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Fresh herbs are summertime magic in the kitchen! They make food taste fancy, but they're easy to use. Here are some tips and recipes to get you started...
Pinching your basil and other herbs will make your plants full, prevent blooms that can lead to bitter flavors, and provide you with great handfuls of fresh herbs. (See the first article in this series.) Pinching and snipping leads to sniffing and nibbling, and you realize you must put your herbs to use in the kitchen! Salads! Sauces! Grilled Chicken! Pesto! Fresh herbs make everything taste fabulous.
But where do you start?
Toss basil leaves with salad greens, and you’ll get an immediate sense of the intense flavor fresh herbs can provide.Salads are a great place to introduce your tongue to fresh herbs and discover your favorite combinations.
Add thyme to a citrus vinaigrette, or top a salad with orange sections and sprinkle with fresh thyme leaves.Minced Greek oregano combines well with feta cheese and tomatoes.Try it with a green salad dressed with olive oil and balsamic vinegar, and top it off with bright nasturtium blossoms. Flavor combinations that you like in salads will also work in marinades for meat or in side dishes such as herbed rice.
Fresh herbs aren’t only for gourmet cooks!Add a handful of minced fresh basil and some frozen peas to a batch of blue-box Mac & Cheese, and see what happens.Perk up your store-bought spaghetti sauce with fresh basil and thyme, or sprinkle your pizza with a little minced fresh oregano.Once you start using fresh herbs, you will find ways to add them to every meal.
If you’re used to cooking with dried herbs, use three times the amount of fresh herb to substitute for the dried herb quantity in your recipe.One tablespoon minced fresh herbs = One teaspoon dried.Fresh herbs often have different and stronger flavors than dried herbs, so start with less and taste as you go.
Basil is a wonderful partner for fresh garden tomatoes.It’s hard to beat a platter of thick tomato slices, dotted with the best olive oil and balsamic vinegar you can find, and crowned with fresh basil.These same flavors are in a bruschetta topping (pronounced “brew-sketta”) recipe taught to me by an Italian friend who grows even more tomato varieties than I do.For every cup of diced tomatoes, add 1 minced clove of garlic and 1 Tablespoon each of minced basil, good balsamic vinegar, and extra virgin olive oil. You can store this in the refrigerator without affecting the flavor of the tomatoes, but don't eat it cold.Irene serves hers with crostini, made by toasting thin slices of baguettes in a slow oven until crisp but not brown. See the DG Recipes forum (subscribers only) for more bruschetta recipes.
To chiffonade basil, cookbooks tell you to stack the leaves and roll them tightly, then slice across the roll to make thin strips.I’m less precise.I gather the leaves into a big wad and hold them in place with one hand while chopping away with the other hand, being very careful to keep my fingers away from the knife blade.Scatter this aromatic confetti across the plate, and your dinner will have 4-star appeal!
The classic response to a big basil harvest is to make pesto, which is a snap if you have a food processor.Green pesto is traditionally made with pine nuts, or you can substitute other nuts such as cashews, almonds or walnuts.Red pesto uses sun-dried tomatoes in place of the nuts.Either type of pesto can be added to cooked pasta or rice.
I often portion pesto into ice cube trays, 8 cubes to a batch, and freeze it for later use.Two “cubes” of pesto mixed with a stick of softened butter or half a cup of margarine makes a wonderful spread for crusty bread.If you reduce the oil in the recipe, you can add pesto to pizza or bread dough (one cube per pizza crust).One bite of pasta salad with pesto in January will convince you to plant a whole row of basil next year!
Pinch your herbs for shape and fullness, but more importantly, pinch them to add amazing flavor to summer meals!Eat what you pinch, and get the most out of your herbs this summer!
Green Pesto with Cashews
Adapted from The All New Joy of Cooking [1]
2 cups loosely packed fresh basil leaves 1/3 cup raw cashews 3-4 cloves fresh garlic, peeled 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil 1/2 cup grated parmesan and/or romano cheese
Removing most of the stems from the basil will make the pesto taste better. You can substitute pine nuts or other nuts such as almonds or walnuts for the cashews.
Process the basil, garlic, and nuts to a rough paste in the food processor. With the machine running, slowly add the olive oil. Blend in the cheese.
Pesto should be a thick paste. If it seems dry, add a little more olive oil. Season with salt & ground black pepper to taste.
If not using immediately, store the pesto in a covered glass jar in the refrigerator for up to a week. Freeze for longer storage.
Red Pesto with Sun Dried Tomatoes Adapted from The All New Joy of Cooking
Prepare the sun dried tomato mixture: 1/3 cup chopped sun dried tomatoes 1 clove fresh garlic, peeled 6 fresh basil leaves enough water to cover tomatoes
Snip the dried tomatoes into bits with scissors.Combine in a microwave-safe bowl with the garlic, basil, and enough water to cover. Bring to a boil by microwaving on high, then allow to stand about 20 minutes until tomatoes are softened. Drain off excess liquid. Now make the pesto: 1 large clove garlic, peeled 1 cup packed fresh basil leaves 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil 1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese the tomato mixture
Put the basil and garlic into the bowl of the food processor with the tomato mixture, and process to a rough paste. With the machine running, add the olive oil. Add the grated cheese, and process until blended. Season to taste with salt and ground black pepper.
A batch of pesto will sauce at least a pound of cooked pasta and may be thinned with ½ cup pasta cooking water or hot water.
For use in bread or pizza dough, reduce the oil to 1 Tablespoon.
You may store the pesto in a covered glass jar in the refrigerator for up to a week. Freeze for longer storage.
For more discussion of pesto recipes, subscribers can go to the DG Recipes Forum.
[1] Rombauer, Irma S., Marion Rombauer Becker, and Ethen Becker. Joy of Cooking, rev. ed. New York: Scribner, 1997. pp. 307-308.
About Jill M. Nicolaus
Better known as "Critter" on DG, Jill gardens in Frederick, MD. My irises are bloomed out, but the daylilies are just getting started! Our front porch robins are busy fetching worms for their second crop of babies. I love summer!
(Images in my articles are from my photos, unless otherwise credited.)
Posted by Fairleigh (from La Mesa, CA) on September 05, 2007 at 12:49 PM:
Great ideas and good recipes!
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Subject: Unbelievable timing for this recipe
Posted by GeorgiaJo (from Dallas, GA) on September 03, 2007 at 07:45 PM:
Can't believe it. I have a few too-many ripe tomatoes and way too much basil and some nice fresh garlic... um. Fixed a bit of this bruschetta for dinner and WOW - happy family!
jo
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Posted by critterologist (from Frederick, MD) on September 03, 2007 at 08:21 PM:
:-)
I'm glad it was a hit! I had bruschetta tonight too.... If you have any left over, it really does keep well in the fridge without losing any of the wonderful flavor of the tomatoes. Although I've been known to eat it cold, it's even better if you let it warm back up to room temperature first.
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Posted by GeorgiaJo (from Dallas, GA) on September 04, 2007 at 09:17 AM:
and one of those easy-to-remember formulas. One of everything:
One cup of tomato (last night, this was just exactly one tomato!)
One clove of garlic
One tablespoon basil
One tablespoon oil
One tablespoon vinegar..
How perfect is that!
Thanks again Critter!
jo
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Posted by critterologist (from Frederick, MD) on September 04, 2007 at 09:24 AM:
LOL, Jo... You know, I started writing it out as a formal recipe, then I realized it only needed a couple sentences of description. It's easy to scale the recipe up, too. I have a 2 quart tupperware measuring bowl that's been in use for the past couple of weeks. I dice whatever ripe tomatoes are on hand, toss them into the container, and add however much I need of everything else.
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Subject: Herbs articles by Jill
Posted by SofieD (from Carmichael, CA) on September 03, 2007 at 10:58 AM:
Thanks so much for your articles. When I did some serious "pinching", I ended up with a beautiful bouquet of herbs = decorative on the kitchen counter, wonderful fragrance and delicious in our food. Thanks for your wonderful advice!
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Posted by critterologist (from Frederick, MD) on September 03, 2007 at 12:47 PM:
:-)
I didn't think of that as I was writing, but you're right -- it's not only Thai basil that has pretty blooms! I've done the same thing, making a bouquet of oregano and basil blooms. Rosemary makes a wonderful bouquet on its own or as "filler" for a bouquet of flowers. It smells wonderful, and it stays fresh for a week on the counter with a few water changes!
My MIL cuts a bouquet of fresh herbs to take with them when they head to the beach for a week in their trailer.
If all your pinching has led to a bigger harvest of fresh herbs than you can use up... well, tomorrow's article has some ideas about putting herbs up for winter use!
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Subject: Nice!
Posted by tcfromky (from Mercer, PA) on August 28, 2007 at 09:19 PM:
Remember me?? ;~)
TC
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Posted by tabasco (from Cincinnati (Anderson, OH) on August 28, 2007 at 09:50 PM:
Hi, tc! where've you been?! How is your garden growing??? Let's see some pics!
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Posted by critterologist (from Frederick, MD) on August 28, 2007 at 11:02 PM:
TC! Good to see you! Got any basil in your garden this year? :-)
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Subject: Yummy!
Posted by KyWoods (from Melbourne, KY) on August 28, 2007 at 12:20 AM:
Yummy sounding recipes--thanks! Love the pics, too.
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Posted by miatablu (from Brunswick, MD) on August 28, 2007 at 08:56 AM:
Jill, your illustrations are the best! And from a student of the italian language, thanks for pointing out how to pronounce bruschetta. Now if people can only use "panino / panini" correctly. Speaking of which, here's two styles of panini I make at home, . Another thing I like about your articles Jill, they inspire people to grow herbs and cook with them.
Portabello Panini – Two Styles / Calabrese style and with Herbed goat cheese
For both styles:
2 large whole portabello mushrooms
1 Vidalia onion
some extra virgin olive oil
Parmesan Balsamic Vinaigrette
1. Remove stems from mushrooms. Drizzle gills side with olive oil and brush cap side with olive oil.
2. Slice onion about 1/4 inch thick. Secure rings together with toothpicks. Drizzle with olive oil.
3. Grill onions until caramelized. Remove toothpicks, separate rings, and seal in foil. Put to warm side of grill.
4. Grill mushrooms gills side down, and then gills side up. When moisture collects where stem was removed, transfer carefully with the juices on top of the onions in the foil. Reseal and let cook on grill until onions are soft. Remove and let cool, can be done in advance.
1. Slice focaccia horizontally. Slice mushrooms.
2. Drizzle inside of focaccia with vinaigrette, then layer with mushrooms, onions, mozzarella cheese, tomato slices, and basil leaves. Put on the top layer of the panini.
3. Grill the panino on the grill (or use a grill pan on the stove) and put a weight such as a cast iron pan or something else heavy on top (or use a grill press). Grill until you get nice brown grill marks. Turn over and repeat.
4. Cut into quarters and and serve.
1. Slice focaccia horizontally. Slice mushrooms.
2. Drizzle inside of focaccia with vinaigrette, then layer with mushrooms, onions, and goat cheese. Put on the top layer of the panini.
3. Follow same instructions as step 3 above for grilling.
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Posted by critterologist (from Frederick, MD) on August 28, 2007 at 09:35 AM:
Thanks! If you've got tomatoes and basil on hand, you have to try making bruschetta... I've had a container of it in the fridge since my tomatoes finally started ripening a couple of weeks ago. It's better if you let it come up to room temperature, but I've been known to dip into it with a piece of bread while standing by the open door of the fridge!
Miata, thanks for more yummy recipes... that second one, in particular, sounds divine... I have the tomatoes and basil on hand for it, for sure! And it sounds like I could use basil pesto on plain foccacia to create this one. :-) So, it's one "panino" and two "panini"... ?
And LOL because you know perfectly well who supplied me with the correct pronunciation of brew-sketta! Thanks!
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Posted by miatablu (from Brunswick, MD) on August 28, 2007 at 09:49 AM:
Sì, it's "uno panino" and "due (or more) panini". And, honestly, I forgot about talking about the bruschetta with you. I was wondering who your other Italian friend was ;)
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Posted by critterologist (from Frederick, MD) on August 28, 2007 at 10:02 AM:
My "other Italian friend" (who taught the bruschetta recipe to me) is Irene, who lives across the river from you. They've got both sons and a daughter living on the property with them, so their garden looks like a truck farm and includes several hundred tomato plants (loads of varieties). Her daughter is my good friend who brought back that Italian basil seed for me when she went to Italy... there's a photo of the plant in my first herb article, and it's my first choice for pesto and other recipes. (Yes, I'll be saving plenty of seed again this year.)
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Posted by miatablu (from Brunswick, MD) on August 28, 2007 at 10:29 AM:
Oh, yeah, now I remember you speaking of her. So it's thanks to her and you for the italian basil. My Italian teacher was pleased to see how well the plant did I got from you, despite the drought, while she was in Italy for 2 months. She was disappointed that it had so many blooms though. Her son was tending the garden and she was probably lucky that it got watered occasionally, let alone keeping the basil pinched. I told her from your previous article, all was not lost! Any chance any articles coming about saving the seeds?
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Posted by critterologist (from Frederick, MD) on August 28, 2007 at 10:40 AM:
I'm glad those basil seedlings did well!
As for saving the seeds, watch the bloom stalks.. the flowers will fall off, leaving green bits attached to the stem. When those parts start turning brown and drying up, the seeds inside are ready. If you strip the bits from the stem and crumble them between your fingers, you'll see tiny black basil seeds. (Brown seeds are generally not quite mature.) I let them dry a while on a plate, then rub/sift/blow to separate the seeds from the chaff.
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Posted by tabasco (from Cincinnati (Anderson, OH) on August 28, 2007 at 12:08 PM:
Great herb article!
Some delicious recipes, too!
Now, please, will one of you herbsters write an article about how to use herbs in deserts and also how to make liqueurs and aperatifs with them?
All I can think of is lavender ice cream and geranium ice cream right now, but I know there must be some other (a bit more unusual) ideas!?!
Enjoyed your article. Keep 'em coming! Thanks. t.
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Posted by pelletory (from Marlton, NJ) on August 28, 2007 at 12:47 PM:
Great article critter! Congratulations; you did good!
When I was cooking more I always used to use fresh herbs; theres nothing better!
Thanks again for the article! Pelle
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Posted by critterologist (from Frederick, MD) on August 28, 2007 at 01:53 PM:
Tabasco, head over to the herb forum and start a thread there to troll for ideas and recipes... I've played a little with putting chopped herbs into sugar to add flav or (then use the sugar in a recipe, like a lemon sugar cookie topped with lavender sugar)... but I haven't done much with that so far, and I have no idea about making liquors... sure sounds like a fun thing to explore!
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Posted by tabasco (from Cincinnati (Anderson, OH) on August 28, 2007 at 04:07 PM:
Will do. Thanks again.
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Posted by KyWoods (from Melbourne, KY) on August 28, 2007 at 04:23 PM:
OMG, Jill, that sounds sooo yummy!
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Posted by Dea (from Frederick, MD) on August 28, 2007 at 04:45 PM:
What a great article Jill - I'm going to try your pesto recipe this weekend :) Thanks !
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Posted by gessiegail (from Taft, TX) on August 28, 2007 at 05:05 PM:
Jill, you are simply amazing with your many talents............there isn't a forum on DG that you don't always have the latest scoop on. Congratulations!!!!!!!!!!
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Posted by Islandshari (from Kwajalein, Marshall Islands) on August 28, 2007 at 05:59 PM:
Jill - I really love these articles of yours! I think it is wonderful that you are encouraging more and more people to "grow their own"...and you do it in a wonderfully friendly persuasion instead of the cold and critical "do thus and so". Great job! Keep it up!
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Posted by critterologist (from Frederick, MD) on August 28, 2007 at 06:04 PM:
LOL, Gail! I assure you, there's more information here on DG than I can ever hope to learn. I come across something new each time I log on!
BTW, the photo at the top of the article is pasta with Bluekat76's roasted tomato sauce, garnished with basil. It's one of our favorites, and it smells just divine. DH was ready to dig right in, and he couldn't believe it when I insisted on taking it out of the pot into a nice serving dish and then taking its picture before letting him eat it!
Shari, I just saw your post... thanks! I've definitely tried to avoid using a dry, academic "voice" in these articles. Home gardening isn't rocket science. :-)
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Posted by Shirley1md (from Ellicott City, MD) on September 05, 2007 at 01:02 PM:
I'm getting hungry just reading your article!!! I greatly appreciate your information & receipes!
