Fruits of My Garden


Recently I shared with you the wonderful things growing in my garden.  As I write this a steady rain is pouring down on these lovely plants and I swear I can see them growing taller as they soak up the life giving water.

When I bought the lemon-verbena plant I wasn’t sure what I would use it for, but I found a recipe for Lemon-Verbena Blueberry muffins.  I whipped up a batch over the weekend and took them to work to share.  They may not look very pretty, but they are tasty.  I think in my next batch I might add a splash of lemon juice and a tad more milk.  These were more crumbly, like a scone than moist like a muffin.

Last night, worried that my first tomatoes might go bad before I had a chance to cook them up, I decided to make some bruschetta.  I was going to take it to work to share on crackers, but once I mixed it up and arranged a plate for the photo, I couldn’t resist eating.  Made for a refreshing dinner.

In a few days I will be visiting with my great-aunt who makes some of the best southern country cooking I know.  I am looking forward to swapping recipes with her.  Be sure to check back to see what I learn from her.  In the meantime, below is the recipe for the Lemon-Verbena Blueberry muffins.

  • 1 egg
  • 3/4 cup milk
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1/3 cup white sugar
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/3 cup chopped fresh lemon verbena
  • 1/4 cup cold butter
  • 1 cup fresh blueberries
Directions
  1. Preheat an oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Grease 12 muffin cups, or line pan with paper muffin liners. Whisk together the egg, milk, and vanilla extract until smooth; set aside.
  2. Place the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and lemon verbena into a food processor. Pulse until the lemon verbena has been finely chopped. Add the butter, and pulse quickly until finely chopped. Pour the flour mixture into a mixing bowl, and stir in the blueberries. Pour in the milk mixture, and stir until just moistened. Fill the prepared muffin cups 3/4 full.
  3. Bake in the preheated oven until golden and the tops spring back when lightly pressed, about 20 minutes. Allow to cool before serving.

3 thoughts on “Fruits of My Garden”

  2. Bruschetta is really quite simple.

    INGREDIENTS:
    1/4 French baguette, cut into 1/2 inch
    thick circles
    2 plum tomatoes, diced
    1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
    1/8 red onion, minced
    freshly ground black pepper
    3/4 clove garlic
    DIRECTIONS:
    You have scaled this recipe’s ingredients to yield a new amount (4). The
    directions below still refer to the original recipe yield (16).
    1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
    2. Combine tomato, basil, and red onion in a small mixing bowl; stir well.
    Season with freshly ground black pepper. Set aside.
    3. Arrange bread on a baking sheet. Place in oven, and bake until well toasted,
    approximately 5 minutes.
    4. Remove bread from oven, and transfer to a large serving platter. Let bread
    cool 3 to 5 minutes. Rub garlic into the top of each slice of toast; the toast
    should glisten with the garlic. Spoon the tomato mixture generously onto
    each slice, and serve

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