Lovage

Once again the farmer's market entices me with produce I've not cooked with before: lovage. Lovage is a green that looks a bit like flat leaf parsley and tastes like celery. It is strong flavored and tougher than parsley. And well, I like celery and parsley, so I thought what the heck, I can figure something out to do with it. And I did. I made soup. It's really simple only a few ingredients and nice for a light dinner, just add some crusty bread and a glass of wine. This is vegetarian, but not vegan. I also decided to make it into a simple syrup to mix with gin & soda water.


Potato Soup with Lovage

1 T olive oil
1 medium sized onion, chopped
3 green onions, chopped
2 to 2 1/2 cups potato, cubed (I leave the peels on, but for a smoother soup, peel them)
2 cups broth, chicken, vegetable or Better than Bouillon
1/3 cup chopped lovage leaves (don't use the stems they are too fibrous)
1 to 2 cups soy milk (or other milk of choice); use less milk if you like it thicker
3 T yogurt
salt and pepper

Saute the onions in the olive oil until softened. Add the potatoes and cook for a couple minutes, be sure and stir them. Add the stock and simmer until the potatoes are soft, maybe 20 minutes. Add the lovage and simmer for a couple minutes. Puree with your immersion blender. Add the milk, yogurt, salt and pepper and heat, but don't boil or it may curdle. Tip: add the yogurt to a bit of the soup to get it softened, so it goes into solution easier and doesn't get lumpy. Put a couple of leaves on top for presentation and enjoy. 

Gin and Lovage Cocktail

2 cups lovage leaves and stalks, chopped roughly
1 cup water
1 cup sugar
1 shot gin (don't need a real fancy one, Bombay Sapphire is just fine)
1/2 cup soda water
lemon slice
ice

Heat the water and sugar until the sugar dissolves completely. Keep an eye on it and stir. Pour the water and sugar over the lovage right away. Stir and let it cool to room temperature. Once cooled strain and bottle the liquid. Discard the lovage leaves. I usually put these sort of things in the freezer and dip into it as needed. Simple syrup doesn't freeze solid. Should keep a year or more in the freezer. In the frig, it will probably last about a month or so.

Put ice in a tall glass, add about 1 to 2 T of lovage syrup (or to taste, I found about 1 T to be about right for me), a shot of gin and top it all off with soda water and a lemon slice. Stir and enjoy. So refreshing.