Lemon verbena at the Union Square Greenmarket.
Recipes:
Roasted Peppers with Lemon Verbena Olive Oil
Grilled Chicken with Lemon Verbena, Green Olives, and Summer Garlic
Peaches with Lemon Verbena and White Wine
Do yourself a favor and bring a big bunch of fresh lemon verbena into your kitchen. This is an herb that smells and tastes like the world’s most fragrant lemon, very pure and direct, with no underlying hints of anything deeper, unlike, say, basil with its fennel, anise, and mint tones. Lemon verbena is strong. It makes a gorgeous sorbet. I like to just stick my whole face in a big bunch and sniff it in. It’s wonderful with just about any peach or apricot dessert, but I also love it as a flavoring with savory dishes, sprinkled over grilled chicken or stuffed inside a whole fish for roasting. I make a little lemon olive oil by mixing chopped lemon verbena, lemon juice, zest, and olive oil, and letting it all sit for about a half hour to develop flavor. Try it drizzled over seared tuna or swordfish. I’ve made little lamb meatballs, working mint and lemon verbena into them, and then cooked them quickly on a hot grill. I’ve also thrown whole branches of it into my hot bath (not the meatballs, just the herb). And just for your information, L’Occitane has an entire line of lemon verbena-scented soaps and lotions and fragrances that really capture the aroma perfectly. If you’re ever down in the dumps, try sipping a gin and tonic flavored with lemon verbena leaves while squirting L’Occitane’s lemon verbena cologne all over your neck. You will drive almost all your troubles away. (more…)
Erica De Mane 