Wait.. what? Rosemary… cookies? Okay, I gotta try this. So with a function coming up that I needed to provide some nibbles for, I decided these cookies were sufficiently fancy enough to make. I was a little skeptical at first, after all rosemary, my most favorite herb of all time was supposed to be put in savory dishes, not cookies!
What could drive someone to thrust an unprotected hand into a beehive to scoop out a glob of insect regurgitation? Well the easy answer is it tastes good, was the world’s first sweetener and preservative, and has many medicinal uses. Because of honey’s elevated acidity and high sugar content it is an excellent preservative and absorbs flavors easily. Honey readily takes on the flavors of herbs, spices, fruit peels and even odd bits like garlic and chiles.
Today, there has been a strong resurgence in the interest in, and use of, bitters in complex modern cocktails. In turn, there has been a resurgence in the variety of hand crafted, flavored bitters available to bartenders. I personally have 9 different bitters that I use when I am stirring and shaking. But the one flavor that interested me the most, which I couldn’t seem to locate, was that of dandelion. So I made my own.
Editor’s Note: The only reason this recipe is found in the “Survive It” category is because the author attempted to light herself on fire, Michael Jackson style, in the process of making it. Management does not recommend leaning over a simmering pot of ANYTHING sitting on a gas stove if (A) you have long hair (B) its not in a ponytail and (C) you are not a cast member of Jackass I, Jackass 2, or Jackass 3D.
My first experience with flowers as food came when I was a child. A local gift shop carried ridiculously overpriced tins of French candy in such flavors as lavender, violet and rose. Fascinated by not only the ornate and gorgeously packaged sweets but the idea of flower-flavored candy as well, I saved up my allowance for weeks to buy one. Each egg-shaped hard candy was perfumed and flowery, not overly sweet, and had one solitary anise seed located in the center. I quickly devoured all the contents. I’m not sure anything even made it home.
