Monarda in the Kitchen

Last week I posted a blog about the glorious beebalm blooming in my garden. I’ve had some requests as to how to cook with it, so here are a few of my favorite recipes.

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Last workweek I posted a blog about the brilliant beebalm bloom in my garden . I ’ve had a few request as to how to cook with it , so here are some of my preferent recipe .

Might I remind you here , thatthe red - flowered monarda , Monarda didyma , has a tea - like aroma and flavor with a pinch of citrous fruit , which is delightful in beverages , with fruit and in desserts from cakes to custards and frosting cream . With the elision ofMonarda citriodora(lemon monarda ) , all of the other monardas with blooms in lavendar , snowy , pink , purple and fuschia contain carvacrol , which fall in them a flavor like to a spicy oregano – these should not be used in the surveil formula . If you are not certain – tone and smack your monarda – and you will fuck .

I must say that I love bergamot with smasher and Prunus persica nectarina and I create many magnetic variation on that theme . I like them simply macerated together , manifestly or with yogurt . And I often put them on shortcakes ( baked with the red flowers in the dough ) with whipping emollient . I make a peach and plum patty and macerate the flowers and leaves with the yield and also chop them and put them in the cake batter . And I practice them in all sorts of combinations with other seasonal fruit and make unsubdivided fruit salads like the following one .

Here is one of my favorite formula for monarda – Summer Fruit Salad with Monarda – it is so simple and so delicious:/item/4782 / summer - fruit - salad - with - monarda

attempt something as simple as rubbing a beebalm leaf around the brim of your frost tea or lemonade shabu , stream your drinkable over methamphetamine hydrochloride and float a few of the scarlet blossom on top .

mightily now , I have some of the bright crimson flowers infusing in vodka , which might just stay a vestige , or it could twist into a cordial . I also have some of the blooms turn in a water kefir ; I ’ve made them with other herbs like lemon balm , lemon vervain and mint , however the bergamot is a new creative activity / experimentation .

The following formula is smashing for breeze and potlucks , since they can be made ahead and travel well . They are popular because they are unlike from the normal cookie - bar selection . I often refer to them as “ Bergamot Bars ” .

Blondies with Monarda and Apricots

For the best flavor , these measure should be made with unseasoned butter for a good butterscotch gustation . Use the flowers and/or leave of the ruddy - floweredMonarda didymafor this recipe – they have a citrusy , tea leaf - same flavor – many of the others taste more like oregano . Orange mint , Mentha aquatica‘Citrata ’ is a expert option to the wild bergamot .

make believe 32 cake

1 cupful ( 2 sticks ) unsalted butter1 1/3 cup pack , light chocolate-brown sugar or demerara sugar2/3 cup constitutive cane sugarAbout 1 cupful dried apricotsAbout 1/2 cup monarda flowers and/or leave or orange great deal leaves , generally packed2 cups unbleached flour1./2 cup whole - wheat flour2 teaspoon baking powder1 teaspoon salt3 extra - large eggs1 1/2 teaspoonful pure vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 F. Butter a 13 x 9 x 2 - inch cooking pan .

In a heavy - bottomed saucepan , melt the butter over average - scurvy heat . When melted , add the brown sugar and shift . Cook over average - low-toned heat , stirring , until the browned carbohydrate is thick and syrupy , for about 4 minutes . Stir in the cane sugar until it is thaw and remove the pan from the heat to chill .

Thinly slice the apricot tree crosswise . Wash , dry , and coarsely chop the monarda or orange peck leaves , there should be about 3 tablespoon of chopped herb ; leave flower blossom whole .

merge the flour , broil pulverization , and salinity in a bowl and arouse to blend . Sprinkle 1 tablespoon of the flour mixture over the apricots and cast out to coat them light .

shell the eggs into the lovesome brown sugar and butter mixture ( it should not be red-hot ) to commingle thoroughly . Add the vanilla and stir well .

teem the liquid ingredients into the flour and agitate until it is just blended . Add the apricot and wild bergamot and budge until they are just mixed in . stream the slugger into the prepared pan and broil in a preheated oven for 35 minute , until the top is a inscrutable golden brownness . permit to cool off completely on a baking wheel before cutting into stripe .

This recipe is excerpted fromnot just sweet - sweet herbal recipesby Susan Belsinger , herbspirit , 2005 usable atwww.susanbelsinger.com .

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Monarda didyma, also known as beebalm, bergamot and Oswego tea is a wonderful perennial herb, both in the garden and the kitchen. Use the showy scarlet blooms and leaves to flavor beverages, fruits and desserts.Photo/Illustration: Susan Belsinger

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