Blueberry Lemon Balm Tarts / Approximately 50 mg per Tart

I think Blueberries & Lemon Balm pair really well together. When combined into a tart we have a simple recipe for easy sharing with therapeutic dosing, and who doesn't love a good homemade tart with therapeutic dosing? This is a multi-step recipe, but it is worth the process.

The Tart:

2 cups all purpose, organic flour

1 T honey or maple syrup

1 t salt 

2 sticks butter, softened.

1 egg

2 T raw milk

10 grams fresh Lemon Balm leaves

Vanilla caviar from two vanilla beans

To make the dough: in a medium sized bowl, mix together the dry ingredients, then add the honey, butter and egg. Mix well. Add milk and mix until everything is pliable. Divide the dough into half and shape each into rectangles, approximately the same size. Wrap in plastic wrap or waxed paper, and refrigerate for roughly an hour. While the dough is cooling, make the tart filling.

The Filling:

2 cups blueberries

1 t lemon balm tincture

1 ½ T lemon juice

⅓ cup succanat or ¼ cup honey

1 T arrowroot powder

1 T water

*Note: initially I used a standardized tincture with 1:3 ratio, thus equaling 330 mgs total, divide this number by the number of tarts. This dosage can change depending on the strength of your tincture.

To make filling: in a medium saucepan, add all of the filling ingredients - EXCEPT: the Lemon Balm Tincture: Warm and simmer over low to medium heat, stirring often. Once the filling is thickened to jam like constancy, turn off the heat and add the tincture, stir well. Allow the mixture to cool.

To Assemble and Bake Tarts:

1. Place one piece of the dough on a well-floured area and roll out in a rectangle shape with about ⅛ inch thickness. Repeat with the second piece of dough. Trim so that each sheet of dough is close to the same size.

2. Cut out of each sheet small rectangles, about three by four inches in size. Setting aside each matching pair, until the dough sheets are used up. My first batch made seven tarts, so this means I had fourteen rectangles.

3. Working with one pair at a time, place a generous heaping spoonful of the blueberry mixture into the center of the rectangle, and smear to about ¼ of inch of edge. Add the matching dough top and crimp all the edges with a fork. Repeat until each tart is filled.

4. Note: I measured each filling amount exactly, until I had used all my tart bottoms. Then added my tops. This way I could better track my medicinal application for the Lemon Balm. I wanted a measurable outcome with a purpose. 

5. Gently place the tarts on a lightly greased baking sheet, pricking the tops a few times with a fork. Preheat your oven to 350, then bake the tarts approximately 30 minutes or until golden brown. 

6. Remove from the oven and allow to cool. When the tarts are completely cool you can glaze them if you choose. I decided to blend some blueberries and a little cream cheese with a touch of honey, until smooth, then used this to frost my Blueberry Lemon Balm Tarts.

Calendula Cinnamon Scones with Orange Zest

 I wanted to create a medicinal loaf of Calendula Sourdough, because I believe that herbs can be added to the diet to help maintain wellness. Or to make an additional avenue for herbal delivery, especially with children or the aged. When I created my Calendula concentrate for the sourdough, I wasn't thinking of the benefits of Calendula or its potency, and therefore I killed the sourdough lift and loaf.

After some thought and some rethinking, I had success with these Calendula Cinnamon Scones with Orange Zest. This recipe is very forgiving and can be adapted to fit a person's dietary needs. 

Calendula Cinnamon Scones with Orange Zest Recipe

2 cups All Purpose Flour, Unbleached

2 Tablespoons Sucanat Sugar

2 Teaspoons Baking Powder

1/2 Teaspoon Salt

1/2 Teaspoon Baking Soda

1/2 Teaspoon Nutmeg

1/2 Cup Cold Butter

1 Tablespoon of Calendula Powder

1 Tablespoon Cinnamon

Zest of 1 to 2 Oranges, your choice (I used two)

1/4 cup Orange Juice

1/2 Buttermilk, or milk of choice

...

In a medium bowl, mix all the dry ingredients, except the Calendula powder, together. Then cut in the butter until it resembles crumbles. Stir in liquids and then add the Calendula powder, knead smooth, about six to eight times. Pat into eight-inch circle, on slightly floured surface and then divide into eight scones.

Place the scones onto a baking sheet and sprinkle the tops with Calendula petals and sugar. Bake twelve to fifteen minutes at 425. Or until golden brown/done. Option: You can incorporate the Calendula petals into the dough as well, or instead of the tops. Also, you may play around with the Calendula powder here, just add additional liquid for proper consistency. 

This recipe delivers approximately 300 mg of Calendula in eight scones. 

 

Calendula {Calendula officinalis} is a member of Asteraceae family, related to the Chamomile, Yarrow, and Dandelion. It has many beneficial properties such as helping fight inflammation within mucus membranes, addressing fungal and yeast issues - hence why I think it negatively impacted my sourdough - and is known for its effectiveness with skin issues.

Easy to grow, Calendula often reseeds and thrives in a variety of soils. The blossoms are most used, and if you are interested you may read more about Calendula here. 

Let me know if you make the scones and your thoughts.

 

Simple Sweet Potato Biscuit Recipe

I remember a few years back, when we were living in a friends camper and running produce in southern Kentucky : being invited to share in a Thanksgiving Dinner with new family & friends. She had a family tradition, Sweet Potato Biscuits - actually she had a few traditions. That was one of the things I loved about her, her strong love of family, traditions and God. 

She paid cash for everything, loved to knit and shared heart felt truth by the little light. My husband would bring in the nightly firewood, add a few logs and we would gather around and converse. Just converse and be. I never look at a sweet potato without remembering her, and our time there. 

Well there was the time I had sweet potato ice cream in southern Tennessee...

Simple Sweet Potato Biscuits

5 cups flour - maybe a little less, or a little more - depending on the type of flour

4 t baking powder

1 stick butter

3 cups cooked and mashed sweet potato

Directions: blend the first three ingredients, in a large bowl, using a pastry blend or fork. Then add the three cups of mashed, cooled, sweet potatoes and mix well - with your hands. Shape into biscuits, about one inch think and place on baking sheet. 

Bake at 425 for 15 to 20 minutes, or until done. Remove the biscuits from the baking sheet and serve slightly warm with butter and/or maple syrup. These taste the best with people gathered around.

Her biscuits will always look better than mine, and probably always taste better too, but the season of my life that they represent is pure swelling joy. So even if my pictures were snapped in haste and my recipe posts will never make a cookbook... that is alright with me. I have the memory, that bonded connection... and the ability to pass on a tradition.

Make Your Own Basil Infused Pasta

I was a little nervous at the idea of making pasta, especially when it came time to use the pasta maker. But after that first batch, I am confident in saying - that nervousness was all for nothing! The process of making pasta does have a few 'steps' - however the end result is worth all the effort.

 

Ingredients: this makes about one pound of pasta

- 2 1/2 to 3 cups Semolina Flour

- 3 Eggs, at room temperature

- Water

- 3/4 cup of Fresh, home grown Basil - washed and air dried

Directions: 

- Form a flour mound with the two and half cups semolina, then form a basin in the middle to receive the eggs.

- Crack the eggs into the basin and slowly start working the flour into your eggs, mixing and kneading by hand - until you form a soft dough ball. This may take eight to ten minutes. * If  your dough feels too dry add some water - a few drops at a time. Until a pliable ball forms.

- Wrap the dough in plastic wrap or place into glass bowl with lid. Let it rest for at least thirty minutes. 

 

 

- After the rest, divide the dough into quarters and make into balls, cover the remaining balls that are not in use during the next step.

- Rough flatten your dough piece and run it through your pasta roller, which is to be set on the thickest setting. Fold this dough in half after running it through once, then run it through again. Change the setting to the next setting in line, and repeat this process again - resulting in four passes, two folds and two settings on your machine.

- Next lay your pasta sheet flat and place the air dried basil on the pasta in random places and angles. Going half way in length. Then fold over the remaining half pasta sheet. * The amount of Basil used here is based on personal preference, you can use more or less - depending on desired flavor you would like to achieve.

- Then pass this pasta fold through your roller, on the last setting you used. Take care not to pull your pasta as it passes through the roller. If the pasta is too thick for this setting, set the roller back one and run it through once, making one roller adjustment - and pass through a second time.

- Repeat the process with the remaining pieces of dough, laying the completed pasta sheets out on a floured surface while you are working the others. 

- After all of your pasta sheets are completed, run each one though the noodle adapter or cut into rough noodles by hand. At this point you can hang your pasta to dry or... make Alfredo.

 

 

Take a moment and enjoy your home made, basil infused pasta with someone you love... and did you know that Basil provides nutrients such as calcium, magnesium and vitamin K along with a variety of antioxidants. So go ahead - grow that Basil!