Thyme in your kitchen

sister herb

Official TTI Chef
Thyme

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Thyme is one of the best known and most widely-used culinary herbs. It is quite easy to grow and is commonly found as a decorative as well as a functional plant in many home gardens.

You will find thyme a welcome flavor in salads, soups, chowders, sauces, breads, vegetable and meat dishes, and even jellies and desserts.

Thyme is an essential ingredient in bouquet garni.

A member of the mint family, thyme is a perennial evergreen shrub, whose sometimes woody stems are covered with small, gray-green to green leaves. Its small, two-lipped flowers range in color from pale pink to purple and bear quadruplet nutlet fruits. The entire plant is aromatic.

There are over one hundred varieties of thyme, with the most common being Garden Thyme and Lemon Thyme. The many types are so close in appearance, it is often difficult to differentiate them.

Lemon thyme has a slightly more-pronounced lemony fragrance, particularly good with fish. All varieties of thyme are highly attractive to bees.

Honey from bees that feed on thyme flower nectar is a gourmet delight.

Yet interestingly enough, insects are repelled by thyme. Make a cup of thyme tea, put it in a plant mister, and spray around doorways and windows in summer to repel insects.

In some Levantine countries, and Assyrian, the condiment za'atar (Arabic for thyme) contains thyme as a vital ingredient.

Thyme is sold both fresh and dried. The fresh form is more flavourful, but also less convenient; storage life is rarely more than a week. While summer-seasonal, fresh greenhouse thyme is often available year round.

Fresh thyme is commonly sold in bunches of sprigs. A sprig is a single stem snipped from the plant. It is composed of a woody stem with paired leaf or flower clusters ("leaves") spaced 1⁄2 to 1" apart. A recipe may measure thyme by the bunch (or fraction thereof), or by the sprig, or by the tablespoon or teaspoon. Dried thyme is widely used in Armenia (called Urc) in teas.

Depending on how it is used in a dish, the whole sprig may be used (e.g. in a bouquet garni), or the leaves removed and the stems discarded. Usually when a recipe specifies "bunch" or "sprig", it means the whole form; when it specifies spoons it means the leaves. It is perfectly acceptable to substitute dried for whole thyme.

Leaves may be removed from stems either by scraping with the back of a knife, or by pulling through the fingers or tines of a fork.

Thyme retains its flavour on drying better than many other herbs. Substitution is often more complicated than that because recipes can specify sprigs, and sprigs can vary in yield of leaves.

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Polenta Quick Bread with Lemon and Thyme


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Ingredients
  • 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened, plus more for pan
  • 1/3 cup all-purpose flour, plus more for pan
  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • 1 tablespoon finely grated lemon zest, plus 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
  • 3 large eggs
  • 1 tablespoon coarsely chopped fresh thyme leaves, plus sprigs for garnish
  • 1 cup fine yellow cornmeal (preferably stone-ground)
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 3/4 teaspoon coarse salt
  • 1/4 cup pine nuts, toasted, half coarsely chopped and half whole

Directions


Preheat oven to 325 degrees F / 160 C. Butter a 9-by-5-inch loaf pan. Dust with flour, and tap out excess; set aside. Put butter and sugar into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on medium-high speed until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes.

Add lemon zest; mix 1 minute. Add eggs, 1 at a time, mixing well after each addition. Mix in lemon juice and thyme. Add flour, cornmeal, baking powder, and salt, and mix until just combined. Stir in chopped pine nuts.

Pour batter into prepared pan. Sprinkle with pine nuts. Bake until a cake tester inserted into center comes out clean, 50 to 55 minutes. Let cool completely on a wire rack. Garnish with thyme.

Source: http://www.marthastewart.com/357764...ets&gallery=275123&slide=357764&center=276953
 

sister herb

Official TTI Chef
Lemon Thyme Bars

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Ingredients:

Crust:
1/2 lb. unsalted butter at room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
2 cups flour
2 tablespoons fresh thyme, finely chopped
1/4 teaspoon salt

Lemon Layer:
7 large eggs
2 1/2 cups sugar
3 tablespoons grated lemon zest
1 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 cup flour
Fresh thyme sprigs, for garnish

Lemon Glaze:
2 cups confectioner's sugar
1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (around the juice of 2 lemons)

Method:
Preheat the oven to 350 F / 175 C and grease a 9 by 13 by 2-inch baking pan.

For the crust, cream the butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer until light. Combine the flour, thyme and salt and, with the mixer on low, add to the butter until just mixed. Dump the dough onto a well-floured board and gather into a ball. Flatten the dough with floured hands and press it into the greased baking ban, building up a 1/2-inch edge on all sides. Chill.
Bake the crust for 15 to 20 minutes, until very lightly browned. Cool on a wire rack. Leave the oven on.

For the lemon layer, whisk together the eggs, sugar, lemon zest, lemon juice, and flour. Pour over the crust and bake for 35 to 40 minutes, or about five minutes beyond the point where the filling is set. Cool to room temperature.

For the lemon glaze, whisk together the confectioner's sugar and lemon juice. Add more or less sugar and/or juice for desired consistency. Pour glaze over lemon bars and spread with a spatula to cover evenly. Allow the glaze to set for at least 20-30 minutes. Cut into squares and garnish with fresh thyme, if desired.

Source: http://dmrfinefoods.blogspot.fi/2013/08/lemon-thyme-bars.html
 

sister herb

Official TTI Chef
What about chocolate and thyme together... :p Let´s try:

White Chocolate Lemon & Thyme Truffles

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Ingredients
  1. 125 g white chocolate, coarsley chopped
  2. 30 ml double cream
  3. 1/2 teasp. finely grated lemon grind
  4. 1/2 teasp.finely chopped fresh thyme leaves
  5. 125 g white chocolate melted
  6. Juice of 1/2 large Lemon
  7. (1 teasp finely grated lemon rind extra for topping)
Recipe

Stir chopped chocolate, cream, lemon juice & rind in a bowl over pan of simmering water until smooth . Remove from heat stir in the thyme & refridgerate over night.

Work 1/4 of the mix at a time, keeping rest of the mix in fridge until needed. roll into balls place on lined tray & put into freezer.

Using 2 forks dip truffles into melted chocolate. Return truffles to tray sprinkle with the extra grated lemon rind & refridgerate till firm.

Source: http://www.thestaffcanteen.com/recipe/white-chocolate-lemon-thyme-truffles/
 

sister herb

Official TTI Chef
Thyme simple syrup

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Ingredients:
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup water
5 large sprigs fresh thyme

Directions:

In a saucepan combine sugar, water, and thyme over medium heat. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer until the sugar has dissolved, about 5 minutes. Take the pan off the heat and cool the syrup. Any extra cooled syrup can be saved in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

Use in homemade lemonade, drizzle over pancakes, with ice cream or anything you like.
 

sister herb

Official TTI Chef
Raspberry Thyme Sorbet

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Thyme Simple Syrup
  • 1 cup of sugar
  • 1 cup of water
  • 5-6 sprigs of thyme
Sorbet Ingredients
  • 2 pints of raspberries
  • 1/2 to 1 cup of simple syrup
Method:
Combine sugar and water in a saucepan. Add thyme once sugar is dissolved. Heat to a simmer and cook for 2 minutes. Turn off heat and cool. Strain once cooled.

Rinse and puree raspberries in a blender. Strain out seeds. Add 1/2 cup to 1 cup of simple syrup. You’ll need to taste. If raspberries are very sour you may need to use a full cup. But ideally, 3/4 of cup should do it! Stir until mixed. Pour into a shallow bowl and place in the freezer for at least 2 hours. If you don’t want it to “ice” up, stir every 30 minutes until frozen.

Source: http://www.mireiodesigns.com/2013/recipes/raspberry-thyme-sorbet/
 

sister herb

Official TTI Chef
Flatbreads with Thyme, Honey and Sea Salt

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Ingredients:
· 1 ¾ cups all purpose flour
· 1 tsp baking powder
· ¾ tsp salt
· ½ cup water
· 1/3 cup olive oil
· ¾ cup grated cheese (BellaVitano Gold Reserve Cheese, Parmesan, Romano or Asiago)
· 1/3 cup honey
· 2 Tb fresh thyme leaves
· Sprinkle of sea salt

Directions:
Preheat oven to 450 degrees F / 225 C. Cover two large sheet pans with parchment paper.
In a large bowl whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture, add the water and oil. Gradually stir the liquids into the flour with a wooden spoon until it forms a dough. Place the dough on a clean counter surface and knead 4 or 5 times. It will feel oily.

Divide the dough into 4 even pieces. Remove one of the pieces of parchment paper and place on the counter. Place one piece of dough on the side of one of the pieces of parchment paper. Roll out the dough, alternating directions, until it is very thin. It will be about 12 inches by 6 inches and should take up half of the pan. Repeat with remaining three balls of dough. Return the parchment paper to the pan.

Bake the flatbreads about 5 minutes until lightly browned. While they are baking, grate your cheese. Remove the breads from the oven and sprinkle all four pieces evenly with the cheese. Return them to the oven and bake for an additional 3 to 4 minutes until browned at the edges.

Remove the flatbreads from the oven and drizzle with honey, sprinkle with sea salt and thyme leaves. Cut into desired sizes and serve.

Source: http://www.perfectingthepairing.com/2011/12/flatbreads-with-thyme-honey-and-sea.html
 
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