Bang For Your Buck Seasonality
It has started. The drying racks and dehydrator are full of herbs. The freezer has started to refill after a season of emptying. I've cried twice in the garden, certain that I will never ever keep on top of the weeds, whilst simultaneously trying to plant everything out and also wondering where I thought a tray of 100+ amaranth plants were going to go. We host farm visits and foraging walks most days, filling my basket and fridge as we go of the seasonal finds I pass enroute.
I have always cringed when I meet people who say how busy we seem. Personally, I don't like the glorification of being busy in our culture and would hate to contribute to it...or worse make anyone feel cad because we "seem" to achieve a lot. We don't. I have the laundry pile and weeds to prove it.
My dad always says "you can do anything you want, just not everything you want" and that has become our unofficial motto this year. I desperately want to make all of the jams and cakes and pies and have an immaculate house and garden and children and sew that quilt and repaint the kitchen and host all the friends and run the killer business and and and...but a day full of visits and children and feeding all the above usually means I need to pare down my expectations and keep things simple.
So we drop and hone and simplify and focus on the basics so that we can actually enjoy this full season to the max. For us, deeply seasonal and close to the land eating is our personal and business focus, which means laundry will have to wait until we run out of pants.
A Recipe for Compound Butter
One of our best "hacks" for this time of year (other than our beloved trick of chopping up fresh rhubarb and freezing it in trays as it comes into season, no blanching), is making compound butters. Really that is just a fancy way of saying "butter with stuff mixed into it" and it is such a lovely and big-bang-for-your-buck way of preserving the season. Fats make an excellent vehicle for flavour and seasonal herbs can be frozen and preserved with minimal effort for use throughout the year.
The formula is really simple -
1. soften your favourite butter or substitute and mix in chopped fresh herbs
2. form into a log and wrap in baking parchment. Label them with a sharpie
3. stick in the freezer until you are ready to use
You will want to experiment with amounts of herb to butter ratio - some are more potent than others, so a taste test as you mix is a must.
You can use them on bread or scones or in cooking as a great way to season your food.
Some of the flavours we love are:
Wild Garlic & Chive (don't forget to use the edible flowers of both for colour and the green seeds of the wild garlic are AMAZING in this...little pops of flavour). We use this in our garlic bread for pizza and its delicious
Ground Elder and Garlic - again, great on pizza or garlic bread
Sorrel and Lemon - delicious on fish and I don't even like fish
Yarrow - I use this like I would sage butter with pumpkin
Wild flower & honey - lilac and sweet cicely with some of the last of our honey has been a huge hit served with scones in the garden.
Compound butters
Ingredients
- Butter
- Herbs of your choice
Method
- Soften your favourite butter or substitute and mix in chopped fresh herbs
- Form into a log and wrap in baking parchment. Label them with a sharpie
- Stick in the freezer until you are ready to use
- You will want to experiment with amounts of herb to butter ratio - some are more potent than others, so a taste test as you mix is a must.
- You can use them on bread or scones or in cooking as a great way to season your food.
Notes:
Some of the flavours we love are:
- Wild Garlic & Chive (don't forget to use the edible flowers of both for colour and the green seeds of the wild garlic are AMAZING in this...little pops of flavour). We use this in our garlic bread for pizza and its delicious
- Ground Elder and Garlic - again, great on pizza or garlic bread
- Sorrel and Lemon - delicious on fish and I don't even like fish
- Yarrow - I use this like I would sage butter with pumpkin
- Wild flower & honey - lilac and sweet cicely with some of the last of our honey has been a huge hit served with scones in the garden.
