It's great to have friends, and even more so when they give you the gift of interesting new flavors to try. In the photo is Za'atar, Hyssop, Sea Vegetables, Claudia's Fantastic Fish Blend, hand gathered fennel pollen, and home-grown California Laurel Leaves. Much, much thanks to Christine, CookieCrumb and Cranky, and my friend Laura (from school) for the thoughtful gifts, and my apologies that it's taken me so long to get them photographed for a proper thanks. Speaking of taking so long, I also need to thank Sean who gave me some of this, but when my young nephews were visiting we ate it all before I managed to take a photo. (Most delicious drizzled over waffles!)Several of these are things I've never cooked with before, but don't you think some of these look perfect to research for Weekend Herb Blogging? Let me know in the comments if anyone has good ideas for using them.
10 comments:
Gifts from friends are my favorite way to discover new pantry items. And travel, of course! How lucky you are to have such a wonderful variety of new tastes to explore.
foodie gifts are the best :D my contribution to WHB this week is all about bay leaves, go figure :D
Oooh....I can't wait to see how you use za'atar! I believe it's most popularly used as a seasoning on breads, right? I would love to use it in a SBD friendly way. I have friends who live in Jerusalem who rave about it.
I have only recently found your blog, and I am loving it. My husband and I are starting SBD (again) next week, and I'm excited about your great collection of diet-friendly recipes!
Lydia, can't wait to try some of them. But I do agree, the very best way to discover new tastes has to be travel. Since I was traveling to San Francisco when I got some of these, I got the best of both!
Sarina, can't wait to see what you use bay leaves for in Trinidad. It's funny, but I never think about certain herbs as growing there, but of course they would.
Amber, thanks. On the package of the Za'atar,the label said "sprinkle on top of salad or tomatoes." I have a friend from Iran who says when someone says salad in that part of the world they mean tomatoes, cucumber, and onions, with chopped mint, parsley, lemon juice, and olive oil. I have that recipe in my archives, and I think it would be fantastic with Za'atar sprinkled on, so that's something I'll try soon.
Mm. Za'atar is good sprinkled over a falafel sandwich, too.
Hey, Kalyn! Thanks for the thanks. You are too good. I hope the laurel leaves had dried out sufficiently before you put a lid on the jar!! Eep. I bet they'll be fine. And while they're *grown* in California, the variety is actually Greek laurel.
And, may I add again: How lovely it was to meet you!
Cookiecrumb, ditto in a big way on the lovely to meet you. And don't forget about coming to Utah. I have tested the sofa bed and it's definitely do-able. In fact I slept there and gave my nephews my bedroom, and I can give you and Cranky the same deal!
Just checked the the Greek laurel leaves are dry as a bone. Ready for bean soup or something lovely! Thanks again!
Well, I can speak some to your "Sea Veggie Mix" It contains nori, wakame, kombu, and sea palm which I don't know of a recipe that uses all of these, but I know recipes which use nori, wakame and kombu as they are staples in Japanese kitchens. Nori is what sushi is wrapped in, but you can also use it sprinkled over rice, eggs, and tofu pretty easily. Tastes good in combination with sesame seeds as a sprinkle too. Wakame is what you typically see as seaweed in miso soup. Kombu is mostly used to flavor simmered dishes like yudofu, or oden and many others. Too long to write recipes here. If anything sounds appealing drop me a note and I'll give you a more specific recipe.
Go easy on the fennel pollen - it can be potent stuff (and can get right up your nose if you're allergic to pollen). But it has a fantastic flavour!
Holy cats, this post escaped me until now -- didn't see it in Bloglines, but just came across it while scanning Technorati. Anyway, you're welcome, and glad you and your nephews enjoyed it so!
XO
Sean
Sean, no worries, and the strawberry syrup/jam was delish!
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