Herbs: Delicious Recipes and Growing Tips to Transform Your Food

301 Pages·2017·19.08 MB·English

by  Judith Hann

HERBS

JUDITH HANN
DELICIOUS RECIPES
AND GROWING TIPS TO
TRANSFORM YOUR FOOD
HERBS
CONTENTS
Foreword: My Life with Herbs
Cooking with Herbs
Growing Herbs
SPRING
Spring Herbs
Basil
Chives
Herb Pesto
Fennel
Lemon Verbena
Herb Teas
Lovage
Mint
Oregano
Tarragon
Herb Cheeses
SUMMER
Summer Herbs
Borage
Dill
Edible Flowers
Hyssop
Lavender
Rose
Herb Ices
Savory
Thyme
Herb Sugars and Syrups
AUTUMN
Autumn Herbs
Parsley
Herb Oils and Vinegars
Sage
Sorrel
Herb Preserves
WINTER
Winter Herbs
Bay
Risotto
Chervil
Coriander
Rosemary
Salad Herbs and Rocket
Herb Canapés
Sweet Cicely
Acknowledgments
FOREWORD
MY LIFE WITH HERBS
Herbs have taken over my life. They have been catalysts in the kitchen,
liberating my cooking by encouraging me to be more creative. And they have
also helped me to become a serious plants woman, using the different shades of
green, the texture and shape of the leaves, their intoxicating aroma and their
glorious flowers to transform the look of my garden. When I harvest these
beautiful herbs every day, they soon transform the look and the taste of my food
too.
I first realized their benefits when I used a small range of herbs, grown in pots at
my London home. But when we decided to move to the country, I looked for the
perfect opportunity to grow herbs on a larger scale. We found a small farm in the
Cotswolds with decaying buildings surrounded by neglected, jungly land. But
near the farmhouse was a sheltered walled area, with poor, free-draining soil,
once used to raise pigs – perfect for cultivating Mediterranean herbs like
rosemary, thyme and oregano. An added bonus was that there were shaded
corners where the soil could be improved for more demanding herbs.
Cultivating this derelict pig yard, then growing, harvesting and cooking every
culinary herb I could track down, has provided me with plants that have elevated
my cooking to a new level. It has been exciting and inspiring.
I drew the plan (pictured opposite) for my herb garden over 20 years ago, before
any herbs were planted. It followed months spent reading every book on herbs I
could find in a London library, as well as visiting many famous gardens. At one
point my impatient husband said: “It is time to stop reading and start digging.”
And I’ve never looked back.
The tumbledown pig yard had the remains of Cotswold stone walls. After they
had been rebuilt, they provided shelter for the herb plants, trapped their
wonderful scents and also provided wall space for figs, grapes, roses and morello
cherries. We made a small central pond to house frogs to eat the slugs which eat
the herbs. There was enough ground around this pond to have four formal beds,
with an area to one side for annual salad leaves and a pudding bed where I could
grow sweet cicely, angelica, lavender and other herbs used in desserts.
Now I am surprised and delighted by how my enthusiasm is inspiring other
people and to find that herbs are improving their lives, too. In particular, I get so
much pleasure when children become interested. I gave a selection of herb plants
to two local village primary schools, for children to use in cookery lessons and
to attract bees and butterflies. And my two young granddaughters have been
helping me plant annual seeds since they were aged two and four. Because of
feeling so involved, they enjoy collecting different herbs, leaves and flowers and
making beautiful mixed salads with them, which they tuck into with the rest of
the family.
Our younger son, who had leukaemia as a teenager, persuaded me to start herb
courses, to raise money for research into the disease. I teach people from
gardening clubs, herb groups and garden training courses, as well as enthusiasts
who just want to spend a day learning how to grow and cook good food. The
response has been fantastic. People now travel from other parts of the world to
join a course, some rip out their garden plants and replace them with dozens of
herbs, others write enthusiastic magazine articles or blogs about my garden, or
send me rare herb plants through the post. I have even had herb recipes named
after me, including a cupcake made with sweet cicely! It has become obvious
that herbs inspire passionate interest.
All this is hard work and means summer holidays are impossible. But during a
winter break in Thailand, the hotel chef approached me and said: “Please help
us. I know you are a herb expert.” he had recognized me from TV, Googled me
and discovered my herb courses (Hann’s Herbs). It became a working holiday,
teaching the staff the best herbs to grow in the hotel’s new garden. So herbs have
not only taken over my life, they are taking over my world.
COOKING WITH HERBS
Nothing transforms food as much as herbs. They bring depths of flavour to other
ingredients. As we move away from rich, salty recipes, they are used
increasingly to enhance the taste of food. And as well as tasting wonderful, they
smell and look enticing and bring colour and texture to the plate. So when you
use these gods of the kitchen, you cook with all your senses.
Supermarket sales of herbs are increasing, but the range available is small, they
are expensive and, even when chemicals are used to prolong shelf life, they soon
go stale and yellow. By growing your own herbs, in pots or in the garden, you
can make any recipe without worrying what’s in stock in your local shop. You
can pick your herbs just before cooking, using precisely the amount you need,
knowing this freshness brings the optimum flavour.
The frustration cooks can feel when they can’t buy the herbs they need for a
recipe was shown when a man I had never seen in my life turned up
unannounced on my doorstep one morning, emerging from a car full of children
and suitcases. He was on the way to Cornwall and had ordered some lobsters to
be delivered to him there for a special recipe that needed chervil. But he could
not find it anywhere. Finally, a local greengrocer, who knew my passion for
herbs, pointed him in my direction. To reward his persistent enthusiasm I gave
him a huge bag of chervil as a holiday present, just as I give away cut herbs and
plants to friends, neighbours and to chefs when we eat out locally in pubs and
restaurants where they really care about good food.
Many of my favourite herbs are hard to find in shops, but are easy to grow in the
garden. Herbs like chervil, lovage, sorrel and oregano are rarely stocked, but
they thrive year after year in my herb garden and are used in dozens of my best
recipes, like Guinea Fowl with Lovage and Lime (see page 52) or Sorrel Ice
Cream (see page 111).
The memorable flavour of herbs like these has helped to change the culinary
code that insisted certain herbs always went with particular ingredients – for
example, rosemary or mint with lamb and parsley with fish. Now people
experiment. As my recipes show, I use rosemary with orchard fruits, like pears,