As you might have noticed, there has been an absence of recipe posts here for a while. Baby G, of course, is the cutest factor leading to this; she has a way of needing a snack just when I am at some critical point in the recipe. The souffle falls, the rice dries or becomes mushy, or, well, I just leave my kitchen altogether to snuggle with her. Wouldn’t you?
The other factor has been the long parade of visitors that both Sean and I have been cooking for. When we cook, we have been relying on our old standards: roasted chicken with vegetables, corn risotto, and anything you can stuff into a burrito or serve with little to no preparation. A bowl of the sweetest white cherries, for instance. A juicy peach.
Now that the visitors have gone from a gush to a trickle, my imagination has come back in full force, and there are dreams of things to come… delicious things.
The Tribeca Greenmarket is such a huge source of inspiration for me. Old friends- eggplant, garlic, English peas, green beans, apricots-called out their hellos to me last week. I was so happy to see them again.
But, there is a new kid in town, someone I have heard about but never really met before: stevia. Years ago, there was stevia in liquid form on the shelves of our local health food store in the East Village, but that was next to the carob chips. Let me be very clear. I DO NOT do carob chips. I think the stevia might have gotten lumped into the carob category by default.
Reaching for a bunch, I asked the farmers from Stokes Farm what they do with it. They replied that they didn’t know.
What?!?!?
“Take a little taste,” Tom said with a tiny smile. I pinched a half of a leaf and tasted. Sweetness. Shocking sweetness. I took two bunches home with me to do experiments.
Right away water was boiled and iced tea steeping. One small sprig sweetened the entire jug, reminding me of my days in Georgia and the sweet tea that is served there. I have a feeling you could muddle a single leaf for a cocktail. Next, I read a few basic things.
Apparently, for South Americans, stevia is something they have known and been using for years. Hmmm.
Have you tried stevia? Do you have a favorite way to use it? C’mon, Brazilians, give it up!
11/07/2011 at 10:23 am Permalink
Funny, I just bought a bottle of it in liquid form. My husband asked, “And what do you intend to do with that, exactly?” “Sweeten stuff,” I answered. He left the kitchen. It has sat there since. It never (duh!) occured to me to buy it fresh.
Share what you dig up. I bought it bc it is recommended as a substitute for sugar & I have a sugar addict detox planned for when we return from our summer trip. (Though, I wonder if substituting one sweet for the other is good….. ughh.)
Take care Cate!
D
11/07/2011 at 10:44 am Permalink
I am soooooo intrigued. I can’t wait to see your testing results. Hope to see you on my site tomorrow if you get a chance.
11/07/2011 at 3:01 pm Permalink
how interesting, I never heard of stevia before!
15/07/2011 at 4:35 am Permalink
very interesting … never heard of it.
I was also interested in the carob chips you mentionend as I have been looking for ways to make something with carob, which I have never tasted/used. I have several carob trees on the land around my house and i think it would be quite funny to try to make something with them other than letting the neighbour bring his horse to eat them
30/07/2011 at 8:45 am Permalink
I don’t know how much you can do with fresh Stevia, other than mixed drinks/iced tea. The biggest thing I have done with it for years, is make sure it has a prominent place in my edible garden section of the parterre I have. The kids ADORE walking by and slipping a leaf into their mouth and sucking on it for a while. It’s a great addition to a children’s garden, right up there with mint and lamb’s ear (for touching).
As far as cooking, I buy it in the powdered/granular form and use it to cut down the sugar in a recipe. It has a distinct taste, so I don’t think you can substitute 100% on most dishes, but try something like brownies where the chocolate really carries the flavor. Try at a 30% substitution and then work up.