Simmer

Whenever we get a bucket of lemon verbena from Bill Dow, former doctor and for thirty years now a farmer on his Ayrshire Farm, its powerful scent takes over the kitchen and has me woozy trying to come up with different ways of using it. It’s one of those delicious aromatic herbs like winter savory, lavender, and rau ram (Vietnamese cilantro)—intoxicating when held in a big fresh bunch but tough to take as the main flavor in a meal. Lemon verbena goes well with summer fruits like watermelon and peaches, adds a mystery flavor when stuffed inside a roast chicken, and makes a fine sherbet. It’s easy to grow, and if you find yourself with a bumper crop on the eve of the first frost, it is simple to preserve it by grinding the leaves along with some white sugar in a food processor until it combines into aromatic, bright green sand. The sugar will last perfectly for months in the freezer and can be used to flavor drinks, ice creams, custards, and fruit compotes.

This recipe makes a little more ginger syrup than is needed for the sorbet and will keep in the refrigerator for several weeks. It makes an unexpected spring cocktail combined with muddled fresh strawberries, lime juice, and vodka and served over ice.

A laying hen is a different animal from the six- to ten-week-old supermarket fryers, roasters, and broilers we usually see. Laying hens are typically sold between one and three years old and create a different sort of stew, deeper in overall flavor but with less succulent meat. If you are using a laying hen, increase the cooking time to about an hour and a half, or until the meat is very tender. It will not be necessary to remove the breast meat during cooking as directed below.

The simplest way to enjoy wild shrimp is to cook them fast and serve them warm, still in their shells, with melted butter. This recipe takes the opposite but equally flavorful tack: the shrimp are slow-cooked, infusing the entire soup with sweet shrimpiness.

I love any dish that can be made using water rather than stock. It’s a bit of useful laziness that can help establish the clean, pure flavor of the ingredient itself, whether it’s carrots or clams. One key is a slow, patient approach to cooking (or “sweating”) the onions and garlic, creating sweetness and depth. Homemade curry powder keeps well for a few weeks and warms up deviled eggs, beef stew, or hot buttered popcorn.

Make one of these sauces in the hot skillet after you have cooked chicken breasts or pork chops.

Make one of these sauces in the hot skillet after you have cooked chicken breasts or pork chops.

Make one of these sauces in the hot skillet after you have cooked chicken breasts or pork chops.

Make one of these sauces in the hot skillet after you have cooked chicken breasts or pork chops.

Make one of these sauces in the hot skillet after you have cooked chicken breasts or pork chops.

Make one of these sauces in the hot skillet after you have cooked chicken breasts or pork chops.

Make one of these sauces in the hot skillet after you have cooked chicken breasts or pork chops.

Make one of these sauces in the hot skillet after you have cooked chicken breasts or pork chops.