CHAPTER TWO: Some Unusual or Tender Herbs
CHAPTER THREE: Complements: Other Flavorful Plants
CHAPTER FOUR: Harvest & Preserve Your Herbal Bounty
CHAPTER FIVE: Working with Herbs in the Kitchen
CHAPTER SIX: Dry Seasoning Mixes
(everyday, reach-for staples for your pantry)
(deep-flavored mixes for roasting, grilling & BBQ)
CHAPTER EIGHT: Sweet Flavor Enhancers
(sugars, honeys & syrups)
CHAPTER NINE: Dressings & Condiments
(pestos, vinegars, oils, butters, mustards, mayo & soft cheeses)
(infused waters, teas, wines & cocktails)
(includes recipes throughout the herb chapters too)
INTRODUCTION
I was once asked if I was a foodie and I replied, I think maybe I am. It’s just that it sounds so trendy, and sometimes I bristle at something that is ultra-trendy. So, what is a foodie, really? A pretty basic definition would be: a person who likes food, flavor and the process of preparing, cooking and presenting. Okay, that’s definitely me. I also like to grow and create most of the flavor enhancers I use in cooking. Considering my appreciation of flavor and taste, I guess you could call me a reluctant foodie, because while I know that main dish recipes are important (of course!), what excites me most is the process of growing and preparing flavor for the main dish.
LOVING FLAVOR
Most important in that definition is the appreciation of flavor and all the things you can add to common ingredients to make them sing. I tend to be an impatient foodie too. I like to prepare fresh food, and I want to be able to grab a seasoning mix out of my cabinet and sprinkle, drizzle, infuse – whatever it takes to add the flavor. So, blending and preserving mixes from my own garden makes sense to me. The recipes you find here are mixes in a ready-to-use form. Many can be stored in the spice cabinet, the refrigerator, or frozen.
This book is all about taste and how flavor – the flavor of herbs – can be used to enrich your experience of eating. It’s about creating the tingle on your taste buds. It’s about the ancient and beautiful art of seasoning.
But it’s about more, especially for anyone who, like me, has experienced health issues and then discovered the “something extra” that herbs can contribute to our wellbeing.
A WELLNESS JOURNEY NOTE
As this book began its early transformation into pages and photos, I collected recipes I have used over the years and even pulled a few of my own herbal concoctions out of my spice cabinet. It was time to write them down and put them into recipe form. At the same time I was also in the midst of medical issues. A battle with fibromyalgia and pain and fatigue in recent years was becoming worse – and I was losing. It had always been just annoyance enough that I didn’t do much about it…just lived with it and didn’t take care of myself. But the symptoms were starting to affect my everyday life. (No need to go into all those medical details, and I do hate to talk much about it. You know – that personal stuff!)
So I took steps to find a doctor with a different approach than just take higher doses of ibuprofen. After a blood test that showed how haywire I had gotten, we started an elimination diet. (Elimination really shouldn’t be paired with the word diet; I prefer to call it my wellness journey.) The wellness part focused on healing and identifying foods that were anti-inflammatory. And a dishearteningly short list it was. At first, I wondered what the heck I could eat, but the reality was, yes, my palette was limited but the flavor part was not!
The grocery store shelves became a lesson in limitations: finding