Thursday, February 16, 2012

Do You Do Fresh Herbs?



I love fresh herbs! When ever I find good fresh French Tarragon, I know I'll be making Beef Stroganoff, which can be made with 20 ingredients, or not quite as many. If I just have butter, Worcestershire sauce, and tarragon, I'm good. Of course, there's the beef and sour cream, but everyone knows that. I actually add a tablespoon of good quality catsup, too. Try it, it makes a difference. But this week, I didn't find any fresh Tarragon, so I settled for the old reliable - Thyme. There was also some wonderful Dill that I splurged on. That was going into Cauliflower Soup. But the Thyme went into everything. It's the most useful thing you can throw in your cart. This week it went into Roast Chicken, Chicken Stock (which involved putting the skin and bones back into the roasting pot with boiling water), 12 Chili Bacon Chili, the Cauliflower Dill Soup, some Ratatouille (all right, I didn't actually have an eggplant, but it had everything else), Butter Sauted Mushrooms, and (still to be assembled) Lasagna. Good Times!

6 comments:

  1. DH is the master of our herb garden, but he hordes most of it in his workshop.

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  2. What kind of herbs are we talking about here? But seriously, how easy is it to grow herbs around here? Does he dry them? I can hardly wait for Spring to plant my own Tarragon.

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  3. We have two large rosemary bushes, one front and one back, but neither that easily accessible - one must plan ahead not to be dashing out in the dark and rain. I bought some small dill, chives and basil plants for the kitchen window sill, but a north facing window isn't their happiest home and I don't think they are going to thrive. As they are the leaves are going to be used up very soon. We planted parsley in the back garden and boy did it take off - v. hardy, parsley is. It lasted several years before it got too woody. Our Russian friends always serve platters of fresh dill - they eat it like a snack before the meal or in between courses. I tried it and it's pretty nice, but I've not found large amounts of dill. Must ask them where they get it...

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  4. Hi Shelley - I got my Dill at Whole Foods. It was organic and only $1.99. I was stunned at how good it was. I threw whole chunks of it in my Cauliflower Soup and it was nice. My husband fished his chunks out and left them. I don't ever remembering getting Dill as tender as this. I am so excited to try and grow some herbs in Oklahoma this Summer. The only herb that grew reliably in Seattle was Rosemary, which I use very little of. What do you use yours for? (Other than Lamb, which I know.) Only once in decades of trying did my basil grow at all, and that year I had so much that I had Pesto for years.

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  5. Yum. I think I'd like to be eating at your house. All that delicious sounding food! Herbs make everything special, and I use them in my cooking constantly. I've been growing herbs for many years. Rosemary, basil, thyme, sage, costmary, rue...you name it; I've grown it all. The only thing I don't have luck with here in the south is lavender. Not sure if it's the heat of summer or the wet winters that kill it. And naturally, I crave to grow lavender more than anything. I do hope you have good luck growing your herbs in Tulsa.

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  6. Hi Sandra! I do love to cook and agree that it is just more fun with fresh herbs. I hope I can grow lots of Basil this Summer. I don't know much about growing Lavendar, so all I can do is wish you luck. I remember seeing great fields of it from the train window in France. It makes lovely Tea.

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