Weird and Wonderful

Katiecakes, here, has a blog giveaway of a great looking cookbook.

In order to qualify, you have to link to her blog and also supply an unusual ingredient and how you might use it.

I have pondered on this one - I was going to suggest lavender flowers [after those beautiful fragrant scones I ate last week in Heacham] But someone else has suggested them. Then I thought about Samphire, the lovely Norfolk Seaweed, which can be served as a vegetable on its own, or mixed into couscous. But that's not widely available.So I have entered something much more prosaic

Cold Mashed Potatoes - to make

Chocolate Covered Peppermint Patties
* 1 cup mashed potatoes
* 1 teaspoon salt
* 2 tablespoons melted butter
* 2 teaspoons peppermint extract
* 8 cups icing sugar
* 8 (1 oz) squares plain chocolate
* 2 tablespoons softened butter
DIRECTIONS

1. In a large bowl, mix together the potatoes, salt, butter, and peppermint extract. Gradually mix in icing sugar; mix in enough to make a workable dough, between 6 and 8 cups.
2. Knead slightly, and roll into cherry-size balls. Flatten balls to form patties. Arrange on sheets of wax paper, and allow to dry overnight.
3. Place chocolate and softened butter in a microwave-safe bowl. Heat in microwave, stirring occasionally, until melted and smooth. Dip patties in melted chocolate, and let cool on wax paper.

What's your weirdest ingredient? I've done the mayonnaise cake, and the red velvet beetroot cake, and the vinegar cake - and some of my treasured wartime recipe books have 'mock' stuff, like mock banana cake made with parsnips.

I guess many of these recipes evolved because people either had a glut of an ingredient to use up [eg beetroot], or because they were trying to make something without the usual crucial ingredient [often eggs in wartime] that reminds me, I probably ought to do something else with those groats I bought in the supermarket with Liz!