Monday 19 December 2016

Edible Flowers and Health Benefits

Our farm has a number of edible flowers and blossoms available. If you are unsure about the benefits of eating edible flowers and blossoms, well you are not alone, as there is only just beginning to be a wave of new research in this area.

Over the last couple of years we have seen a significant increase in the consumption of edible flowers, primarily within salads where they have been used to add colour. Apart from providing colour, edible flowers are a rich source of bioactive compounds or phytochemicals, and it is this that attributes to our health and wellbeing.

First, phytochemicals have anti-oxidant and hypoglycemic properties, further they are anti-inflammatory, anti-cancer, anti-obesity, and have a neuroprotection effect! Research findings (http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/acs.jafc.5b03092?journalCode-jafcau)  from food scientists advise that edible flowers are a functional food. Although phytochemicals are non-nutritive i.e. they are not required by us for our sustenance; plant chemicals do, however, have functional properties that provide our bodies with protection and disease prevention.

Flowers are natural plant foods, and like many plant foods in nature often contain valuable nutrients for your health. For instance, dandelions contain numerous antioxidant properties and flavonoids, including FOUR times the beta carotene of broccoli, as well as lutein, cryptoxanthin and zeaxanthin. They're also a rich source of vitamins, including folic acid, riboflavin, pyroxidine, niacin, and vitamins E and C. Other examples include:

  • Violets contain rutin, a phytochemical with antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties that ay help strengthen capillary walls
  • Rose petals contain bioflavonoids and antioxidants, as well as vitamins A, B3, C and E
  • Nasturtiums contain cancer-fighting lycopene and lutein, a carotenoid found in vegetables and fruits that is important for vision health
  • Lavender contains vitamin A, calcium and iron, and is said to benefit your central nervous system
  • Chive blossoms (the purple flower of the chive herb) contain vitamin C, iron and sulfur, and have traditionally been used to help support healthy blood pressure level

Second, as flowers blossom in spring, the photosynthesis of the 'spring sun' is an unseen chemical reaction bursting the dormant plants into renewed life, flowers that will give seeds for later new growth. It is a regenerative cycle. The winter and autumn sun chemical processes are different to the spring sun, and when we eat the edible flowers and blossoms from these plants, we too benefit with that same energy of rejuvenation, hence another good reason to eat foods in season.

One note of advice - edible flowers should be used sparingly, as an accompaniment, and never as their own food. 


Saturday 3 December 2016

Marigold Sweet Buns

You can use marigolds or calendula for this recipe. Please only use washed petals.

Ingredients:
2 eggs                            2 tablespoons fresh chopped or dried marigold petals
Match weight in: plain flour and castor sugar

Method:
1. Separate the eggs.
2. Add the sugar to the egg yolks and beat well.
3. Fold in flour and marigold petals.
4. Beat egg white until stiff.
5. Add to yolk mixture, mixing well together.
6. Divide in greased bun tins topped with more marigold petals and a sprinkling of sugar.
7. Bake in a modern oven for about 10 minutes.

Other uses for marigold and cooking ideas can be found here at these links:

http://garden.org/ediblelandscaping

http://littlehouseinthesuburbs.com/2009/11/marigold-madness.html.

Tuesday 15 November 2016

Fennel Blossom recipe ideas

More inspirational cooking ideas for fennel blossom and the licoricey honeyed flavoured pollen that comes with it.

www.bite.co.nz/hot-topics/in-season/3126/Produce-report-November-28/

Pick of the week: Fennel blossom and pollen

fennel-blossom2.jpg
Don’t walk past that fennel you see growing wild in your garden or on the roadside … it’s even more useful in the kitchen than you might realise. Sure the fronds are wonderful  to bring a mild aniseed flavour to vegetable and fish dishes, to soups and eggs, but it’s the lacy yellow flowers, along with their dried pollen, that have foragers-in-the-know and restaurateurs worldwide waxing lyrical. We spotted packets of the fresh blossoms, along with packets of flowering thyme, at Farro Fresh last week, two crops from Pukekohe artisan growers, Mission Cabana. Add the fresh blossoms with other whole herbs to pickles, sauces, dressings and in flavoured vinegars. Or sprinkle them over salads. For the more adventurous, try baking them in bread or stir through fresh pasta.

Mission Cabana even has a fennel blossom icecream (no machine required) on its website.

And now for the pollen. In summer it could be fun (and impressive) to have a go at harvesting your own but unless you’ve got fennel growing in abundance, don’t expect buckets of the stuff. Pick whole flowers and place them in a bag where, as they dry, you can shake the pollen free. (Fresh pollen is more intense than dried.) If drying your own is a no-go, you can now find hand-harvested Californian fennel pollen in wee bottles on the spice shelf at Farro’s Grey Lynn store. Slightly sweet, it tastes of freshly mown grass with aniseed brightness.

Move over saffron! Here’s how Farro recommends using fennel pollen

• Sprinkle 1 Tbsp over a roast chicken before it goes into the oven.
• Add to ricotta and use to stuff tortellini or, better still, zucchini flowers.
• Mix it with pepper and salt for an amazing bright and zesty sprinkle.
• Sprinkle a little over cooked roast pork.
• Sprinkle over steamed salmon.
• Mix with toasted pinenuts and cumin as a dukkah to sprinkle over meats, salads and seafood.
• Sprinkle over homemade breads just before they go into the oven.
• Mix through a pork-rich meat mix and stuff into a chicken or make your own sausages.
• Add to biscuit dough.
• Add to your pasta dough before you roll it.
• Shred leftover cooked chicken and add a good sprinkle of pollen before you add any grains, seeds or leaves.

Also use fennel sticks or stalks and peel them to use in spa water (refresh every day) with peach slices, cinnamon stick. Also add fennel stick peels to lemon and bitters, or vodka.




Coriander Blossom - Cooking

The coriander blossom has a milder aromatic lemony flavour of the leaves.

Coriander flowers should always be used fresh, never dried.
  • Keep recipes simple to avoid overwhelming the delicate floral flavours with strong spices.
  • Pick you flowers in the morning when their water content is highest.
  • Clean them carefully by shaking them out as they may contain small insects in their folds. Remove the stamen (especially when you are cooking with banana flowers as the stamen tends to bitter the dish), and wash under a jet of water or in a strainer.
  • Drain dry on absorbent paper. DO NOT expose to direct sunlight if you want them fresh.
The blossoms make interesting accompaniments to ingredients such as avocado, carrots, zucchini, tomato, coconut milk, citrus, ginger, mint, lemongrass, chilli peppers, kaffir lime, yogurt, chicken, lamb and white fish. Use as a garnish on zucchini soup.

Sunday 13 November 2016

Fennel - Gardening Tips

Companion planting: Fennel should not be planted near beans, tomatoes, kohlrabi and coriander. Wormwood will stunt its growth so never plant nearby.

Keep track on its growth as it can be invasive.

Likes moist, well-drained soil and full sun.
Perennial. Collect see heads as they form and are still green. Fennel blossom can be collected for its pollen. 

Fennel Stalk Haloumi Salad

Fennel Stalk Haloumi Salad

Ingredients:
4 fennel stalks sliced 1 cm circles
2 cloves of garlic finely sliced
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 small packet of Haloumi sheep cheese cut into strips
1/4 red onion sliced
1 small red chilli deseeded and finely chopped
1/2  cup frozen peas (defrosted)
1/2 cup frozen corn (defrosted)
Pinch of salt
1 tablespoon lemon juice
Garnish - fennel fronds

Method:
  1. Saute fennel stalks and garlic in a frying pan with oil for 5 minutes.
  2. Add the haloumi strips, red onion, chopped chilli, peas, corn and salt and cook for a further 5 minutes stirring to ensure haloumi strips are browned.
  3. Place salad into a bowl and stir through lemon juice.
  4. Add fennel fronds as garnish on top.



Fennel - Cooking Recipes

Cooking Uses:
  • Add the feathery fronds of fennel to salads, soups and sauces for a slight aniseed flavour.
  • Add fronds to soft cheeses.
  • Add fronds and chopped stalk to pickling cucumbers.
  • Chop fennel stalks and add to cabbage, cook, drain and then add fennel fronds through the cabbage.


    Hapuku, Mullet, Mackerel or Bass Flambé au Fenouil

    Grill fish on a bed of fennel fronds, then pour brandy over it; set it alight and serve burning. The burnt fennel will impregnate the fish.

    2 bass                                                            1 glass of brandy
    Pinch of salt                                                  4 tablespoons oil
    3 teaspoons fresh chopped fennel fronds     1 lemon, cut in slices
    1 sprig fresh chopped sage                           Parsley for garnish
    Large bunch of fennel (stalks and leaves)

    1. Wash and prepare fish, dry and salt inside and out.
    2. Fill the fish with chopped fennel and sage.
    3. Arrange a bed of fennel in the bottom of the grill pan.
    4. Brush fish on both sides with oil and place on wire rack of grill pan above the fennel. 
    5. Grill fish, turning once, and brushing with oil from time to time.
    6. Warm brandy.
    7. When fish is grilled, remove fennel bed to flat fireproof serving dish.
    8. Place fish on fennel bed and decorate with lemon and parsley.
    9. Pour warmed brand over, light, and serve while burning.


    Fennel Sauce (use on baked or boiled fish)

    4 oz. butter
    2 tablespoons fresh chopped fennel
    Pinch of salt

    1. Wash the fresh fennel in water.
    2. Melt the butter.
    3. Mix the fennel with the hot melted butter, add salt, and serve.  

  • Source: Claire Loewenfeld and Philippa back Herbs for Health and Cookery.


Saturday 12 November 2016

Fennel - Medicinal Uses

Fennel (Foeniculum vulgare)
Fennel has a licorice aniseed flavour and smell. Fennel's health and medicine uses are the following:
  • Stimulate for milk production for nursing mothers, particularly if boiled with barley.
  • Anti-flatulent and good for indigestion; used for gas, acid stomach, gout and colic in infants (useful in making gripewater). 
  • Fennel seed tea good for upset stomach.
  • Expectorant and helps reduce catarrh (either as a syrup or tea).
  • Reduces weight (reputation of making overweight people lean in classical Greece).
  • A tisane made with fennel can be helpful in maintaining weight control.
  • Inflammed eyes and conjunctivitis: use a compress steeped in fennel tea, place on the eyes, or use an eyewash from the tea of the herb to soothe eyes.
  • Strengthens eyes and is reported to improve sight.
  • A tea made by the herb can be applied to ease insect bits.
  • Fennel rubbed through hands and placed on body as a flea repellant; likewise rub hands through fennel fronds and rub into your cat or dog. Repel fleas around kennels and pet sleeping quarters with fennel fronds.
Fatty oils contained in fennel give it an anti-spasmodic, anti-inflammatory calming effect. Carminative.

Should not be taken while pregnant as can stimulate the uterus.
May also increase menstrual flow.

Essential oil: 1 drop massaged over stomach, particularly good for children.
Herbal oil: 1 or 2 teaspoons massaged over stomach (not as strong as the essential oil)
Infusion: 1 teaspoon per cup, steep 10 minutes.



Sources: Claire Loewenfeld and Philippa Back Herbs for Health and Cookery.
Gary & Steve Null, The Complete Handbook of Nutrition. 

Fennel Anti-aging Pack

For the aging skin make a pack of:

1 tub of probiotic plain yoghurt
1 cup of infusion of fennel seed tea (brew for 20 minutes)
2 tablespoons of Manuka honey (put into warm tea)
1 tablespoon fennel stalk minced (fresh)
2 tablespoons fennel fronds chopped (fresh)

Mix together and apply warm onto a clean face. Let sit for 15 minutes.
It is purported to enliven the skin and smooth wrinkles. It acts as a skin tonic being antiseptic and allays irritation of the skin. (Claire Loewenfeld Herbs for Health and Cookery).



Wednesday 12 October 2016

Fennel Blossom Recipe


Try Fennel Blossom ice-cream for those warmer days coming.  

Makes about 1 litre
375ml coconut milk                                               5 egg yolks
450ml double cream                                             150g coconut sugar
1 star anise (crushed)                                           1 pinch of anise with 2 tbsp brandy
1 fennel blossom frond (chopped)                     A pinch of salt
 Ice for chilling
1.   Pour the coconut milk and cream into a heavy-based saucepan. Crush the star anise and add into the pan.  Add the fennel blossom frond (this will also have some of the pollen).
2.   On a medium heat, slowly bring the mix to a gentle simmer and simmer for 3 minutes.
3.   Combine egg yolks and coconut sugar into a large bowl and mix.
4.   Turn up the heat under the milk after it has simmered for 3 minutes, and bring to the boil. Pour this into the egg yolks, whisking constantly to prevent the eggs from curdling.
5.   Pour back into the saucepan and cook the custardy mixture on a low heat, stirring all the time, until it can coat the back of a spoon. Usually about 10 minutes. Do not allow the custard to boil, unless you want scrambled eggs.
6.   Strain through a fine sieve into a bowl, discard any large pieces of star anise, and add the anise/brandy mix (or substitute with pastis or pernod liquer) and a pinch of salt. Then chill in an ice bath, made by filling a larger bowl one-third full with ice and water. Stir occasionally to stop a skin forming. When it's cold, lay a piece of clingfilm directly on the surface of the custard and chill until completely cold. Transfer to a freezer-proof container and freeze until solid.
7.   Before serving, take it out of the freezer for about 10-15 minutes to allow it to soften.

Sunday 2 October 2016

Thyme - Gardening

Thyme prefers a sunny spot in free-draining soil. Add pumice or grit to improve drainage if needed.

Feed it with an organic mulch or a sprinkle of blood and bone for each plant in spring.

Thyme - medicinal uses

Thyme (thymus vulgaris) is an elixir for coughs, colds, flu, tonsillitis and laryngitis. It is a healing and antiseptic herb. Thymol is the essential oil found in thyme and is one of the most potent antimicrobials. Thyme is also rich in flavonoids, saponins and other antioxidants. The tea is very beneficial for singers and performers to help support their vocal cords.

Sore Throats and Colds:
Thyme tea: Use chopped fresh thyme or dried thyme and make a tea.

Thyme-infused honey: Gently heat 1 cup of honey and half a cup of fresh thyme for 15 - 20 minutes. Take 1 teaspoon three times a day to relieve colds, coughs and sore throats. Do not overuse dosage.

Respiratory Tract Clearance and Bronchitis
Put a few drops of thyme oil in a bowl and fill with boiling water. Then place your head over the bowl to allow the steam to come into your face, wait a few minutes first or you may scold your face. Put a towel over your head and breathe in. It will loosen the phlegm and relax the muscles in the respiratory tract. Warning: Be careful you do not allow the steam to scold.

Sources: The Herbal Apothecary, JJ Pursell.

Saturday 1 October 2016

Thyme Blossom Mask


Thyme Blossom Mask: Chop 3 tablespoons of fresh thyme with blossoms, then seep in ½ cup of boiling water for 3 minutes. In a ceramic bowl add the thyme blossoms and water and combine with 1 mashed avocado, ¼ cup of yoghurt, and 2 tablespoons of Manuka honey. Spread the mixture over your clean face, let sit for 15 minutes. While resting be mindful of its anti-inflammatory and anti-aging properties, as your skin drinks in the nutrients. Rinse off with lukewarm water and pat your face dry.