It’s asparagus season in Essex County and how could I resist sharing this delicious recipe.  It’s elegant and simple with of course a touch of lavender.

Ingredients:

2 pounds of pencil thin asparagus

1/8 cup extra virgin olive oil

1/4 Teaspoon crushed hot pepper flakes

2 cloves of garlic, minced

1 teaspoon, ground Serenity culinary lavender

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1/2 cup of grated parmesan cheese

1 Tablespoon grated lemon zest

1 Tablespoon fresh squeezed lemon juice

Method:

Clean the asparagus and tim off the tough ends.  Cook in boiling water for 3 minutes.  Drain and cover with cold water to stop the cooking.  Drain and pat dry.

Warm the olive oil in a  large skillet over medium heat.  Add the pepper flakes and garlic, stir and cook for 1 minute.  Add pine nuts and saute until the nuts turn a light golden brown.  Add the asparagus and lavender cook for an additional 3 minutes, until just heated through.  Season with salt and pepper.

Remove from pan and place onto a serving platter.  Top with parmesan allowing the heat to melt the cheese. Sprinkle with lemon zest and drizzle with lemon juice.

A perfect side dish or lunch. Serve with Sauvignon blanc wine.

Photo courtesy of Culinate.com

2 cups semi sweet chocolate chips

1 300 ml can of sweetened condensed milk

1 Tbsp ground lavender

3 Tbsp melted butter

Combine all ingredients into a double boiler. Sir constantly until chocolate is melted and smooth.  Place in a 8×8 ” lined pan and cool overnight in the refrigerator until firm.  Cut into pieces and top with fresh lavender,  a sprinkle of lavender salt or cocoa powder

Makes 20 small pieces.

Yes,  it is that time of year again when we  gather round the big screen television to watch the superbowl. Or for those who are not football fans at the least the half time show.  This North American tradition has become something more – its a celebration of friendship, family and food.  That food is usually pizza, wings and all kinds of snack foods but why not shake it up a bit and try something with a twist of lavender- yes I said lavender.  Here’s a recipe that we love with the added zest and herbal flavours of lavender.

Ingredients:                                                                                                              

1 cup of pecans

1/2 cup water

1/2 cup Sugar

2 dried red chile peppers

2 tsp  lavender

Method:

Combine the ingredients in a saucepan.  Bring to a boil over high heat  constantly stirring to avoid the sugar from burning.  Add the pecans and return to a boil. Reduce heat.  Simmer for 10 minutes.  Arrange the pecans evenly on a baking sheet.  Bake at 250 degrees until the pecans start to lightly brown.

Cool and serve.

Strawberries with ginger lavender

With Strawberry season in full swing, I’m getting ready to make some strawberry lavender jam.  Lavender is a great compliment to any type of berry but those beautiful luscious local red strawberries are accented perfectly with tiny little purple buds of lavender.  There are so many lovely ways to serve lavender and strawberries together from soup to sorbet to tarts but today I’ve decided to experiment with a simple lavender syrup recipe with a twist.

Ingredients

1 lb. of Strawberries (quartered)

1/3 cup of sugar

2/3 cup of water

2 Tablespoons of Serenity Culinary Lavender

2 Tablespoons of Limoncello (Lemon Flavoured liqueur)

1 tsp grated fresh ginger

1/2 tsp culinary lavender

Instructions

Rinse and drain Strawberries.  Hull and cut into quarters in a large bowl and set aside.

In a small saucepan over low heat combine water,  sugar and lavender and simmer stirring occasionally until the sugar is dissolved.  Remove from heat. Place lid over top for about 15 minutes to allow the syrup mixture to steep and the lavender infuse the mixture.

Strain the syrup and discard the blossoms.

Add ginger and lemoncello into the syrup mixture.

Pour the syrup mixture over the straberries. Add 1/2 teaspoon of dried culinary lavender and toss gently.  Serve the berries in glass bowls or stemmed glasses.  Garnish with Whipped cream and fresh lavender stems.

Makes 4 servings

Come  to Serenity Lavender wearing your finest hats and gloves on Saturday, June 23rd  from 1-3pm to Serenity Lavender’s Victorian High Tea. Enjoy a delectable array of finger sandwiches, scones, deserts and or course our teas amidst the sereneness of teh lavender blooms.  Tickets are $25.00 per person. Seating is limited so call today to reserve your tickets.  519 980-4504 Visa and Mastercard accepted

MENU 

Fresh Sandwiches

Cucumber Mint

Goat Cheese and Roasted Red Pepper Pinwheel

Ham and Pickle

Lavender Onion Tartlet

Home Baked English Scones

  Served with clotted crème, lavender jelly and raspberry lavender jam

Selection of Petit Fours

Choice of Serenity Lavender Teas

Lavender, Lavender Earl Grey, Lavender Green Tea,  Provence Rooibos

Victorian High Tea at Serenity Lavender

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6 oz /175g bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
4 oz/ 125 g milk chocolate, coarsely chopped
3/4 cup / 175 ml whipping cream
2 teaspoons culinary lavender

Place chocolate in fondue pot. Heat cream add lavender and steep 20 minutes. Return to stove and heat until boiling. Quickly strain lavender from the creamand pour over chocolate. Whisk until melted. Set over warmer.

Serve with seasonal fresh fruit.

This recipe is from Bon Apetit. I combines the tannic and acidic flavours of the blackberries with the sweetness of the pears and creaminess of the ricotta for a tantalizing taste experience.

6 servings
• PREP TIME: 20 minutes
• TOTAL TIME: 1 hour 15 minutes

Recipe by Marlena Spieler

Photograph by Marcus Nilsson

Ingredients

•1/3cup + 2 teaspoons lavender sugar(available at Serenity Lavender online or in store or make your own using our culinary lavender)
•6 unpeeled pears (such as Bosc or Bartlett), quartered, cored
•2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
•1 pint blackberries
•1 cup fresh ricotta cheese, crème fraîche, or vanilla ice cream

Preparation

Preheat oven to 425°F. Generously butter large rimmed baking sheet. Toss pears, lemon juice, and 3 tablespoons lavender sugar in large bowl. Transfer pears, 1 cut side down, to baking sheet. Roast 20 minutes. Turn pears, placing other cut side down. Sprinkle with 1 tablespoon lavender sugar; roast 20 minutes. Turn pears, skin side down. Preheat broiler. Sprinkle pears with 1 tablespoon lavender sugar. Broil until pears begin to caramelize, about 8 minutes. Arrange berries around pears; sprinkle with 1 tablespoon lavender sugar. Broil until berries begin to release juice, about 5 minutes.

Divide pears, berries, and juice among bowls. Top with dollop of ricotta and serve.

Great with fresh greens and our local greenhouse tomatoes

1 cup of balsamic vinegar
1 teaspoon honey – We love our friend’s at Sunparlour
1 teaspoon dried culinary lavender
1 Tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
pinch of sea salt
Dash of Pepper

In a small saucepan combine the honey, balsamic vinegar and dried lavender. Over moderately low heat reduce the mixture to half. Add oil. Mix to blend. Add salt and pepper.

These lavender spiced baked apples are the perfect ending to any meal.

Yield: 6 servings

6 medium baking apples (about 2 pounds),
such as Gala or MacIntosh
1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 Tablespoon water
1 teaspoon lavender

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Core apples; peel a strip from the top of each. If necessary cut thin
slice from bottom of each apple so apple will stand upright. Place
apples upright in greased 11 x 7-inch baking dish.

In medium-size bowl, combine sweetened condensed milk, vanilla and
lavender pour into and around apples.

Set dish in a 13 x 9-inch pan. Set on oven rack. Carefully pour boiling
water into pan to 1-inch depth. Bake 40 to 45 minutes or until apples
are tender, occasionally spooning sweetened condensed milk mixture in
bottom of dish over apples.

Serve warm

TIP If you don’t have sweetened condensed milk substitute a 1/4 cup of Lavender sugar or Lavender Vanilla Bean sugar in your regular baked apple recipe!

Last minute preparations for Super Bowl Sunday and of course I had to include lavender in something. So here’s my a quick creation:

2 ripe firm avocados mashed
1/4 cup sour cream
1 tsp sea salt
1 tsp Serenity culinary lavender crushed with a mortar and pestle
1 small Leamington greenhouse tomato chopped
1/8 cup black bean and corn salsa
1 tsp lemon juice
1/2 small onion
pinch of ground pepper
dash of hot sauce ( I used our homemade habenaro paste made from our garden grown peppers but use whatever you like)

Mix together and serve with nachos.