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Culinary Herb Gardens
March 29th, 2011 | |
Culinary Herb Gardens
Culinary Herb Gardens
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Home Page > Home and Family > Culinary Herb Gardens
Culinary Herb Gardens
Posted: Jul 09, 2010 |Comments: 0
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Anyone who has ever done any type of baking or cooking knows that the food just tastes better with seasoning. This can be as simple as adding salt and pepper, or as complicated as using a blend of spices for the perfect taste. What is surprising to some people is pepper is actually an herb.
Pepper is a berry from the Piper Nigrum plant. Black and white pepper are made from the same plant. The un-ripened berries are used for the black pepper while the red, ripe ones are used for the white pepper.
Along with the natural organic herb, pepper, many other herbs are used to create culinary masterpieces. Nutmeg, cloves, and cinnamon are common varieties of herbs grown in many kitchen herb gardens. Sage, oregano and basil are three more popular culinary herbs.
As more and more plants were discovered for their pungent flavor, people started making extraordinary dishes. What would a roast beef sandwich be without horseradish? Try making a good breakfast sausage when there isn’t sage garden herbs around. Herb bread would just be plain old bread if it were not for the flavorful little buggers.
One of the most beneficial attributes to growing kitchen herbs is that herbs have no calories, have no fatty acids, no cholesterol, and generally no bad ingredients at all. They just have a unique taste that wakes the taste buds in all of us.
When using herbs for cooking, it is important to remember that a little goes a long way. Too much can actually distract you from the natural flavor of the food. The entire concept of using herbs is to highlight the natural flavors. Too much can overpower the food and result in a tossed meal.
Did you know that there is even an herb that adds the sweetness of sugar without all the calories? This is an herb known as STEVIA. Although this herb cannot be sold as a sweetener for foods, it can be used in place of sugar. One leaf has enough sweetener in it to sweeten a glass of lemonade. Imagine a hot summer day when the only thing that can cool you off is a frosty glass of ice cold tea! You can brew the tea from your backyard herb garden, pour it over the ice, add a leaf off the stevia plant and one off the lemon balm plant, and you have a wonderful sweetened glass of ice cold lemon tea! You can even use this herb in sauces, salad dressings or even your salsa instead of sugar to cut down on the calories.
Many of the meat marinades on the market get their flavoring from natural organic herbs. You can use dill with lemon balm on fish. Saffron in your rice is always a delight. Putting rosemary on a pork roast or lamb results in a mouth-watering treat. With so many different herbs on this planet, there is something for every dish you could possibly create.
Having herbs in the kitchen is a wonderful experience for the novice cook to the master chef. With the right blend of herbs, you too can make meat rubs, soup and stew bases, or how about trying a new flavor for your morning coffee or tea.
Successful Gardening!
Learn more about Home Herb Gardens Here! Better yet, pick up your copy of Kali’s e-book:Holistic Herbs~A Beginners Guide to Herbal Gardening Here! There you will find 12 free bonus e-books available for immediate download.
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Kali S Winters –
About the Author:
Kali S Winters is a gardening enthusiast and author who spends much of her time teaching others how to setup and maintain beautiful, amazing gardens. Discover one of Kali’s free bonus e-books, “101 Holistic Remedies Here! Learn more about Harvesting and Drying Herbs Here!and by signing up for Kali’s Herbal Gardening Mini Course.
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Tags: After Making Herb Vinegar From your Herbal Gardens Freeze and Dry your Herbs
January 27th, 2011 | |
After Making Herb Vinegar From your Herbal Gardens Freeze and Dry your Herbs
After Making Herb Vinegar From your Herbal Gardens Freeze and Dry your Herbs
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Home Page > Home Improvement > Gardening > After Making Herb Vinegar From your Herbal Gardens Freeze and Dry your Herbs
After Making Herb Vinegar From your Herbal Gardens Freeze and Dry your Herbs
Posted: Aug 18, 2006 |Comments: 0
| Views: 341 |
A way to use your amble herb crop from your herbal gardens is to make flavored vinegars. To make herb vinegar, wash and dry your fresh herbs thoroughly then pour warm vinegar, not hot, over them in glass jars. You can use any type of vinegar but distilled. Be sure that the fresh herbs are completely covered by the vinegar. Seal the jar and allow them to sit for a month or two to mingle the flavors. Do not allow the herb vinegar access to direct sunlight.
After the herb vinegar has steeped remove the fresh herbs that you used and add new ones for a fresher look. If you want to add garlic or chili peppers to the herb vinegar, thread them on wooden skewers so that they will stay submerged.
There are no herb vinegar recipes that have strict rules. Use your imagination when pairing fresh herbs to be used in your herbal vinegar. Here are a few that go well together.
Cinnamon Basil and Whole Cloves
Lemon basil by itself
Cinnamon sticks with Whole Cloves Nutmeg and Allspice
Parsley, Sage, Rosemary, and Thyme -no kidding
Dill flowers with Peppercorns
Basil Garlic and Peppercorn
Hot Peppers alone or with Pearl Onions
When you start to use your herb vinegar, as the level of the liquid goes down take out any of the herbs that are exposed to the air in the jar. If you leave them in the jar they may form a mold. Never use metal tops on the jars, they will rust from the vinegar.
Your herbal gardens have been a success but now you have so many herbs you don’t know what to do. You’ve already made several herb vinegars. Still your herbal gardens have produced so much basil you can’t think of any other ways to use it. You’ve garnished every plate this summer with parsley from your herbal gardens and you still have a bumper crop. It is one dilemma that many herb gardeners have had over the years. There is a fix for abundant herbal gardens.
From your herbal gardens you can freeze herbs or dry herbs easily and by utilizing these methods you will have herbs long into the winter months. A favorite method is to wash and dry the herbs. Put them in the bottom of plastic ice trays, fill with stock and freeze. Anytime you make soups or stews just pop in as many as you wish. Once frozen put them in Ziploc bags and label with the name of the herb. If you were diligent about pinching your herbs back during the growing season you should have a lot of herbs from the herbal gardens. Pinching applies to oregano, chives, basil and thyme. Woody herbs like rosemary should be cut vigorously to keep them from getting too woody.
To freeze herbs without the stock, wash and gently dry the herbs. Put them in a Ziploc bag that can withstand the freezer. As needed you can take out your herbs and chop them for your recipes. The herbs will no longer be of use for garnishing but they will retain their flavor, they just won’t be as intense as fresh herbs from the herbal gardens.
To dry herbs is pretty simple. Pick the herbs from the herbal gardens after the dew has dissipated. Harvest from your herbal gardens just before the herbs bloom. That is when the herbs are at their peak flavor. Gather them into a bundle and tie a string around them. Hang them upside down in a room with good circulation and no light. This will take a bit of time. Drying time varies with humidity and temperature of your climate and the item that you are drying. Most of the time about 14 days will do it. To check pull off a leaf, if it crumbles easily it is ready. Once they are dried put them in a tight sealed container away from light.
You could use the microwave to dry herbs. Once again, harvest your herbs from your herbal gardens after the dew is gone. Wash and gently dry the herbs. Put them between two pieces of paper toweling. Two paper towels on the bottom and two on the top. Cook them on high for one minute and then check them. If they are still moist, cook again at twenty second intervals. You must watch this very carefully. Hot spots could occur and the towels catch on fire. Once they are crisp seal in an air tight container in a dark spot. Now you will have dried herbs from your herbal gardens all winter long..
Another alternative is to dry herbs in your oven. Turn the oven on to its lowest setting. Spread the herbs out on cookie sheets, put them in, prop open the door and check in about an hour, if they are not done continue drying, check ever thirty minutes. If possible leave the herb leaves intact. If you crush them before storing they will lose flavor.
When you go to use your dried herbs the rule of thumb for usage is that for every tablespoon of fresh herbs you would use, only use ½ teaspoon of dried.
This was to help you use up the abundance of herbs that you grew in your herb garden this summer. Enjoy!
Good Luck and have fun!
Copyright © 2006 Mary Hanna All Rights Reserved.
This article may be distributed freely on your website and in your ezines, as long as this entire article, copyright notice, links and the resource box are unchanged.
Mary Hanna is an aspiring herbalist who lives in Central Florida. This allows her to grow gardens inside and outside year round. She has published other articles on Cruising, Gardening and Cooking. Visit her websites at http://www.ContainerGardeningSecrets.com
http://www.GardeningHerb.com and
http://www.CruiseTravelDirectory.com
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