The Addition of Fresh Herbs

OLLI member Carolyn Sanders graced our “Basics” class on Wednesday with armloads of herbs from her prolific garden. Fresh bay leaf in three and four foot branches filled the cottage main room with fragrance that definitely improved the atmosphere. You all know about bay leaf, I’m sure, that dried up old leaf that we typically purchase in a bottle and use for everything like soups, stews, pasta sauce. Carolyn says that if you lay bay leaf around in your cabinets, it will discourage those nasty wheat bugs that can climb into all your cereal boxes.  The fresh form of bay is very soft and can be cut up into little pieces known as a chiffonade, and is edible in dressing recipes or scattered in those same dishes as referred to above, but since not dried, don’t have to be fished out before service.

She had other herbs with her as well, including oregano, mint, basil, fennel, garlic chives, and some strange strains of herbs that are international in origin.

Of course, knowing what to do with these terrific plants is important to having them. We used fennel in a steamed fish dish and the oregano with braised pork tenderloin and red cabbage slaw and the results were most pleasing.  What we need to do is have a special presentation by someone in the know about how to best use these herbs.

Meanwhile, Carolyn’s bay will continue to climb up and over her house; already, she says, it is as high as the roof.