So, brief overview - we have been growing saffron as a kind of side-gig here for 4 years now, and I have been enjoying the fruits of our labour so to speak (the spice of our labour?). We chose saffron for a lot of reasons that I won’t go into right now (ask me another time, that is a subject for another blog), but the main reason was that it has an opposite growing season to the peonies.
Before we started growing saffron, I admit, I had heard of it but never cooked with it or used it in any way. That is not the case now. For me, saffron had this kind of exotic, almost unknowable, quality to it that I never really realised until I tried cooking with it and found myself stumped and lost for ideas.
To be completely honest, I don't love cooking (a never ending chore that creates more chores (dishes, bleh) - no thank you) but I would consider myself something of a casual foodie - in that I love food, going out to eat, trying new restaurants, and trying new foods, especially if they are either grown, produced, or made locally. Weirdly, although I don't really like cooking, I really like to bake, and trying new recipes and experimenting with new and different ingredients is always a bit of fun. When we started growing the saffron, I took the chance to try cooking with it.
Initially, I didn't know what to try or start with. The traditional and more common uses for saffron - think curries, chowders, risottos, saffron rice, paella - didn't really appeal to me. Don't get me wrong, I love a good curry, but to eat it, not to cook it. So I turned my attention more to desserts and other things I could bake. It was when scrolling absently through Pinterest that I found the first thing I wanted to try: Saffron and Cream Cheese Brownie. This appealed to me for several reasons, the primary one being that I love brownies. To humble brag a little bit, I have a reputation among friends and family when it comes to brownies (#BrownieQueen). I make brownies all the time, I love making them, eating them, and playing with and adjusting my recipe until it was exactly how I wanted it (also with dairy free/vegan/gluten free variations because I’m just extra that way). So when I found this recipe, I knew I had to give it a go.
The results were amazing, and with some recipe tweaking they were just about perfect. The saffron pushes the brownie out of the typical cherry sweet domain, and closer to something more savoury. Don’t get me wrong, they are still definitely sweet, but they sit comfortably on the savoury-sweet side of the scale, rather than sweet-sweet where more traditional brownies sit. The earthiness of the saffron compliments the chocolate in the brownie, and the kind of sourness of the cream cheese ties them together in a way that is just, beautiful. I have made these often enough that they regularly get requested by friends and family, and even sometimes friends of friends. Here's the link to our recipe post, so for those of you who are curious can try them at home. Alternatively, if you are a Nelson/Tasman local, you can come out for the Moutere Artesian open days - we have them twice a year, on the Sunday after ANZAC day, and the Sunday of Labour weekend.
My other favourite, and summer staple, is a quick and nasty mango + saffron sorbet. It is basically just coconut cream, frozen mango, and a sprinkling of saffron threads (or powder if you prefer) all blitzed together in a blender, and voila! It is simple, easy, and delicious - and what more could you ask for out of a quick little summer recipe. It’s also relatively healthy, so win-win-win-win. You can freeze it if you like, or if you’re like me, you can eat it directly out of the nutribullet - it doesn’t last long enough to make it to the freezer before it's eaten in my house!!
Let me know what your favourite dishes with saffron are! I’d love some new recipes to try out.