saffron rice is nice

I never tasted saffron as a child. It has a flavor unlike anything else, strange and warm and medicinal/aromatic (in a good way). Despite it being the most expensive flavoring spice in the world, it is readily available, in small quantities, (and probably not the best of quality) at any Trader Joe's store. 'Tis likely that it would grow well here in the Northwest , since it prefers a "Mediterranean climate": damp winter/spring and then dry summers. It has even been grown in Great Britain; the town of Saffron Walden is named for the plant, which was widely grown there in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries

One easy way to enjoy the flavor of saffron is to make Saffron Rice:

½C dried currants ¼C brandy ¼C oil or butter 1½C white rice 2T minced green onion 2 mince garlic cloves 2½C chicken stock 1/8tsp saffron 3T butter salt and pepper

soak currants in brandy for at least an hour moisten saffron in a small amount of stock melt butter in large pan, medium heat add rice, green onion, and garlic, ...stir and cook ≈ 2 to 3 min add saffron/stock and rest of chicken stock ...boil, then cover and simmer 'till tender add marinated currants, and butter ...let sit, covered to absorb all liquid add salt and pepper to taste

There are mail order places to purchase saffron for planting: White Flower Farm, or Wayside Gardens and a few of the more local nurserys, One Green World sells corms in bundles of five, and Raintree sells single potted saffron. Perhaps next year I will order corms and plant them, adding another flavor to the herbs that grow here at Acorn Cottage

̿ ̿ ̿̿'̿̿\̵͇̿̿\=[^_^]=/̵͇̿̿/'̿̿ ̿ ̿ ̿
dog is hunting,
out on the trail
hopeful for success