Posts tagged ‘edible flowers’

June 3rd, 2010

Garden Party on a Plate – Today’s Inspired Creation

What I made for lunch today: The edible flowers are Bleuets and Oeillet d'Poéte (Cornflowers and Carnations)

A creative cook looks everywhere and anywhere for inspiration.  Today’s lunch was inspired by Michel Bras.

Food isn’t just about flavour, temperature and texture…it’s also about aesthetic. A while back I saw pictures from Michel Bras restaurant in Laguiole, France

I had looked him up on the web out of curiousity. Not many rural French restaurants have gained and maintained three Michelin stars. The particular photo  that I saw made my eyes widen. It was vegetable plate covered in flora. My first thought was, “A Garden Party on a plate!”.

For the past few weeks, I’ve been daydreaming about creating a meal that looks so pretty I almost don’t want to eat. Last weekend while leafing through a brochure I picked up at Galleries Lafayette Gourmet, I saw another photo of brilliantly green soup.

The images in my mind started forming one cohesive idea. I already knew that I wanted to make a lemon risotto and add fresh basil to it. Fish is the perfect protein to accompany lemon risotto so the two main components of the dish were decided. But what about a green sauce?

A friend visited me last weekend and was with me as I left Galleries Lafayette Gourmet. In the taxi ride on our way to dinner I mused out-loud about how to do a bright green sauce that wouldn’t lose it’s brilliance when heated. She suggested nettles. She told me that she learned to cook with them, in an Italian cooking course. They never lose their brilliant green colour.

The thing about nettles is, they are violent little plants. I wasn’t quite ready to tackle them but I will in the future.

Instead I came up with a green sauce that is uncooked: baby spinach, fresh mint and garlic. The combination is fantastic with grilled fish!

I went out this morning to my local street- market and bought fish, fresh flowers, mint, basil and everything else I needed to create today’s meal:

Pan-Seared Cabillaud with a Mint, Spinach & Garlic Sauce and Lemon Basil Risotto – Garnished with Flowers

I took photos as I built my, “Garden Party on a Plate”. You can see the progression below.

You can find the recipes here in the recipe file, under Main Courses

Lemon Basil Risotto

Adding the flowers...

And now the fish. You will see from the first photo that I ate off part of the fish. This is because I accidentally got the sauce on top of the fish and didn't want to photograph it like that. I was also a bit hungry...

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June 2nd, 2010

Creative Condiment of the Week

The dried flowers in a jar that I found in my local candy shop. Dried Flowers are for more than garnish. You can use them in shortbread bisquits, homemade granola bars with white chocolate, fruits and dried flowers as well as a garnish on top of your salads.

When you strive to become a more creative cook, there will come a time when you must move beyond typical spices (those are must-haves in any case) and explore other sensory enhancers. Take for example, something as simple as salt. Most people could use a salt-upgrade in their kitchen.

I haven’t cooked with normal table salt in years. I use either himalayan salt or fleur de sel. In fact, when I sold all of my belongings and moved last year. The one kitchen item that made it in my bag was my Himalayan salt.

I’ve recently developed an avid interest in edible flowers. Not just for garnish but for the perfume and flavor. I’ve been imagining all that I could do with flowers and you will be seeing some interesting sorbets, beverages and sauces throughout the summer here on the website.

Stocking your kitchen with interesting condiments provides inspiration – you see it there and the ideas start to flow…or at least they should. If you feel blocked, just do some research for recipes on the web or the maker’s website. They often have recipes. I don’t often follow them but instead use them as a starting point for inspiration.

Jasmin petal confit, lavender syrup, rosemary syrup and dried, edible flowers

Which is what I will have to do for one of today’s finds: Rosemary Syrup. I already imagined using it for a sorbet but the shop keeper told me that despite the syrup’s sweetness, it can be used in savoury dishes.

Tomorrow I will be cooking again. Until then, here are my finds of the day and some ideas to inspire you.

Jasmin Petal Confit - for scones with clotted cream or make mini tiramisus in glasses with lady finger bisquits, marcarpone and jasmine confit. Garnish the top with pink rose petals to make it even more lovely

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