Powerful and unique, edible flowers have been used for thousands of years by Roman, Chinese, Middle Eastern and Indian cultures. Victorians used flowers in salads, pickled them for winter storage or candied them for garnishes.
We do farm tours at The Chef's Garden all through the winter because even in the middle of a chilly December day, there are fascinating things to be discovered growing in the fields. Maybe it's the cold temperatures that get to me when I'm giving a winter tour but I always like to have a little fun by playing something I like to call, "Stump the chef."
When Brenda Shick was asked about her number one favorite product at The Chef’s Garden, she didn’t hesitate. “Lettuce!”
I like to drive through the fields on Sunday afternoons to check up on how things are doing – what is ready for harvest and what still needs a little more time. My wife Mary and I are usually dressed in our Sunday best for the drive and this time was no different.
Before we named this variety of sweet potato, which tastes like custard cream or crème Anglaise with hints of malted vanilla and caramel with a clean finish and velvety texture, it was named the unglamorous Sp 159-26. That's not a very flattering title for one of the best sweet potatoes I've had the pleasure of tasting in my life. Which is why the moment we tasted it, its name was changed to the fitting crème brûlée.
Calvin Lamborn has twenty grandchildren but his busy family schedule doesn't stop this innovative botanist of Twin Falls, Idaho from cultivating some of the most flavorful and unique pea varieties in the world.