I’m expanding my herb garden this year, so in anticipation, what are some good (and preferably simple/easy) recipes to use them?
And specifically, I’m looking for recipes that are a bit out of the ordinary – for example from the local organic bakery tonight, I got a blueberry basil cupcake. It sounds divine, and is also a flavor combination that would never in a million years have occurred to me to try.
So the herbs for this year:
Lavender
Lemon basil
Cilantro (and perhaps coriander later if I let it go to seed)
Chocolate mint
Catnip (mostly for the cats, but I do know you can make tea with it too, so if there’s some way to put it in food in a pleasing fashion, I’m all ears)
Also, I’m vegetarian, so no meat recipes, please – and heck, if you can figure out how to put cilantro in dessert I’d probably prefer that anyway.
Basically this Asian recipe and Moroccan which is the same basic thing with no ginger, lemon (plus some zest) for the lime and almonds or pistachios instead of cashews.
At a Turkish restaurant I once had a dessert which was 3 tiny crème-caramels. One was mocha coffee, one was intense vanilla but the surprise was the last - Lavender Crème-Caramel. It was sans crust - just a tiny little ramekin of lavendery goodness.
Lavender: Surprisingly good in biscuits and jams. Tried making a lavender panna cotta once, but it didn’t do it for me. Also, make lavender sugar by mixing fresh lavender flowers with caster sugar, put in a pretty screwtop jar and allow the scent to infuse into the sugar.
Lemon basil: I second **USCdiver ** on the strawberries. Also sounds like a good candidate for pesto. Sounds like it’d be great in salads as well, and infused in olive oil.
Chocolate mint: I’d try this in pesto as well, together with baked eggplant, in tabbouleh and in desserts.
Catnip: All I’ve found is that it’s used in calming herbal infusions, so perhaps as a bedtime drink with lavender and sweetbalm?
I use basil all over the place. Use it wherever you might use lettuce (sandwiches, etc). I actually was going to mention basil ice, but I see basil sorbet was mentioned!
I still have some lavender sugar left over from last summer (I was buying lavender constantly from the farmers market, which is mainly why I decided I should get my own plant this year). I’m never quite sure what to do with it, though. I’ve sprinkled it over fruit, which was nice in terms of the lavender, but in general I’m not one who feels a need to sweeten fruit as it’s sweet enough already, so the “sweet” was a little overwhelming.
I also modified a scone recipe to make lavender scones, which were fantastic. I wonder if mint scones would work as well?
Keep them coming. My repertoire for cilantro and basil are particularly lacking… cilantro is tabbouleh and cilantro-lime rice for burritos, and basil is Italian savory dishes (pasta, pesto).
Hmmm… I’ve tried lime-lavender in granita, which worked really well; how do you suppose lime-basil or lemon-basil would work? Chocolate-basil ice cream?
Make a dip like tzatziki with the cilantro (it hurts my British soul to type that word!) and yoghurt. Dip spicy things in it, like onion bhajis. Or breaded seafood. Or a spoon.
I know I mentioned chocolate and lavender cake, but anything chocolate goes really well. I made a lavender and chocolate mousse for a dinner party once that had everyone very happy.
Make the basil into pesto, then bake a Camembert and just before you bring it to the table, top it with the pesto. Dip crusty bread in it.
Kaio, just be careful with the catnip choc mint and the lemon balm: Are you growing them in the ground or in pots? Catnip can spread like crazy, and if you aren’t careful, lemon balm can also be invasive.
I’m growing chocolate mint too, but only in a pot.
So far the only way I’ve used the choc mint was with chocolate cheesecake as a garnish, but it did add a refreshing touch to the dessert.
One of my favourite ice-cream producers did a chocolate-basil ice cream last year, so I think you should go ahead. And lemon goes well with everything.
They are all in pots, as I have a back deck, not a yard. We’ll have to see how they handle being confined, I guess.
There will also be tomatoes (in larger pots) soon, but the nursery didn’t really have much in the way of tomato seedlings yet, plus it’s still a bit early for them. I’m aiming for Romas and Sungolds. (I kept getting Sungolds at the farmers market last year, because those things are like candy. I figured it’d be cheaper to grow my own. ) So one future plan will be Caprese salads, once the Romas come in. Perhaps some other kinds of salads too?
You mentioned cilantro in burritos, I was going to say chopped cilantro in tacos.
We have a great authentic Mexican joint here in my area (car upholstery done on the side! :)) that has incredible goat meat tacos. As a vegetarian, substitute small, Mexican-seasoned cubes of tofu for the goat meat and use diced red onion, chopped cilantro and a spicy green-chile salsa to finish it. Sour cream optional. Yummage!
Muddle in a cocktail shaker: 4 slices of peeled cucumber with 2 basil leaves, pinch of salt, juice of 1/2 lemon. Add shot of St. Germain liqueur or simple syrup and a shot of vodka. Fill shaker with crushed ice and shake. Strain into chilled cocktail glass and top off with Prosecco. Garnish with a cucumber slice.
I’m glad you liked it. I like the fact that you might not traditionally think of balsamic as being an ingredient to use in a sweet dish, but it works really well with the sweetness of the macerated strawberries.
You said you’re looking for basil and cilantro ideas…
Cilantro works well in soup to give it a grounded taste. I make chili with fresh cilantro whenever I can. Also, it works very well in home made salsa. I stew tomatoes with the cilantro and peppers, maybe a smidge of cumin, then add fresh sweet corn and some black beans right before it’s done stewing. To do something unexpected with the salsa, you can add a little brown sugar to it while it’s stewing. Be careful and taste often to make sure it’s not too much, but it will add a caramel flavor to the salsa. I’ve also heard of people using cilantro in a lemon marmalade, but I’ve never tried it.
As for basil, aside from the above mentioned pesto and sorbets/ices, I like basil as an earthy, fresh element in Florentine lasagna. I use about half to two thirds of the spinach I normally would and use fresh, blanched and chopped basil for the rest of it. Yum.
