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Mint is more than just a popular flavor to mix with chocolate and candies. It’s an herb. Specifically there are a couple of main varieties of mint. Spearmint and Peppermint.
Spearmint has pointed oval leaves with serrated edges, a deep green color and the flavor is cooling without being pungent.
Spearmint is used in a wide variety of recipes ranging from something like a mint sauce for lamb or in certain cold soups and beverages as well as in salads, spice mixtures and more.
Peppermint is a natural hybrid of Water Mint and Spearmint. It’s got smooth oval leaves, serrated edges, a dark green color and a strong flavor that’s both peppery and cooling.
Peppermint is used in the production of menthol. Peppermint oil is used in candies and sweet liqueurs where it balances the sweetness of the sugars. Peppermint is also considered a perfect compliment to chocolate.
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Posted on 20th February 2008
Under: Food Info, Herbs | Comments Off
Sage has soft, gray-green, narrow oblong leaves and has a slight bitterness in it’s aroma. It originated in the Mediterranean and Asia Minor. In the sixteenth century Sage tea and Sage Ale were popular in England.
It’s very important in Mediterranean and Italian cooking. The pungent flavor of sage cuts the fattiness of meats which makes it useful with meats like duck, goose and pork. In Italian cooking Sage is often used with rosemary to season poultry, pork and veal roasts.
In the US it’s used a lot in poultry seasonings and stuffing. It also works good with starchy foods like potatoes, split peas and dried beans.
Fresh sage can be found year round. Dried sage holds a lot of the flavor of fresh sage.
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Posted on 17th January 2008
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Basil is one of those herbs that’s kinda like office furniture… There are a lot of varieties of it. Sweet Basil is one of the most popular. It has a sweet, clovelike aroma and a flavor that reminds you of anise, clove and mint. When fresh the flavor is mild enough that you can use a lot of it. The dried herb loses a lot of it’s sweetness and has a spicier, clove-mint taste that works best in sauces, soups and such that cook for a long time.
When I said there are a lot of varieties I wasn’t kidding. There’s actually over 50 species of basil with variations in appearance and flavor. The most commonly used is the large leafed Sweet Basil.
It’s best in summer months. Field grown Basil can be sandy so it should be washed. It can also become bitter in hot weather, especially after flowering.
It’s a tender, perishable herb. To store it trim the stems and remove leaves on the lower side and stand the bunch in a jar of cool water just deep enough to cover the base of the stems. for up to two to three days at room temperature. You can also wrap it in paper towels and store in a plastic bag in the warmest part of the refrigerator for 1 or 2 days.
It also blackens easily when bruised or cut so it’s best to use a sharp, stainless steel blade for cutting it.
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Posted on 6th January 2008
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Native to North America, this aromatic herb has large, soft leaves that smell like Anise and long purple flowers. This herb has a wide variety of uses. Native Americans infused it as a tea, used it as a cough medicine and a natural sweetener. They even made use of it as a breath freshener, which honestly, can be as valuable in some situations as
women’s lingerie is in others.
Related to it is Hyssop, with aromatic, slightly bitter leaves reminiscent of mint. The flowers are usually dark blue with the occasional pink or white that is used as an attractive garnish
Hyssop has a peppery flavor that goes good with hearty dishes like potato or bean soup as well as in stews.
They’re best in the summer, being in bloom from June to October.
Technorati Tags: herbs, anise+hyssop, hyssop, peppery+flavor
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Posted on 2nd January 2008
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I’ve never heard of this one before but it sounds interesting. It has thick, long, hollow stems reminiscent of celery. These stems are topped with greenish white flowers and have flat, serrated leaves.
The roots, stems, seeds and leaves are edible. It’s said to have a flavor that reminds one of licorice or juniper. It’s grown extensively in Europe where the stems are candied and used as a decoration for cakes, ice cream and cookies.
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Posted on 2nd January 2008
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Lemon Myrtle is native to the tropical and subtropical rain forest near Queensland and New South Wales. The leaves are a dark green and resemble bay leaves. Their flavor and smell is a lemon combination of lemon verbena, wild lime, lemongrass and eucalyptus.
The leaves are used dried or fresh, whole or ground. It holds it’s flavor longer than a lot of other lemon scented herbs.
Used with fish, seafood and vegetables
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Posted on 15th December 2007
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Aniseed Myrtle is an Australian native herb. Also known as Australian leaf aniseed. It’s from the sub-tropical rain forest. It’s leaves are used as an alternative to anise seed. It’s flavor is sweeter than anise seed.
It’s also a source of the most concentrated anerthole, which gives the leaves a licorice like flavor and a sweet aftertaste. It’s used in cooking and for herbal tea, pasta, seafood, sauces, stocks ice cream, liqueurs and even cookies.
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Posted on 10th December 2007
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Bay leaves come from the Mediterranean Bay Laurel tree. They’re oval shaped with a shiny medium green color. Firm with rough edges and has a sweet, full bodied aroma.
Fresh as well as dried leaves are used as flavoring along with the dried berries and leaf oil. The wood from the tree is used as an aromatic smoke flavoring.
The California Bay Leaves come from an evergreen tree (Umbellulria Californica) that’s related to the bay laurel and is common in the North American west coast forests. The leaves are a long narrow oval with smooth edges and are a dark grayish green in color. They’re much stronger than their Mediterranean counterparts, so you’d only use half as much of them.
The dried leaves are the most common. The fresh Mediterranean leaves are only available in the summer while the California leaves are available both fresh and dried all year round.
Note: Both types of bay leaves, whether fresh or dried, have sharp edges capable of tearing your insides, so you want to be certain not to eat them. Instead you use them to flavor foods, usually by adding them to the dish as it cooks and then removing them when it’s done. Another caution is that the California leaves contain umbelluone, a substance that can cause convulsive sneezing, headaches and sinus irritation if it’s inhaled deeply. (in other words, don’t sniff them!)
They’re good for use in slow cooked stocks, soups and sauces as well as when poaching seafood.
Technorati Tags: herbs, bay+leaf, california+bay+leaf, mediterranean+bay+laurel
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Posted on 1st December 2007
Under: Food Info, Herbs | Comments Off
It wasn’t more than a year or two ago that the only thing I knew about herbs was that in spite of the spelling, it’s not talking about a guy named “Herb” and that it was something that you could put in food to affect the flavor. So it isn’t a big push to realize that there’s a lot of people that really don’t know that much about herbs and that if they did know a few tidbits here or there then they could add some zip to their meals.
With that in mind, I’m going to start out by talking a little bit about what herbs are and then I’m going to do entries talking about individual herbs, their qualities and a little bit about how to use them.
An herb is basically the leaves of certain plants that are used as flavorings. You can find them dried in bottles in the store, most larger stores carry some fresh herbs. You can also buy them growing in a pot so that you always have them fresh.
When buying herbs you want them to have good color and aroma. You do NOT want any that are limp, yellowing, or that have black spots on them. It’s better to buy herbs that are field grown as opposed to hothouse grown because they’ll typically have larger, stronger leaves that are more fragrant than their hothouse counterparts.
To store herbs spread them out and throw away any that are yellowing or slimy. If they still have roots cut them off to keep the tops from wilting. The roots can be saved and used in soups and sauces. Trim the excess stems and rinse the herbs by swishing vigorously in cold water, then spread them out on a paper towel to dry thoroughly before storing. You could also use a salad spinner to speed up the drying process.
Store them wrapped in paper towel in a zip top bag or in an airtight plastic container. In either case you want to avoid crushing them.
Technorati Tags: herbs, what+are+herbs, herb+preparation, herb+storage, buying+herbs
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Posted on 30th November 2007
Under: Food Info, Food Prep, Food storage, Herbs | Comments Off
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