Lavender in the Kitchen

Send your taste buds on a new adventure by experiencing the appealing taste it adds to a variety of culinary dishes. It is not only for desserts and other sweet dishes, but can equally successfully be used with savoury dishes. We bring you a tasty Peppered Lavender Beef recipe that is ideal for that special get together with friends and family.

• 1 (2kg) beef tenderloin roast
  
• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
  
• 1 tablespoons whole black peppercorns
  
• 1 tablespoons whole white peppercorns
  
• 2 tablespoons fennel seeds
  
• 1 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
  
• 2 tablespoons dried culinary lavender flowers

Bring roast to room temperature before cooking. Trim the tenderloin of fat and silverskin.
Note: Silverskin is a silvery-white connective tissue. It doesn't dissolve when the tenderloin is cooked, so it needs to be trimmed away. If the silverskin is not trimmed off, it will cause the tenderloin to curl up into the shape of a quarter moon.

Pat the beef dry with paper towels. Lightly oil outside of roast.

In a small spice or coffee grinder, coarsely grind the black peppercorns, white peppercorns, fennel seeds, thyme, and lavender flowers; rub mixture all over the meat. Wrap tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 2 hours or overnight (preferably).

Preheat oven to 220°C. Unwrap roast and place onto a rack in a shallow baking pan, tucking the thin end under to make it as thick as the rest of the roast. Place roast onto a rack in a shallow baking pan, tucking the thin end under to make it as thick as the rest of the roast. Roast for 15 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 160°C and continue to roast until the internal temperature reaches desired temperature on a meat thermometer.

• Rare: 48°C
• Medium Rare: 52°C
• Medium: 55°C