As a professional chef and home cook health advocate couple that love to cook together, we are always looking to create with what we have easily available to us. Lavender is one of those items that Dario has cooked with in restaurants for years and Anita knows much of the health properties to lavender.  

This year at Passion Is Cooking we started a garden, in Ontario, as so many others have around the globe due to the Covid Pandemic worldwide. People are realizing the importance to being sustainable again and growing your own food, buying local and travelling local.  

With all the stress that is brewing across the globe lavender is one of the calming flowers you can use for its aroma, juicing and cooking properties. It has a strong flavour and smell that can be used for various things.  

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Tips and Benefits For Lavender Use:

Here we share some ideas and recipes for the lavender you have in your garden or are getting at the market. 

1. Dry and grind and add to recipes and sugars as an accent for baking and cooking. Add a twist to your spices, foods, juicing and add for an interesting combination of flavour and health properties. Lavender is great for rubs for meat and vegetable grilling.  

Get more info and recipes in our What’s Stirring Newsletter. 

Try our Lavender Infused Risotto

2. Add to as a potpourri for aroma in your home. A simple way is to add to a zip loc bag and add wholes or purchase sachet to hold the flower stems and add to areas of your home. We love to put under our pillow until we go to bed for a great night’s sleep.  

3. Make teas with lavender, ginger and mint for a refreshing twist and healthy drink.  

4. Add to your nighttime bath with some Epson salts. 

Tip: You want to keep lavender stored away from moisture, heat and light which can cause old fades the colour. When dry you can put in an airtight container for six months.  

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Strawberry Lavender Risotto

See full recipe here downloadable with conversions and serving changes.

Ingredients

• 400 grams carnaroli rice
• 1/2 white onion, finely chopped
• 40 grams unsalted butter
• 1 litre vegetable stock
• 80 grams StoneTown Cheese Fontina
• 5 grams parmigiano reggiano
• 1/2 pint strawberries, cut in quarters
• 5 grams fresh lavender flowers
• 250 ml Hill Street Beverage non-alcoholic Brut
• 1 mason jar
• 5 grams finely chopped chives
• 1 fresh vanilla bean
• salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

1. In a clean mason jar put the rice and lavender flowers seal it with a lid and let it sit overnight in a jar.
2. Put strawberry and Hill Street Brut in a plastic container add the scraped bean from the vanilla pod and mix it with strawberry and wine, let it macerate for 2 hours minimum.
3. In a medium-size pot, melt 10 grams of butter add the rice and stir it until properly toasted (approx. 3 to 4 min) making sure the rice does not get any color.
4. Deglaze the rice with the wine that it has being macerating with the strawberry.
5. Let the wine reduce and add the hot vegetable stock little by little continuously stirring.
6. After 15 minutes of cooking add the macerated strawberry and finish cooking for another 3 minutes, you will see the risotto obtaining the color of the strawberry.
7. When the risotto is cooked, remove it from the stove and began the emulsify (mix) by adding the remaining butter, the stone cheese fontina, 5 grams of parmigiano reggiano, and the remaining Hill Street brut where the strawberries were marinating.
8. Adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper. Make sure the risotto is wave not thick (all’onda) and serve on a flat serving plate.

Chef Notes: This dish is based on creating a wonderful summer recipe combining wonderful fresh ingredients like lavender, strawberry, and sparkling wine (non-alcoholic).

Juice Pairing: Passion Strawberry Cha Cha

Wine Pairing: Hill Street Beverage Brut

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