THE RELUCTANT GOURMET COOKING COMMUNITY

[ninjabut]

I'm very much into gardening, something I started when DH and I quit smoking 61/2 yrs ago.
I am doubling the size of my vege garden this year and I'm hoping to devote a good portion to herbs. It's really nice to have taste buds again!
I'm into cooking as healthy as I can, so I'd like to know your favorite herbs to use with your favorite meats (fish, chicken,beef,pork,lamb)
I'm fine with following recipes, but prefer to "wing it" most nights.
Right now I grow rosemary, oregano, chives, garlic, sage.basil (in greenhouse)and 2 kinds of thyme.
I used fresh herbs in a lasagne a couple of week ago for a friend of my DD's and she freaked out at the flavor!
Her poor mom went to the bottom of the barrel after my lasagne! LOL
I use garlic in everything, but would love to know some of your herb combos that work on a regular basis.
TIA :lol: Nancy

[chefjeff]

Cilantro is good one to have in your garden and goes great with a variety of dishes - a staple in almost any good homemade salsa, but I particularly like the taste with fish like flounder, orange roughy, etc. A little fresh cilantro, lemon and lime...

[ninjabut]

I absolutely LOVE cilantro, but I'm finding it tends to bolt with any warm weather. It's actually a cool weather crop if I remember right.
Has anyone had any success freezing or drying cilantro? I buy a bunch at the grocery store to use in a recipe and find a gooey bag a few days later! Yuk! I really do like to grow my own and go out to the deck and pick what I need, but I'm open to drying or freezing my own.

[jfield]

Hi, Nancy.

You can freeze your cilantro in ice cube trays for use when you can't get it fresh. Pick the leaves off the stems, puree with water and then freeze. Pop out a cube at a time to use to season with. Of course, the leaves will be too ugly for garnish, but the flavor will still be there.

I've also heard of drying herbs in the microwave at low power for 45sec-1 minute at a time until the leaves are dry. I've not tried it, but it's worth a shot :)

[ninjabut]

Thanks for the info! I do have a dehydrator. I'll try both methods
Nancy

[cj]

Re mixing herbs with foods and flavors, have you seen the books by Karen Page and Andrew Dornenburg - [/i]Culinary Artistry and The Flavor Bible ? Both are wonderful for getting ideas of what foods and flavors go well together. I use them a lot especially when I'm making sauces to go with foods.

Also, I freeze the bunches of cilantro straight from the store (after rinsing) in the plastic bag and just cut off a 'hunk' as I need it. With cilantro you don't really want to discard the stems - lots of flavor there also. I've planted some this year and will just probably spread on a sheet pan and freeze that way.

Well, certainly screwed up trying to italicise the book names!!! :oops:

[jfield]

I just thought it was the longest book name ever! :lol: That sounds like a good technique, though--a minumum of fuss is always nice. :)