lavender recipes/uses needed

I have quite a lot of lavender in borders; probably in excess of 50 plants. I just adore the smell of it and keep wanting to put all these to use.

Does anyone have some good recipes, or ideas on what I can make with the lavender, like oils, lavender water, drying, ect.?

The cooking part I can help you with. It's great with meats, it can be made into jam/jelly, infused into ice cream, custards, vinegars. Lavender is wonderful in lemonade and roasted with tomatoes. I had a friend who used lavender flowers to flavor her lemon bread. It was really yummy. It is also used in Herbes de Provence:
1 tablespoon dried basil
1 tablespoon marjoram
1 tablespoon summer savory
1 tablespoon thyme
2 teaspoons orange zest
1 crushed bay leaf
1 teaspoon lavender
1 teaspoon fennel

Best for cooking: Melissa, Munstead, Jean Davis, and Hidcote. Only use the flowers. Less is more. Whatever you can add mint or citrus to, so too, you can add lavender.

I found this site exceptional for recipes..

http://whatscookingamerica.net/Lavender.htm

Shakespeare's Tea

Ingredients
1 cup dried Lavender blooms
2 cups roughly cut dried Peppermint
1 cup dried Summer Savory
1 cup dried Sweet Marjoram
1 cup dried whole Calendula blooms

Method
Here is a dried tea blend to keep you young and warm-blooded all winter!
Collect your herbs mid-summer and rub off the stems when dried.
Crumble the Peppermint leaves to match the size of the other greens.
If your Calendulas are huge, break in half when dry.

*NB: Use 1 tsp. per cup: in a pot add 1 tsp. per person and 1 for the pot!

Steep 3 minutes.
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Lavender Apple Biscuits
Apple part:

3 -5(if small) baking apples ( Stayman, York, Granny Smith etc. ) peeled, sliced and diced small.
¾ cup white sugar
¼ cup brown sugar
zest from 1 lemon, chopped
2 TB. Organic lavender buds – grind together with ¼ cup of the white sugar in blender or 2nd coffee grinder. Don’t use your daily grinder.
lemon juice

Combine all ingredients, let sit overnight, strain before adding to biscuits.

Biscuits
2 cups Bisquick
¾ cup French Vanilla liquid creamer -available in dairy section of grocery stores.
Lavender apples from above.

Follow directions for basic rolled biscuits adding strained apples.

Serve with honey or apple butter.

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Lavender Glazed Meatballs
1 lb ground lamb
1 egg
1/2 soft breadcrumbs
1 tsp dried lavender buds, crushed
1/2 tsp each garlic powder, black pepper, and oregano
1/4 tsp each cinnamon, coriander, and cayenne
2 tbsp lavender jelly

Lightly mix together all ingredients except jelly. Form into balls about the size of walnuts. In a cast iron or non-stick skillet, brown meatballs on all sides over medium heat. When meatballs are done, add lavender jelly to skillet. Stir gently to thoroughly glazed the meatballs. Serve with rice pilaf and a green salad.

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LAVENDER LEMON CHICKEN

Serves: 4

Skill level: Intermediate

1/3-1/2 cup butter, room temperature
2 teaspoons dried culinary lavender
1 teaspoon dried thyme
3 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 teaspoon lemon zest
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/2 large onion
1 (4-7) pound chicken
1/4 cup dry vermouth
1/2 cup chicken stock
1-2 tablespoons flour or Wondra

In a small bowl or mortar and pestle coarsely crush lavender and thyme.
Then stir together with butter, zest, and salt and pepper until well combined.
Spoon mixture onto a sheet of plastic wrap and form into a 4-inch log.
Chill compound butter, until firm, at least 30 minutes, and up to 3 days.

Preheat oven to 400° F.

Rinse chicken; pat dry. Reserve 2 tablespoons herb butter for gravy.
Slide hand under skin of chicken breast to loosen skin from meat
and place in slices of the herb butter. Spread remaining herb butter over outside of chicken.
Truss chicken. Place the chicken in a flameproof roasting pan.
Slice the onion into large pieces and scatter around the chicken.

Arrange birds in a flameproof roasting pan.
Roast bird in middle of oven until an instant-read thermometer inserted in thickest part
of a thigh (be careful not to touch bone) registers 170° to 175° F. It will take roughly
55-65 minutes for a four pound chicken and 8 minutes more per every pound
over that. Lift chicken and tilt, emptying any juices from cavity into roasting pan.
Remove the chicken to the platter, cover loosely, and make the following sauce.

Add vermouth to pan. Place pan over high heat; bring vermouth to boil,
scraping up any browned bits and onions. Strain the mixture into cup with pan juices.
Spoon fat off. Pour back into the pan. Bring to a simmer; melt reserved
2 tablespoons herb butter in heavy medium saucepan over medium-high heat.
Add flour or Wondra; whisk until smooth. Serve with gravy.

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Lavender Cookies



2 sticks unsalted butter or margarine, room temperature
1 cup superfine sugar
1/2 tsp. sea salt
2 free-range eggs, well beaten
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp. lavender buds
2-1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
In a large bowl, cream the butter, sugar, and salt until fluffy. Add the beaten eggs and vanilla. Mix well. Add in the flour and mix on low speed just until the dough is coming together. Sprinkle in the lavender buds and fold in gently. (don't over mix).

Divide the dough into two mounds and wrap up well in plastic. Chill in the refrigerator for one hour at least.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Flour your work surface and unwrap the dough. Take half of it out and wrap up the other half to keep chilled in the fridge while you work. Roll out the dough with a floured rolling pin, taking care not to overwork or overstretch the tender dough.

Cut out shapes of hearts, full moons, stars and crescents. Carefully move the cookie shapes to nonstick cookie sheets, placing them 1/2 inch apart, fitting as many as possible on each sheet.

Bake, two sheets at a time, until the cookies are golden brown, about 6-8 minutes. Use a thin spatula to move the hot cookies to a rack to cool. Store in an airtight container when cool.

Makes about 3 dozen.

Serving idea: Serve in the afternoon with cold, fresh lemonade or iced tea with mint springs.

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Lavender Lemonade

This lemonade cannot be made using the method above, because the lavender must be infused in a sugar syrup, as you’ll see. Still, the result is a delicious beverage, with a beautiful color - all the more wonderful for the unique use of lavender from your garden. Hidcote lavender will turn the lemonade a rosy-pink color; other types of lavender will make a paler beverage. Do NOT use pine-smelling lavenders such as “spike” lavender - they’re too resin-y for good flavor. Dried lavender may also be used.

To make 1 1/2 Quarts (6-8 servings)

1/4 cup fresh lavender blooms - stems removed before measuring Note: 1 tablespoon, dried lavender may be substituted for 1/4 cup of fresh additional lavender sprigs for garnish, if desired
1 cup, sugar
5 cups, good-tasting water - divided use
1 cup, fresh-squeezed lemon juice

In a saucepan, mix the sugar with 2 1/2 cups of the water. Bring to a boil, stirring, to dissolve the sugar. Add the lavender to the hot sugar syrup, remove from heat, and allow to steep for at least 20 minutes - and up to several hours, as desired. Strain; discard solids. Add the lemon juice and the remaining 2 1/2 cups of water. Stir - the color will change. Chill, or serve over ice. Garnish, if desired with sprigs of fresh lavender.

Oh my! Thanks to you all for the recipes.

I have to sheepishly add though that I was actually looking for perfume type recipes or instructions. I would like to make lavender water for scenting sheets. Or other perfume type uses for the lavender.

I don't cook all that much!

A bunch of recipes including lavender water from fresh flowers: http://www.seasoned.com/issues/199908/c.mh.sp.html

Lavender-infused oil: http://www.nutritionearth.com/prac/index.php?top=7&action=view&id=66

Sachets etc.: http://www.comfycountrycreations.com/lavender.htm

Old-fashioned recipe for lavender water: http://www.publicbookshelf.com/public_html/The_Household_Cyclopedia_of_General_Information/lavenderw_bjb.html

Medieval perfumery (even more old-fashioned!): http://www.lehigh.edu/~jahb/herbs/oil&water.html

flit

THANKS!!

You're welcome, and I hope they're helpful!

I found a method for doing enfleurage when I was poking around, too, but it looked pretty insane so didn't post it... involved putting multiple changes of fresh blossoms between plates covered with lard, then extracting with alcohol.

Here's a couple more links for you to look at.

http://www.hgtv.com/hgtv/ah_personal_care_other/article/0,1801,HGTV_3148_1384938,00.html

http://www.hgtv.com/hgtv/pac_ctnt_lnb_gutter/text/0,1783,HGTV_3938_4929,FF.html
(scroll down to 'projects and resources')