My garden is still going strong. I did not grow vegetables, but rather pots of herbs. Large pots which overflowed so profusely that I've had to whack them back several times this season. Always to my amazement they come roaring back.
I planted traditional basil, purple basil and Thai basil. Rosemary, purple sage and tarragon in another. In the two smaller pots I planted lemon thyme and oregano. And then there is the mint- which got to be so brambly wild that it reminded me of the gnarly mass of a witches mane. I whacked that one back to, within an inch of it's life. I was sure that I had done it in that I imposed upon a friend and dug up a small patch from his garden and added it to the pot. Just a short 2 weeks later it's back in full blast and I'm already pinching it back.
Last night I sat in the garden as the day's sun was fading and thought about how fortunate I am for such bounty. Had I purchased the bunches of herbs I had used over the season I would have been out of pocket quite a bit. The irony is that I HAD to harvest and use my herbs. Some I've dried, but the rest were blended into pastas, added to sandwiches and turned into pestos.
Which now leads me to this recipe. When I lived in NYC the end of September always meant rosemary to me. This comes from a memory I have of going to the farmer's market on a crisp fall day and purchasing a rosemary laced loaf of bread. Oh what heaven is the smell of fresh yeasty bread and rosemary. Ever since I make it a habit to do a few homage dishes to this resilient piney aromatic.
I thought about the pairing of mint and rosemary- most definitely a fine combination, but I wanted something more peppery. I had some ends of some baby arugula which not only added the sharpness I was imagining, but also a bright shade of green. Read More