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Cooking in the Country

Herb talk from a Chef

Claire Stabbert
Posted 6/17/22

Each year I put in an article about my ever-changing herb garden. Although I think I have a very good handle of herbs and how to use them, I reached out to Executive Chef JP Medina on how to utilize, …

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Cooking in the Country

Herb talk from a Chef

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Each year I put in an article about my ever-changing herb garden. Although I think I have a very good handle of herbs and how to use them, I reached out to Executive Chef JP Medina on how to utilize, cook with, and which herbs to pick. There are just so many, and walking through Agway can be a bit overwhelming if you’re not sure what to pick. I decided to plant basil, rosemary, thyme, dill, and chives this year, and may yet pot a few more. Living in an apartment, having an herb garden allows me to have that freshness of a garden without a yard.

I chose each herb for its own specific reasons, but the one I might be most excited about is thyme. Even though it has a strong aroma, it doesn’t overpower food the way that rosemary or dill might. According to Chef JP, “fresh or cooked, it’s perfect. You can braise or baste with it when pan roasting, or even pull the leaves off and chop it into dressings.” Over at the Callicoon Hills, JP uses thyme to make a blueberry syrup for morning coffee drinks. Blueberries are cooked down with thyme and orange zest in a simple syrup, like steeping tea. Thyme also is classically paired with butter, garlic, and shallots… the trifecta.

Something that never even occurred to me is letting an herb grow to flower. Last year my chives grew a purple flower, but I figured they were inedible and that might be a sign of me not picking them fast enough. JP remarked that the flowers of these herbs not only taste and smell as good as the herb you’re picking, they’re also beautiful to decorate your dishes with!! Chive flowers are a beautiful purple that pops against any dark jus, browns, and oranges (they are added to the BBQ wings at the Callicoon Hills!). There are thyme and dill flowers as well, and don’t forget delicate white carrot flowers.

Herbs and their flowers have all the components of a perfect dish. They have flavor, aroma, and visual dimensions. I highly recommend planting some this summer, and let them grow to flower!

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