Herb Store Favorites: 99 cents — with Pumpkin Soup Recipe

Herb Stores Favorites: Herbs, herbs, herbs…Olde Thyme Gardens revolved around herbs – growing them, cooking with them and crafting with them. In Herb Store Favorites, we bring you the favorites that we collected. Cheese Dilly Bread, Cranberry Orange Honey Nut Muffins, Green Rice, Lavender Shortbread, Rosemary Cookies and Lemon Verbena Buttermilk Pound Cake – along with a host of others.

The years the store was open as a brick and mortar, along with three annual Herb Fest’s in California gave us a nice collection of herbal recipes. Some we used in the store at various Open Houses and events. We got others from some of the food contests held in the store, and at the herb festivals.

Join us at the herb store, I think you’ll find something here that you’ll love!

FOR ONE WEEK ONLY — UNTIL SEPTEMBER 30TH — HERB STORE FAVORITES IS ONLY 99 CENTS!

To whet your appetite, and celebrate fall, here’s one of my favorite recipes:

Pumpkin Soup

This Pumpkin Soup is a great fall soup, especially in the fall. We served this at one of our ‘Make and Take Luncheon’s’ one year. During those luncheons we had a craft such as soapmaking or papermaking and also served lunch so that customers could take a quick class on a lunch hour. The soup was ready and in a crock pot for a quick first course as we gave instructions for the class. This is from the Sage Cottage Herb Garden Cookbook.

Ingredients:

1 TB oil
2 TB minced onion
2 cups canned or fresh pumpkin puree
1 tsp minced fresh rosemary (or ½ tsp dried & crushed)
4 cups tomato juice
½ tsp ground ginger
3 tsp toasted pumpkin seeds, if desired

Directions:

Add oil and onion to a 2-qt saucepan over median heat. Stir and cook until onion is translucent. Add remaining ingredients and cook over low heat for 15 minutes. Remove from heat, allow to cool slightly. Puree in a blender. Return to heat, adding a bit more tomato juice if the mixture seems too thick. Reheat without boiling. Garnish with toasted pumpkin seeds, if desired.

Red Bell Pepper Coulis, from Herb Store Favorites

As the weather begins changing and the days and nights begin cooling down, the abundance from the summer gardens also starts winding down to an end. Bell peppers should still be prolific…and perhaps you’re tired of your usual recipes. Here’s a tasty Red Bell Pepper Coulis, from Herb Store Favorites, that’s delicious served over some hot, fresh pasta.

Red Bell Pepper Coulis

Chef Leslie Sassamon shared this recipe with our herb group when she was the featured guest, teaching us how to prepare several herbal dishes for our luncheon. This was delicious served over warm, freshly made pasta.

Ingredients:

2 red bell peppers, washed 2 TB white wine vinegar 1 shallot, minced 1 tsp garlic, minced 1 TB olive oil ¼ cup heavy cream salt to taste black pepper to taste

Directions:

To roast red bell peppers, place directly over a gas flame on a cook top or under a broiler in the oven on high heat. Let skins of bell peppers blacken, turning to blacken the entire surface of the skin. Using tongs, place peppers in a bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let peppers stand at least 10 minutes, as the heat from the peppers under the wrap will act to steam the skin from the fleshy part of the pepper. Pell the skin from the pepper. Remove seeds and membrane. Cut into 1” pieces.

In a small sauté pan, sauté shallots and garlic in olive oil until soft. Reduce heat and add in white wine vinegar. Add in cream and continue to heat until cream is warm.

In a blender or food processor, add in red bell peppers and mixture from the sauté pan. Pulse to combine and then puree until a sauce has formed. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Reheat sauce in saucepan over low heat. Serve warm over warmed cooked pasta.

Makes about 2 cups sauce.

Herbs, herbs, herbs…Olde Thyme Gardens revolved around herbs – growing them, cooking with them and crafting with them. In Herb Store Favorites, we bring you the favorites that we collected. Cheese Dilly Bread, Cranberry Orange Honey Nut Muffins, Green Rice, Lavender Shortbread, Rosemary Cookies and Lemon Verbena Buttermilk Pound Cake – along with a host of others.

The years the store was open as a brick and mortar, along with three annual Herb Fest’s in California gave us a nice collection of herbal recipes. Some we used in the store at various Open Houses and events. We got others from some of the food contests held in the store, and at the herb festivals.

Join us at the herb store, I think you’ll find something here that you’ll love!

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Minted Apple Bread – from Herb Store Favorites

HERB STORE FAVORITES is in the final countdown! It’s almost here!

This is a re-release of a previously published cookbooklet, the results of three years of an herb and garden store and three annual herb festivals.

To tempt your taste buds, here’s one of the recipes in HERB STORE FAVORITES.

Minted Apple Bread

Connie Wilson won 3^rd place with her Minted Apple Bread. This is a moist batter bread with a little “tang” to it. Connie said this bread freezes well also.

Ingredients:

2 cups all-purpose flour ¾ cup brown sugar 1 TB baking powder ½ tsp baking soda ½ tsp salt 1 tsp cinnamon 2 TB fresh spearmint, minced 1 egg 1 cup unsweetened applesauce ¼ cup canola oil

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350°. Grease two 8” x 4” loaf pans and set aside.

In a large bowl, combine the flour, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon.

In a small bowl, stir together the spearmint, egg, applesauce and oil. Add to the dry ingredients. Stir until blended. Pour batter into loaf pans and bake for 45 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.