Herbs and spices

[Tak]

Moving on from my confession of never having used fresh herbs because I wouldn't know what to do with them, I thought I would see what other people use.

I have just found a forum which might be of use (Grapevine Forum) but the pure amount of herbs there are is pretty overwhelming

For the most part, I am better with dried spices; paprika, cayenne pepper, chilli powder, Cajun blackening, Chinese 5-spice etc.

I would really love to have a "herb garden" but of course, having one, knowing what to put in it, not killing it and actually using it are all very different things

[Belmit]

It's amazing how many herbs there are, and a bit overwhelming knowing that you'd never be able to keep all of them to use when you needed unless you were Greenfingers himself.

On my last shopping trip I bought a basil plant and a coriander plant - both go well with tomatoey dishes and they're quite versatile. Also bought some fresh rosemary to go with some lamb leg steaks, and some dried bay leaves which are used for quite a few things. I have chives and mint growing randomly in the garden so I might try them in some recipes soon.

As for spices, my cupboard is pretty much limited to cumin, tumeric, chilli powder, 5-spice and paprika. I've not really looked into other types but I'm sure I will soon. Whilst looking for capers yesterday I was getting more and more frustrated that there were so many spices I'd not even heard of but couldn't find capers! That looks like quite a good forum to find out a bit more about it.

[Jonny69]

Coriander is good fresh, you chop it up and throw it on top of Thai or Indian curries. You can use loads of it.

Basil is also nice fresh. Not too much, but chopped up it's lovely in a tomato pasta sauce.

Neither of those grow particularly well without a bit of practice and I tend to use all the plant in one go

Parsley grows really well and goes in practically everything. Goes well with butter, garlic etc.

[lostkat]

I disagree .. coriander is really easy to grow. I threw some seeds in the garden in March because it said I could sow them outdoors, and it's really done very well indeed, despite next door's cat rolling all over the area after I'd planted it.

I don't think much to the supermarket plants though because they never seem to last long. I think they're perhaps grown too quick or something? I had a pot of basil for about 2 months, but it was a bit crappy.

Here are the herbs I have growing and what I use them for:

Basil: Tomatoey, mediteranian pastary dishes, and sometimes I put it in my salad

Coriander: Indian dishes mainly, and I put lots of it in my salsa (cubed avocado, tomato and red onion with a squeezed lime and a dash of tobasco... mmm!)

Mint: Put it in with new potatoes to boil, and it sometimes goes into yoghurt to make a mint and cucumber dip.

Chives: Stir into sour cream or use it in warm potato salad with lemon and chive vinegarette (nothing like the normal mayonaissey stuff. Think it's a Delia recipe)

Parsley: Usually with fish, or just as a garnish.

Thyme: Chop and sprinkle it in my spag bol and meatballs and other random pasta dishes. I'm also going to dry some big bunches. I also have some lemon thyme, which I'm letting grow a bit before I use any. I think that'll be nice with fish though.

Rosemary: Love this with fish, and it goes well with lamb too. Oooh and it's lovely when you put some in with some veg to roast in the oven. Yum! Love rosemary.

Sage: Not used this yet, but there's loads of it. It normally goes into stews and things. I'll pick a few bunches and dry them.

Fennel: Good with salmon, and sometimes nice to put with chicken and veggies to roast in the oven.

Golden Marjoram: God knows. Mum gave me some. It just looks pretty

My kitchen (and garden) are pretty well equipped with herbs, spices and things and Mum always brings me back stuff like paprika, turmeric and herbs de province back when they go to France.

[testpattern]

dym ordered me to post, the only things i can really add to these excellent suggestions is to try and grow some lemon grass / lemon herb. it seems to grow pretty well and isn't too bothered by being a bit shaded and goes well with anything needing a bit of zesty lemony goodness or garnish.

other than that i highly recommend tumeric. ah tumeric. best in curries and african lentil-based dishes and if you use it with rice it makes it go a cool shade of yellow. i'm told that indian people use tumeric for soothing headaches, coughs and chest problems (make some paste and rub it over the general afflicted area). never tried it but sounds intriguing.

[Tak]

I already use powdered tumeric...never thought of growing it for myself before

[Lomster]

We had a herb garden but it was murdered by Japanese bine weed.
Gonna buy some more herbs soon as there isn't anything nicer then fresh herbs thats been grown by yourself

[Tak]

So do you just lop some off, wash and add? Sorry for being thick

[Lomster]

you carefully cut what you want wash and prepare. well thats why i do anyway

[Jonny69]

Yeah I just grab a handful of whatever I feel like using, give it a rinse and chop it up