Geetha's Kitchen

Home Grown Mint (Mentha spicata) Mint is perhaps the easiest of herbs to grow at home - and the benefits of having this brightly aromatic herb fresh are endless ... delicious in salads, teas, curries, wraps, and of course as garnishes .... desserts, fruit salads and fancy beverages would not be complete without a little sprig :D. Although there are different kinds of mints used in the kitchen, spearmint (Mentha spicata) is the most popular. P eppermint is used predominantly for teas and flavorings and spearmint for tea as well as all other cooking needs. Mint is an enormously useful herb beyond the kitchen too: it is used in medicines, perfumes, soaps, oral hygiene products, insect repellents, etc, etc. I find that stem cuttings are the best and quickest way to grow mint. It grows quite easily from cuttings - child's play :>! I grew mine years ago from the leftover stems after using the leaves for cooking. Since it is a perennial herb, o nce planted mint will keep growing ...

Cato's Lentil Stew proves that the ancient people knew how to prepare and enjoy their food! Although it is simple, it is nonetheless quite delicious. I know this is one dish that I will make again and again. It is adapted from The Classical Cookbook by Andrew Dalby and Sally Grainger. I tweaked the recipe just a little - left out the rue as it is a plant that causes mild to severe contact dermatitis and didn't want to find out what it would do to my insides when ingested ... since my other motto (besides "waste not") is ... When in doubt, leave it out .... Although rue was a common pot herb in antiquity, it lost favor and faded out of the realm of culinary art. "Garum" or fish sauce also got axed - no creature extracts in my food please :D! And, although I like sweets just as much as the next person, I am not a fan of sweetened stews and veggies; so the honey and concentrated grape juice called "defrutum" were also left out. If you lik...