Pineapple and Mint Fresh Chutney
This chutney is uncooked, keeping it light and fresh.
Tag: herbs
Hibiscus (Jamaica) Vinaigrette
Dried hibiscus flowers (jamaica) can be found in most Latino and Mexican supermarkets.
Vegetable Stock
A great way to use your garden bounty.
Vegetable Stock
Ingredients
- 3 onions chopped
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 2 leeks white and green parts, washed and chopped
- 2 carrots chopped
- 2 celery ribs chopped
- 1/4 pound button mushrooms chopped
- 1 cup potato peelings / scraps
- 1/3 cup plus 12 cups water
- 1/4 cup lentils
- 6 unpeeled garlic cloves
- 1/2 teaspoon black peppercorns
- 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1 bay leaf
- 12 long whole parsley sprigs
- 1 teaspoon salt
Instructions
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Cook the onions with butter in a large stockpot until golden. Add in the leeks, carrots, celery, mushrooms, potato peelings, and the 1/3 cup water. Bring to a boil, and then simmer for 5 minutes, covered.
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Add in the 12 cups of water, lentils, garlic, peppercorns, thyme, bay leaf, parsley sprigs, and salt. Bring to a boil, the simmer on low, uncovered, for about 2 hours.
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Strain through a fine sieve and cool properly.
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Chill overnight to skim the fat, then use.
Recipe Notes
Adapted from Gourmet Magazine, October 1989
Fresh Kiwi and Asian Pear Salsa with Dried Cranberries and Herbs
A great fruit salsa for seafoods and poultry dishes. Add in fresh Serrano chiles for a little spice. A fresh fruit salsa with many different uses. Spice it up with hot chiles, or use different colored kiwi.
Curry Leaf – Murraya Koenigii
The curry leaf plant is a subtropical, evergreen shrub with leaves that look like tiny palm fronds. This plant is completely different from the curry plant, Helichrysum italicum, a Mediterranean herb with tiny, silver looking leaves. While the curry leaf tree does have berries (berries are edible, seeds are poisonous), it is grown for its flavorful leaves.
Curry leaf is an important part of Indian cuisine, but don’t confuse this plant with the curry powder spice mixture, which is a combination of different dried ground herbs and spices. Curry leaf (the fresh spice) is added to foods during cooking as they are, in their fresh form, typically at the beginning of cooking.
Growing Curry Leaf
This plant likes a moist and well-drained soil, and full sun. If growing from seed, use ripe and fresh fruit (not dried). Start them indoors in the late winter and transplant in the spring after all danger of frost is gone. Keep the soil moist, but if in containers, avoid keeping them waterlogged. Curry leaf plants are great candidates for stem cutting propagation.
Cooking with Curry Leaf
Curry leaf should always be used fresh; they lose their flavor once dried. Once picked, use within a day as they do not store well in the refrigerator. Curry leaves can also be deep fried and served crispy.
References:
Katzer, Gernot. “Curry Leaves (Murraya Koenigii Spreng.).” Spice Pages: Curry Leaves (Murraya/Chalcas Koenigii). Gernot-katzer-spice-pages.com, 22 May 2012. Web. 30 May 2014.
“Curry Tree.” Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 30 May 2014. Web. 30 May 2014.