Lemon Verbena!
Who knew it was so simple? Simply put the leaves in a pot, pour boiling water over the top and steep for a few minutes. The result is remarkably refreshing: sweet and citric with a cool green complexity. Even better over ice.
Leave your thoughtsFound the first local apricots at the farmers' market this weekend They're so lovely, and the scent they send into the air as they sit on the kitchen counter is endlessly seductive. But I bought too many, don't want to refrigerate them, so the ones we haven't eaten go into this quick, delicious jam.
Fresh Apricot Jam
¼ cup water
1 ¼ cups sugar
2 pounds apricots, including skin, pulled apart, divided
vanilla bean, optional
juice of half a lemon
Stir the sugar and water together in a small heavy bottomed saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer, stirring until clear, 1-2 minutes.
Pull apart the apricots, and add half of them to the syrup. Simmer until they disintegrate, stirring, for about 10 minutes.
Add the remaining apricots and vanilla bean, and stir for another 5-7 minutes, until the apricots soften.
Remove the vanilla bean. Slice it the long way, and run a knife along the inside edge to remove the seeds. Stir the seeds into the jam.
Add the lemon juice and cook for another 3 minutes.
This will keep well in the refrigerator for a couple of weeks – but it's unlikely to last that long.
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The joy of this drink is that you don’t have to engage in the tedious task of removing the pits from the cherries. You do, however, have to remove the stems from a quart (about 2 pounds) of sour cherries and toss them into a blender until they’ve turned into a rough mush. Some of the pits will be chopped too; that’s fine because you’re going to put them in a strainer and press hard, extracting as much puree as you can. Discard the solids.
Put the cherry puree into a pitcher and stir in the juice of four lemons, and about a half cup of sugar. (If you like things really sour, you might want less; if you’ve got a sweet tooth, you’ll want more.)
This will keep for a day or two in the refrigerator, but after that it becomes rather murky. When you’re ready to drink the lemonade, pour into glasses and add water (or sparkling water) to taste.
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You know how you take your canvas bag to the farmers' market and always end up putting the peaches in your pocketbook so they don't get crushed beneath the potatoes? I always show up with lots of little bags, and still find myself balancing the eggs on top of my head.
Well, not anymore. I've just discovered this fantastically functional market bag designed by scientist and food blogger Darya Pino. The perfect little compartments provide pockets for stalks of this and bunches of that – even an outside pocket for a loaf of bread. Instead of canvas it's made of breathable nylon. Good idea: everything in its place.
$25 from quirky.com
Leave your thoughtsVegetarian Worcestershire Sauce? I have to admit I was skeptical. How could anyone make decent Worcestershire sauce without anchovies, which contribute so much to the flavor? When I found this Bourbon Barrel
version I bought it out of simple curiosity . I brought it home and tasetd it against the classic Lea & Perrins that I always have in my pantry. To my surprise, this new version blew the classic out of the water; its rich, round, warm flavor made the old one seem like a one-note wonder, and rather acrid to boot. The Bourbon Barrel Worcestershire is a little sweet, but very complex. It's going to be wonderful in barbecue sauce, and it should do great things to Caesar Salad. I can also imagine it sprinkled onto vegetables, tossed into stews, and I can't wait to see what it does to a pot of black beans.
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