"Severely criticised by their political opponents for neglecting their official duties, it was said that they had no thought but to live out their days in rural retirement."
1/2 cup culinary lavender flower buds (e.g. Folgate or Royal Velvet, aka English)
parchment paper
large clean canning jar with a secure lid (I use an old 48oz honey jar)
1) Add the buds to the jar.
The best culinary lavender buds are well sifted, with hardly any brown bracts or stems remaining. Fresh means the buds are bright and not faded.
Don't even THINK about using sachet-grade lavender. If you use e.g. Grosso, it will turn out . . . gross, perhaps even toxic.
2) Pour the vodka into the jar.
3) Cut a generous piece of parchment paper for a lid liner. Wrap the parchment over the opening and screw on the lid over that. The parchment helps prevent any reaction between the contents and the lid's rubber and metal components.
4) Give the contents a whirl and store in a pantry away from light and heat for a month or so. At least weekly give it whirl to keep it mixed up.
5) Strain the contents through a sieve after a month and return the liquid to the same jar with the parchment between the lid and the jar for indefinite keeping on the shelf.
6) The tincture makes a refreshing cocktail in the summers over ice with some added sweetener and water, and is reminiscent of Ouzo or Anisette. Or jazz up your fresh-squeezed lemonade by adding some lavender tincture to it.
7) But mainly I use a tablespoon or two in hot tea made with honey and lemon in the colder months when I feel a cold or flu coming on. It usually stops the cold dead in its tracks if you begin with the tincture immediately on symptom onset, in my experience. This is not medical advice.
1) Combine EVOO, anchovies and all their oil, and garlic in a ceramic-coated dutch oven, mash gently and saute over medium heat a couple of minutes. To speed this up I just throw it all in the food processor first to chop it up, then add it to the dutch oven.
2) Add the tomatoes and crush, then add the capers and olives, bring up to heat, then simmer on low covered about an hour, stirring frequently.
3) Before using or storing, grind over some black pepper to taste.
4) Rosso and Lukins use only 35oz of tomatoes but triple the olives, 1.5 c.
We use this on Rosso and Lukins' Mediterranean Hero sandwich from the same cookbook, which is, in my opinion, absolutely fabulous, but is sort of a cheater's Pan Bagnat. We stir together canned atlantic salmon, chopped tomato, and red onion, and place this mixture in a hollowed-out side of an oiled french baguette cut lengthwise (stale is best). You top that with this sauce, then top that with sliced hard-boiled eggs and the other half of the baguette. Then we toast it in the oven at 350F for 15 minutes or so. Before serving we add romaine lettuce, and even avocado. The thing is glorious warm, room temperature, or cold. But this might be more glorious:
1 pound navy beans, soaked overnight in the frig
2 cups chicken broth or made from bouillon cube
2.5 cups San Marzano tomato puree
2 bay leaves
1 T Worcestershire sauce
1/4 t Tabasco sauce
4 andouille sausages
1/2 t salt
1 t granulated onion
1/4 t garlic powder
1 cup white rice, boiled, drained and buttered
1) Drain beans and parboil covered in fresh water in a covered 3 quart dutch oven: Bring to a boil and shut off the heat for an hour, boil it again and shut off the heat for an hour, then bring to a boil for a third time and let simmer for an hour or two on low until the beans are tender.
2) Drain the beans and return to the dutch oven; add the broth, tomatoes, bay leaves, Worcestershire and Tabasco, sausages, salt, onion and garlic; bring to a boil, cover, and bake in a 350 degree F oven for an hour.
3) Boil the rice in 6 cups or so of salted water 15-20 minutes, just like pasta, stirring frequently but gently; drain and reserve rice in a buttered bowl covered in the warm oven (h/t James Peterson).
4) Add more Worcestershire and/or Tabasco to taste, if desired. Serves 3-4 over rice with plenty of beans left over for the morning toast.
This recipe is adapted from "Florence Fabricant's Grilled Cumin Shrimp" in TheNewBasicsCookbook by Julee Rosso and Sheila Lukins. That recipe uses, among other things, 1 t. ground turmeric, 3/4 t. ground cumin, and 1/2 t. ground coriander per pound of shrimp. I didn't have enough turmeric to use that combination, so I substituted a sweet curry powder from Penzeys Spices for all three to good effect. For hot curry lovers, that works splendidly, too.
Broiled Curried Shrimp
4 T unsalted butter
2.25 t sweet curry powder
.75 t salt
juice of half a lemon
1 lb large shrimp, shelled and deveined
1. Place an oven rack in the top position and preheat the broiler on high.
2. Melt the butter gently in a saucepan. Stir in the curry powder, salt and lemon juice and mix thoroughly.
3. In a shallow broiler pan arrange the shrimp in a single layer and pour the butter mixture over the shrimp. Toss to coat.
4. Broil about eight minutes, rotating the pan 180 degrees after four minutes.
Serve the shrimp with the sauce next to some rice with some steamed broccoli spears for a very easy, very colorful, very fast and very good meal worthy of a holiday, or any day.
