Cooking with lavender

One of the great meals of my life was at L'Esperance in Vezelay, France, and perhaps the most memorable course was a dessert of lavender-scented creme anglaise or something like that, between a couple of layer of some kind of crispy pastry thing and topped with fresh berries. Lavender, I grant you, normally suggests cleaning solution more than food, but this was wonderful, light, flowery, utterly charming.

Well, I was at Sur La Table today and found a tin of dried lavender, and couldn't resist buying it. Which leads to the questions:

1) What should I make with it?

2) If I were to make a lavender-perfumed creme brulee or some such, how would one impart the flavor to the dish? Steep it like tea in the warm milk/cream?

I made this last year with culinary lavender from my garden. Awesome:

http://whatscookingamerica.net/LavCremeBrulee.htm

Bill/SFNM

Nicole's Cafe and Bakery serves Lavender cookies which are thin, crisp butter cookies. The fat does a lovely job of capturing the frangrance and subtle flavor of the lavender.

The buds appear to just be mixed into the cookie dough, but i'm not sure if you should reconstitute them first.

Well, that recipe could hardly be more perfect as an answer, could it? Thanks.

I'm intrigued by the cookies too although I have to say that the lavender does not look like something you want to munch on directly. Where is Nicole's?

More Lavendar ideas.

I love lavender! Its sweet yet slightly acrid flavor goes well with lemon, honey, ginger, mint, vanilla and most types of fruit. It can work well with cinnamon or chocolate. You can use it any place you would use vanilla -- creme brulee, ice cream, yogurt.

A perfect summer seasoning, lavender is good with with savory foods as well -- a subtle substitute for rosemary, for example, or an enhancement of it. It's nice with tarragon and black pepper.

Use lavender flowers in salads. Mix a little with melted butter and toss pasta in the butter.

You can also infuse lavender in olive oil for cooking fish or chicken. Use the oil on chicken on the grill, or on fresh salmon.

To make your own lavender extract, steep 1/4 cup of dried lavender flowers in a cup of 100-proof vodka for a week; then strain and use as you would vanilla extract.

You can also make a lavender-infused honey by heating a cup of ordinary clover honey or your favorite variety and adding a teaspoon of dried lavender flowers. Let it stand for a day or so, then reheat and strain out the lavender.

Lavender sugar is easily made by mixing equal parts dried lavender flowers and granulated sugar and letting the mixture stand in a tightly covered container for a few days. You can strain out the lavender before using it or not, as you prefer.

Just don't use too much, or your food will taste soapy instead of savory.

Also, be sure to use only culinary lavender, not lavender meant for potpourri or from florists, which can contain pesticides. Local stores that carry culinary-quality dried lavender flowers include The Spice House, 1512 N. Wells St., Chicago, and 1941 Central St., Evanston; Penzey's Spices, 1138 Lake St., Oak Park; and Whole Foods stores. The Spice House also carries a lovely lavender-and-vanilla sugar, which makes a perfect sprinkle for the top of shortbread or pastries such as apple pie. Whole Foods stocks two types of lavender essence in its nutrition department. (It's very strong -- use by the drop!)

Lavender- and thyme-crusted lamb chops

2 tablespoons minced shallots
2 tablespoons chopped thyme
2 teaspoons dried lavender flowers
2 garlic cloves, chopped
Salt and pepper to taste
4 thick lamb chops
Olive oil

Combine the shallots, thyme, lavender and garlic in a mortar and pound till a paste has been formed (or whirl in a mini food processor). Salt and pepper both sides of the chops. Then spread the paste on both sides of the chops. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 2 to 24 hours.

Brush a large nonstick grill pan with oil; heat over medium-high heat. Sprinkle chops with salt and pepper; add to skillet. Cook to desired doneness, about 6 minutes per side for medium-rare. 2 servings.

Grilled salmon with lavender

1/4 cup honey
3/8 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 1/2 teaspoons dried lavender flowers
1/4 cup white wine
1 tablespoon white worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
3 pounds salmon fillets

Start a medium-hot fire in a barbecue grill. Oil the cooking grid.
Place the honey, olive oil, lavender, wine, worcestershire sauce and lemon juice in a saucepan over moderate heat, whisking constantly until the ingredients are reduced by a third. Let cool slightly.

Set aside some of the sauce for serving. Brush some of the remaining sauce on the salmon. Grill the fish, basting with the sauce occasionally, for 8 to 10 minutes per inch of thickness, turning once.

(Alternatively, preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Place the salmon in a baking dish and cover with the sauce. Bake for 10 minutes per inch, basting occasionally.)

Dress with the reserved sauce and serve immediately. 4 to 6 servings.

Orange-lavender biscotti

3 tablespoons strong-flavored honey
1 tablespoon dried lavender flowers
Zest of 1 orange
2/3 cup sugar
3 eggs
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt

Warm the honey until it’s runny in a small bowl in the microwave (or a tiny saucepan on top of the stove). Stir in the lavender blossoms and let stand off the heat.

Place the oven rack in the center and preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Oil a baking sheet and line it with baking parchment.

Put the orange zest and about half of the sugar in a food processor and process until the zest is finely grated. Place in a large bowl with the remaining sugar and eggs and whisk until light and frothy. Whisk in the honey-lavender mixture and the vanilla.

Sift the remaining ingredients together over the egg mixture and fold in until the dough is just combined. The dough will be heavy and sticky.
Use a rubber spatula to divide the dough in half. With floured hands, shape each portion into a rough 13-by-2-inch log and place about 3 inches apart on the prepared baking sheet. Reflour your hands and pat the logs smooth.

Bake about 35 minutes, until the loaves are golden and beginning to crack on the top. Remove from the oven and let cool on the baking sheet for 10 minutes. Reduce the oven temperature to 325 degrees.

Peel the loaves from the parchment. With a serrated knife, cut each loaf diagonally into 3/8-inch slices. Lay the slices back on the parchment-lined baking sheet, cut side up, about 1/2-inch apart. Bake about 7 minutes. Turn each cookie over and return to the oven to bake about 7 minutes more, until crisp and golden-brown on both sides. Transfer to wire racks to cool completely.

When completely cooled, store in an airtight container. They’ll keep at least a month and get better with age. Makes about 3 dozen cookies.

Yes, what I got at Sur La Table says "Culinary Lavender-- No Pesticides" in big letters. Thanks for the recipes, now I know how to use it up, not just once.

FWIW,

village creamery on my last visit ('bout a week and a half ago) was offering lavender ice cream. It was pretty subtle, but not bad

Mike G wrote:
Well, I was at Sur La Table today and found a tin of dried lavender... What should I make with it?

IMHO, urinal deoderant.

Well, here's what lavender creme brulee looked like after my attempt to do the melted sugar thing in the broiler oven, instead of with a torch. I need the torch. That apart, they tasted really nice, subtly perfumy, not urinal deodorant cakey, thankfully. Even after straining, they had little purple flecks in them, which were very pretty. Only notes on the recipe: it made almost double the amount I expected (which meant I made a second batch once the ramekins were clean) and it was basically done after about 35-40 minutes in my oven, not an hour.

Here's something else I made that night, attempting to imitate the Christkindlmarkt tarte flambee:



Didn't taste exactly the same, but it was plenty good. That's MAG's cold-smoked Niman Ranch bacon on top, a more than adequate substitute for Alsatian ham. Now on to other lavender recipes....

I apologize for the lateness of my response



Nicole's Divine Crackers http://www.nicolescrackers.com/index.html
1505 Kingsbury
Chicago, Illinois 60622
Phone 312-640-8883 Fax: 312-640-0988


Nicole sells her crackers in specialty shops and Whole Foods around town. They are ok.

The bakery in her bake shop is very good. I have has the sweet breads, pies, and, of course, the Lavender Cookies.

There is also a little cafe: nice soups, paninis and Intelligentsia coffee. You can see the commercial bakery in the background.

Hey Mike,

looks like the trib wants to answer your questions

When I was in England 4 years ago, I went to this restaurant in Necton which is a part of Swaffam which is a part of Norfolk which is a part of East Anglia. The restaurant was called the Windmill. The cook, who I believe was French brought out his creation which was a succulent medium-rare steak with curly toasted leek strips and a wonderful lavender sauce. He said it was easy to make. He didn't give me exact measurements:

Red wine for cooking
3 freshly picked lavender (just the head)
sugar to taste

In a small saucepan, combine the sugar and red wine. Drop the lavender into the mixture and heat until boiling. Remove the lavender and reduce sauce until it is to the desired thickness. The thickness of the sauce reminded me of thickness of teriyaki glaze.

HI,

What about these cookies?

Regards,

I make Lavender salt with damp grey sea salt & Culinary Lavender
We use it as a finishing salt on grilled veggies and such

I have a distinct culinary school memory that always pops into my mind when the subject of cooking with lavender comes up. As one of my classmates was trying to do her creative best to come up with something interesting, she suggested to our instructor that she make a lavender creme brulee. The chef, a young frenchman, shook his head, furrowed his brow and pursed his lips in disgust.

"Lavender," he spat, "is for toilets, not for food! Pfft!"

And he turned around and walked away.

that was more than 10 years ago. And I still can't get it out of my head.

mhill95149 wrote:I make Lavender salt with damp grey sea salt & Culinary Lavender
We use it as a finishing salt on grilled veggies and such

Mmmm, that sounds good mhill95149. If you don't mind me asking, what proportions do you use?

~GS

In a 3.5 oz jar if all but filled it with grey sea salt and then I added a tablespoon of Lavender.
I let it sit for a few weeks and then began to use it.

I have read that when you cook with lavender, it's the buds that are used, but has anyone used the actual leaves before for baking? I'm thinking of making cookies using lavender but am not sure of my approach.

I have had great success making ice cream and creme brulee with the leaves. Very intense lavendar flavor can be extracted by simmering the leaves in milk for a couple of hours, then straining. I would imagine the same technique working well in any baked dish that uses a substantial amount of milk or cream. Cookies might not work.