Wordless Wednessday - Brownie & Lavender Ice Cream for Breakfast

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Taste of Purple - Baby Potatoes with Lavender

Potatoes.

Is there any better blank canvas for interesting flavors?   I think not.

Sometimes I like to push the envelope with my taters. I know...  Shocking, huh?  Just like my Sesame-Cinnamon teeny tiny potatoes, lavender adds a somewhat unconventional flavor to your next spud-fest .  So if your feeling a little avant garde, then by all means, give this a try.  You will be surprised.  They are quite delicious.  Well, that is, unless you don't like Lavender. :)

Lavender Baby Potatoes 

2 lb Baby Yukon Gold Potatoes
4 TB Olive Oil
Kosher Salt
Cracked Black Pepper
4 TB Unsalted Butter
4 tsp culinary Lavender
optional - 1/4 tsp Lemon Zest

Preheat the oven to 400 F degrees.
Slice any larger Potatoes in half so you are working with more uniform sized tubers.

Toss the Potatoes into a bowl and drizzle with Olive Oil.

Season with Kosher Salt and Cracked Black Pepper and toss to coat.

Move the Potatoes to a foil lined baking sheet.

Bake for approximately 30 minutes, turning once to ensure even browning.
While the Potatoes are roasting, melt Butter in a sauce pan.

When warm, add the Lavender and continue cooking until fragrant, about 1 minute. (If using lemon zest, add it now as well)

Remove from the heat and let set until the Potatoes are done.

Once the Potatoes are well roasted, move them to a bowl.

Drizzle the Lavender Butter over the Potatoes and toss again...

and serve.

Mangia!!
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It Even Tastes Purple - Lavender & Meyer Lemon Shortbread

Who doesn't love the freshness of lavender?  That tiny unassuming blossom that has such a powerful balancing effect on the soul.  One whiff and all seems right with the world.  Add to that the floral zing of Meyer Lemon zest and you have a winner. 

Be wary though, for not all lavender is created equal.  I recommend using Provence (French) Lavender or Munstead, because a lot of the others have a decided camphorous smell (not delicious).  Another recommendation is to add the Lavender and the Zest right after creaming the butter and sugar.  This fosters absorption of volatile oils from both the Lavender and Zest into the butter.  If you mix them in at the end, as with the candy bits, you will be more apt to loose them during baking.

This is the perfect cookie after suffering through the excruciating torture of Christmas shopping.  (Ick)  Simply brew a cup (or pot) of Darjeeling, sit in your favorite chair with a good book and a "couple three" cookies and you'll be "right as rain" in no time.

Lavender Meyer Lemon Shortbread

8 oz Cultured Butter
4 oz Granulated Sugar
1 tsp Fleur de Sel or Kosher Salt
1 TB Provence Lavender Blossoms, crushed
Zest of 1 Meyer Lemon (about 1 TB)
12 oz AP Flour

Cream the Butter, Sugar & salt together until fluffy.

Add the Lavender and the Meyer Lemon Zest, beating an additional minute or two.

Slowly add the flour, with the mixer on low speed.

Gather the dough together

Work it into a log then wrap in plastic wrap and chill for 1 hour.

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees and remove the log from the refrigerator.
Slice off 1/4 inch thick rounds from the log.

Place on a parchment lined baking sheet.

Bake for 15 minutes or until the edged just begin to turn golden.

Allow to cool for 5 minute on the baking sheet before moving to a wire rack.

When cool, brew yourself some Darjeeling and find your "Happy place".

Mangia!!
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'Twas the Week Before Christmas and All Through the House....

Wafted the scent of shortbread, hungering the mouse...... 

I have a confession to make...  Though it may seem a little silly to put so much pressure on a simple cookie, it's just not Christmas without shortbread.  And while I vaguely alluded to this last year around the holidays when I published my Scottish Shortbread recipe, I feel the time has come to divulge the somewhat scary truth about my Christmas Shortbread obsession.   For Green Tea and Plain are merely the tip of the iceberg.

With the advent of English Toffee Shortbread I have added yet another feather in the proverbial Christmas Shortbread "hat".  Which is awesome, cause one should always have delicious treats ready just in case carolers stop by or you have impromptu guests.  For nothing bespeaks of the Holidays like a warm cup of coffee or tea with a delicious shortbread cookie.

My admission of this idée fixe comes with a warning....  There will be several more posts forth coming such as Lavender and Meyer Lemon Shortbread, Candy Cane Shortbread, Lemon Drop Shortbread and, of course, I will be revisiting English Toffee Shortbread, Green Tea Shortbread and good old traditional Scottish Shortbread petticoat tails, to be swathed with copious quantities of fresh Key Lime curd.  YUM!

Then, just because I HAVE to be a little off-centered;  I will be bustin out some Savory Shortbreads.. Yep, savory ones, such as Chive and Provolone (served with Creme Fraiche and Caviar), Roasted Garlic with Thyme and Asiago as well as White Cheddar and Pancetta.   Cause nothin' says lovin' from the Holiday oven like Bacon!!!  Am I right; or am I right?

You will notice that some of these recipes use Cultured Butter, while others do not.  This is a judgment call in regards to the flavor.  For instance, the Lavender and Meyer Lemon shortbread really benefits from the use of Cultured Butter, it adds subtle nuances to the flavor.  The same goes for the savory Chive Shortbread.  However, when it comes to White Cheddar and Bacon or Candy Cane shortbread, the flavor of the added ingredients completely dominates, thus I have opted to use regular unsalted butter in these.  After all, Cultured Butter is expensive so it's use must be relegated to only those recipes where it is of paramount importance to over-all flavor.

You will also notice that most of the recipes are the same basic recipe with different "additions".  While this is true for the most part, there are certain changes to the "when" and "how" these additions are incorporated.  The Lemon Drops, Candy Canes and English toffee are all stirred in at the end; the Lavender and Meyer lemon zest, however, are added when beating the butter in order for the butter to absorb the oil soluble flavor components.  The cheeses are beaten into the butter to form a homogeneous mixture.  In a way, they are acting like the sugar component of sweet shortbread.

All of these recipes offer you a choice....  I chose to roll and cut some of them out because I had specific shapes in mind that I felt would be aesthetically pleasing with their white chocolate adornment.

While with others, I simply formed a log, refrigerated and sliced.

The choice is yours.

OK, I think I have yapped enough at this point...   So I will leave you with a picture of some of what is to come...  :)  

Top from the left: Lavender and Meyer Lemon, Green Tea with Orange oil White Chocolate, English Toffee
Bottom from the left: Lemon Drop with Lemon oil White Chocolate, Candy Cane with Peppermint White Chocolate

I would have thrown in the savory ones, but I have not baked them yet.  There just isn't enough time in the day.

Mangia!!
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