In My Kitchen

“Here I sits.” In my kitchen, during a season where foods and their amazing tastes and aromas add much to our days. In my kitchen where I find boundless opportunities to support health and wellness.

For those new to herbalism, the kitchen is a surprisingly rich place to begin to explore minerals and more, like water, salts, honey, and beans such as coffee and vanilla.

When thinking of fruits, pomegranates, avocados, apples, peppercorns, lemons and limes come to mind, not to mention berries of all sorts. When I think of seeds, mustard, coriander, cumin and fennel all play important roles in the foods and beverages that I make. These are a part of my medical materials.

Leaves abound in my kitchen, and I rely on many such as black tea leaves, not to mention others, including rosemary, sage, thyme, basil, and mint, to name but a few more. When I think of barks, cinnamon is the first to come to mind!

Regularly, perhaps even daily, I reach for roots, rhizomes and bulbs such as garlic, turmeric and ginger. Not to mention mushrooms, something that both friends and family remark upon.

Flowers, especially when fresh, easily find their way into salads and ice cubes during the growing season, while at this time of year, I often look to dried chamomile or hibiscus, for example, when making myself a cup of tea. Our culinary, medicinal materials are many!

Often without even being conscious of this bounty, it’s easy to overlook the fact that we’re using quite an array of medicines as we cook and make beverages. Perhaps we currently reach for them because of flavor or aroma, without yet reaching because we are in search of a medicinal action, or a medicinal dose.

How do we begin to use these kitchen ingredients to support health and wellness? To support healing?

For me, the answer is to do so slowly, with practice and attention, intention and a beginner’s mind. As we listen and explore kitchen ingredients in a new way, it grows easier and easier to wrap our heads around a sometimes startling array of tastes and flavors as well as actions and their benefits.

Just how we choose to use these “ingredients”, these “herbs and spices”, which we might also call our “materia medica”, or medical materials is so very dependent upon culture and geography, seasonality, tradition and our state of health and wellness.

There was a time when I thought that herbs and spices were included solely for flavor. Over the years, I’ve learned that there’s so much more to our kitchens and that this is a wonderful place to learn. I find it fascinating when recipes draw upon the medicinal actions of herbs.

For example, during this holiday season, many people will feast on turkey, a fatty bird. How curious is it that sage, often added to stuffings, supports gallbladder function and thus, helps us digest fat. Amazing! Our knowledge of the actions of the oils in this herb are comparatively recent, while recipes for sage stuffings are rooted in history.

Consider too, cinnamon. Cinnamon is a common kitchen spice. We also know that it helps regulate blood sugar. Is its inclusion in an apple pie, often served with ice-cream, one of accident or design? Design that extends beyond flavor? Design that too has deep roots in history. Cinnamon is also a warming herb and supports the circulation of blood. I regularly add a dash to a hot chocolate on a cold winter’s day, and certainly to mulled wine.

Recipes for mulled wine abound. Yet there are commonalities, not the least of which during the cold and flu season include citrus, often oranges and likely for both flavor and vitamin C; cinnamon which in addition to the properties mentioned above is also a sound antimicrobial herb as are cloves and star anise, with strong affinities to the mouth, the throat and respiratory health. Some folks add cardamom supporting both flavor and other antimicrobial herbs, and many temper a dry red wine, the primary menstruum, with apple cider, brandy and/or honey. Always always, mulled wines are served warm, even hot and are especially fortifying on a winter’s night.

~ enjoy

Medicinal Mulled Wine Recipe

Ingredients:

- 750 ml red wine (1 bottle) — choose something fruity but not too sweet

- 2 cups apple cider (not vindegar!)

- 1/4 cup honey, local would be wonderful

- 1 orange zested and juiced

- 5 whole cloves

- 4 green cardamom pods

- 2 cinnamon sticks

- 1 whole star anise

- 1/4 cup brandy

- Orange & Cinnamon to garnish, although many add these while warming.

To Do:

- Add wine, cider, honey, orange zest and orange juice to a large pot. Stir to combine.

- Add the cloves, cardamom, cinnamon sticks, and star anise. Bring to a simmer over medium-high heat. Reduce the heat to low and simmer gently for 30 minutes. Avoid boiling.

- Stir in the brandy.

- To serve, ladle into mugs and garnish with an orange slice and cinnamon sticks.

~ with thanks to www.wellplated.com/spiced-wine