Tuesday, September 13, 2016

PARSLEY, SAGE, ROSEMARY AND THYME...ALOE! WHERE’S BASIL?



Around the corner, to the left, and along the road a bit from where I live
Around the corner on the right from where I live...I pass this area every time I go to the supermarket
This, too, is just around the corner from where I live...it's a few metres before the hang-gliding area
Aloe! Aloe!

I doubt there will ever again be a duo as brilliant as US folk-rock singer-songwriters Simon & Garfunkel.  Their lyrics are thought-provoking; their music captivating.  Their harmonising is beyond compare; many of their songs are unforgettable and ageless – unlike me!

Sadly, due to artistic disagreements their collaboration fell apart, as did their friendship; a friendship and mutual musical interest that first began in the early 50s when they were kids living in Queens, New York. In their teenage years they called themselves “Tom & Jerry”.  Their relationship, which fell apart in 1970, has lasted longer than many marriages, including my own two duos.

Maybe what they needed was a bridge over troubled waters; perhaps a session or two with Mrs. Robinson would’ve helped. When their neighbour, the boxer, suggested they seek counselling all he received in return for what he figured was a thoughtful, well-meaning idea was the sound of silence.

Later Simon, still feeling put out by his interference, told the boxer he sported such a perfect pair of cauliflower ears they’d make excellent bookends! 

Ignoring the uncouth remark, the boxer nonchalantly shrugged his shoulders. To no one in particular, mumbled quietly, “I am a rock!”, before he continued onto Scarborough Fair where he hoped he’d run into Cecelia. 

It was late in the evening, but it was a possibility. 

He was homeward bound so it was on his way without having to make a detour via El Condor Pasa and the 59th Street Bridge.
 
Earlier he’d met me and Julio down in the schoolyard. I told him he could call me Al before I burst into a rendition of Kathy’s song in an effort to amuse him. By the way, in case you’re wondering - she’s still crazy after all these years; and to top it off, if that’s not enough, she still wears diamonds on the soles of her shoes even though she keeps slip slidin’ away !

Simon & Garfunkel break-up and make up. It’s an ongoing relationship thing.  ‘Tis true! I know what I know.

One thing I know is I love fresh herbs.  I used to grow a variety of herbs, but not so much nowadays. I love using fresh herbs (and dried) in cooking.

I don’t mean plonking a huge bunch of parsley on plates for garnish, along with a twisted orange slice as once was in vogue not only in RSL and Bowls Clubs across the country, but in many restaurants, too. It was the era when you thought the debonair fellow at the next table was staring at you because he found you attractive. 

Wrong! 

Embarrassingly, you later discovered he’d been staring because you had a complete garden plot of parsley caught in your front teeth – and no one had bothered to tell you!

Once upon a time I had a green thumb. Through the years long gone I grew and harvested a variety of herbs; a veritable mint.  As well as my hair, my thumb has since changed colour; my hair was never green, though. 

The only herb I grow now is flat-leaf/Italian parsley; with a shallot or two thrown into the mix. Sometimes I duck for cover and bury a shooting garlic clove.

Parsley, with its many nutritional benefits, has been cultivated by man for more than 2, 000 years; and by me, here where I hang out, for nigh on 14 years.  

These days my many flat-leaf parsley plants grow freely in a couple of large planters, and also in two polystyrene boxes.  When the plants seed, the seeds drop; the circle of life continues. My stocks are replenished year after year.  It’s a bit like “Deliverance” country...lots of inter-breeding going on in my parsley plots!

Every so often (it happened again the other day), my landlord, dressed like a Ghostbuster with his spray pack on his back, wanders around blindly spraying weeds.

The spray he uses isn’t noxious, but it still knocks out the weeds, or some of them.  

He also knocks out some of my parsley!   

For reasons known only to him – I think he wears invisible blinkers – he always manages to spray some of my parsley plants; plants that are obviously what they are...and they’re in their own boxes/planters!  Upon my latest discovery, I loudly blurted out a few spicy words.  Of course I did...I do every time I discover his folly; and, of course, the words were screamed into the ether.  I do still need a roof over my head and four walls around me!  

I’m constantly intrigued and bewildered.  My landlord is a member of a local gardening club.  As well as maintaining eight or more avocado trees and a few citrus trees, he and his wife have cultivated quite a large area in which they grow a variety of vegetables (including curly-leaf parsley) not only for their personal consumption, but for sale to the public at the “Green Shed” on Sundays, too!   The “Green Shed” sells fresh produce grown by locals.

When I first came to live here there was a pre-existing garden plot close by, out from the back area of my cabin.  Slightly raised, it was bordered by timber sleepers.  I grew a veritable greengrocery in there, including a couple of aloe vera plants.  

After all my years cooking in restaurants etc., (and from when I had my own greengrocery/healthfood shop) I got used to having aloe vera growing.  I sold potted plants in my Noosa shop; and I always had an aloe vera plant or two close at hand when I was cooking professionally.  There is nothing better for the treatment of burns than aloe vera.

Anything that shot or seeded got buried in the garden plot I used to have. Not that I was mimicking the local cemetery, of course!

Everything was growing and going great for a while until my landlord demolished the whole thing because it was getting in the way of his Mad Max machine...his ride-on mower.  Bye-bye garden and all it produced!
   
In the plot I also had a massive rosemary bush.  I’d bought a small potted rosemary plant at the Sunday market.  Once transplanted into the ground, the plant flourished. Jack of the beanstalk fame would've been envious!

Even though my rosemary bush lasted for a while after the garden was flattened, it, too, no longer exists.  (Its demise wasn’t at my hands - he-who-shall-remain-nameless was the culprit)! 

Come Anzac Day I used give sprigs of rosemary to the RSL Club for them to hand out to those honouring our past and present servicemen and women.

The soil here on Tamborine Mountain is rich, red, volcanic soil...a plant’s delight!

However, other than my flat-leaf/Italian parsley plants, the odd shallot, onion, garlic  (there's nothing odd about my onions, shallots and garlic!) and my lemon tree, I’ve retired from gardening.  It’s too risky!

Generously I add parsley to many meals I prepare for myself.  I never use it as a garnish, but I still check to see if any is stuck where it shouldn’t be stuck.  A girl can’t be too careful.   

These days it’s a given if a fellow was staring at me from a neighbouring restaurant table parsley would be the reason for his fixation. 

He’d have no thyme for me, only for Rosemary. I’ll have you know...I’m a sage when it comes to these matters!

Roast Cauli &Herbs: Place 12c cauliflower florets in roasting pan; drizzle with 1-1/2tbs olive oil; toss to coat; bake at 230C, 20mins or so until browned; stir often; sprinkle with chopped parsley, thyme, tarragon/sage and 3 minced garlic cloves; bake further 5mins; combine cauliflower with ¼ freshly grated Parmesan, 2tbs lemon juice; season; toss well. You can add almonds, pecans, walnuts or pine nuts to the florets before baking, too, if you like.

One Pan Herbed Chicken: Preheat oven 230C.  Julienne into 2-inch pieces, 250g carrots and 250g parsnips; dut 250g green beans into 2-inch pieces. Place vegetables on baking sheet; drizzle with 1tbs avocado oil; season; toss to coat. Mix together 2tbs avo oil, 1tbs Dijon mustard, 1tbs cider vinegar, 2tbs maple syrup, 1tsp minced garlic and 1tbs each of chopped thyme, sage, flat leaf parsley and rosemary. Nestle 1.5kg bone-in chicken thighs in between vegies; sprinkle with salt and freshly-cracked pepper; spoon over dressing; reserving a little less than half. Bake 30-35mins; half way through baste with remaining dressing; stir vegies a little. If needed, brown chicken further under grill for a few mins.

Mixed Herb Salad: In bowl, season 1c halved grape tomatoes; put in fine strainer over bowl; drain, 20mins.  Whisk together1tbs balsamic, 1tbs x-virgin olive oil, 1/2tbs lemon juice, zest of ½ lemon and 1-1/2tbs Dijon; season. Combine tomatoes with 3c rocket, 1c roughly chopped coriander, 1/2c freshly shredded fresh mozzarella or goat cheese, ½ cup roughly chopped parsley, 3tbs each roughly chopped basil and mint, 2tbs each roughly chopped pitted green and kalamata olives and 1tbs lemon thyme or thyme. Add dressing; toss; serve.

Quinoa Herb Salad: Combine 2c cooked quinoa, ½ pecans or pine nuts, 3tbs chopped mint. 3tbs chopped shallots and 1/2c chopped parsley in bowl. Whisk together 3tbs x-olive oil, 2tbs lemon juice, crushed garlic, salt and pepper; gently mix through quinoa, evenly; chill 20-30mins to infuse flavours.

38 comments:

  1. I have to have the cauliflower; I must!

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    1. Here you are, Cranky! It's all yours! I wouldn't want you to get cranky now! :)

      Thanks for coming by. :)

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  2. I always enjoy my visits here.

    Thanks.

    Have a wonderful week.

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    1. I'm glad you enjoy your visits, Gail...I'm glad you do visit...thank you. :)

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    2. Andrew does love his music. I hope it remains a part of his life always. He plays again Saturday night. He likes when they pay him for having fun.

      We are bone dry here but it's giving me a chance to catch up on trimming some things that grew ahead of me during our unusually wet August.

      Have a blessed weekend.

      Thank you.

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  3. Well you left me with many tunes playing in my head:-)

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    1. At least they're a great range of songs to have stuck in your head, Annie. Thanks for coming by. :)

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  4. Love hearing all that music float through my head while reading your post. :)

    I grow rosemary - it does pretty well in a pot. And in the summer I have basil and this year, chocolate mint. It smelled so good.

    Love that cute coffee shop!

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    1. Hi Lynn...it is a nice little coffee shop. They grow their own coffee there on the property, too.

      The smell of fresh herbs is just wonderful.

      Thanks for popping in. :)

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  5. Even my musically ignorant self remembers (and mourns) Simon and Garfunkle.
    Yay for herbs.

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    1. Hi EC....Simon & Garfunkel certainly gave us some wonderful music. They're both still around doing their own things. Both turn 75 this year. Simon in October and Garfunkel in November.

      Thanks for coming by. :)

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  6. Really laughed loud here at the thought of a complete garden plot of parsley in your front teeth. You know what really, really bugs me?? Why no one tells you when you have something in your teeth. I would tell you, or anybody, and would want anyone to tell me.
    I take it you're a Simon and Garfunkel fan :)
    Me too.

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    1. Hey River...I, too, would let someone know if they had parsley or whatever stuck in their teeth, or their skirt caught up in their panties! And I have done so in the past. :)

      Yes...I am a S & G fan...they made fine music together. I like Simon solo, too...particular his "Graceland" album...it's one of my favourites.

      Thanks for coming by. :)

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  7. I think I'd rather be a hammer than a nail - to continue a theme!

    Cheers - Stewart M - Melbourne

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    1. Now everyone has S & G songs stuck in their heads for days to come! lol

      Thanks for coming by, Stewart. :)

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  8. Simon and Garfunkel - so many seemingly simple but haunting songs like "April Come She Will". Of course it was Simon who was the genius. Garfunkel was just a guy with an angelic voice who rode along with his songsmith friend. As for the Polish experience in the Polish coffee shop, I guess they serve beetroot and sausages in black and white.

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    1. Yes, Simon was the songwriter of the duo (and as a solo performer), and was a brilliant one at that; but Garfunkel was the vocal arranger, and he produced each song; working out who the songs would be sung by and how each song was produced. Art did the arrangement for "The Boxer".

      They were/are both brilliant in their own way, and together. I guess, when you get two egos of such brilliance together a might clash of the Titans is to be expected.

      Maybe 5ft 2 Simon got a sore neck; got sick and tired from having to all the time look up to 6ft Garfunkel. ;)

      The Polish Place is not only a restaurant but has accommodation cabins overlooking the vast valley below. And The Polish Place has an extremely wonderful range of Vodkas. Even though it's just up the road a bit from me, I've only visited it one...a few years ago when a power outage was expected to take over a few hours one morning because of work being done on the power lines. So I decided I would take myself there for an early lunch. I tried a couple of different, rare vodkas at the cocktail bar before I tucked into a delicious lunch of Polish marinated herrings in sour cream.

      I keep promising to go back...

      Thanks for coming by. :)

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    2. Thanks for educating me about Garfunkel's contribution.

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  9. I feel so bad for you that your landlord is so inconsiderate and sprays your plants. He knows what he is doing since he also has his own. I love my herbs and use them in most meals I make. I try growing them in the winter on a windowsill, but my efforts don't usually last long.

    Simon and Garfunkle, the best of the best.

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    1. Hi Lynn...My landlord just goes around in his own world, oblivious to all else. He's one of those people who talk over you when you're talking; one who likes the sound of his own voice. He knows everything so I just let him talk! Why should I waste my breath! lol

      Yes...I will never tire of Simon & Garfunkel..great music!

      Thanks for coming by, Lynn. :)

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  10. Your photos are lovely, and I love Simon and Garfunkel! :)

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    1. I doubt there are many who don't enjoy the music of S & G, Linda...they were great...and their music has endured through the years.

      Thanks for coming by. :)

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  11. I thought at first reading you had been growing the wrong type of 'herbs' there.
    I get mine from little jars like God intended...

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    1. Ahhh...music stimulates the heart, mind and imagination, Mr. Ad-Man.

      And on a jarring note....my TV is screaming at me...the football is about to start...as in Rugby League...not that other sooky game! :)

      Thanks for coming by...have yourself a good weekend. :)

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  12. I would love to do your post justice with some witty or educated comment but it's too early in the morning for what passes for my brain to perform. The same goes for the rest of the day actually. We do have at least one thing in common though: I too grow lots of parsley.

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    1. That you've posted a comment is good enough for me, Graham. The way my afternoon has panned out making a witty or educated comment is way beyond my capabilities, too! ;)

      I think I'll just go and bury my head in a movie!

      Thanks for coming by. :)

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  13. I love rosemary bushes.
    So enjoyed the Simon and Garfunkel verse:)
    I must disagree with one line...you ARE unforgettable and ageless;)

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    1. You are too kind, Sandra. :)

      The rosemary bush I had grew into a massive bush. From one small little potted plant into a mighty oak it almost did grow! I love rosemary. And, of course, the more I cut sprigs from it the denser and taller it grew.

      Thanks for coming by. :)

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  14. I just got some red quinoa, the salad sounds delicious; I have been watching a PBS mystery series on TV called rosemary and thyme and it's about two women who are gardeners and when they have a job there is always some type of mystery they have to solve. somehow I think you'd like the series. I do hate it when folks don't tell others about the greenery stuck in the front tooth. ugh

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    1. Hi Linda...Yes...I used to watch "Rosemary & Thyme" the first time it went round. Re-runs are being played here again now, but I've not caught up with them. I keep meaning to, but something else gets in the way. I did enjoy the show when I watched it. I like Felicity Kendal...she was in the wonderful comedy series back in the mid-70s - "The Good Life".

      Thanks for coming by. :)

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  15. Oooh. I could imagine the smell of these herbs. It makes me hungry.

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    1. Time for dinner, Lux!

      Thanks for coming by. :)

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  16. Our basil grows really well here too. My tomatoes grow better though.

    Wow, a Polish coffee shop!! Over there?? I can't even find one here. That is so awesome. Celebrating my heritage.

    That Simon and Garfunkel album was one of the first I owned. I used to play Bridge over Troubled Water on the piano at my college dorm.

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    1. Hi Dave...The Polish Place isn't a coffee shop. It's a restaurant with accommodation units nearby...semi-detatched. The Coffee Plantation is a completely different business, owned and operated by different folk..it's a cafe...and they grow their own coffee on the property.

      I used to grow basil as well as Vietnamese basil, but no longer. I love fresh basil.

      Bridge Over Troubled Waters is a beautiful song...and will always be a favourite of mine.

      Thanks for coming by. :)

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  17. Do you know, I actually miss normal, English parsley!

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    1. Hey there Pat...how nice to see you. :) You'll just have to grow a pot of the curly-leaf parsley, to solve the missing!

      Thanks for coming in...cuddles to Bertie. :)

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  18. ODDLY enough, yesterday I came across the same CD that is pictured and I bought it. Due to giant health scares this week, I bought a stand mixer: went sugar and gluten free, and - going on my own instincts - invented the most light, bendable, perfect non-gluten bread. So I'm in the l-o-n-g process of copying, pasting, and printing out your recipes for my private cookbook. IS THIS OKAY????

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