What's in Bloom; Roses

Here is my rose petal Jam from last year.

To use rose petals; Gently wash and drain rose petals. Carefully remove the white/yellow part of the petals.

Rose petal Butter

1 cup of fresh rose petals
¾ cup of butter

Set butter out at room temperature just long enough to soften up for mixing.
Once soft, chop rose petals finely and stir into the butter.
Cover, and refrigerate. Let it sit for 24 hours so the rose flavor can settle into the butter.

Home-made rose butter will last about 2 weeks in the fridge, or freeze for several months.

Crystallized Rose petals

1 egg white, room temperature
48 Red Rose Petals, washed and drained
3/4 cup Sugar

Beat the egg white until foamy. do not over beat. Use a small pastry brush, coat each petal with beaten egg white. Brush lightly removing any excess. Immediately dip in sugar and place on a rack. Repeat with remaining petals. Refrigerate overnight to dry.

Rose Petal Sauce for Poultry

2 cups water, plus 1 cup
2 tablespoons butter
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon aniseed
12 red or pink roses with open blooms, petals removed
1 peeled red cactus fruit or 2 red plums, skinned
12 fresh chestnuts
2 tablespoons honey
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Bring the2 cups of water to a boil, while in a separate large skillet, melt the butter and cook the aniseed and garlic together for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside. Place the rose and cactus fruit in a food processor and puree until smooth. Set aside.

Using a knife, cut an X over the flat ends of the chestnuts. Use a hot cast iron skillet to toast them for 5 minutes. Once the shells open, toss them into the boiling water and allow them to cook for 15 minutes. Drain, and allow to cool. When cool enough to handle, peel the chestnuts and add them to the pureed rose mix. Slowly add the remaining 1 cup of water while pureeing the mixture.

Reheat the skillet with the garlic/butter, add the rose petal puree and simmer for 10minutes. Whisk in honey, salt and pepper. Strain through a sieve or several layers of cheese cloth to remove any solids. Keep the sauce in a pan, and keep warm, drizzle over your pan roasted or oven roast poultry.

Rose Fritters

Use you favorite beer batter recipe, dip in rose petals, then fry until golden. Drain then sprinkle with powder sugar.

Rose petal Vinegar

2 cups white wine vinegar (heat to near boil)
1 cup rose petals
3 or 4 whole cloves

Gently crush the petals to bruise a bit.In a sterilized canning jar, place the rose petals and cloves. Pour hot vinegar over top, roughly mash the petals with a wooden spoon and seal. Set aside for 10 days at room temperature and in the dark. Shake one a day. Strain vinegar and discard the cloves and rose petals.

Rose petals can be added to every freakin' salad you can think of. Add them to just about any dessert, and so forth.

It was cute, our calf bull and our kid billy were testing each other. Forehead to forehead. I swore that the kid billy would win, ha He is the one with horns after all.