Rosemary is a fragrant herb with a host of uses. Dumplings, biscuits, preserves, stuffings, vegetable dishes, and meats such as ham and pork all benefit from its excellent flavour. Oregano, meanwhile, is a hardy perennial whose leaves, either dried or fresh, have a strong flavour ideal for seasoning rice, pasta, pizza, and beef dishes. Oregano is often used in Italian, Spanish, and Mexican cooking.
Caraway seeds have a strong aniseed or licorice flavour and are an excellent addition to both savoury and sweet recipes. They were traditionally used by European settlers in rye breads, cakes, soups, stews, and almost any recipe involving cabbage .The next time you make coleslaw, toss in a teaspoon of caraway for a flavourful treat.
When spring arrives, why not experiment with herbs? Add them to your favourite recipes; take a workshop; read a book; exchange ideas with friends and family. Join the growing trend to learn about these mystical plants that for centuries have brought culinary magic to the kitchen.
Parsley Potatoes 1 pound potatoes
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons butter or chive butter
fresh-ground pepper
3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
1 tablespoon chopped chives, shallots, or tiny fresh green onions
milk or cream to cover
Peel potatoes and boil with salt until just cooked. Drain. Melt the butter in a flameproof or ovenproof casserole and slice potatoes in layers, seasoning each layer with pepper, finely chopped parsley, and chives, shallots, or onions. Heat about 1 cup of milk or cream and pour over potatoes to cover. If using a flameproof casserole, heat for about 10 minutes on a gentle heat; if in an ovenproof casserole, about 15 minutes at 350ºF. Serve hot from the casserole as an excellent companion to chicken or fish.
Herb Butter
1/2 cup soft, salted butter
1/3 cup parsley, mint, or chives or
3 or 4 finely chopped or pressed garlic cloves or
1/4 cup sage, thyme, or basil
Use finely chopped, fresh, green herbs for flavouring herb butter and beat well into the softened, salted butter. You may want to sharpen it with a few drops of lemon juice. Herb butters can be kept refrigerated in well-covered containers until ready to use.
Herb Vinegar
Sterilize some small jars and wash chosen herbs — mint, tarragon, marjoram, chives, or parsley are all good candidates. Remove dead or bruised leaves and dry thoroughly (or the vinegar may be cloudy). Fill jars with the herb. Bring sufficient vinegar (wine, cider, or malt) to a boil and pour hot over herbs. Cork or cover well and let stand for 2 weeks in a sunny spot, shaking or turning upside down daily. Remove the herbs and put 1 new leaf or small bunch in each jar. Store for a month in a cool spot and then use as needed. For garlic vinegar, use 4 cloves of peeled garlic, each cut in 2 for each quart of vinegar, and proceed as described for other herbs.
Mint Sauce
6 tablespoons cider vinegar or mint vinegar
1 1/2 cups water
1/2 cup dried mint
2 tablespoons lemon juice
4 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
Simmer vinegar, water, and mint for 5 minutes. Add the rest of the ingredients and just bring to a boil before removing from heat. Store in small, covered bottles in the refrigerator. Serve hot or cold. If fresh mint is used, increase to 1 cup minced leaves — after simmering, strain through a fine sieve before adding remaining ingredients.
Roasted Vegetables with Rosemary 4 potatoes, peeled and quartered or sliced
3 sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces
1/2 small turnip, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch pieces
3 carrots, peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces
1/2 cauliflower, cut into large flowerets
10 Brussels sprouts
Dressing:
1/4 cup olive oil
1 teaspoon dried, crushed rosemary
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
2 tablespoons lemon juice
Place vegetables in a large, shallow, greased baking dish. Mix ingredients for dressing and drizzle over vegetables. Place dish on a baking pan or cookie sheet, cover with lid or foil, and bake at 450ºF for 30 minutes. Remove from oven and stir. Leave cover off and continue roasting for about 20 minutes until tender and brown. Serves 6 to 8.The vegetables listed above are only suggestions — any combination of these with cooking onions, green beans, broccoli, parsnips, or whatever else you have on hand can be used with equal success.
Caraway Cabbage 6 tablespoons unsalted butter 2 pounds cabbage, quartered, cored, and cut into 1/4-inch to 1/2-inch strips 1 tablespoon caraway seeds 1 tablespoon white vinegar or herb vinegar
Melt butter in a large, heavy saucepan. When foam subsides, add cabbage, caraway seeds, and salt to taste. Stir well so that the cabbage is covered with butter. Cover and let cook for about 3 or 4 minutes until cabbage is just wilted. Serve in a heated dish with vinegar sprinkled over. Serves 8.
Savoury Seasonings
In this island there are many spices … their Highnesses may see that I shall give them all the gold they require, spices also and cotton, mastic and aloes. I think also I have found rhubarb and cinnamon.
Christopher Columbus
Canadians seldom stop to speculate about the seasonings they add to their food, for we are so conditioned by habit, tradition, or availability that we do it automatically. With a full spice rack in the kitchen and an herb garden at the door (or sometimes in flowerpots on the windowsill) there are endless possibilities for flavouring the dishes that we prepare.
In our modern homes we often use the terms herbs and spices interchangeably when actually they refer to quite different ingredients. An herb is defined as a seed-producing annual, biennial, or herbaceous perennial that does not develop woody tissue, dies down at the end of a growing season, and is valued for its medicinal, savoury, or aromatic qualities. Spices are usually the seeds or the bark of trees or plants originating in tropical climates and have a much stronger and more pungent odour and flavour than herbs. Many herbs can be grown in Canada, while spices cannot survive in our climate and must be imported.
There are no records to tell us when the first person experimented with a seed or a plant and tried adding it to a joint of meat or a bowl of food or simply tried munching on it to soothe an ailment (perhaps having watched an animal do the same thing to cure a problem). Delving into the past only confirms that people have been using both herbs and spices for centuries for seasoning and flavouring food and for their aromatic and medicinal qualities in everyday life.
Legend tells us that it was the fourteenth-century writings of Marco Polo, the Venetian traveller, trader, and author of The Book of Marco Polo, that gave Europeans a first-hand account of the wealth of spices to be found in the Far East. Attempts to find and profit from the spices Polo described led to some of the great voyages of discovery in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. Pepper, first domesticated in India, was one of the first trade items between Europe and the Far East, and like many of its counterparts at that time it