Cucumbers and Tarragon, a Nifty Combination©

by Arlene Wright-Correll
Home Farm Herbery



We all know how to prepare cucumbers. When our organic garden starts producing lots of them we put them in salads, we prepare pickles, we make relish, we eat them raw, we have cucumber sandwiches and we start to give them away to anyone who will take a few off our hands.

However, have you ever made soup with them? No! Why not? You can eat it hot or cold and either way it has the most delicate of flavor.

I used to serve this at our restaurant on the river at Laurel Creek Lodge when we owned it. It was quite a hit, especially to the Appalachian hikers coming off the trail to stay in our hostels.

Cucumbers are mostly water and their nutritional value includes sodium, iron, Vitamins A and C, plus Calcium which was all things these hikers needed after spending 3 to 6 months on the Appalachian Trail eating mostly trail food.

Arlene's Elegant Cucumber and Tarragon Soup.

This soup serves 8, but you can halve it easily to serve 4 or you can serve half of it hot one meal and 24 hours later serve the other half chilled at another meal.

Using vegetable stock when I have it or water when I do not, I put 9 cups of either into a large sauce pan adding 2 peeled and chopped large cucumbers, 2 medium sized onion chopped, 2 cloves of peeled garlic and 8 to 10 sprigs of fresh tarragon. I bring this all to a boil and simmer for about 15 minutes and once the cucumbers are tender, I remove the pan from heat, allow cooling slightly and then carefully pouring this warm mixture into my blender or food processor. I now puree it all and then pour it back into my saucepan and bring back to a boil and then let stay warm over medium to low heat.

Taking a small bowl I mix 2 tablespoons of cornstarch with 1/3 cup of light cream until smooth. Now I add 1 cup of light cream to this mixture and gently pour into the soup, stirring constantly over medium heat until the soup thickens.

Now I add about 8 springs of chopped fresh tarragon, or 2 tsp. of Home Farm Herbery Organic dried tarragon,



2 tablespoons of lemon juice, some freshly grated nutmeg, a pinch of salt and some freshly ground pepper stir gently.

I serve this immediately if I am serving it hot and any I am serving chilled I transfer to a bowl and store covered in my refrigerator.

"Tread the Earth Lightly" and in the meantime… May your day be filled with…Peace, Light and Love



Arlene Wright-Correll

Home Farm Herbery

Where you can get the best organic dried tarragon all year round. http://www.localharvest.org/tarragon-french-organic-C25245

Author's note: This article was originally written for GreenThumbArticles.com

Another Great Recipe Using Herbs From My Mediterannean Herb Garden

by Arlene Wright-Correll
Home Farm Herbery

We don't eat a lot of meat around our home any more. Old age, being smarter, less family to cook for, no longer living on the dairy farms where meat was required at all 3 daily meals and a general change of eating habits is the reason why, at least for us.



So when we do decide to eat meat, I usually cook it when we have special company in to dine. When that time comes I want to do something dazzling and I want to use the dried herbs from my Mediterranean herb garden so I pull out my old standby of Herbed Beef in a Salt Crust.

First I make a marinade of 1/3 cup good olive oil, cup of grated fresh onion, 1 tsp. of dried basil leaves,



1 tsp. garlic salt, tsp. dried thyme leaves, tsp. of dried marjoram leaves and tsp. of black pepper. To make things quicker I put all these into a large zip lock plastic bag. I next add 1 eye of the round roast of beef which is usually between 2 & to 3 pounds and will nicely serve 6 to 8 guests. Zipping up the zip lock I put it into the refrigerator for at least 2 hours, but I prefer it to be overnight thus letting all my herbs and olive oil "marry" well and penetrate the meat.

When I am ready to cook the roast I remove it from the marinade, pat dry and let it sit on a paper towel while I line my roasting pan with a good heavy aluminum foil.

Next I take a 3 pound box of course kosher salt and pour it into a large bowl and I gradually add1 cup of water to make a thick paste. If I need to add more water I do, but never more than a total of 1 & cups of water.

Now I take 1 cup of the paste and pat it into my foil lined roasting pan to about inch thick. Again I pat my roast with paper towels just to make sure it is dry all around and I lay it on top of the salt paste in the bottom of my roasting pan.

At this point you may insert your meat thermometer in the event you use one. Since I have been doing this for so long I fore go this part of the recipe.

Now pack I the remaining salt paste around the meat to cover and seal it well.

I put this into my preheated oven which is set at 350 and I bake it until my thermometer registers 140 which is my over is for about 80 minutes as we like it medium rare. Carl or any other guests gets the ends which are usually well done.

If your salt crust is cracked don't worry because it is usually caused by steam escaping during the roasting period.

Remove the roast from the oven and let it stand 10 minutes. NO LESS! Remove and discard salt crust, place your roast on your favorite serving platter. I like to slice about half of it up in slices first on my wooden cutting board and arrange them and the remaining whole roast on my favorite platter which I then surround with either roasted organically grown potatoes, which I added to the oven in a separate pan during the last 40 minutes of the time for roasting the meat and/or some quickly blanched, hot, al dente fresh organic green beans which I cooked while the roast was resting.

Since my guests can see my cooking island from the dining table in the great room, they get to witness all the "theater" which comes with removing the roast, letting it sit, cracking the crust, slicing and serving while they enjoy a nice glass of good red wine with the cook!

"Tread the Earth Lightly" and in the meantime May your day be filled with

Peace, Light and Love,



Arlene Wright-Correll

Home Farm Herbery where you can find my organic herbs at http://www.localharvest.org/store/M48630

Author's note: This article was originally written for http://www.GreenThumbArticles.com where you can also be an author for them.