CHARLES:
Flowers, flowers everywhere, in my garden, in my hair… So, why not include these incredible flavorful edibles in a tasty, colorful summer cocktail hour, lunch or dinner.
Let’s start with a coooool and refreshing summer gin and Elderflower liqueur, yum, add a few cukes, float a few colorful pansies, top with ice, stirrrr. Sip and saveur till the first course is on the table.
For our starter, a fresh pea shoot (fresh from the garden,) and chopped orange salad, add a few edible peppery flowers for color mix in pistachios etc and of course don’t forget that splash of Torre di Gamberaia and dash Rivesaline Ile de Re’ Fleur de Sel salt.
Main course, what could possibly top a delicious summer dining experience better than a zucchini infused risotto dressed with floral yumminess.
Voila! Go for it, a colorful, sweet, scented summers meal to be enjoyed and remembered. And now on the Nancy’s gorgeous recipes.
NANCY’S WORDS:
This month we are exploring edible flowers – beautiful additions to meals that add a taste of peppery spice to the dish, but more importantly, make the visual presentation something special.
We start with a specialty cocktail, followed by a perfect dinner of salad and risotto – all made more visually appealing and delicious with the addition of these tiny, colorful petals.
You can find edible flowers in some supermarkets and online, or if you are very lucky, as I was, you will discover a vendor at a local farmer’s market.
I discovered “We Grow Microgreens“, a small vendor with a farm in Hyde Park, at the SOWA Open Market- South End, Boston. They boast a beautiful selection of fresh edible flowers, as well as plants to use as teas, fresh herbs, plants, and of course, microgreens! I also lucked out and found some fresh pea shoots which I used in my salad recipe below.salay
The risotto is adapted from a recipe by my favorite Italian cook, the late Marcella Hazan – her cookbooks taught me so many techniques and recipes, including risotto. The beautiful thing about risotto is that it can be adapted to utilize almost any vegetable you like, from spring zucchini to fall mushrooms, to winter radicchio. It’s slow food…the cooking must be attended to at all times…but you will be rewarded with a risotto that is the perfectly al dente. The finished dish is a rather muted color, and its presentation is greatly enhanced by the addition of edible flowers.
While searching for a cocktail recipe that could include both gin and elderflower, I found several similar recipes, but really liked carolinescooking.com idea to rim the glass with cucumber slices, which made me think – what could make this glamourous drink even more glam – edible flowers! Not to mention that one of the ingredients in the cocktail is, elderflower liqueur, and gin is infused with lots of botanicals as well.
Elderflower Gin Cocktail with Edible Flowers
I love to serve these in an old fashioned champagne coupe, the type that has a shallow, broad bowl, or alternatively, a colorful long drink glass. Serves two
- 1 cucumber, sliced lengthwise into 6 ribbons
- 8 basil leaves
- 3 oz gin
- 1.5 oz elderflower liqueur
- 4 oz apple juice
- 4 tsp fresh lime juice
- Edible flowers
- Ice cubes
Wrap the cucumber slices around the inside of the glass in a swirl pattern.
Add 3-4 ice cubes to the glass.
Put the basil leaves in a cocktail shaker and add the elderflower liqueur, gin, apple juice and lime juice. Shake until chilled and strain into the glasses.
Top with colorful edible flowers.
The inspiration for this month’s salad came from the cookbook, Cooking at the Kasbah – I added some pistachios and pea shoots, olive oil and salt to this already scrumptious salad, and the edible flowers really compliment the brightly colored oranges. The cookbook was a gift I received from the gracious Anne Lower, after a conversation we had about me lugging a clay tagine back to the U.S. from a market in Casablanca. The book is out of print – but Anne tracked down a copy – it’s a treasured gift, one of her favorite cookbooks, and now one of mine.
Pea Shoot and Orange Salad with Edible Flowers
Can also substitute watercress or arugula and add radish slices
Inner leaves of romaine lettuces or butterhead lettuce
- 1 cup pea shoots
- 3 oranges (I like Cara Cara), plus the grated skin of one of the oranges
- ½ tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 TBS fresh lemon juice
- 3 TBS orange juice
- 10 dates, pitted and diced
- ½ cup pistachios
- 2 TBS Torre di Gamberaia Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- 1 tsp. Rivesaline Ile de Re’ Fleur de Sel salt
- Mix of Edible Flowers
Cut the lettuce into thin strips. Cut any long stems from the pea shoots. Toast the pistachios in a small pan and chop. Grate the peel from one of the oranges and set aside. Cut the peel and pith off the oranges by cutting off each end, then placing the orange on one end and cutting down the side of the orange. Continue cutting the peel off down the side until all the peel white pith is gone. Separate the orange segments, cut each segment into thumb size pieces, and remove as much of the outer membrane of the segments as you can. Remove the seeds if not using seedless oranges. Put the oranges in a bowl and sprinkle them with the cinnamon.
In a separate bowl make the dressing.
Whisk the orange juice, lemon juice, sugar, olive oil and salt together.
Divide the lettuce and pea shoots among 4 plates. Top them with dates, pistachios and oranges, Sprinkle with the dressing and top with colorful edible flowers.
The risotto is adapted from a recipe by my favorite Italian cook, the late Marcella Hazan – her cookbooks taught me so many techniques and recipes, including risotto. The beautiful thing about risotto is that it can be adapted to utilize almost any vegetable you like, from spring zucchini to fall mushrooms, to winter radicchio. It’s slow food…the cooking must be attended to at all times…but you will be rewarded with a risotto that is the perfectly al dente. The finished dish is a rather muted color, and its presentation is greatly enhanced by the addition of edible flowers.
Zucchini Risotto with Edible Flowers
- 6 small zucchini
- 1 yellow onion, chopped
- 3 cloves garlic, chopped
- 5 TBS. Torre di Gamberaia extra virgin olive oil
- ¾ tsp Rivesaline Ile de Re’ Fleur de Sel salt
- 3 cups chicken, beef or vegetable broth, mixed with 2 cups water
- 4 TBS butter
- 1.5 cups Arborio or Carnaroli rice
- 3 TBS parsley leaves, chopped finely
- 4 TBS grated Parmesan cheese
- Edible flowers, either whole or sliced
Clean the zucchini and slice into ½ inch pieces.
Pour 3 TBS olive oil in a heavy pan large enough to accommodate the rice later, sauté’ the onion on medium high until soft, then add the garlic. Sauté for 3 minutes. Add the zucchini slices and turn the slices to coat with the oil, onions and garlic. After 1 minute, turn the heat down to medium, add ¾ tsp salt, stir and cover. Stir occasionally until the zucchini are soft and slightly caramelized.
Meanwhile in a separate saucepan bring the broth and water to a boil and then turn heat down to medium. Keep the broth warm the entire time you are cooking the risotto.
Add 2 TBS butter to the zucchini, turn the heat to high, and add the rice. Stir the mixture to coat the rice, then add ½ cup of the heated broth.
Stir the mixture continuously, scraping the sides of the pan until the liquid is absorbed – then add another ½ cup liquid. Repeat this process, always stirring continuously making sure the rice does not stick to the bottom or sides of the pan. Each time, add another ½ cup of liquid at a time – if you add too much at once the rice will not cook correctly. The heat should be high enough to keep the mixture hot, and allow the rice to absorb the liquid, but not so high that the rice sticks. If you feel toward the end that the rice is not absorbing the liquid quickly enough, reduce the amount to ¼ cup at a time.
The total cooking time for this amount of rice should be about 30 minutes. The rice should be creamy, but firm (al dente).
Turn the heat off and add the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter, the parley, the grated Parmesan cheese and some black pepper.
Place risotto in a warmed serving platter or individual bowls.
Sprinkle edible flowers on top. You may also opt to slice the flowers and sprinkle them for a different look.
Serve immediately while still hot and serve grated cheese on the side.
I hope you will enjoy these edible flower recipes that sing of Spring!
