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Cooking with herbs
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| One of the secrets for giving your dishes an extra shot of flavor is to begin mastering the art of using herbs. We say "art" because it requires a special talent to know how to make the most of these important, 100% natural resources, to be able to combine their aromas and flavors. Herbs can have an enormous impact on your cooking. Just think of the enormous difference a simple fresh bay leaf makes when it comes to preparing good Spaghetti with tomato sauce. |
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One of the fundamental rules to bear in mind for all types of herbs is that they provide the best results when used fresh.
So it's well worth your while to go to the trouble of starting a window-box herb garden and tending it with loving care, because it can be a very rewarding enterprise.
One of the easiest herbs to grow is rosemary, an indispensable herb for flavoring first courses, roasts and grilled meats It is capable of withstanding the most inclement conditions as long as the right amount of humidity is maintained. The same applies to basil, a plant that no kitchen can afford to be without, as important as sage, it was once a precious ingredient in herbal cures.
You can find miniature greenhouses and window boxes which, with a little experience and dedication, make it fairly easy to cultivate your favorite herbs. Always make sure you protect them from excessive exposure to the sun which will dry them out.
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Since, however, we don't all have green thumbs, you will be happy to know that frozen herbs are practically as good as fresh ones.
All you have to do is buy your fresh herbs when they are in season, wash them (when it's possible), dry them and put them in the freezer wrapped in a sheet of aluminum foil.
Remember not to put all of a particular kind of herb in just one package; it's a much better idea to bundle them up in amounts that are just enough for one dish.
Basil, parsley, thyme and chives lend themselves very well to this sort of procedure, allowing you to have the right fresh herbs any time of year. All you need is a little patience because it's crucial to make sure the leaves are good and dry before placing the herbs in the freezer. Just remember, the excellent results you will obtain make all the extra effort well worth your while.
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The third option is to dry your herbs and store them in a glass jar. The easiest way to dry them is simply to place them in the sun, once you've removed the leaves (in the case of sage and basil) or the stems (thyme and oregano).
In order to obtain the best results you have to make sure that plenty of air circulates around the drying plants so mould doesn't have a chance to form. This can be achieved by placing your plants on a metal or plastic screen stretched over a wooden frame. To accelerate the process you can even use the oven, making sure you turn on the fan. Of course, you have to be careful not to over-dry them. This is easy to do and you can lose a lot of the flavor and aromatic qualities.
And, as you know, you can also purchase dried herbs, ready to use, twelve months a year from your friendly neighborhood supermarket.
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Leaving aside for a moment questions regarding the various techniques used for conserving herbs, the real fun comes when you start mixing your herbs, creating your own original blends, custom-tailored to the dishes you tend to enjoy preparing most.
Fish lovers, for example, can use their creative imagination with thyme, oregano, marjoram and dill, while adventurous barbecue chefs would do best to experiment with blends of rosemary, sage, bay leaf, myrtle and tarragon.
In order to avoid problems finding the right herbs, we would recommend that you go to a herb seller who could perhaps give you some advice regarding an original combination, rich in flavor, to try out at home in your kitchen.
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Herbs can be very useful for adding exciting, unusual flavors and aromas to oil, salt and vinegar, not to mention liqueurs.
To add zest and spice to your salt, all you have to do is crush some rock salt together with rosemary, sage, pepper and a bay leaf using a mortar and pestle and conserve the mixture in a sealed glass or ceramic jar.
In the same way you can customize excellent extra-virgin olive oil. All you have to do is add a sprig of thyme or rosemary and let them soak in the oil for a few weeks. The same thing can be done with garlic and chile peppers, which can be added together or separately, depending on the desired effect. But be sure you don't exaggerate, because an overdose of herbs can completely upset the harmony of a dish, compromising its integrity and character.
A little oregano in a tomato sauce constitutes a delicious complement, but just one spoonful too many can irremediably ruin a good sauce. It's best to follow the same guideline that was recommended in regard to spices, namely: add just a little at a time, until you obtain the desired level of flavor intensity. And don't forget that with the passage of time, dried herbs tend to lose their flavor and aroma. The herbs you dry today may have lost a good deal of their oomph within two or three month's time. Keeping them in a hermetically sealed container away from the light certainly helps to preserve their natural characteristics, but you also have to remember not to keep them in a warm, humid environment, like the shelf just above the kitchen stove...
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