Friday, September 07, 2007

Cooking With Lemon Balm.



Melissa officinalis (Lemon Balm) Labiatae/Lamiaceae.

Some common names for this herb are "bee balm" or "sweet balm" for it is extremely attractive to beneficial insects.

The name "melissa" comes from the Greek word for bee.

Leaves are the only parts of the plant that can be used in culinary ways.

A few recipes to entice you.

(Lemon Balm Tea)

The lemony sweet leaves help calm the digestive and soothe the mind--a very calming drink at the end of the day.
A few crushed leaves, boiling water and presto...drink up.

(Grilled Balmy Fish)

Number of fish filets desired, seasoned well with Sage Hill Farms fish seasoning.

Hot grill...

4 or 5 sprigs of fresh Lemon Balm ( soaked in cool water for 1 or 2 minutes.

Place fish on grill and cook on one side, when turned to cook the other side, place Lemon Balm sprigs on top of fish, moving around a few times until fish is done.

Imparts a semi-sweet, tangy, lemony flavor. Just a hint.
Yummy.
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(Chicken Fried Chicken)with Lemon Balm.

Prepare a large Dutch Oven cooker ( I use iron)
Heat about 1/4 cup Grapeseed oil for frying in the pot.

In a plastic bag, put 2 cups of flour
4 Tbsp Sage Hill Farms Poultry seasoning
1 Tbsp freshly ground black pepper

Place chicken pieces in the bag and shake to coat
Remove for a few minutes and return to bag for a second coating

Place in hot oil and fry until brown on all sides
Turn heat to medium low, just enough to continue cooking
Place a few sprigs of Lemon Balm on top of chicken, cover and simmer for 30 to 40 minutes or until just done.

Serve with your favorite vegetables.
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Lemon Balm is delicious added to cold tea, Hot Chocokate and Wine coolers.
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Experiment, you'll be amazed at how many uses you can find for this sweet and tangy herb.

Enjoy...

Bea Kunz
Sage Hill Farms

2 comments:

Claudia Meydrech said...

This is such a helpful post, I have a lot of Lemon Balm, and has grown so beautifully this year. Thanks for the helpful ideas!

Claudia :-)

BeaK. said...

Claudia,

Thanks for the visit, glad you can use the lemon balm info. It is a wonderful herb in so many ways.

Enjoy and visit again, always good to see you!

BeaK.