Fresh herbs are a big part of cooking. There is nothing better than being able to go out to your garden and pick your herbs for sauces, soups, pizza, salad dressings, vinaigrette, butter logs, grilling meats and veggies, and even in mimosas.
Put herbs everywhere in your landscaping. This year, we also planted herbs, tomatoes and peppers in a patio garden kit. The growing box is on castors, has an aeration screen, water fill tube and mulch cover. Follow the directions for planting the herb seeds or plants in potting mix, dolomite (garden lime) fertilizer. So right on your patio or deck, your herbs are ready for you. Ideally, you should plant on a cool cloudy day to minimize stress on the new herbs. Your crop will be amazing and easy to care for. Herbs that do OK inside are basil, rosemary, thyme and parsley. They do need special attention, space and fertilizer and at least four hours of sun daily.
When a recipe calls for fresh herbs and you only have dried, then use one-third the amount. If you use fresh herbs, pick them in the morning before the sun decreases their volatile oils. You can submerge the stems in water and refrigerate until ready to use. Basil tends to turn black when wet so it’s best to cut it just before using. Cutting and chopping herbs seems to release the flavor more than tearing them. If you want to know how some herbs will taste together, mix them with soft butter or plain cream cheese and spread it on a plain cracker. Use pungent herbs — like rosemary, sage, lavender, etc. — in the beginning of your cooking. Use milder herbs — basil, oregano, parsley — when the dish is almost done.
Some garlic guidelines: Don’t chop garlic in advance. The compound allicin is released and starts to build and causes a harsher flavor. Also, remove any green shoots before using, these tend to be bitter, and you just won’t get that wonderful garlic flavor. Don’t add garlic to the pan until the aromatics such as tomatoes, onions, peppers have softened. To cook garlic by itself, don’t cook over high heat for more than 30 seconds and make sure you stir constantly. For garlic powder, use one-fourth teaspoon for each glove of fresh garlic. Packaged pre-peeled garlic will last only two weeks before turning yellow and getting over pungent. It sounds like garlic is a pain in the neck, doesn’t it? But just follow the garlic rules and you will do fine.
Drying herbs is the best way to get the most from your garden. Bundling: Gather the herbs together in a bundle and place in a brown paper bag, stem sides out and secure with a string, hanging it in a clothesline fashion. In seven to 10 days, your herbs should be dried. Remove the stems and strip off the dried leaves and crush them stored in a glass. You can try refrigerator drying for small amounts. Place chopped herbs on a plate, uncovered in the refrigerator. Herbs should crisp in five to six days. It works especially well for parsley and cilantro.
If you have a dehydrator, place clean herbs with stems removed and allow the dehydrator to run all day or all night. In the morning, gather the dried herbs and place in a jar with a lid. Try Roma tomatoes or bell peppers in the dehydrator too. Add some pizza seasoning to the juice tomatoes and when they are dry, they are also a delicious snack.
Herbs make nice gifts if you know people who use herbs fresh or dried. My favorite is parsley and chive butter log. Using a wooden spoon, cream together two sticks of unsalted butter at room temperature, add two teaspoons of lemon juice and two teaspoons Dijon mustard. Refrigerate until firm then shape into a log and wrap it in parchment paper. Store in the refrigerator. Decorate the butter/herb log and give as a gift with crackers, or a loaf of bread/baguette and a bottle of wine.
Try Italian herb blend in a delightful jar with a lid or a cellophane bag, give this gift to an herb lover. Mix one tablespoon each dried oregano, chives, and two teaspoons of rosemary, one teaspoon each dried fennel, sage and mint. On an attached card include a list of the herbs and how to use them for pizza sauce, grilling vegetables and meat or to make salad dressings. If you want to give your friend a pork or lamb roast, include Herbes de Provence. One tablespoon each dried thyme leaves, summer savory, sweet marjoram and rosemary, two dried bay laurel leaves, finely crushed, two teaspoons grated and dried orange zest. Mix well. Place in a jar with a lid and give directions for use with the pork or lamb roast.
If this sounds like a lot of work, it is also a beautiful and tasty one. The herbs are lovely and vibrant growing in your yard or on your deck, and you have an opportunity to be very creative both in gift giving and in your cooking and baking. The Patio Pickers Kit is so helpful to keep your herbs and tomatoes and peppers growing well (see photo). If you have a lot of basil, don’t let it go to waste.
Recipe ideas using basil:
You can make caprese chicken breasts (use boneless, skinless chicken breasts), tomato-basil steak (use flat iron steak, mushrooms, sweet yellow peppers and stewed tomatoes) in your crock pot; grilled lemon basil salmon (use salmon fillets, butter, lemon juice, and grill in foil); and pesto, ham and provolone sandwiches (sourdough bread, thinly sliced deli ham, one plum tomato, pickled cherry peppers, shredded provolone and basil leaves) grilled on a cast iron skillet.
Enjoy your garden and your kitchen creations!
— Elaine Fenner can be reached at laynie@cox.net.
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July 19, 2020 at 12:15PM
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Cooking with Elaine: Herbs -- How to grow, cook, store and share - The Daily Nonpareil
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