How to use fresh herbs

[Michelle8]

I am making fresh spaghetti (spelling doesn't look right,sorry) from our garden tomaotes!:D I have Black Krim, Kellogg'sBreakfast, Yellow brandywine, super choice and one or two others that lost their labels:eek:.

Anyway...I want to use the herbs I have growing in the garden, but am not sure how to harvest or use them.:o I have several types of basil and orgeno growing. As well as some others. How to harvest it? What do I with it before putting it in the sauce? When do I put it in the sauce?

Thank you so much for any advice.

Michelle

[Billy B]

I'm no chef but my wife is (at least I think she is good enough to be one). She just pulls the leaves off the plant and chops them up a little and puts them in the sauce that she is cooking, I do know that she much prefers to use the herbs fresh rather than dried. Oh yah she rinses it off first then pats it dry before she chops it up. If you use just a little at a time the plant keeps growing and its good all year long. She makes pesto at the end of the year when we are cleaning up the garden. I asked her at what [point she puts the herbs in with the cooking tomatoes sauce and she said she puts it in at the start and cooks it all togather.

[Locavore]

Different herbs will use different methods. For the oregano, I tend to use it fresh but like to have dry around also. For fresh, either pick the leaves (if the plant is not very big) or you can clip whole branches (3-5" lengths) to help prune the bush and then pick the leaves off. To dry, clip branches, tie them together and hang in up. In a couple of weeks they'll be dry and brittle and easily come off the branches by rubbing between fingers.

In terms of sauce, I would put either fresh or dried oregano in the sauce towards the beginning so the flavors have a chance to infuse and blend.

You can do the same things for basil. I don't tend to use basil in tomato sauce, maybe a little dried basil, but generally use fresh leaves as garnish. I tend to do pesto with basil more, and I think there's a whole thread dedicated to basil and pesto floating around.

The more you use fresh herbs, the more you'll love them, so just experiment to see what you like.

[lorna-organic]

Add a little at a time, then taste. Once too many herbs have been added there is no going back, so start with less and keep tasting.

[bellzeybubba]

The one thing my garden has always produced well, no matter how clueless I've been about what I was doing in years past, is basil. Having used basil a lot, here are my tips:

Harvest basil right off the tops to keep it from blooming. If it starts to bloom, harvest those tips even if you don't have a use for them. It'll help your plant making nice juicy leaves for longer.

I wash my basil gently in several changes of water, then spin dry in a salad spinner, then leave sitting out on a towel for an hour or so to dry off the rest of the water.

Basil doesn't keep as well as other herbs. You can store it in the fridge for a few days, when I do this I don't let it air dry as long and gently wrap in a paper towel before putting in a bag or container and in the fridge. But after 2-3 days it gets darker, slimey, and develops an off taste. So I don't recommend harvesting more than you need for whatever you're making.

Most often I use basil for pesto, spring rolls, or a pho-type rice noodle soup. The family loves all three :). I like the sweet and Genovese basil for all three dishes and a little lime basil for the Asian dishes, but I haven't gotten very good responses for either the cinnamon or Holy basil. Both have too strong of an anise-y flavor for the family it seems.

[evilsunflower]

I usually add my fresh herbs toward the end. The volatile oils (i.e. flavor) escape as they cook, so if you add them early you're going to lose all that fresh herb goodness that you're going for.

I personally like to chop up a little fresh basil right before serving pasta and sprinkling it over the dish with a little fresh grated parm. Fresh basil has such a unique flavor that you just don't get when it's dried. Very tasty. This year my basil is stuck at 3 inches high and I am very sad :(

Definitely pinch those flowers off your basil to encourage more growth. If you pinch off the tops before they start flowering too that will also encourage them to bush out more.

[Michelle8]

My herbs are doing great!! My 5 basil plants, 4 oregno, tarragon, 3 mints, bee balm and many others are very prolific.

I have so much basil that right now I am just cutting it and putting it in the compost pile b/c I am soooo unfamiliar with it.

I added it to my sp. sauce and it didn't taste right.:confused::( I'll try again. sigh

[Michelle8]

Evilsunflower,

I wish I could send you some of my basil. It is very productive. Looks great and smells great.

[lorna-organic]

There are different types of basil. There is a slightly spicy variety, which is better for spaghetti sauce. I like the sweeter basil myself. (Don't eat tomatoes, allergic--no spaghetti sauce for me.) Pesto is a good use for sweet basil. It freezes well. Pesto can be used as a baste for roast or baked chicken, and for some types of fish. Some folks like it with pasta, both hot or cold (like pasta salad). My favorite is pesto pizza.

There are lots of ways to make pesto. You can mix herbs, like basil and spinach, or basil and arugula. You can use toasted walnuts or pine nuts, probably any nut except peanut. Some folks add lemon zest. This is my simple, basic recipe:

Basil Pesto

fresh garlic
salt
cracked black pepper
fresh basil (remove the thick stems)
olive oil
Parmesan cheese
pine nuts

Everything goes into a blender or food processor. Pesto should be a thin paste, slightly viscous. All ingredient quantities are to taste. I use about 3-4 ounces of basil, one garlic clove, about 1/3 cup of olive oil, 1 tablespoon of Parmesan, 1 tablespoon of pine nuts, 1/4 tsp. salt, 1/4 tsp. cracked black pepper. The pesto will turn brown on top, much like avocados do after being cut. I seal it with a light film of olive oil, which can later be incorporated when I want to use the pesto. Should be used fairly quickly, or frozen for later use.

Small whole leaves of basil are good in a mixed green salad, or floated in a bowl of beef or chicken soup. They make a nice burst of flavor. A salad of sliced tomatoes topped with some olive oil and chopped fresh basil is probably very good--I wouldn't know, but I've seen it served and folks seemed to like it.

[mjc]

A salad of sliced tomatoes topped with some olive oil and chopped fresh basil is probably very good--I wouldn't know, but I've seen it served and folks seemed to like it.

And a sprinkling of a good sea salt and some slices of fresh mozzarella with a drizzle of balsamic vinegar...or maybe some finely chopped prosciutto instead of the salt. And a couple of slices of a fresh baked, hearty Italian bread to sop up the leftover juices...

[lorna-organic]

Yes, MJC....ahhhh, fresh mozarella, food of the gods. :) I like that balsamic vinegar real well, myself. :)

[moonlilyhead]

A great marinade for flank steak to be grilld is a mix of olive oil, chopped onions, garlic, oregano, basil, and rosemary. Put it all (besides the steak) in a ziplock and squish it all together to release the oils of the herbs. Throw the flank steak in and marinate for about an hour or so, squishing it up every so often. After it's grilled (don't over cook it!) let it rest and then squeeze a bit of lemon juice over it. Very GOOD!! Flank steak is a great cut of meat to marinate and grill.

[evilsunflower]

OMG Do Not throw out your basil!!!!!

Make Pesto! It freezes and is delicious on pasta, homemade pizza (try a white pizza with pesto instead of tomato sauce), bruschetta, fresh mozzarella, baguettes or a variety of other tasty things.

It takes a buttload of basil to make a decent amount of pesto, so it looks like I'm going to have to skip it again this year, but for god's sake if you have the basil you should go nuts with it!

You should also put fresh basil over anything Italian. Add some to your pizza, sprinkle it on a nice minestrone (or whatever vegetable soup you do), add it to your zucchini that you cut up and saute with garlic and onions, add it to pasta of any shape, size or color. If you don't care for the taste it gives your sauce you might prefer it chopped up fresh and sprinkled over the dish when you serve it. If you've never had fresh basil it might take some getting used to, since tastes very different from dried basil.

Instead of throwing it away you can also cut off branches and hang them up to dry in a darkish area with good air circulation. Dried basil isn't as flavorful as fresh, but in the middle of winter it's still basil and it beats buying a jar from the grocery store for your pasta sauce.

[gardentoad]

I've got some lemon basil growing in a pot. I love the smell. What can I use it for once it gets big enough?

[bluelacedredhead]

And a salad of tomatoes cut in chunks with fresh basil and an oil and vinegar dressing is divine!! Simplicity at its best.

[pepperhead212]

I've got some lemon basil growing in a pot. I love the smell. What can I use it for once it gets big enough?
I don't have it this year (just got some seeds...will be late, but it grows fast!), but I have grown it before, and it is a traditional ingredient in many Malaysian dishes. Up to now I just put some lemon zest or lemongrass into the recipes, but it's not quite the same. I'll probably have one of those growing, along with a regular and a Thai basil, when I grow them hydroponically for the winter season.

[bellzeybubba]

This is how I like my lemon basil:
Make a good chicken broth, save a little cooked chicken
Cook up some thin rice noodles
Put some noodles in a bowl for each person with a little chicken and pour over the broth. Pass a plate with lemon basil, other basil, mint, cilantro (if you want), sliced hot chillies, and wedges of lime. Folks can add whatever herbs & chillies they like to the broth right before the eat it. My family loves it.

[gardentoad]

Thanks Pepperhead and BB. Can't wait to try some.

[maggie c]

One of the great ways to use herbs is to make herb butter. You can adjust the amount of herbs you add for your own taste. You can make it in batches and freeze it - then thaw it when you need it. With all you can decide to add garlic, fresh or roasted depending on what you like. For example:

Lemon Herb butter - soften 1 stick of butter, then add a mix of lemon zest from 1/2 a lemon, then a few leaves or sprigs of lemon flavored herbs like: lemon/lime basil, lemon thyme, lemongrass, salt and pepper. If you like garlic, add a small clove of garlic. This is delicious on grilled fish, any veggie you like butter and lemon on...

Sage butter - soften the butter, then add a mix of sage, thyme, chives or garlic, salt and pepper. This is good to baste chicken or turkeys.

Italian butter - soften the butter, then add basil, oregano, thyme, garlic, salt and pepper. Great on italian bread, particularly if you spread it on fresh bread, parmesan cheese, and bake until bubbly. Or, use it as a base after you toast the bread, then top the bread slice with diced fresh tomatoes mixed with a little salt and olive oil.

Rosemary butter - mix rosemary, thyme, (can be roasted) garlic, salt and pepper. Also a great baste for chickens, nice to add a pat on a steak after you grill.

Make your own. It is so easy!!! It is a great gift for folks if it is given with fresh bread. Adding things like roasted garlic, lemon zest, chives, cayenne, etc. can change the whole butter experience.