Herbs and Spices
Herbs are one of our secret weapons. The home cook isn’t heavy handed enough with them. What most people also are not aware of is how nutritious herbs are, especially when eaten fresh. Basil’s vitamin and mineral profile would qualify it to a ‘superfood’, if there is such a thing. Herbs are pretty easy to grow, don’t have a lot of natural predators, and attract pollinators. Herbs take up a lot of space before they dry, and after a bit of work and the removal of water, what was a bushel ends up fitting into a jar.
The little guy is a healthy kale plant. Off camera, we ripped off a bunch of its little arms. We did this to all his friends as well.
Kale gets a bad rep as some sort of magic green that doesn’t deliver because it tastes more like grass than lettuce. That may or may not be the case if its eaten cooked or fresh, but dry it and use it as a seasoning. It’s flavor becomes deep and savory with a lot of that ‘green’ flavor being reduced.
We harvest just a few leaves from each stalk every week or so. This allows for multiple harvests throughout the season. We keep the greenest and firmest leaves for drying. The damaged or withering ones get composted and the young, small tender leaves have a cleaner place to grow big and lush.
We discovered that kale is an amazing dried herb. It is to parsley what steak is to a burger. It’s earthy and robust with a richness that brings it all together.
The kale is washed twice and told it’s been a very good leafy green before their spines are ripped out and put into a paper bag to be composted later on. The mass has been reduced from a full pan to a large bowl.
After a few hours in the dehydrator and the kale is dry. They still take up almost as much space as they did before, but with one big difference; the leaves are no longer plump and crunchy. Rather, they are brittle and crumbly, and have such a nice, rich, earthy aroma.
Its the same with the tomatoes. We have a huge bowl of them after we pick a few vines. Then, we quarter them and fill up tray upon tray upon tray to be dried.
The next day, we load them into a grinder and reduce an overflowing bowl into a bag of red dust. It seems like so much work for such a little amount, until you take in the heavy, tomato aroma and combine with other herbs and spices like garlic, oregano, scorpion chilies, and basil and added to olive oil. Oh so good!
We grow over a dozen kind of herbs both annual and perennials. We have oregano and thyme plants that are 4 years old.
Before we know it, the growing season is over, and its time to cook and mix. Now is when all that work begins to pay off. We sort and wash and weigh and mix and when we get the blend just right, a little bit of magic is created and enchanting flavor profiles emerge, tantalizing the senses.
Do you enjoy the burn?
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