Hello and welcome to Home Sweet Home! Today I am going to show you around my little herb garden. I have always enjoyed cooking with fresh herbs. I have had a garden right out the back door for a long time; but, four years ago we remodeled and it was destroyed. Just this year it is finally getting back to having a good variety of herbs in it for cooking.
These are the top 7 herbs I use the most. You could choose any 7 but, these fit in with the foods I cook most often and I will tell you why.
Rosemary has needlelike leaves and a piney scent. Best used with meats and especially when grilled. May also be used with mushrooms, roasted potatoes, stuffing, olive oil, and on breads. One of my favorite recipes to use rosemary in is Butternut Bisque.
Thyme has tiny leaves and a minty, tealike flavor. There are many varieties such as lemon, orange, English, and French thyme. It is a essential herb of bouquet garni. It is excellent with fish, shellfish, poultry, mushrooms, potatoes, and summer squash. My favorite recipe with it is Thyme-Sauteed Pork Chops.
Parsley is crisp and has a faint celery flavor. The two varieties are Italian flat leaf and curly, pictured here is the Italian flat leaf, it has a stronger flavor. Curly parsley is most often used for a garnish. Flat leaf works well in soups, stock, cream and tomato sauces, salads, dressings, in pesto; as well as with poultry, meat, fish, shellfish, dried beans, and vegetables. My favorite recipe to use Italian parsley in is Lasagne.
Basil has a sweet clovelike taste. The varieties include sweet basil, small-leaved bush basil, lemon basil, and opal basil, which has a gingerlike taste. Fresh leaves are best torn and cut then pounded to release the flavor. The leaves on the top of the plant are the sweetest. It is an essential herb for Italian cooking, most often used in eggs, tomatoes, pasta, chicken, fish, and shellfish. This basil just came out of a 4-inch pot and will reach a height of over two feet in my garden this year. One of my favorite recipes to use basil in is Spaghetti with a tomato and fresh basil sauce.
Mint is refreshing and cool to taste. The peppermint plant produces the oil they use in candy and gum. There are more than 30 varieties of mint, best known is the peppermint and spearmint. Lemon, orange, and apple mint have distinctive fruit tastes. Used in yogurt, salads, peas, beans, corn, and potatoes; also in jellies, fruit salads, desserts, and in iced tea. My favorite way to use mint is as a garnish with fruit or tea like I did here.
Dill has a delicate caraway taste. Dill should be fresh and just added before serving. It is used for pickles, eggs, fresh cheeses, yogurt, seafood, chicken, cucumber, green beans, potatoes, tomatoes, and beets. Two of my favorite recipes for using dill are Chicken Noodle Soup and Pecan Chicken Salad.
Sage has a powerful flavor, it is musky and slightly mentholated in flavor. It aids in digestion when mixed with fatty foods. Most know for it's use in poultry stuffing at the Thanksgiving table. It is also good in chicken, duck, goose, pork, sausages, cheese, eggplant, and dried beans, soups, and stews. I use this in my meatloaf and, I have used it in Herbs de Provence.
Okay, if you were counting that was seven, but I can't really quit talking about herbs so, I will show you one flower that is considered an herb that you can cook with. Lavender, can also be used; as I did here, in this recipe for herbs de Provence . Or, if you grow enough you can fill sachets with them like here. Herbs cost about $3 per 4-inch pot and many of them are perennial and will come back year after year. They are also very hardy and easy to grow, that makes having a few fresh herbs around an easy way to cook fresh for summer.
Now I would like to highlight some of the posts that caught my eye last week at Home Sweet Home.
Gayle at Behind the Gate had a fantastic post for Mother's Day called Mothering Love.
Lynn at Shabby Story showed off a lacy potting table! Do we need to say more! Gorgeous!
Courtney at French Country Cottage showed off her lilacs in her bicycle basket. Too beautiful for words!
Mary Ann at Classic Casual Home showed off her spring to summer look in her living room. Loved it!
Thank you to all who join me at Home Sweet Home! It is wonderful to have you here! There were a lot of great posts last week, makes it hard to pick a few.
Sherry
Feathered Nest Friday at French Country Cottage
Show and Tell Friday at My Romantic Home
Home and Garden Thursday at A Delightsome Life
Creative Things Thursday at The Vintage Farmhouse
Cottage Garden Party at Fishtail Cottage
Say G'day Saturday at Natasha in Oz
Creative Things Thursday at The Vintage Farmhouse
Cottage Garden Party at Fishtail Cottage
Say G'day Saturday at Natasha in Oz
Guidelines for Home Sweet Home Party:
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Link up anything in your home or garden. I love seeing neat shops too!
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