All About Home and Garden

The real bonus your herb garden provides is the ability to cut fresh herbs daily. A fresh batch of pesto cannot be compared to a jar of "store-bought" pesto. Keep in mind that the flavor of the herb is contained in the oil in the leaves or stems of fresh herbs. For this reason it is best to use the fresh herbs as soon as possible after you cut them.

If you harvest more than you can use in your recipes, place the excess herbs in plastic zip bags and store in your refrigerator. They should keep for 5-7 days. The cool temperatures inside your refrigerator will slow down the degradation of the fresh herb oils and allow you to utilize those herbs in a day or so instead of just discarding them.

Oils in the herb leaves are somewhat volatile and therefore affected by heat. In saut?ed dishes I recommend you add the required amount called for in your recipe at the end of the cooking process. Stews and simmering stock or sauce dishes treated normally, i.e. add the herb when called for in the recipe preparation instructions.

Chopping fresh herbs prior to use is better than doing so in advance. If you look at the contents of many recipes that utilize herbs you will see some common combinations. Many French dishes call for fines herbs, which is a mixture of parsley, chervil, chives and tarragon in equal parts. As these are all fairly mild in flavor, with the exception of tarragon, you can substitute other mild herbs such as dill to create your own unique blend for your special recipes. Some of the more flavorful herbs are marjoram, sage, rosemary and tarragon. It is a good practice not to mix two strongly flavored herbs. I.e. Rosemary and tarragon unless the desired flavor is unique to these herbs. A good example would be the herbs that used in some poultry stuffing's.

Many Italian dishes call for oregano; basil and marjoram in various combinations and you will see multiple herb combination in many ethnic dishes as wall. A good example would be Mediterranean cooking, Greek cooking, etc. If you are partial to a particular ethnic group of recipes it is good practice to research the common herbs used and make sure you have them in your pantry or grow them in your garden for daily use and long-term storage.

Another herb combination called for in many recipes is bouquets garnis. The most common combination is bay, thyme, parsley or chervil. This combination is usually used in dishes calling for slow, simmering of the recipe ingredients. You can tie the sprigs of fresh herbs into a bundle and drop the bundle into your pot. Additionally, use a string and cheesecloth tied to form a bag or pouch to add to your recipe. This makes it easier to remove the herbs from your pot when cooking is done. I have seen multiple combinations of herbs depending on the country of origin for classic Bouquet Garni for fish, soup, stews or meat stocks. Here is a common combination of herbs used:

Fresh Herbs:

5-6 sprigs parsley

1 bay leaf

2 sprigs Thyme

1 sprig (small) tarragon

Dried Herbs:

1-tablespoon tarragon

1-tablespoon parsley

1 bay leaf

1-teaspoon rosemary

1-teaspoon thyme

You can usually find numerous listing for Bouquet Garni ingredients on the Internet or just experiment with the combinations and amounts in your personal recipes. I personally like the two I have listed above for my culinary preparations.

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