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More Great Recipes for Using
Herbs
by Deborah Prosser,
Get In Shape Health
and Fitness Editor
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 Autumn
has arrived and
if you have
plenty of herbs
left in your
garden you may
be looking for
ways to use them
before the cold
weather and
frost destroy
them.
Here are some
great recipes
for using herbs
that you’ll want
to make and keep
available during
the long winter
months until
next year’s crop
is ready.
They are sure to
add flavor and
goodness to your
healthy dinner
recipes.
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Herb
Butter
Ingredients:
1 qt of
whipping cream
1 tbsp
chopped herbs (chives, oregano,
parsley, etc)
1 tsp of salt
1/2 tsp of
coarse ground peppercorns (can
be mixture of black, red or
white)
Juice of 1
lemon
Directions:
With an
electric mixer, whip cream on
high speed until the cream forms
into a butter consistency.
Discard any excess liquid. Mix
on low the butter and remaining
ingredients until evenly mixed
throughout. Shape the herbed
butter into a log or use any
form you like. Wrap tightly with
plastic or parchment paper and
freeze until firm.
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Herbal Pesto
Pesto is made
with fresh herbs (basil or
parsley). Pesto and can be used
as a spread on top bread and
cheese, rubbed on meats before
cooking, or used as a pasta
sauce. Whatever way you use
pesto it is sure to be a flavor
booster anytime.
Ingredients:
¼ cup pine nuts
(walnuts make a good substitute)
3 cups of fresh
basil leaves packed down tightly
(or parsley)
3 cloves of
garlic, peeled and minced
½ cup of finely
grated Parmesan cheese
¼ cup of extra
virgin olive oil
Directions:
A food processor
or a good blender will work fine
for making pesto. First chop
the nuts and combine with other
ingredients before adding oil.
Use whatever speed you want to
get the consistency you desire.
Add more oil if needed. Stop
and scrape down the sides of the
blender a couple of times to
keep the same consistency
throughout the mixture.
If you have left
over pesto put it in ice trays
and freeze. Once frozen place
the pesto cubes in a plastic bag
or container and keep in the
freezer. Add the cubes to
sauces for a quick and delicious
meal anytime.
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Roasted
Garlic
For garlic
lovers roasting garlic is a
great way to soften its strong
flavor so it can be later used
to enhance many recipes. Cook 6
to 12 garlic bulbs at one time
so you will always have some on
hand.
Directions:
-
Use whole
garlic bulbs and carefully
remove the outer skins
layers leaving just the
skins on the individual
cloves attached to the
garlic bulb.
-
Cut the
tips off the cloves just
enough to open the tops of
the individual cloves.
-
Place the
whole garlic bulb stem side
down with the cut clove side
up on a cookie sheet or in a
muffin tray.
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Pour a
teaspoon of olive oil to
coat each garlic bulb. May
need more oil if garlic
bulbs are large.
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Cover
with foil wrap.
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Bake at
400 F for 30 minutes, or
until the cloves feel soft
to the touch.
When the
garlic bulbs have cooled to the
touch, squeeze out the softened
garlic from the individual
cloves. Add some roasted garlic
to pasta sauces, mashed
potatoes, or blend into butter
or oils, use it as a spread on
cheese, or add some to bread
dough. Garlic not only tastes
great in so many dishes it is
also good for you heart. Your
family will love the flavor of
roasted garlic and enjoy the
health benefits s well.
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Flavored Cooking Oils
Infusing herb
flavors in oil is a great way to
add their subtle tastes to
salads, pastas and other side
dishes. The trick to making
flavorful oils is to first
blanch the leaves of fresh herbs
in boiling water for 10
seconds. This helps to keep
their fresh green color. Once
you have blanched the leaves you
can add them to oil and let sit
to infuse the herbal flavor.
Another method is to simply
puree the blanched leaves with
roasted garlic and add the
mixture to olive oil.
Experiment with herbs and oils
to find different blends that
will compliment your food
tastes.
Make A Herb Jelly
To make herb
jelly, gather about 2 cups of
your favorite fresh herb leaves.
Wash and drain them, coarsely
chop and put in a medium sized
saucepan. Crush with the bottom
of a glass to macerate the
leaves and add 2 cups of water.
Slowly bring to a boil, and boil
for just 10 seconds. Remove the
pan from the heat, cover and let
sit for 15 minutes to release
the flavor. Strain 1 ½ cups of
the liquid from the pan and
strain again into another large,
deep saucepan.
Mix herbal
liquid with:
Have on
reserve:
-
3 ounces
of liquid pectin (this will
be added after the mixture
has been boiled)
-
2
sterilized pint jars (or 4 ½
pint jelly jars) with
canning lids (melted
paraffin wax may be used if
not using the 2 lid canning
covers).
Stir mixture
until sugar is dissolved then
bring mixture to a hard boil,
stirring constantly. When the
boil can't be stirred down, add
the 3 ounces of liquid pectin.
Return to a frothing boil again
and boil for exactly one minute,
then remove saucepan from the
heat.
Skim off the
foam and pour the hot jelly into
the jelly jars. Leave 1/2 inch
head space and seal at once.
Making jellies like this one
using different herbs or fruits
means you’ll have plenty of
jelly to give as gifts and
people will love their fresh
tastes throughout the year.
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