COOKING WITH HERBS: How To

Tips for Cooking with Herbs

Given today’s budget crunch (winter time fresh herbs cost about $3.00 for a small amount), it is wise to use ALL of the plant: leaves in salads, sauces, stems in slow cooking, flowers in salads, plant as a whole vegetable. Cook them at their best.

--Use with a light hand—the aromatic oils are strong.

--Blend judiciously for different purposes. Have a leading flavor and combine two to four less pronounced flavors with it.

---Never emphasize more than one of the very strong herbs in a blend.

---Blend or heat with butter, margarine, or other cooking fats as the best way to draw out and extend the flavor of the aromatic oils.

---Fresh (unsalted) "sweet" butter gives more satisfactory results than salted butter or margarine.

---Have salad oil tepid, not chilled, when using herbs in French salad dressing.

---Cut or chop the leaves of fresh herbs very fine.
For some purposes they should be ground in a mortar.

---The more of the cut surface that is exposed, the more completely the aromatic oil can be absorbed.

---Keep in mind that dried herbs are three or four times stronger than fresh herbs.

--The delicate aroma and flavor of savory herbs may easily be lost by extended cooking.

(Excerpt  from Savory Herbs: Culture & Use , Farmers' Bulletin No. 1977, U.S. Department of Agriculture, 1946) This s a complete guide ot growing and using herbs from the mid forties. It is well worth readin, and proves the old adage: "Nothing new under the sun."