Lavender Sage

A few weeks after finding Lavender Mint at the Farmers' Market, I found Lavender Sage!!! The taste is a bit stronger than traditional sage, and it really does smell of a lovely combination of lavender and sage. Every week I so look forward to what exciting things await to be discovered at My Mother's Garden. What could it be next week: Lavender Thyme???

My Herb Box

As I can't really plant much outside, I like to keep a container of herbs on my lanai. Here is an updated photo of my herb box taken on 03/07. In my last Herb Box posting, I had planted the Nasturtiums (02/15). My dill didn't make it, so am going to purchase one to replant. They were still doing really well, as was my Cilantro that popped up from roots that I had planted last summer. This was a very unexpected and very welcome surprise. Harry's Chives were still doing well, but my Basil had run it's course, so I bought an organic Dandelion plant to add in it's place. I love Dandelion Salad, so am looking forward to seeing how this grows.

I don't seem to have much luck keeping Cilantro, so I'm enjoying it while I can. We had Tacos tonight so it was nice to go and harvest my own. Maybe I will be more successful this time around, but it seems like once the summer rains begin, my Cilantro disappears.

This photo was taken on 03/15. Just one week after the first photo in this post! My Nasturtiums are growing like mad! I can't wait to see what color they will be. The Cilantro is taking over and is really filling in the container, and my Dandelion is doing well.

It keeps getting greener and larger by the day. My gnomes are enjoying the shade... This is the best my herb garden has ever looked. I use an organic planting matter mixed with a little planting soil. To enrich the soil, I add the used leaved from my morning cup of tea. Right now I'm drinking an Earl Grey Green Tea, and it seems to be suiting my herbs. Now I don't do this every day, but about once a week. The additional left over tea gets mixed in with our coffee for my gardenia and roses. Every 6 weeks I do Jerry Baker's "Happy Herb Tonic". This is the first time I've done it religiously, and I really think I can tell a difference.

If you are interested in this post, please check back in a few weeks. I'm going to be posting updates on what I've done right and wrong. Hopefully there will be more rights than wrongs! If you have an tips, suggestions, or advice, I'd love to hear from you!!!

Ikea's Basil From Seed

While I do have a fairly green thumb, I've always been intimidated by gardening from seed. For Christmas this year, my fab friend Gloria gave me a bag of goodies from Ikea. In the bag was this kit to grow basil from seed. I started it on 03/07. In the pot was a disc of potting matter that you soak for 15 minutes in 1 cup of water. It expanded to fill the pot, then you scattered the seeds on top... and wait.
I'm not known for being the most patient person, but this really started to sprout in days! One week later, on 03/15, this is what I woke up to find:
By 03/30 the bright green sprouts had started to take a yellow hue. I was also noticing fuzzy mold spores starting to appear. As the instructions weren't entirely clear, I wasn't sure how much water or sun I should be giving it. I'm not sure if there was something I was doing wrong or even how to correct it.
By 4/07, the mold was starting to take over. Sadly, this was the end of my Ikea basil plant.

Provençal Lunch in Avignon ~ Restaurant le Lutrin (10/06)

We had a lovely lunch in the center of Avignon at the Restaurant le Lutrin, just around the corner from the Palais des Papes. It was a lovely restaurant, part of the Hôtel du Palais des Papes, and had a lovely outside seating area that sheltered you from the sunshine.
The perimeter was surrounded by large planters containing Bay Laurels, Lavender, Thyme, and Rosemary plants.
Surrounding the area was a small market of local artists, which provided a lovely backdrop to our heavenly meal.
This was one of my favorite meals of the trip: it was my ideal Provençal lunch. As it was a warm afternoon and we had been eating non-stop for a week and a half, I was in the mood for something light. My main course did not fail to please...
Roasted Aubergines with a simple Provençal Sauce. The flavors were so fresh and bold. I was in heaven. This was obviously washed down with a nice bottle of Provençal Rosé.

The only thing that could have completed this would have been lavender crème brûlée, and I was in luck: on the desert menu was a trilogy of crème brûlée. The flavors were Lavender, Thyme, and Vervain (Verbena). This is my ideal desert, right down to the fact that I have this thing about the number 3. It was the perfect way to finish the meal, even if the Thyme brûlée was actually Rosemary. Lucky for them, Rosemary is one of my favorite herbs too. Actually, in Provence, you really can't go wrong when it comes to my taste buds.

Hôtel du Palais des Papes ~

Restaurant le Lutrin

3, Place du Palais 84000 AVIGNON

E-mail: contact@hotel-avignon.com
By phone: (+33)490 860 413
By fax: (+33) 490 279 117

A Walk in an Alpine Meadow (10/02)

We didn't find an open place for lunch, but went further up the mountain to a lovely meadow. While it was starting to cloud up in the distance, it was sunny and warm where we were at. Here are some of the images from that walk:

This was beautiful, past bloom but still stunning. I can't remember what this was called, but will post it when I find out. If you know what it is, please leave a comment.

Having a Wild Thyme in France! An obsession of mine is identifying edible plants in the wild. As you would expect from any Ricola advert, wild thyme is growing all over the Alps: Swiss or French!

Creative Use of Left Overs: Panko- Couscous Chicken with Blue Cheese Gratin Potatoes

We interrupt the regularly schedule travel blogging to bring you TONIGHT'S DINNER... With the current economy suffering, you don't have to break the bank to have a really nice meal. Nor do you have to spend hours slaving over a hot stove. For the following two recipes, all of the ingredients were already in my kitchen - with the exception of 2 chicken cutlets and 2 Idaho potatoes.

I had a basic idea on how I wanted to prepare the chicken: the final product was a combination of a Delia Smith recipe along with my step mom's chicken cutlets and Audrey Sweeney's much raved about chicken bites.

• I first marinated the chicken in 3 eggs with a sprinkle of salt and a good pinch of herbs. My choice was Herbes de Provence, but anything you have on hand will do. After 30 minutes, coat in bread crumbs. This is where i got creative: I didn't have enough panko for the chicken, so I had a look around my fridge. There was some leftover couscous from the weekend, so I decided to give that a go. I mixed equal parts panko to couscous, added a small pinch of salt and some more herbs. Once the chicken was coated, i fried in a shallow amount of olive oil for 6 minutes each side. Once finished cooking, let sit on a paper towel for one minute to absorb oil.

• While the chicken was marinating, I went on to the side dish... My side dish was a creative use of leftovers to make one of my favorite dishes: Gratin Potatoes. We had some leftover Roquefort cheese sauce. As this came out of a dried packet, it was very economical. If you don't have (or like) Roquefort cheese sauce packets, any sort of cheese sauce will do. I mixed the left over sauce with some whipping cream, left over blue cheese crumbles, and a little milk just to thin it out a bit, all in a sauce pan over medium heat. I then added the two potatoes, thinly sliced, and let simmer for 10 minutes. This all got dumped into a backing dish and baked in the over for 35 minutes at 350F.

It didn't tale a lot of effort to make, not did it take a lot of money. Instead of cooking vegetables, I decided it was a good idea to use the little bit of salad that was left over. You know that stuff, that little bit that gets left in the bag that you forget about and end up throwing away? I then drizzled a little of my homemade vinaigrette (also made from cupboard staples) over the lettuce and grabbed my fork.

Yum! Not only was it a satisfying meal, it was satisfying to know I was using things up in my kitchen, not letting them go to waste.

Lunch at Châlet Rosiers (10-01)

My sister-in-law joined us on Wednesday morning. We popped into Doussard to the Shopi and une boulangerie to pick up some essentials, then went back to Châlet Rosiers for lunch.
As figs were in the height of season, my sister-in-law taught me how to choose the perfect fig: they should be soft (like a peach), but not too mushy.

We also had some ham that my mother-in-law cooked and some French salami.

My sister-in-law made her speciality: tomatoes with a sprinkling of sea salt, chopped garlic and a drizzle of salad dressing.

I was tasked with making the salad dressing for the two weeks, which was a big honor as my father-in-law is the master and had originally taught me how to make it years ago. Following the ratio of three parts olive oil to one part vinegar, I add a sprinkle of sea salt and sugar, one tbsp of Dijon mustard. This particular time I also added one clove of chopped garlic and a couple pinches of herbes de Provence.

This was also the first time I had tried a fresh fig, so I'm glad she was an expert at selecting them. She also showed me how to prepare and eat them. I was a little apprehensive of eating the skins, but they are very soft, not unlike peach skin. Not a huge fan of the Newton, I was pleasantly surprised by the taste. The taste was similar to a peach mixes with strawberries.

It was a very simple lunch, easy to prepare, but J and I agree that it was easily one of the most memorable meals of our trip. The sun was shining, the sky was blue, we were sitting outside on the balcony and it was so nice to catch up with my sister-in-law. We don't get to see her nearly as often as we like, so we always enjoy each minute we get to spend with her.

Culinary Creations: Pesto Pork

My mom came over Sunday night for a pre-thank you dinner since she will be taking care of Harry while we are away. We wanted to keep it nice and simple so opted to do a pesto (or pistou since we're going to France) coated pork tenderloin.
This is super easy to do. I had half of a jar of pesto left over from the Layered up Chicken and Roasted Vegetables. I like cooking with jarred pesto as it has a stronger flavor (i.e. more salt & garlic), than the refrigerated pesto, which makes it not so desirable on pasta itself. With the pesto, I also added in some Herbs de Provence, then coated the tenderloin and let sit for 30 minutes. After, I baked at 350F for 45 minutes.

The results were divine. The pork was nice and tender and had such a good flavor. My house smelt absolutely divine! As we were keeping it simple, we served it with salad, olives, Boursin cheese, and a French baguette.

We sliced the tomato, added some chopped basil, lemon thyme, and chives - then drizzled it with olive oil and sprinkled a bit of Maldon sea salt.

The rest sort of speaks for itself. My Classic French Vinaigrette made another appearance, this time in the form of the pesto jar. The baguette is actually an import from France that I get from my local supermarket's freezer section. It is a nice staple to keep on hand, takes under 10 minutes to bake, and it as close to Paris as you can get in Florida. We threw in some nice French mustard, a bottle of rose, and felt like we were ready for Provence!

Gardening: Curry Plant Update

My curry plant is doing well and is getting larger. I haven't transplanted it as I haven't been able to get another one so still haven't decided where I want to put this one.

Last weekend I found a recipe for potato salad using curry plant. I wasn't expecting much as I've heard it isn't really that great for cooking. While it wasn't horrible, it wasn't very good either. It didn't ruin the taste, but there was this strange smokey flavor that I'm sure was from the curry plant. It will definitely be kept for the scent, and not flavoring food.

Gardening: Herb Garden

Here is a look at the beginning of my herb trough. In this photo, I've got Lemon Thyme and Basil, along with my Curry plant that is waiting to be transplanted. Yesterday afternoon, I also added an anemic looking Dill plant and transplanted some Chives. I'm not expecting either of those to survive, but fingers crossed. You will also notice Alfie and Archie, who stand guard over the herbs.

Gardening: The Alluring Curry Plant

From the spring of 1997 until the end of summer 1998, I lived in Wymondham (pronounced "windem"), England. Wymondham is a little town just outside of Norwich, Norfolk. We lived in a lovely flint stone terrace cottage in the center of town. It was heaven, we had Thai, Indian, chip shop, corner shop, bakery (2 actually) and a video shop all in walking distance. During the summer we were inundated with the smells of Thai and Indian food. The Thai place was parallel to our back garden, so we could smell them cooking out their back door. Although the Thai place was closer, we always had a stronger scent of Indian food. That was until one day when our land lady, Brigid, informed us that the scent was actually from a curry plant that was just outside the kitchen window.

It looks a lot like lavender, with blossoms that resemble dill. The one we had in England was fairly large. The smell was so intoxicating, it really does smell like curry! When you cut it, like most things, the smell is even stronger. It doesn't taste at all like curry, which is a little deceiving. But still, to have something smell so divine, I'm not complaining.

Recently, my mother and I were down town at the Farms' Market and decided to pop into Whole Foods, where I was greeted by that familiar smell. It is the first time since Wymonham that I had seen one! (Though my mom said that Gordon Ramsey was on Martha, cooking fish with curry plant) It was still small when I brought it home, so we decided to leave it in the container to allow it to grow a bit before transplanting it. It is still in the original container, and we're having a dilemma of where to plant it. We've really enjoyed having it in the lanai, but my current container is just too small (and crowded with thyme, dill, basil and chives), so I'm thinking of planting it just outside of the lanai. I've got loads of room in the rosemary planter, but it's too far away from the area where we spend the most amount of time. Whole Foods are going to try to order another one so I can plant one where originally intended, and one on the other side to completely fill the lanai with whiff of curry. Hope the neighbors don't mind!!!

Here is a link for more information on Wymondham:

http://www.wymondham-norfolk.co.uk/index.php