What to do with my many Herbs?

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thymeandthymeagain

Assistant Cook
Joined
Aug 15, 2007
Messages
42
Location
On the outskirts of London, Ontario, Canada
This Spring I planted many of my standard herbs, ie: basil's, thyme (of course) sage etc. But I also thought I would try some new one's like cicerly, nigella, pesto basil. I know I can chop and freeze, make compound butter, flavoured oils. I think I will try and work with the pesto basil in different pesto's and compound butter or oils for pasta. But what to do with the cicerly and nigella, and what other herbs would work will with them. Any help that you can give me will be much appreciated. :)

P.S. I also planted different mint's - spearmint, chocolate mint, orange mint and a new one, mojito mint......any ideas on how to preserve these. :ermm:
 
:) First of all you really dont want to put herbs in oil if you are not going to use them right away or you could end up with a nasty case of Botulism.As for the other herbs you could just simply dry them.
 
jpmcgrew said:
:) First of all you really dont want to put herbs in oil if you are not going to use them right away or you could end up with a nasty case of Botulism. As for the other herbs you could just simply dry them.


Isn't this only true she stores them with garlic in the oil?


Here is a recipe using nigella. Looks quite exotic!


ACHAARI BAINGAN
(serves 2)
1 large eggplant
1 tsp ginger-garlic paste
1/2 tsp cumin seeds (optional, not in original recipe)
1 tsp fennel seeds
1/2 tsp nigella seeds (kalonji)
3 medium size tomatoes, finely chopped
1 tbsp coriander powder
a pinch of tumeric powder
1 tsp red chilli powder (or to your taste)
salt
oil for frying

Cut eggplant into wedges and place them in a bowl of cold water. Pat dry with a towel.

Heat 2 tbsp oil in a deep saucepan. When hot, add the eggplant slices and fry them over medium-high heat until they turn reddish brown. Fry in batches if the saucepan cannot hold all slices at one time. Remove from heat and place on absorbent paper.

Put 1 tablespoon oil in a frying pan. When hot add cumin seeds; as they begin to sizzle, add fennel seeds and kalonji. When they darken add the chopped tomato and ginger-garlic paste. Stir for a minute. Add coriander, turmeric and chilli powder. Season with salt.

Mix well and and cook for about 5 minutes, breaking the tomato pieces with the back of your spoon. Turn the heat up and continue to stir until the masala thickens.

Add the eggplant slices in the sauce and mix gently. Cook for about a minute more. Serve hot with rotis.


SweetCicely_recipe.jpg




BTW, Google is your friend. I put in recipe, nigella, herb and got the first recipe - then did recipe, cicerly, herb. That's when I found out it's cicely not cicerly. :ohmy:

There's a world of info out there!
 
oops........cicely it is. That is what I get for not going out to garden to double check.

So the Nigella. Is it the seed pods that I should be collecting? Or is it like dill where you can use both seed and frond?

The Cicely is really quite pretty, more like a fern that any other herb I have, the Nigella has a really pretty blue flower that works well in my garden.

Thanks for your help, and I will remember that Goggle is my friend, but I also like to know what other cooks have done and their results. :)
 
GB said:
No, it is true of anything that grows in soil.

I had no idea! The Botulism discussion happens so frequently around the subject of garlic that I didn't realize other fresh herbs could cause the same fate.

And, yes, google is our friend but I love to learn from other cooks as well! :LOL:
 
chiffonade said:
I had no idea! The Botulism discussion happens so frequently around the subject of garlic that I didn't realize other fresh herbs could cause the same fate.

Just to be clear, it isn't just herbs that can cause botulism, nor is it just anything that grows in soil. Animals, fish and seafood - anything carrying the bug - that is not adequately cooked can cause botulism.

For more info: FDA/CFSAN Bad Bug Book - Clostridium botulinum
 
I copied this off another website but the frost killed my peppermint and spearmint plants before I got to try it last fall. I'll make some this year.

Chocolate Covered Mint Leaves
This is a nice little trick for an after dinner treat or to decorate a cake. You will need 6 oz of semi-sweet chocolate morsels and freshly picked mint leaves which have been washed and patted dry. Melt the chocolate bits in the top of a double boiler. Dip each leaf in the chocolate and place on waxed paper to harden. Hardening occurs best by placing in the refrigerator.

______________________________________

Also, I was reading about herbal jellies (herbed apple jelly, actually) and they sound great. One poster said that, after try rosemary jelly on her lamb, she will never go back to mint jelly. I don't care for mint jelly, so I'd love to make the rosemary jelly.

Lee
 
QSis said:
Chocolate Covered Mint Leaves
This is a nice little trick for an after dinner treat or to decorate a cake. You will need 6 oz of semi-sweet chocolate morsels and freshly picked mint leaves which have been washed and patted dry. Melt the chocolate bits in the top of a double boiler. Dip each leaf in the chocolate and place on waxed paper to harden. Hardening occurs best by placing in the refrigerator.

That sounds RIGHT up my alley. Thanks!
 
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