Recipes

Too Many Herbs? Not Anymore!

Although spring has only just begun, my little herb garden is already overflowing. In fact, my thyme, oregano, and basil are growing faster than I can use them, and my mint is positively out of control. I’m reluctant to let it go to waste, since I invested time and energy into planting them, so I’ve been looking for creative ways to put my herbs to good use.

There are the obvious ideas—sauces, soups, stews, salads—but that can get old quickly, and I want to embrace more creative uses for my bounty. I spent a few weeks going through my grandmother’s old cookbooks, some kitchen witch Pinterest boards, and reminiscing over favorite meals and I finally have come up with an excellent list of uses for my prolific herb garden. And unlike Pinterest recipes, these are all tested by a real human being without a crafting gift, so I promise they’ll work perfectly for you, too!

Pineapple Mint Ice Cream
Ingredients:
1 ¼ cups sugar
1 ¼ cups water
½ cups light corn syrup
2 cups loosely packed mint leaves (I used spearmint)
2 cups pineapple (canned or fresh, as long as it’s crushed)
1 ½ cups pineapple juice (canned or fresh)
2 cups heavy cream
2 cups whole milk
¼ cup white crème de menthe
1 cup lemon juice (fresh or bottled)

In a sauce pan, bring the sugar and water to a boil, cooking until the sugar is fully dissolved. Boil for 8-10 minutes and then add the mint leaves, simmering over medium heat for another 8-10 minutes. This is a delicious simple syrup recipe and can be used with any herbs! Remove from the heat and allow it to cool.

Grab your blender and pour the mint syrup to puree it. Pour it into a large bowl, using a colander to strain the leaves out. Then add in the corn syrup.

Throw the pineapple and pineapple juice into your rinsed blender and puree until smooth. Add the puree into the mint/corn syrup bowl. Then stir in the milk, crème de menthe, cream, and lemon juice. Let this chill for a minimum of four hours, but ideally overnight. From there, transfer it into your ice cream maker and follow the directions. Allow the ice cream to set overnight in a large bowl in your freezer. Serve garnished with shortbread cookies, frozen raspberries, and a few mint sprigs. This also makes a delicious addition to any kind of ice cream punch!

Dried Mint/Herbal Bath
Gather your herbs first thing in the morning, just after the dew has dried—this ensures they will be at peak freshness! Gather your sprigs into a loose bundle, securing the stems with a rubber band or twine. Hang the bundles upside down in a dry place out of direct sunlight. If you can’t avoid direct sunlight, place each bundle into a small brown paper bag with vents cut into the sides for airflow (important so your herbs won’t mold!) If you use the bags, check the bundles daily to make sure nothing is growing inside of them, like moisture or fungus. It takes about two weeks for the herbs to dry, and they should be brittle to the touch before you take them down.

You can also dry herbs in the oven at the lowest setting on a cookie sheet if you don’t want to wait two weeks. Either way, place your bundles on a piece of wax paper and separate the leaves from the stems, crushing them as you go. Then use the wax paper as a funnel to slide the herbs into air tight jars—easy!

With dried herbs, you can do so many excellent things. You can use them in future recipes, you can make gifts, and you can even make incredible homemade bath products. I made the following bath salts for myself and some friends and they are fantastic.
2 cups Epsom salts
1 cup sea salt
½ cup baking soda
1/8 cup dried mint (I used peppermint)
1/8 cup dried lavender
15-18 drops of peppermint and lavender essential oils (which you can DIY or buy pre-made.)

Grab a large bowl and mix everything together except the essential oils. The key here is to mix until its smooth—no lumps! The baking soda might clump and if it does, just break it apart gently. Once you have a smooth blend of salts, herbs, and baking soda, begin adding the essential oil drops 3-4 at a time. Mix them thoroughly before adding more and stop once you’re pleased with the level of scent. Store the salts in an apothecary jar or similar airtight container.

Basil Lemonade
Using the above simple syrup recipe, substituting basil leaves for mint. Mix this into lemonade and cut it with sparkling water before serving for a bubbly, fresh summer drink. This is also a great mixer for summer cocktails! Garnish with a lemon peel and a basil leaf if you’re feeling fancy.

So, that’s how I’m putting my garden to good use! Let me know how you get the most out of your herbs in the comments.

Cranberry Bran Muffins

To prepare the cranberry bran muffins heat the oven to 180°C (160° fan). Place paper cases or muffin cups in a 12 hole muffin tin.

Put all the dry ingredients, except the cranberries into a mixing bowl and stir to combine.

Whisk together the eggs, syrup, oil, milk and vanilla until blended. Stir into the dry ingredients until just combined. Stir in the cranberries.

Spoon into the paper cases and bake for 20-25 minutes until risen and golden. Cool in the tins for 5 minutes, then place the cranberry bran muffins on a wire rack to cool completely.

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Makgeolli Rice Wine

To make Makgeolli recipe at home start rinsing the rice at least five times, or place in a colander under running water, moving the grains around until the water runs clear, about 2 minutes.

Soak the rice in 6 cups of water for 30 minutes, then bring to a boil over high heat. Lower heat to low, cover the pot and simmer for 12 minutes. Reduce the heat to its lowest point and simmer 3 minutes more.

Remove pot from the heat and let stand, covered, for 30 minutes.

Sanitize 2 cloths large enough to fit over the top of 2 large bowls (you can boil them, use sterilizing solution, or wet them and microwave them for 2 minutes).

When cool, use a cloth to wipe a spatula, a small bowl, a large bowl, a spoon and your hands with about 1 cup of vodka or with sterilizing solution, trying not to waste too much vodka, clearly.

Ring out the cloths.

If your koji is not in powdered form, grind 1 cup of it and measure 100 g.

Combine the koji in the small bowl with the instant yeast and enough water to make a paste.

Add 1l of water and half the cooked rice to each large bowl. Re-sterilize your hands with vodka and when the rice is cool enough, break up any clumps.

Add the koji and mix together. Wipe the rim of the bowls with a cloth or paper towel soaked in alcohol and cover the bowls with the sterilized cloths.

Hold the cloths in place with elastic bands, string or cord. Place the bowls in a dark area between 20-25˚C. Stir the liquid every morning and night with a sterilized spoon.

Leave for 3-5 days.

Add more water if drying out.

Over the course of the fermentation period, rice particles will start floating up and down in the liquid and you'll hear activity from the gases. The Makgeolli is ready when most of the grains have fallen to the bottom of the bowls and only a few grains remain on top. The liquid should no longer be bubbling away. If the room is hotter than 25˚C, fermentation might only require 2-3 days. Decant the liquid by pouring through sterilized cheesecloth into sterilized glass bottles, plastic bottles or mason jars. If desired, dilute with water to reduce the alcohol level or thin. Add honey to taste (it might be sweet enough already). Don't tighten the lids too much, as some of the unpasteurized lees are still present and gases may build up. If using plastic lids, poke holes in them to release gases. You can also siphon the liquid from the lees before bottling, or bring it to 70˚C to pasteurize it if you wish the fermentation to stop completely and the Makgeolli to be shelf stable. Store in the fridge for a few days to mellow before drinking.

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Capellini with Caviar, Lemon and Chives

For the Capellini pasta dough

Combine the flour, egg yolk, whole egg, olive oil, and milk in an electric stand-mixer fitted with a dough hook.

Once the flour is well incorporated, transfer to a clean surface and knead by hand for 1 minute.

Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and let it rest for one hour in refrigerator.

On a lightly floured work surface, roll the dough very thin and cut dough into capellini--or similar shape- -with a pasta roller.

Extra dough can be rolled and frozen for a later use.

For the Capellini pasta sauce

Bring 3 quarts of salted water to a boil and add the pasta.

Cook about 2 minutes (depending on the shape and size of your pasta) or until the pasta is floating and is tender to the bite.

Strain the pasta and return it to the pot along with about 2 tablespoons of the pasta water.

Add the butter and crème fraiche and stir gently to combine.

Season lightly with salt and piment d’Espelette, remembering the caviar will add saltiness as well.

Once the pasta is well coated and seasoned, add Meyer lemon juice, 1 tablespoon of the chives and 1/3 of the caviar, stirring to disperse evenly.

To serve the capellini pasta

Divide the pasta into warmed pasta bowls and top each portion with the remaining caviar, chive and lemon zest.

Use extra piment d’espelette as desired for your taste. Serve immediately.

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Baked Plantains with Bee Pollen, Raw Cacao and Wild Honey Ice Cream

For the Baked Plantains

Take a ripe plantain banana with the skin and wrap it in aluminum foil.

Bake in the over at 400˚F for about 20-25 minutes until soft but not mushy.

Remove from foil. Split open the banana and leave it in its peel.

Drizzle with honey and sprinkle with bee pollen and raw cacao powder.

Serve with a scoop of homemade wild honey ice cream (see below).

For the wild honey ice cream

Blend all ingredients in high-powered blender until completely smooth.

Chill in refrigerator for 2-3 hours.

Pour mixture into an ice cream maker and process according to manufacturer instructions.

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