginger, salt and 1 teaspoon of water in a small blender to blend into a paste. Alternately, use a mortar and pestle.

Whisk together the flours, cumin seeds, ground coriander, turmeric, paprika, asafetida, salt and sugar in a large bowl until well combined. Stir in the yogurt, 1 cup of the water to start with, and the fenugreek leaves. Stir well to combine, adding more water until the batter is pourable but fairly thick.

Line a plate with a large piece of foil.

Heat a few teaspoons of ghee or oil in a large heavy-bottomed frying pan over medium heat. When hot, ladle about 1/2 cup of the batter into the hot pan and spread out in a circular fashion with the back of the ladle into a thin 7- or 8-inch round. Cover and let cook for a minute. With a spatula, gently flip the pancake and cook for another few minutes, until the bread is golden brown. Transfer the pancake to the plate, fold the foil over to cover, and repeat the process until all of the pancakes are cooked.

Enjoy warm or reheat them in a 175° oven. They are best when served the same day that they are made.

Makes about 10 pancakes

Recipe by Lisa Turner

Flavored Ghee

make-your-own-ghee-in-the-slow-cooker

In the process of clarifying butter, (Simple Recipe For Making Ghee), you can add all sorts of herbs and spices to infuse their aroma and color and give the resulting ghee a delicious taste that will give the food you prepare an even more delicious taste. When making flavored ghee, it’s better to clarify the butter with the boiling method so the herbs or spices have a chance to infuse all their taste. Add your favorite combination of herbs and spices right about when the butter is melted and leave them until the very end of the process.

Here are some popular examples (the quantities are for a pound of butter):

  • Garlic ghee: 6-7 crushed or minced garlic cloves.
  • Cardamom ghee: 6-7 crushed cardamom pods.
  • Mint-Jalapeño ghee: 1/2 cup mint leaves and 1 large, chopped jalapeño.
  • Rosemary-thyme ghee: 6 sprigs each of rosemary and thyme.
  • Ginger ghee: 2 tbsp fresh minced ginger.

Source: Paleo Leap

Garlic vs Clogged Arteries

garlic

Eating garlic regularly can deter artery-clogging, and more remarkably, even reverse the damage, helping heal your arteries, says Arun Bordia, a cardiologist at Tagore Medical College in India. Dr. Bordia, a pioneering garlic researcher, discovered that feeding garlic to rabbits with 80 percent arterial blockage reduced the degree of blockage, partially restoring the arteries to health.

He then tested garlic on a group of 432 heart-disease patients, most recovering from heart attacks. Half the group are two or three fresh raw or cooked garlic cloves every day for three years. They squeezed the garlic into juice, put in in milk as a “morning tonic” or ate it boiled or minced. The other half ate no garlic. After the first year, there was no difference in the rate of heart attacks between the groups.

In the second year, however, deaths among the garlic eaters dropped by 50 percent and in the third year, they sank 66 percent! Nonfatal heart attacks also declined 30 percent the second year and 60 percent the third year. Further, blood pressure and blood cholesterol in the garlic eaters fell about 10 percent. Garlic eaters also had fewer attacks of angina – chest pain. There were no significant cardiovascular changes in the non-garlic eaters.

Dr. Bordia suggests that, over time, steady infusions of garlic both wash away some of the arterial plaque and prevent future damage. Garlic’ main weapon is probably a conglomeration of antioxidants. Garlic is said to possess at least 15 different antioxidants that may neutralize artery-destroying agents.

Note: Cooked garlic was as effective as raw garlic in warding off heart attacks and deaths, according to Dr Bordia.

A Garlic Bonus: The garlic also produced unexpected health benefits. Dr. Bordia said the garlic eaters reported fewer joint pains, body aches and asthmatic tendencies; more vigor, energy and libido; and a better appetite. Particularly impressive was the diminished joint pain in those with osteoarthritis. Five percent dropped out of the study, however, complaining of burning urine, bleeding piles, flatulence and irritability. Eating raw garlic elicited more complaints than eating it cooked.

Source: Food – Your Miracle Medicine

Explore The Posts
Subscribe
If you'd like to be informed whenever anything new is posted, you can subscribe via email:

Enter your email address:

Delivered by FeedBurner

Find Us On Facebook
Quotable
"Diet has the distinction of being the only major determinant of health that is completely under your control. You have the final say over what does and what does not go into your mouth and stomach. You cannot always control the other determinants of health, such as the quality of the air you breathe, the noise you are subjected to, or the emotional climate of your suroundings, but you can control what you eat. It is a shame to squander such a good opportunity to influence your health." ~Andrew Weil, MD
Be Merry


I think it's time to go shopping... maybe even buy some really cool stuff at my online shops!!

Visitors