Kevin's Watch

Stop it. I'm not talking about ganja brownies.

Somebody on our floor brought me some lavender from their garden today, because I'd said I had a cobalt blue bottle to put it in. As I was stripping off the lower leaves to put the flowers in the bottle, it occurred to me that you can use lavender as an herb. In a quick perusal of the intarwebz, I found out that you can use it as a substitute for rosemary (tho a little apparently goes a long way...). I have about 1/2 cup of the leaves, so I should be able to try several things.

So my question is twofold:

1. Anybody ever made anything with lavender leaves? Any recipes to share? Most of the ones I saw call for using the blossoms, which I'm not going to do since they're currently brightening up my desk at work.

2. Other herbs you like and use a lot? I've got basil and chives growing on my balcony, but I tend to forget they're there. In the past, I've grown sage, marjoram and dill, as well. (Nothing like picking a couple of fronds of dill from the windowsill for your salmon steak. )

(edited to spell lavender correctly on every reference _

Aren't lavender leaves used for a tea? I must admit, that's about all I have heard it used in.

I would have to say my favorite herb is dill weed. I use it in almost anything. Dishes such as:

Tuna salad
Egg salad
Any chicken dish, including gravy and soup
Hyperception's Moms Goulash
etc., etc., etc.

Other than that, I guess fresh basil would be next. Especially for caprese.

A good way to use it is to put it into (orange blossom)honey and let the flavors infuse. Perfect over goat cheese.

It is often used in the French region "Provence" where they use it for spicy and also for sweet recipes (it's part of that modern invention called "herbes de provence").

You could also put it in neutral lamp oil and thus creating your own fragrance lamp (best to soak the herbs in the oil for a couple of days and then filter before using it.)

Herb's recipes?

Better then herpes recipes.

Agreed.

And Cail, don't forget to close my door on the way out. (Sorry -- Les Nessman reference...)

The herbs I use most are:

flat leave parsley, sage, rosemary, thyme (And no, I'm NOT into S&G) basil and bayleaf. Sometimes mint for marinades. I actually never use rosemary and thyme together, since both are so rich in taste that they tend to overshadow each other.

I also use fresh koriander, kaffir lime leaves and thai basil if it comes to Thai food.

For me dill is herb mostly used for fish for example salmon with a honey-mustard (1:1) sauce with dill ...

A good recipe including dill (and no fish) is the filling for my filo rolls.

Feta cheese, a spoonful of greek yoghurt, chopped flat parsley and dill, a bit of "pul biber" (turkish broken dried pepper flakes, slightly less hot than chili flakes) and an egg mixed well, wrapped in filo dough and fried in butter.

Sounds yummy, Vader!

I do a lot of lowfat cooking, so I use spices to keep things from getting bland. I tend to use dried as opposed to fresh, tho I'm not opposed to fresh if the recipe calls for it. My go-to herb combos:

Mexican: cumin, oregano or cilantro, garlic

Italian: oregano, basil, sometimes marjoram, garlic

Chinese stir-fry: garlic and ginger with soy sauce

Pork (chops or roast): caraway or fennel, garlic (are you sensing a theme here? ), paprika

Chicken breast: depends -- sometimes oregano, sometimes marjoram or rosemary, always fresh pepper

Salmon: fresh or dried dill weed with some lemon juice

Baked potato: I used to put thyme and nothing else on them, not even butter

Sweet potato "fries": ginger, nutmeg and cloves

Oatmeal: cinnamon (and blueberries or dried apricots -- no sweetener)

Omelets: depends on the filling. For Mexican blend cheese and some salsa, I use the Mexican spices above. For broccoli and cheddar, I'd use minced onion and probably dill. For mushroom and cheese, I'd use thyme.

Sometimes, if I can't decide which spice to put into a dish, I just take a little taste of the food I'm making and then sniff several likely spice jars until I smell one that seems like it would go. I suspect that's how I came up with the mushroom-thyme combo.

Since I got the usual suspects growing in the garden I use herbs fresh. To me Oregano is the only herb that tastes better when dried.

I grow rosemary, thyme, parsley (flat and curly), sage, tarragon, lovage (great for soups), woodruff, wild garlic, mint, peppermint, bayleaves and basil (which I actually grow inside since it doesn't seem to enjoy being outside).

However I always keep a stock of some 30+ dried herbs and spices in my kitchen closet - especially handy now during the bbq season when I make my dry rub from dries herbs and spices (black pepper, sea salt, brown sugar, koriander, yellow mustard seeds, cumin seeds, paprika, nutmeg, garlic and oregano)

Interesting about the basil. I've got a pot on the balcony right now that I wintered over in the house. Also pots of cilantro (which went almost immediately to seed -- I need to figure out why this keeps happening to me...) and chives. And a dill seedling that's not big enough to cut yet, and a garlic clove that looks like it might turn into an actual garlic plant. I envy you your herb garden! Maybe someday I'll have a real garden again...

Vader wrote:

I grow rosemary, thyme, parsley (flat and curly), sage, tarragon, lovage (great for soups), woodruff, wild garlic, mint, peppermint, bayleaves and basil (which I actually grow inside since it doesn't seem to enjoy being outside).

All those, and gooseberries too!

Stonemaybe wrote:Vader wrote:

I grow rosemary, thyme, parsley (flat and curly), sage, tarragon, lovage (great for soups), woodruff, wild garlic, mint, peppermint, bayleaves and basil (which I actually grow inside since it doesn't seem to enjoy being outside).

All those, and gooseberries too!

And strawberries, raspberries, red and black current, apples, cherries and plums. And currently truckloads of clover - half of my grass already is gone. Looks like I'll have to do something ...

Clover salad, maybe?

All I have is a balcony. On the northwest side of the building. Sigh....

Vader wrote:

Stonemaybe wrote:Vader wrote:

I grow rosemary, thyme, parsley (flat and curly), sage, tarragon, lovage (great for soups), woodruff, wild garlic, mint, peppermint, bayleaves and basil (which I actually grow inside since it doesn't seem to enjoy being outside).

All those, and gooseberries too!

And strawberries, raspberries, red and black current, apples, cherries and plums. And currently truckloads of clover - half of my grass already is gone. Looks like I'll have to do something ...

I hate you Vader!

Oh good...
I'm not the only one with "Vadergarten" envy...

Menolly wrote:Oh good...
I'm not the only one with "Vadergarten" envy...

I have been having a fertile sun lately ... don't ask how much blood I've had to shed for it ...

Vader wrote:

Menolly wrote:Oh good...
I'm not the only one with "Vadergarten" envy...

I have been having a fertile sun lately ... don't ask how much blood I've had to shed for it ...