Edible Herbs, Flowers & Other Edibles - Grow Your Own Dinner!: 10/18/15

Saturday, October 24, 2015

Herb Festival Today - And A Recipe!

Dear Folks,

I am at the Boyce Thompson Herb Festival today and the weather looks like it is going to be a pretty day.

Herb Festival
Boyce Thompson Arboretum
Saturday October 24
11:00 AM - 3:00 pm
"Herb is the word" during the annual Fall Plant Sale fundraiser and we'll have a variety of herbs available for purchase. This recurring Fall event is strategically scheduled for late October to take advantage of optimal herb planting time. Meet members of the Arizona Herb Association and browse items at their booth; learn about container gardening from Catherine 'The Herb Lady' Crowley, all beneath the shady grove of pistachio trees across from our Wing Memorial Herb Garden.

https://ag.arizona.edu/bta/events.html

I will be sampling My Black Bean Humus recipe. The focus herb is Epazote, known commonly as "Natural Beano" - AND it works!

Use Epazote to flavor bean and meaty foods. If you want the "benefit" in hot foods, keep half of the herb to add just before serving.

Epazote is also traditionally used as a component of Salsa Verde, a mix of herbs used either to stuff fish or as a sauce during cooking or at serving.

At last year's Herb Festival I purchased some Roselle (Hibiscus sabdariffa) seeds from the Az Herb Folks (see link above), seeded in April, the plants took off and gave me a ton of "roselles" the beautiful, cranberry-flavored flower calyx to make beverages and add to salads and other foods.

Recipes: When I am developing recipes I think in terms of similarities of foods. Ever since I first tasted humus years ago I was hooked. That was a big deal for me personally because I did not grow up liking beans or bean dishes even the ubiquitous baked beans everyone brought or served at gatherings was not something I gravitated toward.

But the humus, yum. I began to think of what exactly humus was and came up with a simple comparison to the typical American diet - a peanut butter sandwich! From there it was a matter of my mental taste buds roaming through combinations of a legumes and something to serve it with.

The Black Bean Humus was one of my first humus versions because of the high antioxidant qualities of the black beans. I have made other versions - artichoke and edamame, and a garbanzo (traditional bean) and avocado are a couple of examples.

If the green olives seem strange (or you can use kalamata or other type of olive - just don't use those canned black olives), they add an additional layer of flavor and some of the salt for enhancing all the flavors. I also frequently use olives in my pesto's for the same reason AND it extends the amount of pesto you have if you are short on enough basil to make the quantity you desire.

My Black Bean Humus
from "101+ Recipes From The Herb Lady" (available at sources listed below) The Boyce Thompson Arboretum store also stocks my books.

1 can black beans, drained, reserve liquid
Zest of one line
1/2 to all the juice of 1 lime
1/4 tsp. cumin
1/4 tsp coriander or 3 tbl. fresh cilantro
4 peppercorns, ground
1/4 cup fresh epezote or 1 tbl. dried
10 green olives, pitted
2-7 tbl. reserved bean liquid

Tortilla chips or colorful root chips. Or you can make vegetable cups from cucumber, zucchini or just use vegetable dippers. The chips provide a complimentary protein to the beans.

Grind everything, except 3 black beans, the reserved liquid and a bit of epazote and chips
Using 2-7 tbl. reserved bean liquid to give desired consistency.
Pour the bean mix into a bowl, garnish with 3 beans in center and a sprig or sprinkle of the epazote

I hope you make it out or made it out to the Herb Festival today!

My books are available through these sources.

My books

Lulu (my publisher site)http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/herbs2u

Ibook
https://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/catherine-crowley/id372564893?mt=11

amazon - print
http://www.amazon.com/Catherine-Crowley/e/B002C1HWG0/ref=sr_tc_2_0?qid=1367065857&sr=1-2-ent

Barnes & Noble - print and Nook ebook
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/c/catherine-crowley

Kobo
http://store.kobobooks.com/en-US/Search?query=Catherine%20Crowley&fcsearchfield=Author

Have a wonderful day!

-- Catherine, The Herb Lady

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Tuesday, October 20, 2015

Making Home Made Salami

Dear Folks,

I have previously posted about making home made "Dry Cured Salami" using a pork tenderloin and it turned out fabulous.

Today I am sharing an oven-baked Salami.

Curing involves salt, sugar and spices to create a flavorful product. In my Dry Cured Salami (above) version the meat is marinated overnight and then dried in the refrigerator for 4-6 weeks. Like the method I use to refrigerator-dry my herbs, the constant removal of moisture by our modern refrigerators creates a "freeze-dry" effect.

Unlike many curing recipes I choose NOT to use curing salts which contain sodium nitrite. I use a combination of organic sugar and sea salt (do not use iodized salts for curing), whether in my homemade corned beef or in this recipe for an oven cooked salami. For something this small I can use my toaster oven and avoid a lot of heat from the big oven.

We are gifted on a regular basis with venison by family and friends who are hunters, and while we do not hunt, I have learned how to handle venison so it is tasty, and I decided to use my salami recipe on venison recently. I have previously made the salami with grass-fed beef and a combination of ground turkey and pork. Both were good.

This is another TWO day process, which requires an overnight in the frig before baking so plan accordingly.

My Homemade Salami

Ingredients:

1 to 2 pounds ground beef OR venison, chicken, turkey or pork 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder 1/4 teaspoon onion powder 1/2 teaspoon mustard seed
4 teaspoons organic sugar
2 teaspoons on non-iodized salt, like sea salt) 1 tablespoon coarsely ground black pepper 1 teaspoon liquid hickory smoke flavoring (optional)
1 tablespoon melted uncured bacon fat (use with venison or other low fat meat)

Instructions:

Have a large piece of aluminum foil ready. In a large bowl, mix together the ground meat, garlic powder, onion powder, mustard seed, salt, sugar black pepper and liquid smoke and melted bacon fat. Roll the mixture into a 2 inch diameter log, and wrap tightly in aluminum foil and twist ends to make a snug package. Refrigerate for 24 hours.
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Make a few slits in the bottom of the roll to allow the fat to drain when cooking. Place roll onto a broiler pan, and fill the bottom part of the pan with about 1 inch of water to keep the salami moist. (Or use a pan with a rack so the meat package is held above the water.)
Bake for 90 minutes in the preheated oven. Remove from pan and cool completely before unwrapping the salami. Slice and eat as lunch meat, or serve on a tray with crackers and cheese.