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An Herbal Potluck Dinner
by Sandra Bowens
I hope you have a
tribe like mine. One that doesn't really need an excuse for a party but
will seize an opportunity and run with it.
This was the case
when Andrea suggested an herbal potluck to celebrate the summer
solstice. The only guideline was to bring a dish prepared with your
favorite herb. The organization stopped there.
As the hostess, I
was a little nervous. Since we hadn't coordinated who would bring what,
aside from Denise volunteering dessert, I wondered if we would end up
with six kinds of salad or four versions of pesto. But this actually
turned out to be part of the fun. All week long I was dying to see what
the menu would turn out to be.
I set the table by
bringing every potted herb in from the patio. Among them I arranged all
my herb books and catalogs as well as a copy of this site's latest
newsletter.
Once everyone started
showing up with coolers and picnic baskets, each arrival was like a
surprize party. And the menu fell right into place. Jonathan produced
bottles of fine wines and set to assembling a garlic and tomato pizza
laden with herbs in butter. Andrea carried in two covered pots. One
contained a delightful artichoke and carrot sauce while the other held
perfectly steamed rice. She rummaged the spice cabinet for more cumin
to get the ratio to tarragon just right.
In between tending to
her sauce, Andrea discovered the yogurt cheese I had covered with
snipped bits of every herb I had growing in the garden. After polishing
off a third cracker with the stuff, she said, "We'll just tell everyone
that a little goes a long way."
As I was filling a
glass bowl with a colorful wine punch seasoned with fresh mint leaves
and a vanilla bean, Robert and Margie arrived. Our appetizer selection
rounded out as he placed a nut-brown loaf of herb bread and a garlicy
olivada spread next to the bowl of pretzels with
rosemary-orange mustard, one of my
latest experiments. Along with the yogurt cheese and an assortment of
crackers, we had plenty of munchies.
Robert added to the
bar as well with a spicy ginger tea. It was hard to decide what to
drink or eat yet alone pay attention to the last minute touches. I
still had to cook a bit of pasta for my minestrone and Jonathan stood by
waiting for the oven to heat up.
Denise and Eric were
the last arrivals. Appreciative murmurs arose when she unveiled the box
of fresh, local peaches. "Enough for everyone to take some home," she
said. We all eyed the bowl of peach sorbet she tucked into the freezer.
More contributions
for the bar came from her picnic basket. The jar labeled "eau de mint"
and the bottle of bourbon were "just in case we decide on mint juleps."
The champagne and peach puree were for bellinis, "maybe later."
Denise, too, had
thought of an appetizer. She passed a box of pale orange disks, calling
them mustard crisps. She looked us all straight in the eyes and said
the crunch came from the seeds in the Creole mustard. I found out later,
once she gave me the recipe, the crunch came from Rice Krispies. You
have to watch these Cajuns.
We could probably
have made a fine meal of just appetizers but Jonathan's pizza came from
the oven as I added the tiny pasta shells to the minestrone so we moved
on.
The main course
couldn't have worked out better if we had planned it. Along with the
soup and pizza, we had Robert's Outlaw Slaw, an unusual combination of
seaweed and cabbage and my pesto pinwheel biscuits. Tomatoes and
cucumbers tossed with fresh herbs from Margie's garden and balsamic
vinegar were the icing on the cake, so to speak.
We gathered at the
table making yummy noises and additional trips back into the kitchen for
second helpings until we couldn't take anymore. Except maybe a little
dessert.
Denise served up
scoops of fresh peach sorbet with soft lemon-thyme cookies. The creamy,
rich sorbet with just a touch of mint turned out to be the perfect end
to a perfect meal.
After congratulating
each other on our wonderful success, we began to plan the next party.
Of all the ideas we came up with, I like the alphabet series the most.
The theme would be foods that begin with a certain letter. Can't you
just imagine a menu full of avocados, artichokes, asparagus, amaranth,
annatto, anise and Amaretto?
THE RECIPES
Mustard Krisps
Sift together: 3
cups all-purpose flour, 1 1/2 teaspoon salt, 2 Tablespoons dry mustard,
6 teaspoons baking powder.
Blend with 15 ounces
sharp cheddar cheese until cornmeal consistency.
Add: 6 dashes
Tabasco, 1/4 cup Creole mustard and 3 sticks of butter. Fold in 3 cups
Rice Krispies cereal.
Roll dough into
1-inch balls and flatten with a fork. Bake at 350 degrees for 15-20
minutes or til crisp. Store in an airtight container.
Fresh Peach Sorbet
1 pound ripe peaches
1 1/2 cups sorbet
syrup (I use one can peach nectar and 1/2 cup mint syrup)
2 Tablespoons lemon
juice
Place peaches in a
large bowl and cover with boiling water. Leave for 10 seconds, drain
and cover with cold water. Drain, carefully remove skin, halve and pit
the fruit, then chop roughly.
Puree all ingredients
in a blender. Freeze in an ice cream machine or freeze in a rigid
container til half frozen, beat well and freeze again.
NOTE: The mint syrup
is simple syrup (sugar and water boiled together) infused with fresh
mint, also Denise's base for a mint julep cocktail.
Herbed Yogurt
Cheese
Place a container of
plain non-fat yogurt into a strainer lined with cheesecloth or a coffee
filter. Suspend the strainer over a bowl, cover everything and set in
the refrigerator to drain for about 48 hours.
Discard the liquid
and unmold the yogurt onto the center of a serving plate. Use a knife
to smooth it into a half a ball and top with all the assorted chopped
fresh herbs you can find, pressing lightly into the cheese. Crack a bit
of black pepper over the herbs. Serve with crackers, veggies or pita
chips.
Solstice Sauce
with steamed rice
Even after several requests for a written recipe, Andrea remained vague
about everything she put into this creamy vegetable sauce but you'll get
the idea.
Onions and celery
might have been sautéed in a bit of butter. Coconut milk and perhaps a
bit of chicken stock were then added along with a can of artichokes, in
their liquid, and some shredded carrots. Tarragon and cumin were
definitely used, salt and pepper probably, thyme and basil, perhaps.
All of these combined created a bright and sunny sauce to be served over
steamed rice.
Jonathan's Pizza
This makes the best leftover cold pizza I have ever eaten!
Begin with a roll or
two of refrigerated pizza crust. Melt a lot of butter and add any herbs
you want but be sure basil and garlic are in there. This is the sauce
so spread it over the crust in a prepared pan. Now add thin slices of
tomato and bits of fresh basil and maybe even a little more garlic. Top
with shredded Monterrey Jack and Parmesan cheeses and your choice of
toppings like artichokes, mushrooms, onions, you get the idea. Bake in
a very hot oven.
Outlaw Slaw
Robert says: This recipe
includes a few ingredients that are possibly unfamiliar, but they are
obtainable from any oriental market. Now all of these together are a
considerable investment, but if you have them on hand, you will probably
find them working their way into any number of your own recipes. They
are the following:
dried wakame (seaweed: still with me?),
dark sesame oil,
sesame seeds,
rice wine vinegar,
sweet soy sauce, and
hon-dashi.
This last is dried, smoked bonito powder; and you’ll recognize the odor
and flavor immediately, as they are both pervasive in Japanese cooking.
Unfortunately, I’ve yet to find any that does not include MSG, but
you’ll be using very little of it. So, let us proceed.
Into a large bowl you’ll first want to shred
a small cabbage, or maybe half of a large one, along with
a couple of carrots, julienned or thinly sliced,
some chopped green onions (scallions), some chopped, dried wakame, and maybe
half of a fresh, red cayenne pepper (Green will do, but red looks
pretty.), minced with a couple cloves of garlic.
Now, in a Pyrex measuring cup or other microwave-safe container, measure
out
maybe half a cup of the dark sesame oil,
and perhaps a quarter cup each of sweet sesame sauce and rice wine
vinegar.
(All of these measures are approximate and subject to your own very good
taste and judgment. And of course the mixture may be done in a small pot
on the stovetop.)
Now, as soon as the mixture comes to a boil, pour it over the cabbage
and toss to coat, adding a sprinkling of toasted (in a dry skillet)
sesame seeds and hon-dashi. Finally, put the slaw in the fridge to chill
for a couple of hours and serve it forth.
This is delicious by itself (it’s often the extent of my lunch.), but
also especially nice with grilled or roasted pork.
Meatball
Minestrone
Find the meatball recipe at All About Fennel,
just form them into tiny balls and bake for about 13 minutes or until
cooked through.
2 Tablespoons butter
2 Tablespoons olive
oil
1 large onion,
chopped
1 red bell pepper,
chopped
1 green bell pepper,
chopped
1 large carrot,
peeled and sliced
2 ribs celery, sliced
2 cloves garlic,
minced
1 cup chopped
cabbage, green, savoy or napa
1 large zucchini, cut
into half moons
1 teaspoon dried
oregano
1/2 teaspoon dried
basil
1/2 teaspoon dried
thyme
1/4 teaspoon dried
marjoram
1 can (16 ounces)
diced tomatoes in juice
1 can (16 ounces)
kidney beans, drained
1 can (16 ounces)
garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained
4 cups beef broth
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground
black pepper
1 pound small
meatballs, cooked and drained
2 cups cooked small
shell pasta, or other small pasta shape
3/4 cup fresh minced
herb mix such as basil, oregano, parsley, thyme and marjoram
Extra virgin olive
oil, for serving
Freshly grated
Parmesan cheese, for serving
Melt butter with
olive oil in a soup kettle over medium-high heat. Stir in onion, bell
peppers, carrots, celery and half the dried herbs; cook, stirring
occasionally, for about 5 minutes. Add garlic, cabbage and zucchini;
stir and cook 3 minutes more. Add tomatoes, kidney beans, garbanzo
beans, remaining dried herbs, beef broth and 1 cup of water. Bring to a
boil. Reduce heat and simmer for about 10 minutes or longer to develop
flavors.
About 15 minutes
before ready to serve, add the salt and pepper and meatballs. About 5
minutes before ready to serve, add the pasta and fresh herbs. Taste for
salt and pepper; adjust if necessary.
To serve, ladle into
pasta bowls, drizzle with olive oil and top with a hefty pinch of
cheese.
Margie's Recipe
for a Garden
Although she didn't prepare any of dishes for the dinner, Margie
provided many of the herbs Robert cooked with. I asked for her thoughts
on this.
"When I first moved
to my place several years ago, I decided the triangular space of earth
between sidewalks and a pine stump was THE spot for my herb garden. That
turned out to be a lucky choice: I dug up a horseshoe while turning the
soil, and most everything I plant there thrives.
So, Friday night my beloved created a yummy salad with thyme, oregano
and basil from the triangle-horseshoe garden. As I write this, I'm
wondering what he'll do next with the dill, English mint, tarragon,
parsley...." back to top |
Salt: A World History
