Definition of a Chef

"He is a professional craftsman. He is a cook. He takes fowl from the air; fish from the waters; fruit, vegitables, and grain from the land; and animals that walk the earth, and through his skills and art transforms the raw product to edible food. He serves to sustain life in man, women, and child. He has the sacred duty through his efforts and art to sustain and maintain the healthy bodies that God has given us to house our souls." (a fourteenth century guild manual, author unknown)

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Friday, May 21, 2010

Some Fun With Lemon Balm (does that rhyme?)




Just got home from working, and there was this mysterious plant just chillin by the porch, it looked like a huge mint plant. Anyway when I went on the Internet on a botany website I identified it as a lemon balm plant, (turns out my mom got it from a lady that has it growing wild!), and believe you me this thing smelled really good! And not only did I find out that it is therapeutic, and an ingredient in many teas, I found out that you could cook with lemon balm. Basically they said to just use lemon balm like mint or lemon for a substitute in recipes. So the next day i whipped up some lemon balm tea cakes with lemon curd, and my take on lemonade called lemon "balmaid", it was over the top good!!! well I'm posting some pics of my creations as well as the recipes!!! Enjoy!

Lemon Balm Tea Cake
3/4 cup milk
4T. Bruised Lemon Balm
2c. AP Flour
1 1/2 t. Baking Powder
1/4t. Salt
7T. Softened Butter
1c. Sugar
2 Eggs
1T. Lemon Zest

  1. -Place milk ans lemon balm in saucepan and heat until scalded, cool, strain out leaves
  2. -Sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt.
  3. -Cream together butter and sugar until fluffy, add eggs one at a time.
  4. -Add the lemon zest and the cooled milk
  5. -Stir in the flour, mix just until combined.
  6. -Pour batter in greased loaf pan, bake at 325F for 40 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.
  7. -Slice and enjoy with lemon curd, recipe follows.

Lemon Curd
Zest and juice of two large lemons
85 grams lightly salted butter
200g granulated sugar
3 large farm fresh eggs
  1. -Whisk all of the ingredients together over a double boiler until thick and can coat a spoon.
  2. -Make sure to not stop whisking lol
  3. -Cool, strain, and pour over teacakes, enjoy!!!

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