The Rules for Blending Herbs to Cook With

I read a lot of old cookbooks and recipes.  I like these old books because they intrigue me with the cycle of seasonings and changes in the palate.  For example my modern palate cannot fathom making or serving tomato aspic yet no 50’s housewife entertained without some sort of molded salad.

In one book I read that a recipe should contain just one or two herbs, and a meal should include only one herb-seasoned dish.  In my mind a rule that limiting is made to be broken.  I rarely add only one herb to a dish, in fact I teach people to think in three when working with herbs.

Last week I posted a short blog about this concept and got requests to expand it, so here is more detailed information on the three flavors of herbs and how to combine them.

Choose Herbs based on Sweet, Savory and Pungent

When planning to cook with herbs you need to recognize that they have different strengths.

• Sweet
• Savory
• Pungent

Sweet flavors include anything that would pair well with fruits or yogurt, like flower flavors, dill, and citrus herbs like lemon balm, lemon marigolds, most flowers, sweet basil and mints.

pansy and Cuban oregano

Savory are the cooking flavors we all recognize, like thyme, tarragon, oregano, marjoram, savory, robust or spicy basils, and others.

savory

Pungent are those herbs whose flavor and scent is strong and hard to mistake, including cilantro, sage, rosemary, chili peppers and garlic.

sage

When blending and using herbs, you must learn to classify them into these categories by tasting them and deciding which category they fall in based on your personal palette.  Then remember the important key to perfect blends is knowing that you can never use two pungent herbs in equal quantities in the same blend, but two savories will go together fine, and sweets always add character. 

My rules for working with three herbs are:

1. 2 sweets and a savory
2. 2 savories and a sweet
3. 1 sweet, 1 savory and 1 pungent
4. 2 savories and a pungent
5. 3 sweets (for a sweet or fruity dish)
6. 3 savories
7. 2 sweets and a pungent

Although I could craft a chart for you, it is really best if you make your own based on your tastes.  So instead I created a blank Herb Chart and put it on the Blog Pages so you can print it and fill it out your way.

Check out the recipes I have shared that use the herb rules.

Relaxation Tea Blend - Tea Blend of the Month

Today I am speaking to the Village Garden Club of Hinsdale, Illinois. They asked me to speak on my favorite subject, herbal tea!  The program is called the Curative Properties of Tea, where I review and explain the medicinal properties of various herbs used in healing teas.

I became an herb grower because of my love of herb tea, and back in the 90's there just was not much selection, so I needed to grow a few herbs to make my own.

When making tea, you have to consider several flavors: sweet, savory, pungent and floral.  Floral flavors can be savory or sweet, but we separate them out when making tea because they are so commonly used.

Here are the rules for blending teas:

• 1 pungent, 1 savory, 1 sweet, 1 floral
• 1 pungent, 1 savory, 2 sweets, 1 floral
• 1 pungent, 2 savory
• 2 savory, 3 floral
• 1 savory, 1 sweet, 1-2 floral
• 1 sweet, 2-3 floral

And here is a tea recipe using those rules that my lecture participants will be creating today.

Relaxation Tea Blend

• 1 part lemon balm (sweet - helps relaxation and reduces stress)
• 2 parts hops (floral - increases restfulness and calm)
• 1 part mexican oregano (savory - reduces cold symptoms)

Mix together and store in a jar with a tight fitting lid.  

To Use: Use 1 tsp per cup of hot water and allow to steep 7 to 10 minutes before enjoying.

Recipes Using The Rules for Blending Herbs

Yesterday I shared ways to begin using herbs by starting with THREE.  All the recipes I am sharing today follow the rules of three herbs I set out yesterday.  If you missed that post (see here).

In yesterdays blog I spelled out 7 rules for blending herbs in the three catagories: sweet ,savory, and pungent.  Below I have presented one recipe for each rule, so you can see how they work.  Notice that when a pungnet herb is used it is usually not int he same quantity as a sweet or a savory.

Rule 1 – 2 sweets and a savory

Lemon Butter for fish

¼ cup butter

¼ cup lemon juice

¼ cup water

1 tsp. chicken or vegetable bouillon

¼ tsp. dill

¼ tsp. lemon balm

¼ tsp. thyme

Dash salt & pepper

Combine all ingredients.  Make enough to serve with 1 lb. of fish.

Rule 2 – 2 savories and a sweet

Dill Dip

I make my commercial dill dip mix with many more than 3 herbs, but this version is simple, easy and very tasty, especially because it uses herbs most people keep in the kitchen, can be made on a whim.

1 cup sour cream (low fat is fine)

¾ cup mayonnaise

2 Tbls fresh or dried chives

2 Tbls. fresh chopped parsley (or 2 tsp. dried)

2 Tbls. chopped fresh dill (or 1 Tbls dried dill weed)

Blend all ingredients in a bowl.  For best flavor allow to meld in the refrigerator at least one hour, overnight is better.  And you can make a salad dressing by thinning it with milk.

Rule 3 – 1 sweet, 1 savory and 1 pungent

Snow Peas with Herbs

½ lb. snow peas

2 ½ Tbls. peanut oil

1 Tbls. fresh spearmint, snipped

1 tsp. fresh tarragon, snipped

Pinch of cayenne pepper

Wash and drain and devein peas.  Heat oil in pan over high heat.  When hot quickly stir fry the peas and herbs for 1 minute.  Season and serve immediately serves 4.

Rule 4 – 2 savories and a pungent

Rock Cornish Hens with Wild Rice (serves 4)

This is a main and side dish comb to which you can add steamed green beans or asparagus for a complete meal.

4 Tbls. vegetable oil

3 Tbls. lemon juice

2 game hens, cut in half

1 ½ stick of butter, melted

1 glove garlic, minced

4 Tbls. dried parsley

1 tsp. dried thyme

1 tsp. dried sage, crumbled

Salt & pepper to taste

1 cup wild rice

Blend together oil and lemon juice.  Brush over all sides of the chicken halves (you can substitute 4 large sized bone in chicken breasts.)  Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour.

Mix herbs, seasonings, and butter in blender.  Baste hen pieces with half the blend during last 20 minutes of baking.  Cook rice and season with rest of herb butter.  Serve chicken on bed of rice (serves 4)

Rule 5 - 3 sweets (for a sweet or fruity dish)

Uplifting Herb Tea

1 Tbls. chamomile

1 tsp. Lemon balm

1 tsp. Lemon grass

Add to 8 ounces of boiling water and steep for 5 minutes.  Serve hot or cold.

Rule 6 - 3 savories

Fiesta Salmon (Serves 4)

This is wonderful with garlic bread served over Pasta.

1 Tbls olive oil

1 cup tomatoes, skinned and chopped

2 Tbls. lemon juice

2 Tbls fresh thyme

2 tsp. tarragon

1 lb. salmon fillets, skin removed

1 cup red onions peels and chipped

¼ cup balsamic vinegar

½ cup dry white wine

1 tsp. salt

1/3 cup fresh whole basil leaves

Fresh lemon slices (garnish)

Place oil in a large pan over medium heat.  Add onions and cook for 5 minutes.  Add the tomatoes and cook for 5 more minutes.  Stir in the vinegar, lemon juice, white wine, thyme, tarragon and salt.  Cut the salmon into chunks and add to the pan and cook while stirring for 5 to 7 minutes or until the fish flakes easily with a fork.  Remove from the heat and stir in the basil leaves.  Garnish with slices of lemon if desired and serve immediately.  

Rule 7 - 2 sweets and a pungent

Herb Dressing

¾ cup olive oil

¼ cup vinegar

½ cup dried lemon balm

½ cup dried dill

¼ cup dried rosemary

Mix together dry ingredients and store in an air-tight container. Each time you need a dressing, shake together 1 tbsp. of the herbs mixed with ¾ cup olive oil and ¼ cup vinegar.

If blending hers yourself makes you shake in your shoes, we have done all the ahrd work for you.  Check out our many herb and seasoning blends HERE!

Easy Chessy -- Artisanal Cheeses

This week is National Herb Week, deemed so by the International Herb Association back in 1995.  This week we will have a post everyday to help you explore herbs more fully.  I am going to start with how do you become familiar with cooking with the herbs.

I once planned to be a linguist, and I still have a fascination with words, especially those that come and go in popularity and roll off the tongue sounding unique.  One of the new phrases to say is easy peasy.  I think it is on par with peachy keen which was popular when I was in high school, much to my mother’s annoyance.  Another word that seems to be popular these days is “artisanal.”  That is just a fancy word for something in the food world that is out of the ordinary and considered upscale.  So today I took liberty with the both of these and create this post – Easy Cheesy Atrisanal Cheeses.

Cheese is one of the best ways to grasp the unique flavors of herbs and how they work blended together.  You can start with simple and easy to get cream cheese then expand to the more exotic and “artisanal” cheeses.

When I test an herb blend I first blend it in to cream cheese.  I actually use the low fat cream cheese called neufchatel. (doesn’t that sound “artisial?”)  Neufchatel, because it is lower in fat, is less likely to mask the flavors of the herbs so I can tell if a blend is right.  With more herb flavor you don’t miss the fat either which is a nice trade off.  If an herb blend tastes good in cream cheese it is simply impossible for it to taste bad when used elsewhere.  However keeping the following information I mind will help you not to make blends you dislike from the very first bite:

Strong flavors – I call these pungent and include herbs like rosemary, sage, cilantro, garlic and the like among the strong flavors.  These herbs can overpower anything if overused.  Never use two pungent herbs in one blend because they tend to fight one another.

Mild Herbs – I call these the savory herbs.  Savory herbs are the gentle flavors we expect when we say herb seasonings, these would include thyme, savory, oregano, parsley, basil, tarragon, onion, and so forth.

Sweet herbs – sweet is a relative term in relation to herbs, because we are not talking about a flavor that is sweet like sugar but something that takes away acidic tastes or leaves a lingering lightness on the palate.  These would include, dill, lemon balm, lemon and orange peels, fruit leaves like raspberry and blackberry, scented geranium leaves, and any lemon herbs.

When you start blending go for a combination that includes one of each category, or two savories and a sweet or two sweets and a savory. Or even 3 savories, although I do not recommend three sweets unless you are making a fruit dish.

If you just want to dive into crafting artisanal cheese, here are a few recipes that can be made with Herb Mixes from the Backyard Patch.

Fine Herb Soufflé

3 Tbls. dry bread crumbs

¼ cup milk

8 large eggs, separated

4 Tbls. Backyard Patch Fines Herbes

½ tsp. salt

¼ tsp. black pepper

1 ¼ cups shredded Gruyere cheese

2 Tbls. unsalted butter

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  In a large mixing bowl, stir bread crumbs into milk and soak until mixture becomes pasty, 10 to 15 minutes.  Whisk in egg yolks, herbs, salt and pepper.   Stir in ¾ cup of the cheese.

About 20 minutes before serving.  Beat egg whites with an electric mixer until they form very soft peaks.  Scoop whites into yolk mixture and quickly fold them in.  Heat a 12 inch ovenproof skillet over medium heat.  Add butter and swirl until melted and sizzling.  Pour batter into the pan and sprinkle with remaining cheese.  Immediately put skillet into middle rack of oven and back 15 to 17 minutes or until puffed and deeply browned.  Serve soufflé immediately, using a large spoon to scoop it onto warm plates.

Cheese Filled Pastry with Herbs

12 oz. feta cheese

4 Tbls. parmesan cheese

1 egg, lightly beaten

Pinch nutmeg

1 pkg. Marcy’s Dill Dip Mix

2 Tbls. Mint, chopped

4 Tbls. Pine nuts, toasted

Salt & pepper

8 ounces phyllo dough

6 Tbls. butter, melted

Directions:

Make the filling by mashing together cheeses, egg, butter, nutmeg and herbs with pine nuts, salt and pepper.  Set aside.  With scissors, cut phyllo into 3 inch wide 18 inch long strips.  Keep moist with a damp towel. Melt butter.  Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Place one strip of phyllo on a piece of parchment or wax paper and brush with butter.  Place another on top and brush with butter. Place one heaping teaspoon of cheese mixture in center of one edge and fold corner up to form a triangle. The fold the triangle over and over like folding a flag until the whole strip is folded into a small triangle. Brush the top with butter and place on baking sheet. Repeat until all phyllo and cheese is used. Bake triangles for 15 to 20 minutes or until golden brown and crisp.

Herbed Goat Cheese Pasta

1 Tbls. unsalted butter

½ cup ricotta cheese

3 ounces mild soft goat cheese (cherve)

2 to 4 Tbls. Backyard Patch Butter N Cheese Herb Mix

2 Tbls. Backyard Patch Herbs De Provence

½ tsp. salt

12 oz. fettuccini noodles

Fresh ground black pepper

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.  Put butter in a large stainless steel mixing bowl and set it on top of the boiling water.  When butter has melted, removed bowl and stir in ricotta, goat cheese, herbs and salt.  Boil pasta until tender and slightly firm, about 2 to 4 minutes for fresh or 8 to 10 minutes for dried.  Scoop a cup of the cooking water from the pot to thin the sauce, then drain the noodles.  Using tongs, toss pasta with ricotta and herbs along with as much of the reserved pasta water necessary to create a creamy sauce.  Grind black pepper on top and serve right away in warm bowls.

All the products featured here can be found on our website http://www.backyardpatch.com/

Flavored Salt How Tuesday -- and a blog change

With everyone, including myself, at home so much these days, many folks are trying to fill the time with activities and taking advantage of the forced break to learn something new.

I thought I would change the things I had planned for the blog for the next few months to easy recipes, herb activities and even a few herb-related crafts.  With Mother's and Father's days coming, you might even be able to make a gift for someone special.

Today is How to - normally I do these on Tuesday's but yesterday was election day and I was a bit preoccupied as I work as an election judge.

So today I am going to demonstrate how to make an herbed salt.

I've shown in the past how to make Herbed Sugar, but this technique is a bit different.  For this you need fresh herbs and some salt.  Sea salt or kosher salt will work equally well.  I avoid regular table salt because it sometimes had additives, but it will work in a pinch.  You can use any combination of herbs you want, but I always recommend using the herb blending rules which say you sort herbs into three categories, sweet, savory and pungent, then start with groups of three to find your blending basics in terms of flavors.

For this infused salt I actually used five herbs and broke one of my cardinal rules using two pungent together.  I could get away with it because I added a second savory as well.  The reason I used two savories, is I wanted the salt for using on grilled meats, so I needed more pungent herbs.  However, you can choose to leave out one of the pungent herbs if you don't like stronger flavors.

Making Herbed Salt

Ingredients:
Kosher Salt
Fresh Rosemary
Fresh Chives
Fresh Oregano
Fresh Thyme
Fresh Sage

Materials:
Parchment paper
Baking sheet

Directions:
Step 1 - Line the baking sheet with parchment and cover with salt, about 1/4 to 1/2 inch deep.

Step 2 - Snip, chop or mince the herbs over top of the salt.

Step 3 - Stir herbs into salt and allow to infuse for about a week.

Step 4 - Sift out the herbs and enjoy the flavored salt.

Here is the How to:

Spread the salt then begin to chop the herbs into the salt.  How you chop up a fresh herb depends on the herb.

Chives, which are long thin and hollow are best cut with a sharp pair of scissors.  Using a knife tends to crush or bruise the chives making them mushy.

Thyme leaves are small the fine stems are not very tasty, so all you need to do is strip the leaves from the stem and can use them whole.

Oregano can be minced with a knife, but I like to use my garden scissors instead.  I chopped the leaves and the soft stems because both are flavorful.

For rosemary, you first need to remove the fronds or needles from the stem.  You can use a mezzaluna rocking knife to chop them fine.  A chef knife and use the hold the tip and move over the needles method of chopping.  Since I already had my scissor out I just snipped them into the salt.

To cut the sage you use the same methods you would use for basil leaves. You create a chiffonade.
To do that you stack the leaves and roll them into a coil.

Then lay the coil on the cutting board and chop the coil of leaves into thin strips.  Take the strips and chop those in the other directions to make a fine mince.

Sorry to take the photo I just grabbed the first knife I touched and it was serrated.  You should not cut herbs with a serrated blade.  Always use a flat blade.

Then stir the herbs into the salt.  I used my fingers.  Let it sit out with a piece of parchment over the top and stir again very day or so for about a week.

Once the herbs are dry , sift out the herbs to get a clear white salt with all the flavor of the herbs you stirred in.

What struck me the most about the drying process is the herbs are dry to the touch, but still the same bright green color as fresh herbs.

So grab a few fresh herbs from your garden or grocery store and a box of salt (I think they still have these two items in stores) and get chopping and stirring.

And jar some up for Dad for Father's Day as this is the perfect for the grilling specialist in your family!

Italian Oregano - Herb of the Week

I covered Italian Oregano in a short paragraph in post about the many varieties of oregano and decided that this time I would discuss this plant in detail and help dispel a few myths and inaccuracies about it. 

So the Herb of the Week is Italian Oregano

                                            (Origanum x majoricum) 

Italian Oregano is a cross of Oregano and Marjoram and has a mild flavor that blends well with other savory herbs like Basil and Tarragon.

Technically Italian Oregano can be cut back to the ground. Often when we are trimming oregano in the field we will use a weed eater and cut it back to about an inch. But with one as old as this we usually only cut back to where the main mass is. For this plant that was at about 10 inches. We take our grass sheers and find the top of the tuft and cut back to there. It takes about two or three weeks before new growth covers the plant and it both looks beautiful again and has usable leaves once again.

To Grow

An aromatic, hardy, bushy evergreen perennial with thick dark green leaves and white flowers, this hybrid between sweet marjoram (O. majorana) and Greek Oregano (O. vulgare.) Both of these parent species are native to the Mediterranean, so it is best suited for zones 6 thru 9 in North America.  Although I can grow it here in Zone 5b, if we have a polar vortex or long stretches of cold without snow cover it is unlikely to live through the winter. Italian oregano may develop stiff, woody stems in regions with mild winters.

Italian Oregano is easy to grow in well-drained soil, forming an attractive, clumping mound of trailing branches with rounded, aromatic light-green leaves about 1-inch long. I find in some cases it looks like thyme at a distance, but close up you see the fuzzy veined leaf that is characteristic of oregano.  In early summer, it's topped with spikes of tiny white flowers. Very adaptable, you can plant it at the edge of your herb garden, in the front of a border, or in a container. To encourage the bushy growth habit, pinch it back before flowering begins. Grows 12–24″ tall.

The aromatic leaves occur in opposite pairs. Anytime from early summer to early fall, plants display tiny white to ivory flowers. They emerge from whorled bracts in a cone-like cluster on stem tips. Both bees and butterflies are attracted to them. Usually Italian oregano is sterile, but occasionally seed is produced. Winter cold kills back the plant to its roots or stem bases. The best propagation method is from herbaceous stem cuttings that can be rooted in soil or water.

It bears white flowers that are hermaphrodite (have both male and female organs) and are pollinated by bees. You can grow it in any well-drained soil in full sun or partial shade. Non-acidic, poor to moderately fertile soil is best. This means you can grow it in a container or garden bed with equally good results. Too much fertilizer and shade causes this herb to falter. Loose, sandy potting mix with some added compost is excellent for container culture. Trim back plants to prevent flowering if you wish to maintain an abundant crop of fresh foliage to use in the kitchen. In regions where this oregano becomes shrubby, cut back the plant to the ground in winter or early spring. The oldest stems aren't as productive as new growth in yielding foliage.

It resembles O. majorana in appearance and aroma, and has the same culinary uses.

To Use

Many gourmets consider Italian oregano the best oregano for culinary flavor. The seemingly perfect, mild intermediate flavor is the result of its origins: the hybrid between sweet marjoram (Origanum majorana) and Greek oregano (O. vulgare). Leaves can be eaten raw or cooked. The flavor resembles a blend of thyme, rosemary and sage. It goes well with eggs, cauliflower, tomatoes and in salads and marinades. Use it in herb butters, vinegars, stews and sauces. It is an amazing flavor in salad dressings and oils for use on vegetables, greens and legumes. The flower bracts may be cut and used in arrangements, or allowed to dry. Leaves may also be used fresh or dried in a variety of foods, especially pastas and pestos, meats, dressings and both cream- and tomato-based sauces. Italian oregano tastes less sweet than sweet marjoram, but its flavor is pleasantly less pungent than Greek oregano.

The gently pungent flavor of Italian Oregano makes a delicious contribution to savory meats and vegetables, gives a pleasant accent to cheese spreads, and is often the key to a good pizza sauce. A cross between Sweet Marjoram and the more piquant Wild Marjoram, Italian Oregano tastes like a blend of its parents. The milder flavor makes it more versatile than Greek Oregano—it's not likely to overpower a recipe if you add a pinch more than intended. In short, it's probably the most popular culinary Oregano and we think it belongs in every cook's garden. Use the leaves fresh or dry and only add towards the end of cooking. An herb tea is made from the fresh or dried leaves.

Medicinally it is an antiseptic, relives involuntary muscle spasms, relives flatulence, stimulates the liver, it is a diuretic and causes sweating, making it good for fevers, it stimulates or increases menstrual flow, works as both an expectorant and a stimulant, promotes appetite and digestion and mildly provides a feeling of vigor and energy.  It has been taken internally to treat bronchial complaints, tension headaches, insomnia, anxiety, minor digestive upsets and painful menstruation. But as such is not recommended for medicinal use by pregnant women.

Because of its ability to relieve muscle spasms and other muscle pain, Italian Oregano is perfect to use in an Herbal liniment.  Liniments offer instant relief for pain, inflamed muscles, bruises, and sprains.

Italian Oregano Liniment

Rubbing Alcohol
Fresh or dried Italian oregano in combination with Calendula flowers (about ½ cup total per 2 cups of rubbing alcohol)

Chop herbs finely and place in a clean glass jar. Cover thoroughly with rubbing alcohol and cap with a tight-fitting lid. Place the jar in a warm area and shake daily or as often as possible. After 4-6 weeks, strain the herbs out using cheesecloth and pour the remaining liquid into glass bottles with mister tops. When properly stored in a cool dark place, the liniment will keep almost indefinitely. Make sure to label the liniment for “External Use Only”.

To Use:  Spritz inflamed or irritated muscles or bruises and rub in gently with fingertips.

The essential oil of Italian Oregano (sometimes called oil of Sweet marjoram) is used as part of aromatherapy as a muscle relaxant. And is added to salves and lotions for the treatment of muscular pain, arthritis, sprains and stiff joints. Italian Oregano has also been used to disinfect bee hives.

Recipes

Italian Herb Dressing (makes 1 1/2 cups)

2 small garlic cloves, pressed

2 teaspoons sugar

2 teaspoons dry mustard

2 tablespoons lemon juice

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

1/2 cup sunflower oil or canola oil

1 tablespoon vidalia onions, grated

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup fresh basil, finely chopped

2 teaspoons fresh marjoram, finely chopped

1/2 teaspoon coarse black pepper

1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

1/8 cup red wine vinegar

1 teaspoon fresh Italian oregano, finely chopped

1 teaspoon fresh parsley, finely chopped

1 teaspoon celery seeds

1/8 cup balsamic vinegar

1 teaspoon parmesan cheese (optional)

Whisk garlic, sugar, mustard, grated onion, salt and pepper, red pepper flakes, vinegars,

and lemon juice in a medium bowl. Whisk together oils; add to vinegar mixture in a slow, steady stream, whisking until emulsified. Whisk in herbs, celery seeds, and Parmesan cheese. Season with extra salt and pepper. Refrigerate in an airtight container up to 1 week. Use over seasonal greens.

Herbed Marinade for Vegetables

¼ cup low-sodium soy sauce

¼ cup balsamic vinegar

¼ cup olive oil

¼ cup water

2 Tablespoons honey

2 cloves of garlic, minced

4 teaspoons fresh chopped herb mix

      (rosemary, thyme, basil and oregano)

Combine ingredients together in a glass jar with a tight lid and shake to combine.  Pour the mixture over cubed vegetables in a non-reactive container and refrigerate for 2 hours.  This recipe is enough for 2 pounds of vegetables.  You can enjoy the vegetables as a cold salad or grill them for extra flavor.

This month we have focused on Chicken Soup as our recipe theme and I found this perfect recipe using Italian Oregano and Italian Pasta to keep up with that theme.

Rice-Stuffed Tomatoes (vegetarian dish) 

10 large tomatoes

3/4 cup un-cooked short grain rice

2 zucchini, peeled and grated

1 onion, chopped

5 garlic cloves

1 tablespoon fresh Italian oregano (or 1 teaspoon dried)

2 tablespoons dry mint

4 tablespoons fresh parsley (or 4 teaspoons dried)

1 tablespoon tomato paste

1 1/2 cup olive oil

1 teaspoon lemon juice

Salt and pepper

1 1/2 pounds potatoes

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Slice the tops off the tomatoes (keep the tops, though) and use a spoon to empty out the middle of the tomato. Reserve the juice in one bowl and insides of the tomato in a separate bowl. Make small slits in the inside bottom of the tomatoes – making sure not to cut all the way through the tomatoes. Lightly grease a 9x13 baking dish and place the tomatoes inside the pan. Put the onion, garlic, a teaspoon of oil, and a pinch of salt into a food processor and mix it just a bit. (Or, simply mix in a bowl with a spoon if you don’t have a food processor – just chop the onions and garlic a little more finely). Take the insides of the tomato and chop them into small pieces, and then add them to a large bowl with the grated zucchini. Then, add 1 tablespoon of salt, the dry mint, parsley, and tomato paste and combine. Finally, add the uncooked short-grain rice, 1 teaspoon of lemon juice, and 3/4 cup olive oil and let the mixture sit. In the meantime, peel the potatoes and cut them into chunks. Toss them with the tablespoon of oregano, 3/4 cup olive oil, and some salt and pepper. Mix them well and then add the reserved tomato juice. Fill the tomatoes to the top with the rice mixture and top them with their caps. Then, place the potatoes/tomato juice in the empty space around the tomatoes – also add any leftover rice mixture in the gaps, too. Add a cup of water to the corner of the pan and tilt it so that the water is evenly distributed. Bake for 15-20 minutes at 400 degrees F, and then reduce the heat to 325 degrees F and bake them for another 60-90 minutes. If it seems dry during the process, add a little more water to the pan. Makes 10 servings. You can freeze the leftovers.

Italian Chicken Noodle Soup

1 tablespoon olive oil 

¼ cup onion, chopped

1 1/4 pounds skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
1 to 2 tsp granulated onion

1 to 2 tsp minced garlic

1 to 2 tsp Italian Oregano

1 can (10 3/4 ounces) Cream of Chicken Soup
1/3 cup water
2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
2 cups fresh or thawed frozen broccoli florets
4 cups Mafalda or rotini pasta, cooked and drained 

Directions

Heat the oil in a 10-inch skillet over medium-high heat. Add chopped onion and sauté until translucent.  Sprinkle granulated onion, minced garlic and oregano over chicken, then add to oil and cook chicken until well browned on both sides.  Pull chicken part with a fork.

Stir in soup, water, cheese, garlic powder and broccoli in the skillet and heat to a boil. Reduce the heat to low. Cover and cook for 5 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through. Serve with prepared pasta.

To find any Chicken Soup recipe featured this month - use the search box and type: ChickJan

To find any theme recipe from this year type: recipe2018

Lemon Basil 'Sweet Dani' - Herb of the Week

Herb of the Week ‘Sweet Dani’ Lemon Basil 

                    (Ocimun basilicum ‘Sweet Dani’)

In 1998, just a few years after I started my first herb garden the All-American Selection was ‘Sweet Dani’, a vigorous, large-leaved green basil with a strong, fresh lemon scent.  At the time it was a new basil hybrid with characteristics of Ocimum basilicum and O. americanum.  Having an intense lemon flavor owing to a high concentration of citral, up to 65 percent, in the essential oil.  That year it was grown from seed by the volunteers at the Oak Park Conservatory and I purchased my first Sweet Dani Lemon Basil. 

As lemon basil’s go it has the strongest lemon taste and is reminiscent of a lemon oil.  All-America Selections is a nonprofit organization that tests and introduces new flower and vegetable varieties, evaluating their performance in trials across North America. ‘Sweet Dani’ was selected as a winner in the vegetable category in 1998.

James E. Simon, a research professor at ­Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana, and his colleague in the horticulture department, Mario Morales was the creator of  ‘Sweet Dani.’  It grew out of a bigger proj­ect Simon was working on during the late 1980s on basils’ essential oils. He became interested in breeding basils for their ornamental value and spent 6 years perfecting this plant.

Simon’s idea was to put together a diverse group of basils, let them cross-pollinate, and see what happened. He and his staff rounded up eighty different basils—deep purple basils from Iran, treelike green camphor basils from Africa, handsome cinnamon basils with glossy green leaves and dark purple flower spikes, and many others—and grew them together on a plot at Purdue’s O’Neall Vegetable Research Farm. At the end of the season, they gathered seed from the plants and mixed them together in a paper bag.

The following year, they sowed the seeds, and soon the experimental field was full of strange and beautiful basils. The wide sweep of color, form, and bloom in the field suggested basils’ uncommon diversity. Simon prowled the field, checking the form and aroma of every plant, and selected a handful as worthy of further study. One of these was a tall plant with a lemon aroma that later became ‘Sweet Dani’.

The chosen plants were dug up, brought into a greenhouse, and separated to discourage further cross-­pollination. Seed was collected from each plant, and the long process of reselection and stabilization of each plant’s characteristics began. Building up a plentiful supply of reliable seed took many plant generations, and it was several years before ‘Sweet Dani’ was ready for commercial release.

Delaware State University botanist Arthur O. Tucker identified the probable parents of the hybrid, and Simon named his plant to honor his daughter, Daniella.

To Grow

‘Sweet Dani’ is as easy to grow as other basils, either from seed or plants, both of which are readily available in garden centers or by mail order. Start seeds indoors a few weeks before the frost-free date. Keep the seedlings in a warm place and give them plenty of light. Harden them off gradually and wait to transplant them outside until nighttime temperatures are reliably above 55°F.

This is a fast-growing basil with germination happening in as few as three days.  Seedlings grow quickly and can be transplanted as soon as they have 4 true leaves which can happen in two weeks.  As with all basil’s do not transplant them outdoors until all possibility of frost has passed and the overnight temperature does not dip below 40 degrees.  This Lemon Basil will grow to 30 inches tall and 15 inches wide.  They start producing flowers early, small white flowers on 5- to 8-inch spikes, so need to be clipped often.  The mature green leaves are egg-shaped and strongly veined, reaching 2 inches long and 1 1/2 inches wide.

Like other basils, ‘Sweet Dani’ needs full sun for compact, strong growth. Water the plants regularly and fertilize every two weeks and after extensive harvests. Leaves may be harvested regularly, even from young plants, to encourage branching and maximum regrowth and to discourage flower formation.  The finest growth occurs during periods when night temperatures are above 60°F. In most areas of the United States, basils have a limited period of rapid growth.

Basils grow best in a site with daylong sun, but most varieties can subsist on as little as three to four hours of direct sunlight. They will tolerate a wide range of soil conditions but will grow best in a well-drained, loamy, nearly neutral soil (pH 6 to 6.5) that is well endowed with nutrients. Good air circulation discourages fungus diseases.

During their summer growth, basil plants are desperate to flower and set seed. That’s the way to preserve the species, and it may help farmers and florists, but it sure cuts down on the amount of pesto that can be made from a single plant. As soon as stems begin flowering, their foliage production ends; however, home gardeners can combat basils’ drive for flowers by pruning plants heavily to keep them producing foliage all summer. Start pruning when the plant has six to eight pairs of leaves. Don’t just nip the flowers as they form; instead clip off all but two to four leaves. Within as little as three weeks, the pruned stem will have regrown two to four new, harvestable branches.

TO USE

Sprinkle leaves or flowers in salads, steep them in hot water for a tea, or add them to dishes that call for basil or lemon, such as fish and chicken. Add basil at the end of the cooking period to retain as much flavor as possible.

Basil is best when used minutes after it is picked. To keep basil fresh for a day or two, place the stems in a jar of water away from sunlight. To have it fresh for seven to ten days, cover the jar and stems loosely with a plastic bag and place in the refrigerator.

Keeping basil for longer periods of time can be a problem. Freezing turns the leaves dark and flavorless.

Perhaps the best way for most people to preserve their basil harvest is to make and freeze batches of wonderfully flavorful pesto, which can be thawed easily and used in many ways. When freezing pesto, leave out the garlic; instead, chop and add some fresh garlic when you’re ready to use the pesto. Adding a small amount of chopped fresh parsley to the thawed pesto will give it a greener, fresher taste; you can also add more Parmesan cheese.

Basil is also traditionally preserved by hanging in bundles to dry or by laying stems on screens in a well-­ventilated spot away from direct sun. When they are crispy, strip the leaves from the stems, pack the whole dried leaves in clean jars with tight lids, and store them in a cool, dark place for as long as a year. Always dry your basil leaves whole, then crumble them into your preparation as needed. Once crushed, dried leaves lose their essential oils and ­fragrance rapidly.

Cooks around the world use basil with fresh and cooked vegetables, in ­salads, with eggs, meats, and seafood, in soups and breads, with all kinds of cheeses, and for seasoning vinegars and oils. Accompanied by fresh tomato slices, it is wonderful in a sandwich in place of lettuce, and it adds a pleasant flavor to butter, vinaigrettes, marinades, and sauces.

Cook fresh basil only briefly or add it as a garnish to long-simmered ­dishes. In some recipes, such as in pesto, dried basil just won’t work: the fresh herb is essential. Otherwise, when substituting dried basil for fresh, use only about a third as much as you would fresh. It is always best to season lightly at first, taste, and then add more dried basil if ­necessary.

If a recipe calls for packed basil leaves, press them down in the measuring cup to measure.

You can use any basil you choose to make pesto, so using a lemon basil will give you a sweeter less pungent pesto.  I much prefer it to regular basil pesto, especially as a topping on chicken or in a pasta served with chicken. Traditionally, pesto is served with flat noodles such as trenette, fettuccine, or linguine. Try it also as a tasty sauce for grilled or roasted fish and vegetables, or as a savory garnish for vegetable soups such as minestrone. Mix equal parts of sour cream to pesto to create a smooth green dip for crudités.

Lemon Basil Pesto

3 c. packed fresh lemon basil leaves

1 c. fresh loosely packed parsley

3/4 c. grated parmesan cheese

1 T. olive oil

3 T. pine nuts

Place all above ingredients into blender, except cheese.  Blend thoroughly and add cheese.  Blend well again.  Stir into warm pasta or spread over chicken and fish in the last few minutes of cooking.  Pour olive oil over surface until covered to store in refrigerator for up to 3 weeks.  You can freeze the pesto once the oil covers the top and keep it for about 3 months.

LEMON BASIL PESTO DRESSING

1/3 c. lemon basil leaves

1 small clove garlic, minced

1/2 t. finely chopped fresh oregano or 1/5 t. dried

3 T. olive oil

2 T. vegetable oil

1 1/2 T. fresh lemon juice

1/4 c. freshly grated Parmesan cheese

freshly ground pepper

optional: 1/4 c. pine nuts

Combine ingredients in blender and blend unto emulsified.  Serve over fresh lettuce.

Lemon Basil Butter

Great on cooked vegetables or pasta or on top of poached eggs or fish.

1/2 c. butter, at room temperature

2 t. lemon juice

1 T. chopped fresh parley

3 T. chopped fresh lemon basil

salt and pepper to taste (optional)

Cream the butter and beat in the lemon juice a little at a time.  Beat in the parsley and basil and season.  Serve in a serving dish or place on wax paper and roll in a log. Chill overnight and slice and serve.  Butter can also be frozen for up to two months without loosing flavor.

Lemon Basil Fruit Salad

2 cups fresh raspberries or blackberries
2 cups fresh strawberries - hulled and sliced
One (15 ounce) can mandarin oranges - drained
One (20 ounce) can pineapple chunks - drained
2 tablespoons white grape juice
¼ cup fresh lemon basil, minced

Place all the ingredients into a large bowl and mix well. Chill in the refrigerator until ready to serve.

Lemon Basil Facial Mask

handful of lemon basil leaves

1/2 of an avocado

1 tsp. lemon juice

1 tsp. honey

Pulverize the fresh lemon basil leaves in a blender or food processor. Peel the avocado and mash. Add avocado to basil in blender, along with lemon juice and honey.  Blend until smooth.

Smear this mixture all over your face, don't get too close to your eyes.  Then leave on 15 to 30 minutes or as long as you want.  Rinse off with lukewarm water.  Follow with a moisturizer. 

** Some of the information on the history of this basil came from a 1998 article by Thomas DiBaggio in Herb Companion Magazine.

To obtain good seed for Sweet Dani, I recommend the Territorial Seed Company