Having a bed of your favorite green herbs outside the kitchen door is foodie paradise. I've got parsley, tarragon, chives, oregano, thyme, sage, rosemary, lavender, and mint growing big enough to be used by now. Just planted coriander. Basil arrives much later. Herewith, a feast (or several feasts' worth) of my favorite recipes featuring them.
I can barely wait each spring for tarragon to grow new sprigs so I can make steak with Bearnaise sauce. Talk about decadent! I love the recipe from Barefoot in Paris by Ina Garten, but I use a bit more white wine vinegar because I just love tangy. (You are not obligated to shell out for the champagne vinegar she specifies unless you want to.) The thickness of the sauce is controlled by how much you cook down that initial mixture. In the absence of a food processor, a stick blender or hand mixer will work, but you would need wrists of steel to do it with a whisk.
Bearnaise Sauce for steaks
From Barefoot in Paris
¼ -1/2 c. white wine or champagne vinegar
¼ c. white wine
2 Tbsp. minced shallots (if for any reason you can’t get these fresh in your area, Penzey’s sells them freeze-dried, which works beautifully)
3 Tbsp. chopped fresh tarragon leaves
salt and black pepper
3 large egg yolks
2 sticks of butter, melted
Put vinegar, wine, shallots, 1 Tbsp of the tarragon and ¼ tsp. each salt and pepper in a small saucepan. Simmer for 5 minutes to reduce by half. Cool slightly. Place in a blender with the egg yolks and a tsp. of salt, blend for 30 seconds. While blending, slowly pour in the melted butter. Add the remaining tarragon at the last second of blending.
Speaking of whisks, an idea I gleaned from my ancient Roman cookbook is to use a bunch of peeled twigs of aromatic herbs as a whisk, subtly flavoring a sauce as you make it smooth.
Also, be sure your steak is well seasoned, or adjust the pepper upward in the sauce to taste.
And you know what else you can do with Bearnaise/Hollandaise sauces? Freeze them! Put them in ice cube trays, or just make little dollops on a baking sheet, then seal the cubes in bags and take out what you need whenever. Use it on veggies (like asparagus!). Spread it on bread. Rewarm by whisking over very low heat with just a dash more vinegar. A wonderful winter treat is to make a savory vegetable muffin batter and shove a small cube of sauce into the middle of each muffin before baking.
Molten Hollandaise Cauliflower Cakes
1 8 oz package of hollandaise from Trader Joe's (you will have leftovers) or batch of homemade Bearnaise.
200 g (about ½ lb.) of cooked cauliflower (I suspect other veggies will also work)
2 whole eggs, plus 1 yolk
70 g (3 oz.)of grated cheese (Comté, Emmentaler, Gruyere, mild cheddar in a pinch...)
60 g of all purpose flour (this works fine with gluten free flours too)
20 cl of milk (about 6.7 oz)
2 Tbsp olive oil
salt, pepper, nutmeg
Freeze the hollandaise into pucks overnight.
Pre-heat the oven to 400 F.
Find a nice big bowl, and mix everything except the hollandaise in it with a stick blender until it's thick, like muffin batter.
Pour the puree into muffin tins, well greased or paper lined. I found this filled both a big muffin tin and a mini-muffin tin, your mileage may vary. If using mini-muffin tins, cut the hollandaise down into smaller pieces.
Slip a puck of hollandaise in the center of each mold and make sure it's covered by the mix
Bake at 400 degrees for about 20 minutes.
A chicken stuffed with a quartered lemon and sprigs of thyme, chives or young leeks, and anything else your fancy suggests is a simple route to deliciousness.
A bouquet garni of thyme, rosemary, sage, and parsley can flavor all sorts of soups and bean dishes.
Pesto need not be confined to basil. Spinach, parsley, arugula and other greens including wild ones can be pureed with garlic, walnuts or pine nuts or hazelnuts, Parmesan and olive oil.
Foodies who are also book lovers should hie themselves to the library (physical or virtual) and check out mystery writer Susan Wittig Albert. Her China Bayles mysteries feature a wealth of herb lore, and recipes in the back of every book. Here's one of my all-time favorites, Spring Green Bisque.
Spring Green Bisque
3 Tbsp olive oil
1 small onion, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
2 cups frozen peas
2 cups fresh spinach leaves, washed, stems/ribs removed, chopped
¾ cup fresh basil leaves, chopped
2 cups broth (chicken or vegetable)
1 cup sour cream
salt and pepper
Parmesan cheese, other garnishes
Sauté onion and garlic in the olive oil until soft. Add the peas, spinach, and basil and cook, stirring, until the peas are thawed and the greens are wilted. Puree in a food processor with half the broth, return to the pot with the rest of the broth and the sour cream. Season to taste and heat to serving temperature. Garnish in the bowls.
Another outstanding and very satisfying soup, Pomegranate Ash with Lamb Meatballs, is rice and split peas cooked to thin mush with onions, cinnamon and turmeric, then add several cups of chopped fresh herbs like parsley, cilantro, scallions, mint, cook them down, then add pomegranate molasses. For non-vegetarians, simmer tiny meatballs in the soup for the last 10 minutes or so. (see the full recipe in Taste of Persia by Naomi Duguid You want this book. It is full of shiny, shiny goodness.)
No meal should be without a salad. How about salted cucumber slices with Greek yogurt, crushed garlic, and mint? Or maybe tabbouleh? Equal parts chopped parsley, onions, tomatoes (optional, not for me), cucumbers, bulgur wheat, lemon juice, olive oil and water, let it soak until the bulgur absorbs all the liquid. Some chopped mint brightens it even further.
Mint is also great with peas, and basil with green beans.
Dessert? How about lavender tea cookies or mint sorbet or both?