Best Chrysanthemum Recipes

CHRYSANTHEMUM

Steps:

• In cocktail shaker, stir together absinthe, Benedictine liqueur, and vermouth. Add ice and stir for one minute, then strain into martini glass. Squeeze orange peel over drink, making sure oils fall into glass, then drop peel into drink and serve.

ROAST CHICKEN NOODLE SOUP WITH CHRYSANTHEMUM

Steps:

• Stir star anise in heavy large saucepan over medium heat until slightly darker, wrinkled-looking, and fragrant, about 8 minutes. Add 3 cups water and ginger; simmer 15 minutes. Add broth, soy sauce, and sugar; simmer 15 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
• Stir oil and garlic in small skillet over low heat until garlic is crisp and golden, about 8 minutes. Set garlic oil aside.
• Blanch chrysanthemum in large pot of boiling salted water until just wilted, about 5 seconds. Using strainer, transfer greens to colander. Rinse with cold water and drain. Return water in pot to boil. Add noodles and cook until just tender but still firm to bite, stirring often, about 3 minutes. Drain; transfer to large bowl. Let stand 2 minutes. Mix in 1 tablespoon garlic oil. Using kitchen shears, cut noodles crosswise in several places.
• Heat chicken in microwave in 10-second intervals at low setting until warmed through. Divide noodles among 4 soup bowls; top each with 1/4 of chrysanthemum, chicken, and onion. Ladle 2 cups broth mixture into each bowl. Drizzle with some garlic oil. Serve, passing red chiles separately.

CHICKEN DUMPLING AND CHRYSANTHEMUM LEAF SOUP

Steps:

• Using your fingers, strip off the leaves and snap off the tender tops of each chrysanthemum stem. Discard the stems along with any discolored leaves and small buds. There should be about 3 cups packed leaves. Rinse the leaves well to remove any grit and drain in a colander. Cut the leaves into 1-inch pieces and set aside.
• In a 3- or 4-quart saucepan, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the onion and cook gently, stirring occasionally, for about 4 minutes, or until fragrant and soft. Add the water and salt, raise the heat to high, and bring to a boil. Lower the heat to a simmer. Use 2 teaspoons or demitasse spoons to shape the dumplings. Scoop up a smallish mound of the paste with 1 spoon. (The dumplings nearly double in size, so you don't want to start with a huge spoonful of paste.) Pass the mound back and forth from 1 spoon to the other, forming it into a relatively smooth round or football shape. When you're satisfied, use the second spoon to push the dumpling gently off the spoon into the simmering broth.
• After the dumplings float to the surface of the broth, let them simmer, uncovered, for 10 to 12 minutes, or until cooked through. Taste and season with up to 1 tablespoon fish sauce; how much you use depends on the saltiness of the meat paste. If you are not serving the soup right away, turn off the heat and cover.
• Just before serving, return the soup to a simmer and add the chrysanthemum leaves. When they wilt and turn deep green, after about 1 minute, turn off the heat. Taste and add extra salt or fish sauce, if necessary. Ladle into a serving bowl and sprinkle with lots of black pepper. Serve immediately.

ROAST "CHRYSANTHEMUM" ONIONS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 450°F.
• With a sharp knife trim root end of each onion flat so that it is still intact but will stand on end. Standing each onion on its root end, cut parallel vertical slices at 1/4-inch intervals into but not through onion, stopping about 3/4 inch above root end. Rotate each onion 90 degrees and cut parallel vertical slices in same manner to form a crosshatch pattern, keeping onions intact.
• In a lightly buttered shallow baking dish large enough to let onion open, or "flower," put onions, root ends down, and sprinkle with sugar and salt to taste.
• In a small saucepan heat broth and butter over moderately high heat until butter is melted and pour over onions. Cover onions with foil and roast in middle of oven 45 minutes, or until tender. Remove foil and roast onions, basting occasionally, 30 to 45 minutes more, on until golden. Onions may be made 1 day ahead and chilled, covered. Reheat onions before serving.

CHRYSANTHEMUM SWEET POTATOES

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Butter a 2 quart baking dish.
• Place the sweet potatoes into a large pot, and fill with enough water to cover. Bring to a boil, and cook until tender, about 15 minutes. Drain.
• Mash potatoes with pineapple, honey and butter using a whisk or electric mixer until smooth and creamy. Stir in the lemon zest and chrysanthemum petals. Transfer to the prepared baking dish.
• Bake for 20 to 30 minutes in the preheated oven, until hot and fragrant.

CHRYSANTHEMUM COCKTAIL

Steps:

• Add the vermouth, Benedictine and absinthe to a cocktail shaker filled with ice and shake vigorously. Strain into a chilled martini glass. Squeeze the orange peel into the drink, then run the peel around the rim and use as a garnish. Drink immediately.

CHRYSANTHEMUM CHICKEN

Steps:

• In a bowl, combine the first five ingredients. Add chicken and toss to coat. In a wok or skillet, stir-fry chicken in oil for 5-7 minutes or until no longer pink. Add the broth, additional broth or sherry and green onion. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened. Reduce heat; add the flower petals and toss to coat. Serve over rice. ,

PULL-APART CHOCOLATE CHRYSANTHEMUM BREAD

Steps:

• For the dough: stir the yeast and 1 teaspoon honey into 1 cup warm water (100 to 110 degrees F). Let sit until bubbly, about 5 minutes. In a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the eggs and yolks, olive oil, salt, remaining 1/4 cup honey and the yeast mixture. Mix on low until combined. Add 4 cups flour on low speed, 1 cup at a time, and mix to form a smooth, wet dough. Switch to the dough hook and knead on medium-high, adding up to 1/2 cup more flour to make a slightly sticky dough that forms a ball around the hook, 4 to 5 minutes. Form the dough into a ball, place in a large bowl and lightly coat in olive oil. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise until doubled in size, about 1 1/2 hours.
• For the filling: Meanwhile, stir together the chocolate, butter, pecans, sugar, cinnamon and salt in a medium bowl to make a chunky paste.
• Butter a 10-inch round cake pan and set aside. When the dough has risen, punch it down and roll with a lightly floured rolling pin on a well-floured work surface into a 24-by-16-inch rectangle (about 1/4-inch thick). Use a 3 1/2-inch round cutter to cut out as many circles as you can from the dough. Fill each circle to the edge with about 1 tablespoon filling and fold in half, then in half again, so it looks like a quarter of a circle. Pinch the tip of the dough so that the rounded edge opens slightly. Arrange pieces, pinched-side down, in a circle around the edge of the pan with some space between the pieces and the chocolate filling showing at the top. Arrange 2 more circles in the pan, ending with one piece in the center. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise until almost doubled, about 30 minutes.
• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Brush the risen dough with beaten egg and bake until golden and the center of the bread registers about 180 degrees F on an instant-read thermometer (avoid touching the pan), 30 to 35 minutes. Cool in the pan on a rack for 10 minutes, then remove and serve warm.