Mexican Mint Marigold
Tagetes lucida, commonly called Mexican Mint Marigold, has found its way into our garden and is surely going to stay there for a long time to come. While we greatly enjoy flowering plants, we regularly want more, more beautiful flowers for more of the time, and whenever possible, more fragrance and more food for birds, insects or us. This wonderful plant provides all of these, throughout the summer and into the winter, which it has survived in a pot at the base of the stairs to the front door throughout the couple of light freezes and even the more recent harder one.
Scent was what led me to this plant originally, while walking through Pinehill Nursery’s greenhouse I discovered a smell that I just could not resist (an earthy musty smell) and I had to follow my nose. I discovered a bushy, upright, woody stemmed plant with medium green lacy leaves and clusters of small yellow flower heads. I knew nothing of this plant having never read, heard or seen it before but I knew that I had to have it just for the scent – the rest is lagniappe.
As I knew nothing of the plant I looked it up on the internet and found it’s a herb that originates in the mountains of Mexico and thrives in our hot humid southern summers and can be used as a substitute for French Tarragon which is hard to grow in the south. So I put it in a pot near my front door and this is what I observed. It bloomed prolifically in the cooler weather and when it got too warm, it pressed on without blooms, however in the spring and fall it blooms almost nonstop. Best of all though, is that Mexican Mint Marigold kept blooming through and after the freezing weather descended upon it. It is always wonderful to see blooms in winter months when it’s grey out as the blooms gives a lift to the day. The wonder of these blooms draws attention, but even better is to have a wonderful fragrance wafting through the air – Note that this plant will not let you down, it promises not to disappoint. I love having it near my door so that I can walk by and bright happy flowers and brush my hand through the plant and smell, it always brings a smile.
Locally, this can be used for many different culinary treats, such as one that the The Food Network brought to light. The recipe is for Mexican mint marigold pesto served with potatoes, goat cheese and lamb all of which can be found locally and seasonally at the Farmer’s Markets in Long Beach, Biloxi and Ocean Springs. The ingredients for the pesto are 1/4 cup Mexican mint marigold leaves, 2 cloves garlic, 1 T. Parmesan cheese, 2 T. pecans, 1/4 cup stock, 2 T. olive oil, salt and pepper to taste.
Another that seems worth a try is Texas Food and Wine Gourmet suggests their recipe for Mexican mint marigold tartar sauce for friend catfish (or trout or bass or perch or crappy …). It takes the following proportions of 3-cups mayonnaise, a can of tomatoes, a cup of V-8, a cup of Chardonnay, 1-Tablespoon Mexican mint marigold and several other ingredients, all of which can be scaled to meet your requirements.
And let’s not forget a southern mainstay, pan-fried chicken with a New Orleans twist.
Mexican Mint Marigold Dijon chicken
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
3 tbsp shallot, chopped
1 tbsp garlic
4 oz White wine
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
2 teaspoons Mexican Mint Marigold, chopped
From http://www.arborgate.com/contact.php in Tom ball TX.
Melt the butter and heat the oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Season chicken with salt and pepper, and place in the skillet. Brown the chicken on both sides. Reduce heat to medium, cover, and continue cooking 15 minutes, or until chicken juices run clear. Set aside and keep warm. With remaining oil in pan, sauté the shallot and garlic for about 1 to 2 minutes scraping the brown bits from the pan. Reduce the wine until almost dry in the pan. Stir cream into the pan. Mix in mustard and Mexican mint marigold. Cook and stir 5 minutes, or until thickened. Return chicken to skillet to coat with sauce. Drizzle chicken with remaining sauce to serve.
While this herb is clearly new to us, acquainted with it for less than a year, it has a wonderfully s storied history from Latin America where it was discovered by Spanish Conquistadors in the high mountains where the Aztecs and other native Latin Americans cultivated this herb for use in a variety of religious ceremonies. I am certainly are glad that this herb was discovered and brought to South Mississippi where it is bound to please my senses of taste, smell and sight for years to come.
Scent was what led me to this plant originally, while walking through Pinehill Nursery’s greenhouse I discovered a smell that I just could not resist (an earthy musty smell) and I had to follow my nose. I discovered a bushy, upright, woody stemmed plant with medium green lacy leaves and clusters of small yellow flower heads. I knew nothing of this plant having never read, heard or seen it before but I knew that I had to have it just for the scent – the rest is lagniappe.
As I knew nothing of the plant I looked it up on the internet and found it’s a herb that originates in the mountains of Mexico and thrives in our hot humid southern summers and can be used as a substitute for French Tarragon which is hard to grow in the south. So I put it in a pot near my front door and this is what I observed. It bloomed prolifically in the cooler weather and when it got too warm, it pressed on without blooms, however in the spring and fall it blooms almost nonstop. Best of all though, is that Mexican Mint Marigold kept blooming through and after the freezing weather descended upon it. It is always wonderful to see blooms in winter months when it’s grey out as the blooms gives a lift to the day. The wonder of these blooms draws attention, but even better is to have a wonderful fragrance wafting through the air – Note that this plant will not let you down, it promises not to disappoint. I love having it near my door so that I can walk by and bright happy flowers and brush my hand through the plant and smell, it always brings a smile.
Locally, this can be used for many different culinary treats, such as one that the The Food Network brought to light. The recipe is for Mexican mint marigold pesto served with potatoes, goat cheese and lamb all of which can be found locally and seasonally at the Farmer’s Markets in Long Beach, Biloxi and Ocean Springs. The ingredients for the pesto are 1/4 cup Mexican mint marigold leaves, 2 cloves garlic, 1 T. Parmesan cheese, 2 T. pecans, 1/4 cup stock, 2 T. olive oil, salt and pepper to taste.
Another that seems worth a try is Texas Food and Wine Gourmet suggests their recipe for Mexican mint marigold tartar sauce for friend catfish (or trout or bass or perch or crappy …). It takes the following proportions of 3-cups mayonnaise, a can of tomatoes, a cup of V-8, a cup of Chardonnay, 1-Tablespoon Mexican mint marigold and several other ingredients, all of which can be scaled to meet your requirements.
And let’s not forget a southern mainstay, pan-fried chicken with a New Orleans twist.
Mexican Mint Marigold Dijon chicken
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
3 tbsp shallot, chopped
1 tbsp garlic
4 oz White wine
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
2 teaspoons Mexican Mint Marigold, chopped
From http://www.arborgate.com/contact.php in Tom ball TX.
Melt the butter and heat the oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Season chicken with salt and pepper, and place in the skillet. Brown the chicken on both sides. Reduce heat to medium, cover, and continue cooking 15 minutes, or until chicken juices run clear. Set aside and keep warm. With remaining oil in pan, sauté the shallot and garlic for about 1 to 2 minutes scraping the brown bits from the pan. Reduce the wine until almost dry in the pan. Stir cream into the pan. Mix in mustard and Mexican mint marigold. Cook and stir 5 minutes, or until thickened. Return chicken to skillet to coat with sauce. Drizzle chicken with remaining sauce to serve.
While this herb is clearly new to us, acquainted with it for less than a year, it has a wonderfully s storied history from Latin America where it was discovered by Spanish Conquistadors in the high mountains where the Aztecs and other native Latin Americans cultivated this herb for use in a variety of religious ceremonies. I am certainly are glad that this herb was discovered and brought to South Mississippi where it is bound to please my senses of taste, smell and sight for years to come.
