marjoram

insalata di patate novelle alla menta / new potato salad with mint

| Simona

IMGP6168 Recently, Bellini Valli of More Than Burnt Toast posted a flavorful recipe for New Potato Salad with Mint. As soon as I read it, I knew I would make it soon. I love new potatoes and I like mint, of which I have a copious supply in my herb garden in the guise of Menta Piperita cv. Lavender Mint. So copious, in fact, that I need to keep an eye on it to avoid violent trespassing on its part on other herbs’ territory. I know, I should have kept it in a pot, but I didn’t, and now I live a life of eternal vigilance.

Fact is, I planted the seedling last year, in early summer, and it didn’t seem to be doing well at all. After cutting the sickly branches and giving it more space by pruning the neighboring sage (another plant prone to trespassing), the mint kind of exploded this year, growing tall, healthy branches (the photo shows only part of the bush, on the right, together with some of its neighbors).

Back from the garden and in the kitchen, I followed Valli’s recipe up to the seasoning step. At that point, I decided to make use of some other inhabitants of my little herb jungle, namely origano, maggiorana e santoreggia montana (oregano, marjoram and winter savory). My oregano is of the Italian kind and I have two varieties of marjoram. To the potatoes boiled in water with the mint leaves, I added the above-mentioned medley of herbs, finely slivered, plus the seasoning suggested in the original recipe, olio d’oliva, succo di limone, sale e pepe (olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper) to taste. Simple, satisfying… so good. 

Many thanks to Bellini Valli for her inspiring recipe.

Whbtwoyearicon This is my entry for Weekend Herb Blogging, a food blogging event started over two years ago by Kalyn of Kalyn’s Kitchen and hosted this week by yours truly. Note that the link points to the new rules for the event that go into effect on July 20, 2008.

Here’s the roundup of WHB #141.

Click on the button to hear me pronounce the Italian words mentioned in the post: 

insalata di patate novelle alla menta

or launch the  insalata di patate novelle alla menta  audio file [mp3].

[Depending on your set-up, the audio file will be played within the browser or by your mp3 player application. Please, contact me if you encounter any problems.]

timo / thyme

| Simona

In Italian we use the same word to refer to thyme, the beloved herb, and to thymus, the lymphoid organ located behind the sternum. I will devote the rest of the post to timo, the herb.

image from briciole.typepad.com
The genus Thymus, family Labiatae, contains many species. I planted two of them in my little herb garden: Lemon Thyme (photo on the left), and German (Winter) Thyme (photo on the right). I also have some Silver Thyme in a big pot in front of the house: its leaves have a silver rim. I love thyme and I use its tiny fragrant leaves often. They are precious little things, with an enormous power to impart flavor. I don’t recall my mother ever using thyme in her cooking, so this herb is a relatively new discovery for me.

image from briciole.typepad.com

For this post, I decided to invent something. Last Wednesday evening, I was by myself for dinner, a rather unusual occurrence. Besides foglie di timo (thyme leaves), I wanted to eat a beautiful porro (leek) leftover from a recent purchase at the farmers’ market, and here is what I did. I washed the leek, white and light green part, following Lucy’s method, then sliced it. In the meantime, I warmed up a small frying pan generously sprayed with olive oil. I added the leek slices and the leaves of two sprigs of thyme, then cooked, over medium-low heat, until the leek was soft to my liking, stirring every now and then to avoid sticking. I added some vegetable broth to keep the leek moist1.

image from briciole.typepad.com

When the leek was ready, I adjusted the salt and sprinkled a few leaves of maggiorana (marjoram), an herb I like a lot as well, which is conveniently planted next to my lemon thyme. While the leek was cooking, I poached an egg, following the instructions on this page (option: No poacher). Poached egg is uovo in camicia (shirt). A few seconds before the egg was ready, I spooned the leek in a bowl, then gently placed the poached egg over the prepared pale green bed and finished off the dish with a tablespoon of parmigiano, freshly grated. I took a quick photo and then enjoyed my creation, especially the bites that got some of the yolk mixed with the leek. I definitely will make this again. Note that I did not use any salt (besides that in the water for poaching the egg), but you can certainly do it, adding it to the leek when it is cooked.

1 Addendum: I have since made the dish a couple more times and measured a quarter cup of added liquid, 2 tablespoons broth, 1 tablespoon water and 1 tablespoon white wine.

Whbtwoyearicon This is my entry for Weekend Herb Blogging, a food blogging event started over two years ago by Kalyn of Kalyn’s Kitchen and hosted this week by Susan, The Well-Seasoned Cook, and a very kind cook, too. Susan has announced that she will give away a copy of Aliza Green’s “Field Guide to Herbs and Spices” to one of the participants. Thanks Susan! Here is the roundup of WHB #129.

Click on the button to hear me pronounce the Italian words mentioned in the post: 

timo

or launch the  timo  audio file [mp3].

[Depending on your set-up, the audio file will be played within the browser or by your mp3 player application. Please, contact me if you encounter any problems.]