Go to the Recipe: Course 14: Garden Tea
This is the first time using Chefsteps and the first recipe I read. Are all of the recipes this twee? What the !??! are borage blossoms? Who saves carrot tops. I have a variety of herbs in my garden, but I don't have lemon verbena, just the usual boring mint, parsley, chives, oregano, sage, rosemary and thyme. I also own a French Press, but don't know too many people who even know what that is.
My initial impression is that this site is too pretentious for me.
Try looking at more than one recipe. I would start there. Chef steps is an amazing place. With recipes for beginners too advanced. Common ingredients too uncommon.
I think ChefSteps as well as many passionate cooks out there wouldn't label themselves as pretentious just because they seek out new flavors and try to be adventurous with their cooking. It's so easy to label food geeks as pretentious but I like to view them in the same light as engineers/scientists experimenting with new things.
That's akin to labelling local coffee professionals as pretentious simply because they can tell you the origin, elevation, and flavor profile of every coffee they sell you. Yeah, there's a little more thought and detail, and yeah, the coffee is a little pricier and harder to come by. What you can't deny is that the coffee is dramatically better. If you don't see the difference- ignorance is bliss. However, in-depth knowledge lends more enjoyment from a truly well-developed cup of coffee. Keep browsing the site- if you decide it's not for you, then it's not for you. No worries, Ruth. You do you!
Borage blossoms are a very common floweres that grow easy year after year, even if you don't take too much care. They are not only wonderful to attract bees to the vergetable garden, the plant is the best companion for the tomatoes since has reppeling properties that helps avoit hornworms. And please, take your time to really know what is going on in ChefSteps. You will not found better and cheaper place to learn how to cook like a Pro that doesn't mean pretentious, but do things well with creativity.
Delicious too they taste just like cucumber. I personally dont like the (stalk) that goes into the back of the flower though but i know a lot of chefs tend to leave that on
Always looking for uses for borage. It is an attractive but invasive blue eyed bastard that spreads like slanderous gossip.
