Panda's Pot Pourri

Another from the Department of I've Been Wanting to Do This for Years. Panda, as I may have mentioned, has a rather keen sense of smell. There cannot be enough perfume, body spray, hand lotion and so forth for her to sniff out. Give this kid a gift card to Bath & Body Works and she's in Heaven.

Lavender is high on her list of favorite scents, and I planted quite a lot of it this year. With the roses in full swing, I thought we could try making some pot pourri.

The technique of drying flowers runs the gamut from hanging them upside down and air-drying, to using the dehydration setting of one's oven, if one's oven has such a setting. Mine does (smug smile). But in high-80's heat with humidity, I don't relish running the oven if I don't have to. Can you dry flowers in the microwave?

Quick consult of the Oracle of Google. Yes, you can.

Come, child, into the garden so that we may collect items of sweet scent.  Here's what we came back with:

Clockwise from top: rosebuds (Zepherine Drouhin, as they have the most scent) to keep as buds; lavender; lemon verbena leaves; carnations; roses to dry as petals only, and hiding behind them is a pile of geranium leaves.

Put some paper towels on a plate.  Working in batches, spread the petals in a single layer. Microwave a minute, to a minute and a half. Just keep checking on them, you'll know when it's right. Repeat with all the petals and leaves. We even nuked the rosebuds a couple minutes, but we left the lavender buds and leaves as they were.

Get a small, clean jar with a lid (I emptied out one of my button jars), and start building layers: some petals, some leaves, some lavender, a bud. Petals, leaves, lavender, buds. Until all is used. For fun we added one clove and one cardamom pod. You could also add pieces of cinnamon stick, a vanilla bean, or a drop or two of essential oil. Store the jar in a dark place with the lid just resting on, and every day open the jar and give the contents a shake until completely dry. Then use as desired. Panda wants to fill little bags and put them in her drawers.

Make sure you photograph the jar of pot pourri with a bouquet of roses and a lemon, because that's what all the cool people do.

Spring Seedlings

It really is ridiculous how happy I am having fresh herbs to cook with again. And I am days away from a first salad harvest from the garden. What's that, you'd like a tour? I'd be delighted. It's still all babies and I need to mulch it as soon as Jeeps can give me grass clippings. But anyway, come along and look.

Spinach and radishes on the left. Carrots on the right, which need thinning, which is an OCD job I loathe, but it's the nature of the beast.  

Next bed over, I'm growing fennel. Fennel fennel fennel, I planted like 24 bulbs of it. LOVE fennel. Last night I sauteed chicken sausage with red onions, yellow peppers, cherry tomatoes and zucchini. And right at the end I ran out, clipped off a bunch of feathery fennel tops, clipped another bunch of fresh parsley, chopped it all up and stirred it in. There wasn't a scrap left.

On the right are broccoli seedlings surrounded by radishes. I companion-plant whenever possible, and I read that these two go well together. So I made a grid of radish seeds and planted the broccoli inside the boxes. On the other hand, the same source said, rather vehemently, not to companion-plant fennel with ANYTHING. So if the whole garden should fail, we all know why.

Pea plants are starting to climb. Nearly a third of this crop, which was planted near the tulips, was wiped out by a vicious pack of voles. We've declared war with bait and snap traps. Killed five of them in one day. And I enjoyed it.

For dinner tonight we were having burgers on the grill, but on the side I sauteed red onion and garlic in olive oil, then added a can of drained, rinsed cannelini beans and let it cook on low about ten minutes. Then I added half a bag of baby spinach and some chopped parsley. I'm kind of a parsley whore.

Bouquet by Panda. I love handing her scissors and a mason jar and saying, "Pick something for the table." Usually she just has at it, but tonight I did give specific direction because my columbines are in bloom, and these purple ones look pretty with the chartreuse leaves of a golden bleeding heart. She arranged it beautifully though.

(Sigh)...I love spring.

Mother's Day Pinwheels

Breakfast was big on Mother's Day, but dinner was about using the leftovers. I had leftover beef stew, and one (1) sheet of puff pastry from the ham and pea tart. I also had tons of fresh herbs because that afternoon we'd gone to Claire's Nursery & Garden Center in Patterson, NY, which is a Mother's Day ritual. They don't have a website so I can't link, but truly they are the greatest nursery on the planet. If you're in the area, I highly recommend stopping by.

Anyway, with a fistful of parsley, thyme, basil and oregano I decided to use the puff pastry to make some parmesan-herb pinwheels to go along with the stew and orzo.

Parmesan-Herb Pinwheels

• Fistful of any kind of fresh herbs, chopped fine
• 2-3 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 sheet puff pastry, thawed
• 1 egg or egg white

Preheat oven to 425. Spray a baking sheet with Pam.

On a lightly floured surface, roll out the puff pastry. Brush with beaten egg or egg white.

Sprinkle with herbs and parmesan.

Starting at one end, roll up pastry like a jelly roll. Press the seam down.

With a sharp knife, cut 1/2" slices and place on baking sheet.

Bake 10-11 minutes until golden brown. Immediately reserve 3 or 4 for yourself because you are the Mommy and you must get yours.

Serve.  Stand back.  Be adored.

Instead of pinwheels, you can put the herbs and cheese on 1/2 the puff pastry rectangle, then fold the plain half over and roll it out a little again. Trim the ends to make a neat rectangle, then cut into 1/2" strips. Twist each strip to make a cheese straw. Bake 10-11 minutes. A little more labor intensive but very attractive served at a cocktail party.

Tarragon Chicken

Artemisia dracunculus.

Dragon's Wort.

Tarragon.

One of France's fines herbes and best friend to chicken. I tried my hand at tarragon chicken tonight and really came up with a winner. This was quick, simple and delicious.

I stripped the leaves off 2 big sprigs of tarragon, chopped them fine and mixed them into some butter (I can't say how much because I'm still suffused with shame from the cream of mayonnaise broccoli soup). I chopped up another sprig and set aside.

I had three bone-in, split chicken breasts, so six pieces. I put three on each baking sheet, then took a teaspoon of the herbed butter and slipped it under the skin.

I sprinkled the chicken with a little garlic powder, sea salt, pepper, and the remaining chopped tarragon.

Baked at 375 for 30 minutes, then rotated the pans in the oven, and baked another 35 minutes.  After taking out, I tented them with foil and let sit while I steamed some green beans, and the roasted sunchokes and brussels sprouts were finishing up.

A kick ass dinner, if I do say so myself.  And leftovers to make Ina Garten's chicken salad Véronique for lunch tomorrow.

Hold that thought.