Cooking with Herbs

Italian cooking has a rich history of using fresh herbs to flavor their seafood, beans, roasted meats and sauces. Its hard to imagine tomato sauce without basil, roasts without rosemary, or beans without sage. Fresh oregano or sage from your own garden is an easy way to make delicious Italian dishes and has the benefit of adding nutrition to your food as well. Italian dishes would not be the same without cooking with herbs.

In the winter when fresh herbs are hard to come by, dried herbs can be used is smaller quantities since the drying process concentrates their flavor. A general rule is to use 1 teaspoon of dried for every tablespoon of fresh.

Fresh herbs loose their flavor if cooked too long. Its best to add them during the last 10 minutes of cooking. Fresh herbs can also be added after your dish is finished and will give your dish a wonderful aroma as well as flavor. For baking and crockpot cooking, dried are a better choice.

When buying fresh herbs, be sure to look for bright green leaves that are not wilted. For long stem herbs (such as parsley, basil, or cilantro) you can store them in a glass of water. Put the stems in the water but make sure the leaves are not submersed or they will decay. These varieties can stay fresh for about 5 days. Other herbs can be washed and stored in a plastic bag for about 2-3 days. Fresh herbs really need to be used when they are fresh. That is the advantage of growing your own.

Large leaf herbs, such as basil or mint, can be torn and tossed into your sauce or on top of a finished dish. Small leaf herbs like thyme, can be tossed in whole. To remove thyme leaves, hold the stalk at the end in one hand, and run your fingers down the stalk from the tip to the base, to quickly remove the leaves.

Basil and Mint can also be cut into thin strips with a method called "chiffonade"."

You simply stack the individual leaves on top of each other and

then roll them like a tiny jelly roll. Then, with a sharp knife, slice through the roll from one end to the other, creating thin slices. The knife must be sharp or you will crush the leaves. When finished, pull apart the strings and add to your finished dish.

Cooking with Herbs is easy if you Grow your own Fresh Herbs.

Commonly used Italian herbs.

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