We all have those jars and tins of herbs and spices. You know, the ones that sit up in the cupboard and only make the occasional appearance when you roast a chicken or bake a pumpkin pie. Did you know these herbs can lend a lot of flavor to lots of dishes you make? It is true. Therefore, dust off those tins and bottles and put those herbs to good use.
Lots of herbs go well with meat dishes. Poultry is a great base for thyme, rosemary, tarragon, and sage. What would the Thanksgiving turkey be without sage dressing? That is right. Lots of flavor in these green allies from the garden. Beef can stand up to some robust flavors. For beef, consider anise, with its licorice-like flavor, dill, fennel, marjoram, mint, and oregano.
Herbs can even help eggs. Nutmeg is a wonderful complement to eggs. Cinnamon works well in egg custards. Allspice is another one that works well with eggs. For those who like some spice with their eggs, think about adding cayenne, curry powder, or chili powder.
Do you like to cook Asian food? Stock up on cinnamon, curry, cardamom and ginger. These spices add a little heat and a lot of exotic flavor. Your meals will taste better than ever! Saffron is another spice used a lot in Asia. It is expensive, but is often used to turn the food a bright yellow as well as adding flavor.
What about dessert? Herbs and spices can do a lot for your dessert recipes. You can use saffron, mace, mint, coriander, allspice, nutmeg, or cinnamon in your baking and other sweet cooking. Your desserts offer a little more pizzazz and flavor.
When you are working with a cold appetizer recipe, do not forget the herbs! Add a touch of turmeric to your dips and relishes or a little cardamom to your dressings and fruit cups. Just because you are making simple cold dishes, do not leave out the seasoning. It makes all the difference between a great tasting appetizer and one that merely sits on the plate.
Have you ever wondered what is the deal with that bottle of celery seed you see at the market? Celery seed really does add a lot of flavor to a dish. Sprinkle it on your roasts, in your sauces and in your stews. Let it add some zing to your salads, vegetable dishes, breads, and eggs.
There are a few other herbs you may not know what to do with. Bay leaves look like long, flat leaves stuck in a jar. These are excellent to add to soups and stews. You can also use them with potatoes, fish, gravies, and marinades. You do want to remove the bay leaf before you serve the food. This is one herb that gives of its flavor and then is discarded.
Another one you may not know much about is cloves. Sure, they were stuck in the holiday ham every year, or maybe you stuck them in an orange and hung it up for the holidays. Cloves are also excellent in pastries, cookies, and pork and lamb dishes. Try adding some to vegetables and dressings. You do not have to get whole cloves; look for ground cloves instead. It is much easier to use.
Making uncomplicated Superbowl party recipes means that you can prepare all your snacks well in advance and relax with your guests when the game starts. There are lots of Superbowl recipes to choose from and meat snacks, like chicken wings, ribs and hot dogs, are always incredibly popular. You will find hundreds of quick uncomplicated appetizers at our website to give you some more ideas.
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October 24 2010 | Gardening | No Comments »
Lawns may look good, but they are unproductive, require a lot of care, and are environmentally unfriendly due to the high use of pesticides and fertilizers necessary to maintain them. As even the White House has discovered, turning a lawn into an organic vegetable garden is a much better use for the land.
Many people who would like to turn to organic vegetable gardening are put off by the idea that it must be a difficult and time-consuming endeavour, and that a lot of tilling and other back-breaking work is involved. In fact, if you follow some basic permaculture precepts and let nature do its work, it will be very easy work. Unless your lawn is contaminated by a lot of pesticides, you won’t even have to remove the grass.
First, delimit the lawn area for your organic vegetable garden with some thread, or with chalk. You can make it as big as the White House veggie garden patch, thirty by thirty feet, or smaller. Water this area generously, making sure that the ground is thoroughly soaked.
After that, you need to add a first layer of organic material that will let the grass die off and will form a healthy and fertile base for your herbs and crops. This layer should consist of earth, lawn cuttings, some gravel or sand, and organic compost. The latter is available commercially if you don’t yet have a compost heap. Cover everything up with cardboard.
Next you need to build a simple raised bed, made of planks, which you will put on top of the newspaper or cardboard. In due time the paper will decompose and become part of the organic base, but at first you will need it as a barrier between the early plants and the high-quality soil that you will now add.
The frames of the raised beds for your vegetable garden need to be filled with more organic compost, this time mixed with normal organic soil and some vermiculite for aeration.
Next, let everything be for a month or so. The lower layer will decompose, insects will arrive, the grass underneath will die off, and the whole area will naturally turn into a healthy and fertile ground for your organic vegetable garden without any need for tilling, ploughing or other hard work.
Now you can start your kitchen garden, either using seedlings from other plants or from a nursery, or by growing vegetables from seed. In the latter case, it is best to use certified organic seeds. There are several online retailers that sell them if you can’t find them in your area.
Regarding the herbs and vegetables to pick for your lawn turned new garden, go wild and take whatever you prefer. Don’t be afraid to leave out some common plants and go for lesser known crops, the variety of plants available to the home grower compared to the supermarket is staggering.
It’s recommended to involve any kids that live in your area in the planning of the organic vegetable garden. This should of course include your own children, but also any other kids in your neighbourhood that your family is on friendly terms with. They will be engrossed in the activity, and you will get some help to transform that lawn into a garden.
While you’re at it, you should start a compost heap. You can use a plastic composter, which are often available for free from local government, or build a couple of wooden frames to start two compost heaps. This will allow you to supply your organic vegetable garden with fresh soil and nutrients by recycling kitchen waste and lawn clippings.
OrganicHerbalGardening.com is the premier resource for organic gardening on the Net, with updates on topics such as seasonal gardening, as well as on indoor herb gardens, organic cooking, organic fertilizers – click the links above to find out more!
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November 11 2009 | Gardening | No Comments »