What the heck can I do with all of these herbs?!
What the heck can I do with all of these herbs?
I tried an herb garden for the first time this year, and my plants got a lot bigger a lot faster than I thought they would. Now, I've got huge plants of sweet basil and sage and parsley and large plants of oregano and thyme. What the heck can I do with all of these herbs? Do you have any good recipes? I'm a big fan of soups (especially tomato soup), sauces, and noodles, but I'm open to any suggestions. Can I use these herbs right off the plant, or do I need to dry them somehow first?
Answers:
Hi there!
A great idea would be to make flavoured oils with each individual herb or drying, freeze drying, oven drying
Flavored oils
For unusual oils put a sprig of any clean dry herb in a bottle of virgin oil (make sure it is immersed! - great for thyme, rosemary and woody type herbs, add a clove of garlic and a chilli if liked or do individual herb oils - I keep mine in the fridge then and use within a month
Get clean sterilised bottles - Soak in hot but not boiling water with bicarbonate of soda (baking soda) - drain - put in an oven 160 degrees for 10 minutes fill the jars or bottles and cap
To a large handful of leaves (not stalks) use half a pint of virgin olive oil (not a strong one) rinse and pat dry then - blitz in a food processor - and bottle
Screw the tops down and store in the fridge (It will keep for a month) - I have frozen basil oil very succesfully, it stays a brilliant green! and I am sure this would work with the other herbs
Now you can use the oil on Pizza, to make dressings, add to stews, sauces in fact anything
Drying
The faster the herbs dry, the more flavorful the resulting dried herb will be.
Conventional Oven: Place clean dry herb sprigs on a foil-lined baking sheet. Bake at the lowest setting until herbs are dry and brittle. This should take about 12 hours. Strip leaves from stems & place in small airtight storage containers.
Air Drying: Tie small bunches of herbs with string and hang upside down by the stems in a dry warm spot out of direct sunlight. Be sure air circulates freely around the bunches. Let dry till leaves are brittle. This usually takes a few days to a week, depending on the thickness of the leaves. Pick off the dried leaves & store them in tightly covered containers in a cool, dry place for about two weeks or until dry and brittle.
Microwave Drying: Pick when the dew has just gone off. Put on paper towels on a plate in the microwave. Zap on high for a minute to start (at that point they appear "wet"). Stir them, zap again for another minute, move around again, and zap approximately 30 seconds more or until they are dry and crumbly. Rub between your hands to break up, pick out any twiggy parts and put in small jars or baggies.
Freezing Herbs: Wrap in foil or plastic wrap. You can also chop clean herbs, place in ice cube trays & fill with water. When needed, remove herb ice cubes and drop them into hot cooking liquid. You can also wrap bunches of fresh herbs in foil or plastic wrap and freeze them for several weeks. You should expect some discoloration of frozen herbs. Mark the date on the container of your dried herbs. They can be kept for one year. Heat, moisture and light rob herbs of flavor. You can also make herb butters and herb vinegars.
Good Luck!
kraft.com & allrecipes.com have an area where you can type in an ingredient & it'll give you a plethera (sp?) of recipes using it. You could try that to see what interesting things you can make with them. =o) I don't think you have to dry any of them either but obviously I would wash before using after taking straight off the plant.
Make a pesto Sauce with the basil
100 basil leaves
1/3-1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 parmigiano-reggiano cheese (very expensive, but worth it)
2 tablespoons pignolis
Place basil, cheese and nuts in food processor or blender.
Pulse a few times.
Stream olive oil through feed tube until desired consistancy is achieved--I usually use a little more than a 1/4 cup of oil.
Toss with hot cooked pasta or use as a spread
Always wash and dry your herbs before using.
Try tossing herbs in a salad of mixed greens. Make pesto with the basil. Also, add thyme, oregano, and basil at the last few minutes of cooking a spaghetti sauce. Stuff whole chickens with bunches of all the herbs you listed. Use the sage in a brown butter sauce and toss with your favorite pasta.
Pesto Sauce
2 cups fresh basil leaves, packed
1/2 cup freshly grated Romano cheese (or Parmesan)
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/3 cup pine nuts or walnuts
3 medium sized garlic cloves, minced
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
Special equipment needed: A food processor (Check Amazon.com's sale on Cuisinart food processors.)
If you are using walnuts and they are not already chopped, pulse them a few times in a food processor. Combine the basil in with the nuts, pulse a few times more. Add the garlic, pulse a few times more. Slowly add the olive oil in a constant stream while the food processor is on. Stop to scrape down the sides of the food processor with a rubber spatula. Add the grated Romano cheese and pulse again until blended. Add a pinch of salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste.
Makes 1 cup.
Serve with pasta, or over baked potatoes, or spread over toasted baguette slices
Brown Butter Sage Cream Sauce
Ingredients:
? pound butter, browned
6 sage leaves, roughly chopped
1 cup heavy cream
? cup white wine
salt & pepper to taste
Method:
Place wine in a saucepan and boil for 3 minutes. Add heavy cream and cook for 10 minutes to reduce the mixture.
Heat butter in another saucepan and add half of the sage. Whisk cream mixture into browned butter.
Serve over squash raviolis, garnished with extra sage.
Put some in bottles of white vinegar to flavor the vinegar. Use these for salad dressings. Use them to make home made pasta sauces. If you have the know-how, you can preserve your own.
Also, your idea of drying is a very good idea.
Good luck and enjoy!
Use the herbs fresh to get the ultimate taste from them. Right off the plant. If you have too many, you can always give some to your neighbors. Or you can dry them, crumble, and put in jars for later use.
If you are a German with the parslay you will have no problem put at each food as much as possible.
The rest --- why dry them - freeze them for the winter. That is better. What is with fish in parslay soup ? My Grand-grandmother did -- It was delicous. If you want the receipe send me a pn.
Greetings from Hamburg, Germany
Heinz
ps: You have forgotten to plant dill.
Of course you can take the fresh herbes. The fresher the better
I know that thyme can be used in A LOT of Italian food. Most recipes don't use that much anyway. Maybe you could bottle it and sell it make some extra change, or you can give it as a housewarming or kitchentea gift.