The Underused Herb: Bay Leaf

One of the first things I started growing myself was herbs.  An herb box is a great way to get into some low-impact gardening and it can be done just about anywhere...even in the city if you have a balcony or a sunny window.

For awhile, I've been wanting a bay leaf plant.  Bay leaves actually come from a tree...one that'll grow to quite  a large size.  The tree is a member of the laurel family and, as I understand it, many laurels are poisonous, so it's important to make sure you have the right tree.  Unfortunately, you just don't see bay trees in the average garden center.

I'm happy to say that I was perusing the farmer's market last week and lo and behold, one of the booths had bay trees for sale.  At $9.99 per tree, it's a pretty expensive mistake if I manage to screw-up growing it, but I'm willing to take that chance.

I think bay is an underused and misunderstood herb.  I myself brushed-aside its importance whenever it was called for in a recipe but it really does give a nice background flavor to soups, stews, and sauces that you just can't get anywhere else.  Fresh bay is hard to find but dried bay leaves are not and they keep well.

Next time you're making a batch of soup or broth or even pasta sauce, throw in a couple of bay leaves.  I guarantee it'll change the flavor of the whole dish for the better.  Just be sure to fish them out before serving...they're pretty tough and nasty to try to eat.

The Rosemary Battle Begins

If you've followed my blog at all, you know that I'm an avid container gardener. In the heat of summer, my third-story balcony looks like a veritable rain forest. And every year, I buy two rosemary plants.

I absolutely love rosemary. It's a very unique, very strong herb, but used correctly, it makes fantastic autmun and winter dishes. Rosemary roasts, rosemary potatoes, rosemary and bean soup, and so on. Unfortunately, I never seem to be able to get my rosemary to last long enough to use it during the Autumn and winter seasons. It's a perennial and supposedly, it should be able to grow in a pot indoors, but once the cool weather arrives, it starts to dry-out and die, supplying me with a whole mess of dried rosemary. And you can get that at the store.

Anyway, I've purchased two new plants for this season. I purposely bought the largest ones I could find, thinking they have a better chance of surviving. I'm also hoping and praying that they'll do much better in the outdoor kitchen garden at our new house. Technically speaking, they're a conifer (a pine tree), no different from the hedges in your front yard and those don't die-off in the winter. They just go dormant and wake-up again in the spring by producing new growth.

I guess we'll see what happens this year. Wish me luck!

Herbs, Herbs, and More Herbs...

My container garden has been blessed with a massive quantity of herbs this year. We have tons of basil, purple basil, parsley, thyme, sage, and rosemary.

I'm curious, do any of you have any favorite recipes using fresh herbs that you'd like to share?