Tuesday, June 06, 2006

What's Growin' On: 6/6/06


Lemon Thyme

Realization Of The Day:
Some of the culinary herbs in my garden never actually make it into the kitchen--and it isn't because they die on me (okay, sometimes it is). But take this lemon thyme, for example. It's flourishing--and I have no idea what to do with it.

Any suggestions?

Minding The Moonsigns:
Today through Friday are fertile days in the second quarter. Don't know what this means? Click here to read my review of Louise Riotte's fascinating book, Astrological Gardening: The Ancient Wisdom of Successful Planting & Harvesting by the Stars.

Miscellaneous:
--Several weeks ago Fancy Free asked whether grass clippings used as mulch should be allowed to dry out first. This led to a little research on my end, and an informative article that is about 2/3 completed. I realize that she is probably still wondering about the answer to her simple question though, so until I get the article posted, here's what I learned:

Although I've used grass clippings in every stage from freshly cut to dried for several days, the popular opinion seems to be that you should let them dry out before applying them as mulch in the garden. Why? I'll explain that in the article. Thanks for your patience, Fancy Free.

--People often ask me how I find enough time to tend to the farm, garden, three blogs, and life in general. When things get really busy around the farm, I don't. And, for obvious reasons, the blogs get nudged toward the bottom of the priority list. This is one of those times. Bear with me, I should be back to more blogging soon.

13 comments:

  1. You should probably snip some and dry them for the (ominous music) coming Winter. You could also make some infused oil with your herbs.

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  2. Susan,
    Use it lemon marinades for chicken and fish. Add it to sauteed sugar snaps. Toss it into glazed carrots along with some mint.

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  3. my favorite thing to do with thyme is pairing it with cherry or grape tomatoes...

    first, i sautee the tomatoes (cut in half if they are bigger cherry/grape) in a cast iron skillet with olive oil and sea salt (i heat the skillet first). i leave them on, tossing, moving around for about 2 minutes.

    then, i take a handful of thyme, chop the heck out of it with my ulu and sprinkle on top.

    yum.

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  4. Lemon thyme I would definitely use in a roast chicken. Add sprigs under the skin and inside with lemon wedges. All the other ideas sound good too!

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  5. Here is a recipe for lemon-thyme cookies. I found this the other day when I was looking for regular thyme recipes. I haven't tried it though... yet.

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  6. Wow--I came by to offer my sympathy, because lemon thyme is one of those herbs that I thought about growing and then decided I had no idea how to use it...but the other commenters have some great ideas! Maybe lemon thyme goes on the list for next year...it's a really pretty herb.

    Genie
    The Inadvertent Gardener

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  7. I love lemon thyme as a garnish for grilled fish.

    Thanks to the others for some excellent ideas. Cool idea to use it in cookies!

    -Elizabeth

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  8. Grilled Lemon-Thyme Beef Steaks

    Ingredients
    • 4 well-trimmed boneless beef top loin (strip) or ribeye steaks, cut 1 inch thick (about 2-1/2 to 3 pounds)

    Seasoning
    • 3 tablespoons chopped fresh lemon thyme
    • 2 tablespoons minced garlic
    • 1 tablespoon freshly grated lemon peel
    • 1 tablespoon olive oil
    • 2 teaspoons coarse grind black pepper
    • 1 teaspoon salt

    Preparation
    1. Combine seasoning ingredients; press evenly onto beef steaks.

    2. Place steaks on grid over medium, ash-covered coals. Grill top loin steaks, uncovered, 15 to 18 minutes (ribeye steaks 11 to 14 minutes) for medium rare to medium doneness, turning occasionally.

    Makes 4 servings.

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  9. my lemon thyme is flourishing as well, much more than my plain english thyme. i'd use it in anything that calls for thyme. the scent is wonderful.

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  10. I've used fresh snippings of it to make a tea--tisane, if you want to be a stickler for correctness. It's really good with a bit of honey, and occasionally I throw some ginger in as well.

    I admit that I'm not up on the medicinal aspects of herbs, so you may want to check before you drink a whole lot of any kind of herbal tea--especially if you have any conditions or take any meds already. I seem to remember that thyme is supposed to be good for your airways/breathing, though.

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  11. Chefs are divided on whether lemon-thyme is delicious or tastes like Lemon Pledge but anywhere you could use thyme, you could use lemon-thyme.

    To follow up on Steven's graeat recommendation (because once we in America discovered fresh herbs, we forgot that dried herbs are better in long-cooked items), you could make maitre d'hotel butter by adding leaves from a few sprigs, garlic, pepper and some salt to a stick of butter. Mash it all together, wrap it up with plastic into a log shape and freeze it. You can use it all winter long.

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  12. I just planted lemon thyme this year for the first time, so I am excited to try some of these ideas.

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  13. Hello,
    Pardon, I notice all comments were from a long time ago, but I did want to say that lemon thyme is one of my favorite herbs. It mixes well in salads with olive oil and vinager, it gives a lemony taste to anything: cream cheese and dill dip, lemon thyme in mint tea...it's great!

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