Jardin du Soleil Lavender Farm, Bath & Body Products

Start the summer learning to cook with lavender!!  The LAVENDER Cookbook by Sharon Shipley on sale now for $14.95 while supplies last!

"Add the subtle scent of lavender to aromatic jasmine rice and you get a new side dish fit for company- and easy enough for quick weeknight meals.  Take your choice of mushrooms. Cremini and Shiitake are especially good. I like to prepare the pilaf in a rice cooker.  If you don't have one, use a covered 2-quart casserole dish and bake the rice at 350 F for 20 to 25 minutes."

Ingredients

1 tbls. dried Jardin du Soleil Certified Organic Culinary Lavender
2 tsp. mustard seeds
1/2 tsp. fennel seeds
2 tbls. extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 lb. mixed mushrooms, diced
1 cup uncooked jasmine rice
1/2 cup finely diced shallot
1/2 cup finely diced green onions
1/2 tsp. sea salt
1/4 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
2 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth

Combine the lavender, mustard seeds, and fennel seeds in the spice grinder.  Pulse until finely ground.

Warm oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the mushrooms and saute` for 7 minutes, or until golden and the liquid released my the mushrooms evaporates.  Add the rice, shallot, green onions, salt, pepper, and lavender mixture.

Transfer to the rice cooker and add the chicken broth.  Cook for 30 minutes, or until the rice is tender and the liquid has been absorbed.

This recipe is taken from page 136 of Sharon Shipley's The Lavender Cookbook,available here.

Mom always in the kitchen? This Mother's Day give her gifts she'll love to use! Spice up her pantry with Jardin du Soleil's certified organic Culinary Lavender, Lavender Pepper, and Herbs de Provence.Refresh her recipe collection with The Lavender Cookbook by Sharon Shipley.
Help pretty up her market fresh groceries with our ecoSilk reusable grocery bag.
Start Mother's Day off with a batch of our Lavender Apricot Scones with White Chocolate, and watch Mom tell you how perfect her day is!

Place your order online now to take advantage of our Mother's Day special offer of FREE SHIPPING WITH ONLINE ORDERS OF $50.00 OR MORE through May 9, 2010.

Show Mom your appreciation, and bake up some of these delicious homemade lavender scones!  If you're a stranger to the kitchen this easy-to-follow recipe is the right place to start. With a little culinary lavender everyone will marvel at your delectable thoughtfulness.

INGREDIENTS

2 1/2 cups self rising flour

2 tablespoons sugar

1 teaspoon certified organic Jardin du Soleil Culinary Lavender

6 tablespoons shortening
3/4 cup & 1 tablespoon milk

1/2 cup chopped dried apricots
1/2 white chocolate chips

Sift and measure the flour.
Re-sift flour with sugar.
Work shortening with flour and sugar with fingers.
Add Apricots, White Chocolate Chips, and Lavender; mix thoroughly.
Add milk to mixture and form into a ball.
Note: if you prefer smaller scones, divide mixture into two smaller pieces. 
Turn out on to a floured board, pat into a round, and cut into wedge shaped pieces.
Bake about 15 minutes at 450 degrees on an ungreased baking sheet.
Enjoy!

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This week we've been cooking a lot with lavender.  We've used Jardin du Soleil Certified Organic Culinary Lavender flowers tossed in almost every salad, or mixed with a combo of vinegar, honey, mustard, salad oil , salt and pepper for our own dressings.  We also added our Culinary Lavender to a savory potato soup.  I baked scones using fresh ground lavender, white chocolate and apricot [shown in picture]. It's easy to add Jardin du Soleil Certified Organic Culinary Lavender into your every day meals.  Savory dishes that usually have sage, thyme, rosemary, or basil can benefit greatly from culinary lavender, and you'll be praised for your innovative palette pleasing idea.
Sweet dishes, with our lavender added, seem to take on a "comfort food" kind of appeal, even if you didn't grow up with using lavender in food.

So explore our posted lavender recipes, follow our blog weekly for added recipes, and have fun incorporating  Jardin du Soleil Certified Organic Culinary Lavender into your home cooking.  You'll be pleasantly surprised!