Ginger Herb Tonic

This Sunday at the Fairmount Farmers Market you can find all your fixings for a Fourth of July feast, with pastured meat and eggs from Fair Valley Farm, fresh produce from Camas Swale Farm, and beautiful flowers from Tiger Lily Art Company.

For a refreshing beverage to sip, cold or hot, at a picnic or while tending the grill, here is a ginger and herb tonic I concocted. It's inspiration is both exotic (a ginger, lemongrass, and honey drink sipped on a recent trip to Bali), local (herbs from our garden and alley way), and practical (an antidote to travel-induced tummy travails). What started as a medicinal brew has turned into a culinary craze in the house with infinite possible variations incorporating other herbs, dandelion and other greens, and citrus. I've even been eying our newly planted lemongrass plant, but resolved to let it recover its strength first before harvesting its stalks for any restorative tonics. 

Ginger Herb Tonic

for one pot of tea

1/2 cup fresh mint leaves
1/4 cup fresh thyme leaves
1/4 cup fresh fennel fronds
1 inch ginger root
honey to taste

Boil water for a pot of tea. Once it boils, let it sit for five minutes to cool slightly. Rinse the herbs and put them in a teapot. Coarsely chop the ginger root (no need to peel) and place in the pot. Fill the pot with the boiled water, cover the teapot, and allow to steep for at least 20 minutes or longer for a more intense flavor. You can add honey now or keep it out and let people sweeten each cup to their liking. Serve warm or chilled.

Toad-in-the-Hole and Minty Peas

Getting back into our regimented school routine has been a bit rough after a couple of weeks of winter holidays with lazy mornings spent curl up together reading. Over the break, I read my kids one of my favorite childhood books, Roald Dahl's Danny the Champion of the World (above is an illustration by Jill Bennett from the original edition). We were all especially captivated by Danny's father's description of his favorite childhood meal: "My mum could make toad-in-the-hole like nobody else in the world. She did it in an enormous pan with the Yorkshire pudding very brown and crisp on top and raised up in huge bubbly mountains. In between the mountains you could see the sausages half buried in the batter. Fantastic it was." We tried recreating the dish, based on this recipe from Five and Spice and it was a big hit. For a thoroughly British accompaniment, I made these minty peas from Nigel Slater. Although the dinner didn't involve any pheasant poaching, my son and I did venture down the dark and drizzly alleyway with a feeble flashlight to filch some unsuspecting mint.

Toad-in-the-Hole

adapted from Five and Spice

1/2 cup milk
3 eggs
1 1/2 cup all purpose flour
1 tsp salt
1 lb breakfast sausages

1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.

2. In a blender, combine the milk, eggs, flour, and salt and blend until smooth. You could also whisk these together in a bowl. Allow the batter to rest while you heat the oven and cook the sausages (ideally 30 minutes).

3. In a ovenproof pot, such as a cast iron Dutch oven, cook the sausages until they are browned on all sides. If there is a lot of fat release, pour some off, but you want about 2-4 Tbsp coating the pan. While the pot is still very hot, pour the batter over the sausages and immediately transfer the pot to the preheated oven. Bake for 25-30 minutes (meanwhile, make some minty peas). The toad-in-the-hole is done when it is puffy and golden and crisp around the edges. Do not open the oven before 20 minutes or the popover might deflate. Serve right away with mustard on the side and minty peas.

Minty Peas

adapted from Nigel Slater

3 Tbsp olive oil
1 shallot, minced
1 package frozen peas
2 or 3 sprigs fresh mint
salt to taste
1 Tbsp water

Heat a large skillet over medium heat. When warm, add the olive oil, then the shallots and stir for 30 seconds, then the peas, mint, salt, and water. Cover and cook for four minutes. Remove the top and simmer another 2 or 3 minutes, allowing the liquid to evaporate. Serve warm.

Buttery Radishes with Mint

ALERT: the diversity of brassica seeds grown in the Willamette Valley is endangered by a plan to lift the ban on growing canola, which can cross pollinates with many different brassica plants. Read more about this issue here and here and express your opposition to this plan by Friday August 10 by signing this petition.   

Sweetwater Farm packs an enormous variety of produce in their custom trailer that they take to market, giving customers the opportunity to move beyond summer basics like tomato and basil salads and to experiment with new ingredients and flavors. I loved the way farmers John and Lynn nestled these rosy red radishes in among the sweet cherries and cherry tomatoes, tempting innocent passers by to move beyond their comfort zone of sweet fruit into the brassica family. I fell for the ploy and snatched up a pint.

Also I had wanted to try this recipe for sauteed radishes and mint. The preparation is very similar to these brown butter turnips, where chopped root vegetables are sauteed slowly in butter, tempering their sharpness and bringing out a mellow sweetness that is punctuated here with the bright flavor of fresh mint.

These made a delicious and easy side dish for salmon cakes and the old standby of tomatoes with basil.

Buttery Radishes with Mint

adapted from a food52 recipe by liahuber

1 pint of 1 large bunch of radishes
1 to 2 Tbsp butter
pinch of salt
1 spring mint (~8 leaves)

1. Trim the tops and tails from the turnips and cut them into quarters or more for larger radishes so that they are equivalently sized. 

2. Heat a skillet over medium heat. Melt the butter, add the radish pieces and a generous pinch of salt, and saute for about ten minutes, turning occasionally, until the radishes are soft through and have browned on some sides. Transfer to a bowl and stir in torn mint leaves. Serve warm.