Tuesday’s Tips - Fresh Herbs

Using fresh herbs can make a world of difference when cooking but there are a few tips you might find useful when using them. 

• Use 3 times as much of fresh herbs as dried ones. 
• Add them to the food near the END of the cooking time.  They lose there flavor if cooked too long.
• For roasts: Cut up your herbs with salt and pepper and rub your roast before cooking.  Just gives an extra boost of flavor.
• If you don’t want to throw the herbs straight into a pot but want the flavor, try putting them in a cheesecloth first & tie them up. 
• For bread: Add 1 to 2 tablespoons of fresh herbs per one pound loaf.  If adding to pancakes, waffles, dumplings, etc….add 1 tablespoon per 2 cups of flour.
• For prolonged life span of herbs, store bunches refrigerated with the stems in water.  For the loose leaf herbs, shake dry and place in perforated bag with a paper towel to reduce the moisture.

Basil and garlic go nicely together.

Add chives to poaching liquids for fish, creamed chicken and in the water for cooking vegetables.

Add a generous handful of chopped cilantro to salsa mixtures and let sit for a few hours to meld the flavors. Handful of cilantro to two cups of salsa.

Combine two tablespoons chopped sage with 8-ounces of cream cheese and three or four tablespoons white wine as a light spread or dip.

Put a few sprigs of rosemary on coals when doing outdoor-grilled meats.

Chop coarsely and add a teaspoon or two of thyme to a recipe for a dozen biscuits. Adjust the quantity for different recipes.

Put a couple sprigs of tarragon into a bottle of white wine vinegar and let it steep for a month or more. Strain out the tarragon and use the vinegar as part of a vinaigrette, to dress cooked vegetables or on fish or poultry.

Add two or three bay leaves to Italian-style tomato sauces at the beginning of cooking to add that wonderful strength of flavor. Remove the leaves before service.

If you want to see pictures of herbs, you can see a VERY old post of mine.  It was back when I was super lazy!  Sometimes it helps to see what each herb looks like.  I use fresh herbs when I can but I live so far from town that I can’t always have them on hand.  That’s why you should consider and aerogarden;)