Ideas for cooking with lavender?

I have a bumper crop of lavender growing in the yard this year and was looking for some edible/drinkable ideas. So far I have only made a lavender flavored black tea (I'm not really into tea but my dinner guests said it was good) and a lavender infused Belvedere and lemonade which was quite good and refreshing.

Any other ideas for lavender especially with food? Does it have any "match made in heaven" pairings?

Thanks for any comments!

Take some zucchini, slice them lengthwise in about 3/16" thick slices, but not all the way to the stem so that the slices are still attached to one another at the end. Olive oil, diced shallot, finely chopped lavender, salt, and pepper go between the layers. Let it marinate about 10 minutes, then fan it out and grill. Plate it fanned out, and garnish with lavender.

Idea shamelessly stolen from the great Charles Downing.

Lavender and Lemon Ice Cream? No recipe, just jumped in my head. Maybe like a Coldstone approach, softened Vanilla ice cream, mix in lavender and lemon zest. Or homemade.

The ubiquitous lavender creme brulee. (Which is just wrong. Wrong, I tell ya! )

A local chef made a lavender chocolate cake for a wedding. And she topped it with lavender vanilla cream frosting. The taste wasn't something I'd want to try again, although it wasn't awful. It was just odd in a not-so-wonderful way.

Make sachets.

Herbes de provence?
Rock candy?
Lavender syrup?
Blend with goat cheese for a salad?
A really, really variant mojito???

It is a component of herbes de Provence, so pretty much any savory Provencal dish based on H de P will work with lavender, thyme, etc. I use lavender from time to time in an herb rub from roast chicken. It's a good substitute for rosemary in any rosemary application.

I like to dry lavender heads, then crumble them into a mortar and add coarse salt, then gring to a powder. Add this to salt crystals and use as a seasoning. Its a really good option on baked potato w/ sour cream.

You can also use it to flavor white wine vinegar, and use it many ways.

Lavender and Lemon Ice Cream? No recipe, just jumped in my head. Maybe like a Coldstone approach, softened Vanilla ice cream, mix in lavender and lemon zest. Or homemade.

I made a lavendar ice cream a couple of years ago and it received mixed reviews. Most people liked it or at least found it interesting. One person asked me why I had to make ice cream that tastes like toilet water.

Tee hee. I saw a recipe on the internet that said something like "don't bring lavender-based food to a house where they just made lavender soaps".

Thank you all for the great ideas!

Stuart, What ever happened to Charles? I know he closed the place in Walnut Creek years ago but have not heard anything about him since then.

Mike, I will not ask how your guest knew what toilet water tastes like. Probably a Bears fan.

Last I knew, he was slaving away at a restaurant in Santa Rosa. A superbly talented guy who just never broke through to become a Famous Chef.

I made a lavendar ice cream a couple of years ago and it received mixed reviews. Most people liked it or at least found it interesting. One person asked me why I had to make ice cream that tastes like toilet water.

You should have responded that unlike him, you had never tasted water out of a toilet......

Lavender shortbread cookies are a favorite of mine.

rwj

Dave,
Not to be a wet blanket here, but there have been recent articles in the NE Journal of Medicine that make the point that lavender has very high levels of phytoestrogens in it, and has been implicated in developmental problems in boys who were exposed to high levels of lavender. Phytoestrogens are also a risk factor for breast cancer, so you might want to be a bit careful who you serve your lavender goodies to.

Mark Lipton

[Jenise]

It is a component of herbes de Provence, so pretty much any savory Provencal dish based on H de P will work with lavender, thyme, etc. I use lavender from time to time in an herb rub from roast chicken. It's a good substitute for rosemary in any rosemary application.

I like to dry lavender heads, then crumble them into a mortar and add coarse salt, then gring to a powder. Add this to salt crystals and use as a seasoning. Its a really good option on baked potato w/ sour cream.

You can also use it to flavor white wine vinegar, and use it many ways.

Bernie, you addressed the issues I'd planned to, so I'm tagging along with your note.

I smoked 20 pounds of sockeye salmon this past Sunday, and made several different attempts at flavoring. One of the most successful had herbs de provence in the sugar and salt cure, and lavendar petals were sprinkled over the last layering of honey (about half an hour before the filets were removed from the smoker). Very very pretty, and delicious.

Duck breasts pressed heavily into seasoned dried lavendar heads makes a delicious crust.

Lavendar ice cream--I've had it. Found it rather perfumey, but interesting.

I smoked 20 pounds of sockeye salmon this past Sunday

Didn't you find it hard to keep it lit.....

It would seem that given Mark's caveat on possible deleterious effects of an active ingredient in lavender, the safest way to use it would be in small amounts to flavour a dish rather than including huge dollops of it.

I wonder whether the petals in honey being in contact with the fish would impart much 'bad' material. One would think not......

[Jenise]

I smoked 20 pounds of sockeye salmon this past Sunday

Didn't you find it hard to keep it lit.....

It would seem that given Mark's caveat on possible deleterious effects of an active ingredient in lavender, the safest way to use it would be in small amounts to flavour a dish rather than including huge dollops of it.

I wonder whether the petals in honey being in contact with the fish would impart much 'bad' material. One would think not......

Probably not enough there to worry about. The cracked black pepper was probably my favorite of the bunch, though. And least favorite: 'gravlax', a combination dill and mustard seed. The seeds were an interesting texture but the dill added surprisingly little flavor, though I used a lot of it. It was like smoking just neutralized it.

Dave,
Not to be a wet blanket here, but there have been recent articles in the NE Journal of Medicine that make the point that lavender has very high levels of phytoestrogens in it, and has been implicated in developmental problems in boys who were exposed to high levels of lavender. Phytoestrogens are also a risk factor for breast cancer, so you might want to be a bit careful who you serve your lavender goodies to.

Mark Lipton

Mark,

I certainly do not think you are being a wet blanket. Thank you very much for the information and note of caution.

Not sure if your lavender has spent itself yet, mine has. But ran across this. Sounds like a nice use.

¼ C. fresh lavender buds
1 t. lemon zest
1 C. white wine vinegar

Wash and air dry buds in cool H2O. Let dry an hour. Add lavender and lemon zest to small jar, top with vinegar. Steep in sun at least 2 wks, up to 4. Shake daily.

Strain into non-reactive pan and simmer for a few minutes. Return vinegar to clean jar and cover tightly. Store up to a year.

Add to salads or dressings.

Or, to make Mark feel better, dilute 1 part vinegar in 8 parts water and use as skin toner!

Thanks Scott. My lavender got a late start this year due to flooding so they are still going strong now that the ground has dried out. I will try the combination you posted.

This weekend I'm thinking of using them in some mashed potatoes with cream, butter, camembert and roasted garlic.

Whatever you decide to do, lavender as part of the cooking process requires a very light touch. Like rosemary, it can easily overpower a dish. Let us know what you decided to do.

Take some zucchini, slice them lengthwise in about 3/16" thick slices, but not all the way to the stem so that the slices are still attached to one another at the end. Olive oil, diced shallot, finely chopped lavender, salt, and pepper go between the layers. Let it marinate about 10 minutes, then fan it out and grill. Plate it fanned out, and garnish with lavender.

Idea shamelessly stolen from the great Charles Downing.

Ah, yes, the great Charles Downing.

http://www.agjobs.org/resume/charlesdowning/senior/

Ahh, the great Joseph Carey:

http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/12883

A really, really variant mojito???

Not that variant out here in California, Jeff. (But then, few things are.)

Been to two places within the last couple of weeks where they make mojitos with lavender in them.

And lavender syrup is fairly commonplace in hipper bars

Lavender/basil mojito I had at the girl and the fig wasn't too shabby either. They did go light on the lavender, thank the FSM. Balance is everything.