Kitchen Quick Tips - Herb-Infused Oil

Place about a tablespoon of chopped herbs in each ice cube tray well.  Top with extra virgin olive oil and freeze.  Pop one out anytime you need herb-infused oil when cooking.

Kitchen Quick Tips - Storing Fresh Ginger

Store fresh in the freezer then grate as is when needed.  There is no need to peel it before grating.  Place the remainder in the freezer until needed.

Kitchen Quick Tips - Storing Oily Herbs

Tie oily herbs (eg. thyme) into bunches around the base then hang upside down in the kitchen out of direct sunlight.

Kitchen Quick Tips - Cutting Delicate Herbs

Quickly prepare delicate fresh herbs (eg. parsley, chives) by snipping across the herb with scissors rather than a knife. 

Kitchen Quick Tips - Storing Cut Chives or Green Onions

Cut chives with scissors into small pieces or slice green onions into thin slices.  Place into a shaker bottle with lid.  Put in the freezer.  When you want to use them, simply sprinkle onto the dish and put the remainder back in the freezer until needed again.

Kitchen Quick Tips - Preserving Thyme

Air dry thyme by hanging upside down in bunches.  Once dry squeeze the stems to remove the leaves from the stem.  Leave as is or grind to a fine powder.  Store in an air tight container.

Kitchen Quick Tips - Preserving Rosemary

Rosemary should be air dried by hanging upside down in bunches.  Once dry the rosemary leaves can be easily removed.  They can be used whole, ground course or ground to a power then stored in an airtight container.

Kitchen Quick Tips - Preserving Sage

Sage is a hardy herb that lends itself nicely to drying either by air or heat drying.  Once dried, crush the leaves from the stem.  Blend the crushed leaves to a powder.  Store in an airtight container.

Kitchen Quick Tips - Preserving Basil

While basil can be air dried it is too delicate to heat dry.  A better method of preserving basil is to make pesto then spoon into ice cube trays and freeze.  Once frozen, pop out the cubes and transfer to a freezer bag for use as needed.

Kitchen Quick Tips - Preserving Parsley

Parsley can be dried by bunching then hanging upside down until brittle.  For a fresher flavour, pack clean, chopped fresh parsley into freezer bags.  Freeze then use as needed.

Kitchen Quick Tips - Preserving Chives

Chives can be cut into pieces for drying with scissors but you get a nicer flavour if you cut chives the same way then freeze them.

Roasting Peeled Garlic

Roasted garlic is a must have staple in our home.  We use it in so many dishes to add an almost barely sweetness combined with a deep, rich garlic flavour.  It is nothing like fresh garlic!  I've roasted garlic in the oven, on the grill and in the countertop roaster will excellent results.  I've always just sliced the top of a head of garlic to barely expose the tops of the cloves then drizzled with olive oil and roasted as desired.  One of the grocery stores here is now selling 250 g packages of peeled garlic cloves for 97¢.  I bought another package yesterday then suddenly wondered if I could roast them.  I reasoned if it worked it would save considerable mess getting the roasted cloves out of the peeling later and there would be less of the delicious roasted garlic wasted.  The hopes were if it worked fine, I would do up a large batch of roasted garlic the first of the week.
 

The garlic cloves are peeled but I had to cut the root end.  I poured almost the entire contents of the package into a 7 c oven proof baking dish then drizzled with extra virgin olive oil.  I covered the dish with aluminum foil then set in the oven at 350ºF.  There was no need to pre-heat the oven.

I was quite hopeful this little experiment would work.  The peeled garlic was ultra simple to prepare, just snipping the stem end off of each clove.  I will be growing garlic in my new garden beds so this would be a great way to use them up.  I don't mind peeling garlic as that goes quick enough, it's the mess of getting the roasted garlic cloves out of the skins that would be nice to eliminate.

Oh my gosh, did the house ever smell yummy!  I just love the smell of garlic roasting.  It is such a tantalizing smell.  I roasted covered for 40 minutes total, stirring once half way through the roasting process.

The cloves caramelized nicely.  There were a couple of the smaller ones that were what I would consider over roasted.  They were a bit harder but that happens with garlic roasted in the traditional manner as well.   This really doesn't affect the final product other than adding extra flavour and the harder bits soften once the product is allowed to sit for a short period of time.  I like to let my roasted garlic sit for an hour or so before preparing it for storage.

Once the roasted garlic was ready, I spooned the garlic cloves into a smaller 2 cup bowl.  This left any extra oil in the baking bowl.  I mashed the cloves the set aside to cool before refrigerating.  The overall yield was about ¾ c of delicious roasted garlic with no muss or fuss.  It tasted just as good as garlic roasted the traditional way.

I'm very encouraged by this little experiment.  I am going shopping for garlic tomorrow to do a larger batch as well as canning a small batch of pickled garlic.  I would dearly love to can roasted garlic but can't because of the oil.  It does freeze nicely so after tomorrow my stocks will be replenished!

Potted Herbs in the Kitchen

I love my fresh herbs, growing forty or more varieties in my outdoor garden.  My herb bed was nicely established in our last house but I decided not to bring any with me.  It's a long story but there was something amiss with that house especially with respect for growing anything indoors and it wasn't for lack of effort at keeping my continuous harvest going.  To me the house had bad karma, period.  I have been working quite diligently at re-establishing my lush houseplant collection that I'm used to.  Oh gosh, am I ever having fun with this!  Part of that includes growing herbs indoors.

Fresh herbs are the ultimate in cooking.  I will choose fresh over dried anytime!  During the winter months I grow as many herbs as possible indoors.  My new indoor herb garden (pictured) is rather small consisting of sage, oregano, parsley, chives and basil.  The plants are nestled into an antique wooden Pepsi case set just in front of the patio doors in the kitchen.  Once we return from our winter vacation I will be doing a lot of seed starting for herbs but there is little point doing it now.  In the meantime I will continue adding whatever potted herbs I can find.  'Tis late in the season so the selection is not the best.

I bought these potted herbs for less per pot than the price of a package of fresh herb in the produce section at the same store!  They are certified organic herbs in biodegradable pots so can be transplanted into my new gardens in the spring.  Most herbs are really quite easy to grow indoors.  They need nice light and enough water to wet through then allow to dry before watering again.  Keep in mind that some like basil are annuals so they need a bit more TLC to keep growing through the winter months and they will not survive the cold winters of Ontario outdoors.  The biggest tip with growing fresh herbs indoors is use them!  Herbs love to be trimmed and the more you trim the more they will reward you with lush growth.  The rule of thumb is to never cut more than a third of the plant in any clipping but for most kitchen use you will only use a sprig or two at a time so that shouldn't be a problem.  When you cut, leave at least one set of leaves on the stem.  Basils in particular should be regularly pinched to keep the plant bushy.  Don't let herbs go to flower

I toss fresh herbs into any dish that I can as well as using them for garnish.  Basil is a beautiful garnish, full of flavour.  Purple basil in particular is one of my favourites for salads.  Chives are just a must have herb and don't restrict yourself to just the regular chives as there are a lot of varieties to try, all very good.  Honestly, chives are like weeds.  They do well indoors and you can't kill them outdoors.  Mints can be invasive if planted with other herbs so keep them in their own pots.  Growing herbs indoors year round really enhances the culinary experience.  They take little effort but the rewards are more than worth it!

Easy Italian Linguini

I spent much of Sunday just trying to organize my pantry and that was after helping my husband replace a few electrical outlets and switches.  The good news is we bought another industrial metal shelf unit yesterday so he was able to finish the partially assembled one in the pantry.  Hopefully the missing lock clips are found soon but in the meantime, I was able to get a fair amount of food organized.

I mentioned yesterday that due to the pantry chaos we were having rather simple meals embellished with a few fresh gourmet touches.  I'm sorry but I am beyond exhausted so fancy cooking isn't going to happen but at the same time plain meals aren't going to work.   I made an easy Italian linguini using a home canned roasted Italian tomato sauce and boneless, skinless chicken breasts from the freezer topping fresh store bought linguini and garnished with basil from my new indoor herb garden.  The chicken breasts were simply seared then pan fried and seasoned with garlic pepper.  I cut them across the grain, layering them on top of the linguini with sauce.

Homemade egg noodles are very easy to make but when time is lacking, many grocery stores are now carrying fresh pasta.  It is nicer than dried pasta but not as nice as fresh home made.  The basil is not just a garnish either.  Cut into pieces while cutting the chicken makes the fresh basil part of the meal and oh my gosh is it very good that way!  There's no such thing as too much basil so I am quite pleased to get my indoor herb garden underway. 

Kitchen Quick Tips - Dried Herbs and Spice Storage

Both heat and light cause the breakdown of aromatic oils in herbs and seasonings.  Moisture can cause clumping a spoilage.  Maximize the lifespan of dried herbs and spices by storing them in a dry location away from  heat and light exposure.

Chives

Fresh herbs are a true culinary delight.  I grow over 40 varieties of herbs each year and quite frankly go into a panic at the though of have to re-establish my herb bed even though I have done four times now.  Each time the herb bed grows in size but I also grow herbs indoors as well.  I use herbs for both culinary and medicinal purposes.

Chives is one of the first herbs to emerge in the spring.  This is a rather small clump of chives but left to its druthers will get quite large.  Chives next to members of the mint family is about one of the most invasive herbs in the garden.  It is self seeding as well as spreading.  The green onion-like foliage is an absolute delight as a garnish or for adding to soups, salads and stews.  It is available in a few varieties ranging from plain somewhat onion flavoured to garlic. 

Chives are one of my staple herbs!  I use them almost on a daily basis during the main growing season in the garden and weekly from cuttings on windowsill grown chives. They add a cheery freshness that can't be duplicated!

The recent warmer weather has the chives not only poking through the ground but ready for their first cutting.   I did up a rib roast on Sunday served with oven baked potatoes and the au jus.  The roast was delectable, the potatoes marvelous but the crowning glory was the fresh cut chives!

I like to cut the chives within a few minutes of serving time.  I cut them close to the ground in a straight cut.  Then I rinse well and pat dry.  I cut across the stocks at about a quarter inch intervals placing them in a mis en place bowl.  From there the chives are used as desired sprinkled over the desired dish.  When it comes to baked potatoes, chives are the perfect addition whether topped with sour cream or butter.

Peach Lavender Jam

Ontario peaches are now in season here.  We have not made a trip to the orchard for them yet but my husband brought home 2 - 2 L baskets for me to experiment with.  I would like to get any peach products canned before starting into tomato and corn products.  This is likely wishful thinking as various fruits and vegetables tend to overlap this time of year.  At any rate I had a chance to can a couple of peach products so it was a peachy day!
 

Lavender has wonderful medicinal properties but it is also an amazing culinary herb that adds a subtle flowery note to dishes.  Lavender is one of the key herbs in herbes de province, one of my favourite herb blends.  Lavender accents the flavour of fresh fruits as well so it is perfect for adding that extra special flavour element especially when making jams and jellies.  It also happens to be one of my favourite herbs to grow second only to basils.  I love getting a waft of lavender as I brush against it while in the garden.  I have a couple of problem areas that I am going to try dividing my lavender and planting those spots in the hopes it will do well.  

If you don't grow lavender yourself but would like to experiment cooking with it look for organically grown lavender.  Many organic farm stands are now selling a wide range of fresh organic herbs.  Another good source is health food stores.  I also recall seeing dried lavender flowers at World Market so check specialty kitchen stores.  You should be able to order online as well.

A simple addition of lavender water can be just the ingredient that puts your homemade jam into the higher end of the gourmet category.  It's a combination you likely will not find in regular grocery stores although some gourmet specialty shops may possible have something similar.  When buying gourmet style jams expect to pay somewhere around the $8 mark for an 125 ml (pint) jar if not more so about $1 per 15 ml (about 1 ounce).  The homemade version will cost a third or less of that even with buying the produce.

The peach lavender jam is simply delightful.  I made several changes including halving the recipe something I normally do when testing any new canning recipe and I converted the recipe to use Pomona's pectin* rather than regular pectin (eg. Certo).   The flavour of the jam is wonderful. 

Peach Lavender Jam
modified from:  Topp, E. and Howard M., Peach-Lavender Jam, Small-Batch Preserving.2005. Pp. 41.

1 tbsp dried lavender flowers
¼ c boiling water
2 c finely chopped peaches
1 tbsp preservative free lemon juice
3 c organic granulated sugar
1½ tsp Pomona's pectin*
2 tsp calcium water

Place the lavender flowers in a small bowl.  Pour the boiling water over them.  Allow to steep for 20 minutes then strain reserving the liquid.  Combine peaches, lavender liquid, calcium water, and lemon juice in a medium sized saucepan.  In a separate bowl mix the pectin and sugar together.  Bring the peach mixture to a boil.  Stir in the sugar, pectin mixture.  Continue stirring until sugar is dissolved.  Return to a boil and boil for 1 minute while stirring.  Remove from heat.  Ladle into hot prepared 250 ml (half-pint) jars leaving ¼ - inch headspace.  Wipe rim.  Adjust 2 piece lids.  Process 10 minutes in boiling water bath canner.  Remove from canner and tighten ring further is using Tattler reusable lids or leave ring as is for single-use  metal lids.  Allow to sit undisturbed for 24 hours.  Remove ring and test seal.  Wash jars and rings.  The rings can be stored loosely on the jars for storage.

*Pomona's pectin is a low methoxy pectin.  Do not substitute regular pectin in this modified recipe.

Frugal Kitchens 101 - Using Herbs in the Kitchen

A recent comment regarding drying oregano prompted this week's Frugal Kitchens 101 post.  Herbs can be used fresh, dried, frozen or teas.  They are a wonderful way to add a lot of flavour to foods without adding salt.  Although some dishes may still require a little salt when using herbs, the amount of salt added can be greatly reduced.  Herbs can be used to add high and low notes to a dish.  For example when cooking lemon chicken adding lemon balm tea with add a bit of higher lemon note.  Adding lemon balm to chicken stock gives a lemon note to the rice cooked in the stock.  Both oils and vinegars can be infused with herbs to add flavour to the base notes of vinaigrettes, sauces, and dressings.  Herbs can be the main ingredient in a dish (eg. basil pesto) or they can serve as the garnish on plate (eg. parsley).  Aside of the flavour and visual appeal of herbs, many fresh herbs are beneficial in terms of health.  Parsley helps to freshen your breath while mints help setting the tummy after a heavy meal.  On that note of the versatility of culinary herbs in the kitchen how does one go about cooking more with herbs?

• Chances are very good if you are like most home cooks you will have a few bottles of dry herbs floating around.  They likely are stored in a open rack by the stove, lined up on the back of the stove or in a cabinet over/by the stove.  There is a very good chance these herbs are well over a year old.  Throw these herbs out!  Why?  Both heat and light destroy the essential oils in herbs so you aren't getting flavour, you are getting filler.  If you are serious about learning to cook with herbs, empty those bottles, clean them then refill with quality herbs.  Do not replace with the little bottles of herbs in the grocery stores that you have no way of knowing how old they are and have been exposed to light.  Buy dried herbs from a bulk food store where you can buy the amount you need or dry home grown herbs.  Buy herb plants from a nursery or start from seed.  Some fresh herbs can be bought in the produce section of the grocery store.
• The basic herbs I recommend starting with are parsley, sage, rosemary, thyme, oregano, basil, and marjoram.  These herbs can be used by themselves or in combination to form herb blends (eg. Italian seasoning, poultry seasoning).  All of these herbs grow nicely on sunny window sills.   If growing herbs indoors I also recommend adding chives and members of the mint family (eg. spearmint, peppermint, lemon balm) to your collection.  These herbs are extremely easy to grow.  Until you get used to growing indoor herbs stick with the basic varieties as many like basil are available in several varieties but the basic culinary variety used is sweet basil.
• I prefer using fresh to dried herbs and for some dishes like pesto fresh basil is needed.  Essential oils in dried herbs are more concentrated so to substitute dried herbs for fresh, less is needed.  The conversion for substituting is 1 tbsp fresh herb = 1 tsp dried herb.
• Start small.  Learning to cook with herbs is quite easy but my recommendation is to keep it simple and easy.  Start with something simple like a homemade vegetable dip using either fresh or dried herb(s).  Use half the herb(s) the recipe calls for.  Taste.  If the dip has a strong enough flavour for you then leave as is and note the change beside the recipe ingredient list.  If the dip is not flavourful enough add a little more until you get the flavour you want.  Remember it is always easy to add more herbs but you can't take out excess so always add less.
• Herbs should not overpower the dish.  Certain herbs pair with certain meats or fish better than others.  For example, rosemary pairs nicely with salmon and beef but is a bit overpowering for whitefish.  Use a lighter herb such as lemon thyme with whitefish.  Parsley goes with just about everything to the point is over used as a garnish.  Cooking method can affect the flavour of the herb as well.  In particular sage tends to get stronger and bitter when added to anything to be canned.  Cooking times can affect flavour as well so tender herbs (eg. parsley, basil) should be added during the last few minutes of cooking to retain best flavour and colour.  Do a bit of reading on the herbs you want to use.
• Have fun!  Cooking is all about having fun in the kitchen.  Using herbs is just one more way to extend the repetoir of meals you can make.  Simply adding a sprinkling of fresh chives to a baked potato or chopped parsley on roasted potatoes can make them feel special even though all you really did was add herbs. 

Drying Oregano

I love using herbs when cooking so I learned years ago that the best way to get fresh herbs was to grow them myself.  Just like fresh fruits and vegetables picked moments before preparing, fresh herbs cut just before going into whatever is cooking really makes a difference.  The flavour is fresh and vibrant even more intense that fresh cut herbs in the grocery store that may have be cut two or three days before you buy them.  I grow a wide range of herbs both indoors and outdoors.  There were 40 different herbs growing in my last garden.  This garden's herb bed has not reached that stage yet but it is getting close and if we stay here will exceed that. 

Last year I planted two common oregano plants that obviously have not read the square foot gardening manual as this year they are taking up about 2 sq. feet each!  I check my garden beds and containers at least twice daily but quite often am out cutting product for meals so I immediately noticed the fungus gnats on the oregano.  They are a common pest of oregano that does minimal damage.  At the same time I noticed signs of other damage so decided to trim the oregano good before moving to any stronger treatment.  I ended up with a turkey platter piled as high as a turkey of oregano clippings to be cleaned and dried with the exception of a few pieces that were popped into water for rooting.  These will be later planted for growing indoors.

Small insects can hide in herbs so it is important to wash them well under running water that will wash the insects off.  Once washed I give each stem a good flick of the wrist to knock off any insects that might have missed the wash.  Then I place the stems on thick bath towel and blot dry before placing the stems on wire drying racks to be dried in my oven that has a specific, adjustable temperature drying cycle.  

I ended up with 750 ml of dried oregano as pictured.  Please note the difference in colour between the smaller jar and the larger jar.  The reason for this is the temperature at which the oregano was dried.  The larger jar was dried at 110ºF whereas the smaller jar was dried at 140ºF.  While both have excellent oregano flavour the larger jar has nicer colouration and a fresher oregano flavour.  The smaller jar has a deeper but a bit more intense borderline bitter flavour.  The oregano dried at the higher temperature is ok for cooking however oregano dried at a lower temperature is considerably better both in terms of colour and flavour.

Herbs should always be dried at the lowest possible setting.  Unfortunately, lower cost dehydrators will dry in the 140ºF range with no possibility of adjustment.  If you have one of these dehydrators you would get better results by hanging the herbs to dry in a warm, dry, dark place.  Ovens with special adjustable dehydrating cycles and temperature controlled dehydrators should be set to 110ºF for drying herbs.  Tender herbs like basil should only be air dried or frozen as heat drying removes some of the essential oils. 

Growing your own herbs gives you the opportunity to use both fresh and preserve for winter use.  I already have enough oregano dried  for winter storage just with the first cutting.  We have almost 4 months left in the growing season here so there will be a lot more oregano to come.  What a lot of home growers don't realize about herbs is the more you cut them the more they reward you with new growth.  So cut those herbs!  Use what you can fresh with each cutting then dry or freeze the rest.

Using Roasted Garlic

Quite often I write about how to make those little extras like roasted garlic but then forget to write about how I use them when I do. The reason for this is I'm so used to using certain homemade foods as ingredients so they don't jog my mind to write about them. A few days ago it was a gorgeous spring day so we decided to grill a T-bone steaks on the outdoor grill. Our traditional steak dinner consists of the steak, baked potato, vegetable and side salad. I wanted something extra to spark up the meal without moving to far from the traditional. Roasted garlic was just what I was looking for!

Roasted Garlic Accents

Garlic can be roasted in the oven, on the grill or in the countertop roaster. It is very easy to make. Once roasted, I put the garlic into ice cube trays then freeze. I pop the frozen cubes (about 2 oz) into a zipper style freezer bag then keep in the freezer to be used as needed.

Roasted garlic is one of the first ingredients I turn to when I want to brighten up the flavour of a cream soup or chowder. It also adds depth and flavour to sauces. For this meal I stirred in about 1 tsp of roasted garlic into 4 ounces of sour cream for the potato topping then let the mixture sit for a half hour before using to let the flavours meld. The topping was wonderful! It will be one I modify slightly to make a vegetable dip then further modify for a creamy salad dressing. My husband was sautéeing an onion and mushroom mixture. He thought the roasted garlic would make a nice addition to the mixture so stirred in about a teaspoon of roasted garlic. That really brighted up one of our favourite vegetable mixtures. The roasted garlic was just the thing this meal needed!