0 Cooking with Herbs June Round Up

We were delighted to host Cooking with Herbs last month and was once again blown away by the creative flair displayed by bloggers from across the world in utilising herbs in some fantastic dishes.

Thanks to Karen over at Lavender and Lovage for allowing me to host this amazing blog challenge. Here's the link to the original post

                                                              

Here's a quick round up of the posts submitted this month for June 2014

                                                     

Our first link up was from Mint Custard a beautiful Rosemary Madeira cake recipe which she baked for the theme of "Secret Garden" at her local cake club meeting. As a fellow cake clubber I appreciate her creative twist on a traditional Madeira cake.

                                             

Next were these delicious looking Cheddar cheese pasties with sorrel and elephant garlic from Fromage Homage, an ideal picnic or lunch box recipe which utilised a pantry surplus of some lovely cheddar cheese.

                                   

Of we pop across to Ladysmock Cottage for not one but three recipes, first up are cheddar, onion and sage potato cakes. I love potato cakes so this recipe is right up my street and would be easy to make gluten free by substituting GF flour.

                                   

Next we have Clams in cider with parsley, a delicious and easy supper dish, apparently this colourful dish works well with perry as well.

                                              

Ladysmock Cottage's final contribution is Leeks braised in white wine and tarragon with a mustard dressing. This stunningly stylist dish contains one of my favourite herbs - tarragon and would be beautiful served hot or cold.

                                                    

Food and Travel blogger Palachinka contribution is a Strawberry Salad with hazelnuts and Lemon Balm, what a summery post which makes great use of seasonal ingredients, I love the combination of lemon balm with strawberries for a lemony zing.

                                 

Our next contribution is from New Zealand blogger Couscous and Consciousness with a Roasted pumpkin laska. Inspired by a Nigel Slater recipe this aromatic dish is a perfect winter warmer for the colder weather down under.

                                  

Cooking for Kirshore linked up with a Broccoli and Rainbow chard quiche, a perfect dish for the warmer weather, ideal for picnics or in the garden.

                                  

Next up is my contribution, a Strawberry rhubarb and creme fraiche pavlova with the subtle addition of lemon balm for its lemon sherbet flavours and its almost acidic green leaves.

                                 

Next is a chicken dish from Bizzy bakes, wonderfully French, this skillet herbed chicken with mustard would I am sure be a popular supper dish with any family.

                                 

 Bizzy Bakes also linked up a broccoli and cheese quiche with the crafty addition of chives to provide a sweet onion flavour to this dish.

                                 

The amazing Gluten Free Alchemist linked up this tasty looking gluten free Savoury summer roasted red pepper and tomato tartlet which would be wonderful with a green salad for lunch. Definitely one for bookmarking me thinks.

                                 

Joan Ransley kindly linked up this post of Blackcurrant and lemon verbena tarlets with elderflowers after I spotted it on twitter. Wonderfully summery and a great use of seasonal ingredients.

                                                  

Cooking with herbs creator - Karen at Lavender and Lovage kindly linked up her "Arabian Nights" tabbouleh salad recipe. A colourful dish which utilises multi herbs in its creation including calendula flowers.

                                 

Anyone for Mexican guacamole with beef wraps ?, this is our next tasty contribution from Chris cooking around the world.

                                

Chilli is obviously very popular at the moment as our next contribution is Chilli chicken bean bowls from Anne's Kitchen, who has a great tip on shaping your bowls by microwaving your tortilla and then shaping over a bowl.

                               

Another chilli dish this time from Searching for Spice who linked up with a healthy Turkey chilli. What an easy way to get some of your 5 a day.

                                                  

The next contribution is Greens, beans and potato soup from blogger Green Gourmet Giraffe, this wholesome soup is made in remembrance of a work colleague and also as an ideal way to clear out the fridge vegetable drawer.

                                 

Next in this mammoth roundup is the stunning Vietnamese style summer rolls from Vohn's Vittles , this recipe is beautiful and the sort of food I like to eat.

                                 

We have the Kitchen of Kiki to thank for our next recipe, a simple but very tasty cold potato salad with herbs. A great summer dish for a hot day, as Kirsten says its quick to come together and only requires a very short time in the kitchen to make.

                                                

The taste space kindly linked up with the delicious looking Pineapple mint frothy drink, What an amazing flavour combination and one that must have been well in a hot Houston from where Taste Space hails.

                               

Cauliflower is all the rage at the moment and this is a great recipe for Herbed Cauliflower rice from Recipes from a pantry. Such a versatile recipe and ideal if you are paleo or on a no carb diet.

                               

We now pop over to Fabfood4all for an amazing looking Roasted tomato, red pepper and chorizo soup, featuring basil one of my favourite herbs, I can smell this from here, Wonderful.....

                               

Our penultimate contribution is Mint Cumin roast lamb with moutabal from The Lass in the apron.This Lebanese Nigel Slater inspired dish would make a lovely variant on a Sunday lunch.

                                

Last but not least rounding off an amazing Cooking with herbs is a Lemon and mint pesto from Feeding boys and a firefighter. This versatile pesto is a great recipe to help in tackling that rampaging mint plant in my garden.

                                
PS
A very tasty and inventive contribution from Choclette over at Chocolate Log Blog with chocolate bean burgers with chilli sauce. Delicious.....

Thanks everyone for your amazing contributions, I've really enjoyed hosting. See you all soon.

                                                      

Detail: Cooking with Herbs June Round Up

0 Gluten free rhubarb and rose cake

Yet another Rhubarb recipe, this one is combined with rose cordial in a gluten free cake mixture, satisfyingly tasty and better eaten the next day this a great recipe for lunch boxes in the summertime. Not overtly sweet the rhubarb really sings with the subtle hint of rose.

Currently in the garden rose "Gertrude Jekyll" is flowering prolifically,so this is the inspiration for this bake, a deep rose pink highly fragranced David Austin rose with ample double blooms. Roses always mean summer to me, their luscious fragrances and ample flowers and also quintessentially English.

A delicious bake with a good crumb studded with tangy juicy chunks of rhubarb.

What you need

• 3 or 4 talks rhubarb, washed and chopped into 1cm ish chunks
• 1 1/2 cups of ground almonds
• 1 cup of gluten free plain flour (I used Doves Farm)
• 150g softened butter
• 3/4 cup light brown soft sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla paste
• 1 tbsp rose syrup
• 4 eggs - free range

23 cm cake tin, base lined (ideally loose bottomed or spring form)

What you do 

• Pre heat the oven to 180c
• Toss the prepared rhubarb into the flour and ground almond mixture
• Beat the sugar and softened butter together until light and slightly fluffy, add the vanilla and rose syrup
• Add the eggs one by one , don't worry to much if the mixture curdles slightly keep mixing, add a little of the flour / almond mixture
• Now fold in the rest of the flour, almond and rhubarb mixture
• Scrape into prepared cake tin and bake for about 45 mins or so , bake until golden, slightly risen and done when tested with a cocktail stick.
• Allow to cool in tin
• Wrap and store once cool, its has a better flavour if kept for 24 hours.

I am linking up this post to this month's Tea time treats , hosted in turn by Karen over on Lavender and Lovage and Hedgecomber. This month's theme is Floral, I think this more than qualifies.

                                                                 

I am also linking up to Ren Behan with her Simple and in Season campaign. As this is a very seasonal recipe as it features rhubarb from the garden and is decorated with fallen petals from Gertrude Jeykll rose.

                                             

Detail: Gluten free rhubarb and rose cake

0 Strawberry, rhubarb and creme fraiche pavlova

We are currently dealing with a surfeit of eggs in our household (our chickens are in full production ! not that I'm complaining) so any recipe that uses a good quantity of eggs is welcome at the moment. I love Pavlova and still remember the first time I experienced this blousey confection at a friends birthday party when I was about 10 years old, I was blown away with the crunchy crumbly yet marshmallowy texture of the meringue offset by the creamy fruity centre.

This Pavlova uses local strawberries, some homemade homegrown rhubarb anise compote (see earlier post here) to contrast with a cream fraiche and yogurt centre which was slightly sweetened with a little icing sugar.

I love the rustic look of this dish, garnished with just fresh fruit and lemon balm leaves and it tastes amazing, I can't for the life of me recall why I don't make this more often........, I'm off to the kitchen for another slice.

What you need

• 4 egg whites
• 220g Caster Sugar
• Lemon juice - generous splash (this is to make the meringue marshmallowy in the middle)

For the filling 

• 1  pot of Creme fraiche
• Half a large pot of Greek yogurt
• Icing sugar, 1 tbsp
• Fresh fruit of your choice, I used local strawberries and rhubarb compote/jam
• A few lemon balm or mint leaves
• Icing sugar

What you do 

• Pre heat the oven to 140c / 275F, gas mark 1
• Prepare your baking tray with either using a silicone sheet or a large piece of baking parchment.
• Whisk the egg whites in a scrupulously clean mixer bowl until stiff, add the lemon juice and caster sugar whilst still whisking in roughly tablespoon amounts until all incorporated and the meringue is all glossy and shiny
• Scoop the meringue onto the prepared baking tray making a rough circle about 8 inches in diameter, make the sides higher the middle so it can hold the filling.
• Bake in the oven for 1 1/2 hours until very lightly golden and firm to touch,switch the oven off and allow to cool fully in the oven with the door slightly wedged open with a tea towel
• Once fully cool remove from the oven.
• To make the filling mix the creme fraiche and Greek yogurt with a little icing sugar, spoon into the centre of the Pavlova
• Drizzle with the rhubarb compote and top with fresh fruit
• Dust with icing sugar and dot with artistically with a few lemon balm or mint leaves

I am also going to use this post as an entry in this months cooking with herbs challenge as the recipe features the beautiful lemon sherbety leaves of lemon balm as a garnish. I think the dish would also work beautifully with elderflower scented strawberry compote. The challenge this month is hosted right here on Lancashire Food

                                                               

I am also linking up to Four Seasons Food Summer who's theme this month is red, well this is strawberry red. Created by Eat your Veg and Delicieux, its being hosted our on the Spicy Pear this month

Here is an instagram image of the partially demolished pavlova ! , very rustic but very very delicious.....

Detail: Strawberry, rhubarb and creme fraiche pavlova

0 Cooking with Herbs - June 2014

We are really excited to be hosting Cooking with Herbs this month for June 2014, as you may know this is one of my favourite blog challenges and is probably the one I join in with most. 

Created by the lovely Karen across at Lavender and Lovage this challenge is all about cooking with herbs in their many forms. I really love herbs and have a beautiful raised herb garden surrounding my patio where I can easily get to from the kitchen to snip seasonal herbs and to add a final flourish to a dish.

I don't really have a favourite herb as they are all have their unique characteristics which make them invaluable in the kitchen, I am also fascinated with their medicinal properties as well.

Cooking with Herbs (which used to be known as Herbs on Saturday) is a Recipe Sharing Blog Challenge……a simple and easy way to share recipes throughout the month and also a chance to learn new ways to cook with herbs, as well as discover new blogs and blogger chums!

All you have to do to enter is add your ANY recipe that you have made throughout the week, or indeed the month, to the linky below, its really that simple.

Copy this code to add the Badge

<div align="center"><a href="http://www.lavenderandlovage.com/herbs-on-saturday" title="Cooking with Herbs Lavender and Lovage"><img src="http://www.lavenderandlovage.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/lavenderandlovage_cooking2.png" alt="Cooking with Herbs Lavender and Lovage" style="border:none;" /></a></div>

Guidelines how to enter:

1. Post your recipe url to the Linky at the bottom of the appropriate month’s challenge, including your email and the title of your recipe or post.

2. Display the Cooking with Herbs badge (as shown above and below) to the relevant recipe post, with a link back to the monthly challenge post.

3. Add as many recipe links as you like, there is NO limit!

4. If you tweet your post, please mention #cookingwithherbs and @KarenBurnsBooth @LancashireFood in your tweet – we will retweet all that we see.

5. The recipe can be one of your own or one you’ve seen elsewhere. You are welcome to republish old recipes/posts but please add the information about this challenge as listed above with the Cooking with Herbs badge.

6. If using a recipe from another person, book, website, chef or blog, you must link back to the original recipe and not reproduce the recipe in full in your post. You must also use your OWN images for the recipe and not the original images, unless you have permission to do so, with appropriate links and any other information requested by the photo’s owner added to the image.

The challenge opens on the 4th June and the round up from last month will be on Lavender and Lovage shortly. 

Detail: Cooking with Herbs - June 2014