Paper Chef #9 - Flowers and Chillies?

Dang, it’s time for Paper Chef already? It only feels like it’s been four weeks since the last one! Can you believe how time flies by? Still, it’s amazing how exciting Paper Chef can be. I like the whole angle of working around a set of predetermined ingredients. I like it a lot. For instance, Lavender (well, Edible Flowers was the idea but who could resist Owen’s alluring suggestion of lavender?) is something I’ve never really cooked with before. Hell, I’ve barely even smelt lavender. And I’ve got news for you; lavender smells good. It also tastes good.

Lavender is a member of the lamiaceae family, or ‘mint’ to us non-botanist types. Other members of this wonderful family are basil, rosemary, thyme, oregano, sage and – this is the shocker – mint. The word Lavender comes from the latin “lavandus”, meaning “to be washed.” It’s shot to fame thanks to it’s perfume and medicinal properties. The flowers are full of top quality nectar, which can be used to make honey that sells for mucho dollar. Lavender also was used to fend off the plague by the glove makers of Grasse (the lavender fends off fleas). This little purple plant is (or was) native to Greece, France and Spain and it believed to have been taken to England by the Romans, where it has become a staple flower in every self-respecting Brit’s garden.

But, still, looking at the ingredients list; lavender and dried chillis? What on Earth can I possibly do with that? Surely that’s a taste combination that makes no sense! Of course, as I was totally unaware as to the taste of lavender I didn’t really have a foundation to base this claim on. Such is the beauty of the Paper Chef event. The other ingredients on the list were Peaches, Dried Chillies and a local ingredient of your own choosing.

An extra spin on the proceedings this month was the promise of bonus points to anyone that made an effort to get all their ingredients locally. Well, this luckily coincided with my local farmer’s market on Saturday morning. A quick trip up there and I had managed to score myself some beautiful coriander, pork and onion. I already had some locally produced honey at home, and I managed to get (ok, steal) some lavender from both my grandma and my girlfriend’s gardens (god bless ‘em). The chillies proved a problem; I was hoping to procure some from Peppers by Post, a chilli company – who also provided the inspiration for my mousse - just down the road from where I am. Unfortunately, I didn’t manage to get around to this and had to settle for a bag of dried whole chilli that my girlfriend got from a local Asian food store. I’ve also used tinned fruit for the mousse, and my spices and condiments have come from god knows where. Still, it was nice shopping around locally. People are a lot more interesting at Farmer’s Markets than the 16 year old sod that’s ringing your food through the till at Tesco’s.

Now that I’ve got all my ingredients, it was time to get cooking. But, what to make? I had my (local) pork, peaches and chillies and – a quick ferret about in the internet later – I decided to make a salsa out of the peaches and use the chillies and lavender to marinade the pork.

Lavender and Chilli Pork with Peach Salsa

Peach Salsa

Ingredients

• 4 Ripe Peaches
• 1 Small Red Onion
• Jalapeno
• Lemon Juice
• Coriander (Cilantro?)

Method

1. Finely chop red onion and jalapeno and mix with coarsely chopped peaches and coriander. Cover and refrigerate for a minimum of a couple of hours. The salsa is best served on the day it is made.

Chilli and Lavender Pork

• 500g Pork Tenderloin (my local ingredient of this dish)

For the brine:

• 1 cup white wine vinegar
• 1 cup light brown sugar
• 1 cup sea (or whatever you like) salt
• 1 tbsp whole black peppercorns
• 2 cups cold, cold water

For the marinade:

• 6 dried whole chillis
• 1 and a ½ tsp dried lavender
• 1 tsp minced garlic
• 1 tbsp rapeseed/vegetable oil
• 1 tbsp ground cumin
• 2 tsp sea salt
• 2 tsp black pepper
• ½ cup honey

Method

1. For the brining stage, mix the sugar, salt and peppercorns and pour over some hot vinegar. Leave the flavour to infuse for 5-10 minutes, ensuring that the sugar and salt are dissolved. Pour over cold water and leave for another 5-10 minutes, or until the water is cold.
2. Add the pork, cover and leave in the fridge for 3-4 hours.
3. Now it’s time to add the marinade. Mix the chillis, lavender, garlic, cumin, salt and pepper and throw into a blender. Add the oil and honey and mix until you’ve got a fine paste. Slather over the pork and put back into the fridge for another 3-4 hours.
4. Preheat the oven to Gas 4/350 F/180 C about 20 minutes before you heat a cast iron skillet over high heat until very hot. Add 1tbsp of oil to the skillet, then sear the pork until you have a good colour (about 1 minute 30 to 2 minutes).
5. Finish the pork off in the oven until it reaches an internal temperature of about 70 C/160 F. Leave to rest for 10 minutes before slicing thin vertical strips out of the tenderloin. Arrange on plate with salsa and some lavender to garnish.

Was it nice? You bet your bottom lip it was. But, there was still something missing. I wanted a fruity dessert. Peaches taste nice in dessert. So, I made up a second course. Ok, I made the second course up in advance so I could eat it straight after the pork. I like to be prepared.

Hot and Fruity Mousse with Lavender Honey

Ingredients

• 420g Tin of Peaches
• 227g Tin of Pineapple
• 2tbsp Lemon Juice
• 100g Caster Sugar
• 284ml Whipping Cream (my local ingredient. Dorset cream is a wonderful experience, by the way)
• 6 Egg Whites
• 1/4tsp Cayenne
• 22g Crystal Gelatine
• 1/8 cup lavender flowers
• 1 cup honey

Method

1. Simmer lavender flowers in honey over a double boiler for about an hour. Put in a jar and leave to cool. You can store this stuff like you would honey and it tastes great on scones and the like.
2. Wallop the peaches and the pineapple – syrup and all - into a blender alongside the cayenne and lemon juice. Whiz until you’ve got a nice smooth paste. Dissolve the gelatine in as little liquid as possible and add to the mix. Whizz again.
3. Whip cream in a mixing bowl until, well, whipped and then fold into the mixture.
4. Whisk whites until stiff and then, yes, fold into the mixture.
5. Spoon the mixture into eight ramekins. The leftovers can be put in some other bowls that are suitable for serving.
6. Refrigerate for about 4 hours.
7. To serve, drizzle a couple of teaspoons of honey over the top of the mousse and leave for a few seconds for it to cover the dish. Garnish with some fruit or something, or just leave on its own.

This was also nice. Simple and cheap. I love using Cayenne in desserts because it’s like a spicy aftertaste kick. Lavender honey is also unbelievably delicious.