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Wow! When I said I would be stealing (hosting) Kalyn’s Weekend Herb Blogging for a week, I didn’t expect this many great entries!

I’m impressed to see so many fabulous recipes collected in one place. Of course, in tune with the topic, each of these recipes is based around a herb (or vegetable) of the writers choice. I’m sure you find something you like in among this lot.

A great big thank you to everyone who submitted recipes, they’re all included here and each and every one of them is absolutely brilliant, with some fantastic information about herbs included in the write ups.

The recipes below are in no particular order, so no fighting for positions. I’ve put myself at the top of the list because, well, I can :p Hope you enjoy the round-up!

I’ve prepared a simple Beetroot, Apple and Stilton salad. The Stilton comes in the form of a not so healthy sauce. Oh well - I knew something like that would happen!

 

 

Pat from Up A Creek Without A PatL gives us Serendipity Soup - a thin lentil soup flavoured with tomatoes, onions, Italian sausage and cream. It sounds great, and totally different from the very thick lentil soups we usually see.

 

 

Brilynn from Jumbo Empanadas never disappoints, and this week serves up Tater Timbales - which looks delicious in the photographs.

 

 

 

 

Sher from What Did You Eat delivers some delicious looking Baby Snow Peas With Garlic, Mint, and Croutons. I’m happy to admit that I absolutely love peas in the pod like this, and the step by step photos are great.

 

 

Next we have Burcu from Almost Turkish Recipes with Herby Black-Eyed Peas. This recipe caught my attention for using Pomegranate Syrup - something I’d never heard of before, but sounds delicious.

 

 

 

Neil from At My Table gives us Chicken or The Eggplant . I’ve loved aubergine dips since I went to Greece, where we would sit in a restaurant overlooking the sea with nothing but aubergine salad, nice dense bread and a glass of chilled wine.

 

 

Marce from Pip In The City has cooked up some Sage Gnocci. The photographs of the “in progress” Gnocci are great and really inspire me to try out this recipe.

 

 

Anh from Anh’s Food Blog is lucky to still have some herbs alive, and cooks Tangy Chicken for us. The recipe also uses Plantains, something I haven’t eaten in years.

 

 

Kalyn from Kalyn’s Kitchen (you should know that site?) with a Cucumber, Onion and Parsley Salad. Of course I can’t say anything bad about Kalyn, she certainly knows her stuff when creating healthy options such as this!

 

 

Vanessa from What Geeks Eat with a delicious Winter Salad. I’m in the mood for salad right now - all this heavy winter food needs some relief, after all. The information provided on herbs in this article deserves serious praise, too.

 

 

Cate from Sweetnicks cooks us a Smarter Fettuccine Alfredo. The “smarter” part is the healthier sauce, which you’ll read about if you visit her site - after you finish reading the rest of this round up, of course!

Katie from Thyme For Cooking gives us her Lamb Chops on White Beans With Sage. Lamb works well with earthy scented herbs such as rosemary and sage, an is one of my favourite meats all round.

 

 

Next up, we have Sue from Coffee and Cornbread with Risotto With Asparagus . This one features parsley, and she’s done a great job of including some interesting tips about it. It’s particularly interesting to me, because my risottos never turn out quite right!

 

 

Another salad coming up next in the form of a Puy Lentil Salad with Feta from Gluten-Free By The Bay. I’m always learning new things, and here’s something - how to use lentils succesfully in a salad - an idea that never struck me before.

 

 

Ramya from Culinary Gems is up next with an original dish, Bittermelon in Spiced Coconut Gravy. I’m learning so many new things in this edition of WHB!

 

 

Our culinary tour certainly seems to be taking us all around the world today. Our next entrant is Ulrike from Kuchenlatein in Germany, who has cooked a great looking dish with a classic combination, Cheesy Leeks and Ham. This looks like great winter food.

 

 

Gattina from Kitchen Unplugged is possibly the shining star of this weeks WHB. Her Coconut Cardamom Burfi look delicious - truly, truly delicious.

 

 

 

 

Astrid from Paulchens Foodblog in Austria has contributed Tray-baked Chicken with Mint. This sounds a great way to use a herb which will grow well in almost any garden - mine is still growing well now, in the middle of Winter.

 

 

Sra from When My Soup Came Alive brings us some really original looking Oaty Tomatoes with coriander - a really original combination that I’d never have thought to try, but looks delicious.

 

 

Ruth from Once Upon A Feast has showed she certainly lives up to the website’s name with her article Another Day of Nourishing Meals - serving up everything from sandwiches, to soups, patties, and more! Well worth a read.

 

 

Ros from Living To Eat has an educational post, introducing Rampeh Leaf to any of us that didn’t know about it before - which includes me!

 

 

Revathi from En ulagam (which means Tamil) is next up, and serves us a Drumstick Leaves Stirfry. I’d never heard of drumstick leaves - which is why there is such an excellent write up about them included with the recipe.

 

 

Simcooks has written an excellent post all about Red Dates, including their traditional uses and some recipe suggestions. This edition of Weekend Herb Blogging is all about education, baby.

 

 

Rinku from Cooking in Westchester has cooked up the interesting combination of Mint Chilli Salmon. Salmon is one of my favourite fish to eat, and serving it up with the fresh tastes of chilli and mint is sure to be a taste explosion in every way.

 

 

I love lamb, and the Maltese Parakeet (great name, by the way) has cooked a Rosemary Garlic Rack of Lamb. How could it fail? A classic combination.

 

 

Rachel from Rachel’s Bite has prepared an Eggplant Ricotta Bake featuring Oregano. I have oregano growing in my herb garden and this classic Italian dish looks like an excellent use for it.

 

 

Haalo from the excellent Cook (almost) Anything at Least Once has made a Sorrel and Pea Soup for us. I’m lost for words on this one - the photographs, and the recipe idea are just fantastic.

 

 

 

Zorra from the blog 1x umruehren bitte aka kochtopf has thoughtfully provided us with a side dish to this massive feast - some Lemon Potatoes with Parsley and Chives. These sound refreshingly light and a perfect side to almost any dish.

 

 

Ed Charles from The Tomato Blog is the host of Weekend Herb Blogging next week - so make sure you all go there! He’s cooked for us the interestingly named Tuned down green papaya salad for tourists. Don’t ask me for the explanation - head on over there!

 

 

Anna from Morsels and Musings has prepared Loubia b’Dersa - that’s Algerian Chilli to you and me. I’m interested in learning more about Algerian food, and it’s in an excellent location to combine many different styles into something very fresh and exciting. This recipe is no exception!

 

 

Hey, look - it’s that Ruth from Once Upon A Feast again. This time up, we have a Herb and Goats Cheese Scramble. I love scrambled eggs - so very simple yet so delicious.

 

 

Can you speak French? Virginie from Absolutely Green has cooked Pithiviers King Cake with Rose Jam and Tonka Feva. There’s still a recipe translation at the bottom of her page, and from what I can tell, this is a very refreshing taste combination well worth checking out.

 

 

Claudia from Food for Food in Germany has the only bread recipe this time around and as such deserves praise. Her Walnut Scallion Bread looks delicious.

 

 

Meeta from the beautiful looking What’s For Lunch Honey? Has created a Turkey Caprese. It looks so Italian it’s unbelievable - even the colours match the Italian flag - the photographs are great.

 

 

Genie from Inadvertent Gardener is a fellow 9rules member along with myself, and has a funny story about When a Parsnip isn’t a Parsnip. Worth a read for comedy value if nothing else - but the rest of the site is well worth checking out, too.

And last but by no means least is a Prawn, Parsley and Prosciutto Tostada from Freya at Writing at The Kitchen Table. She title’s this one A Summery Supper, which is exactly what I need as light relief from all these gray skies!

Bite This!

Mulling wine was historically a way of making bad wine drinkable again, by heating it up with a handful of spices, sugar and herbs until it becomes fragrant and sweet. Mulled Wine is synonymous with Christmas both managing to capture all the familiar smells we love, and providing us with a satisfying warm drink for those cold winters nights.

This recipe uses a few herbs as well as the traditional spices, which I feel add something a little extra without loosing the nostalgia. It’s also worth pointing out that you need to avoid overheating the wine - which would make the alcohol evaporate and change the taste.

I’d suggest drinking this in the same way I do - snuggled up with your loved ones watching a festive film such as National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation (cheesy but oh so festive!).

This article also forms part of Kalyn’s “Holiday Cooking With Herbs” event.

Mulled Wine Recipe - Ingredients

• 1 Bottle Red Wine
• 65g Sugar
• 1 Cinnamon Stick
• Pinch of Grated Nutmeg
• 1/2 Orange
• 1 Tsp Cloves
• 1 Sprig Rosemary
• 1 Dry Bayleaf

Mulled Wine Recipe - Method

1. Place wine and all ingredients into a saucepan over a low heat
2. Continue slowly heating until very hot but not bubbling (it should be smelling very nice by now!)
3. Pour out into mugs and drink while still hot.

Enjoy!

Bite This!

Coriander is a very distinctive herb, and one which makes me instinctively think “Indian food” when I smell it. Blame it on the many years of take-aways and curries, if you like. It’s my Dad’s fault, honest - he loves them.

It’s something about the advent of cold weather that makes me crave something not only filling, but hot and spicy to boot. I’ll touch more on that in a later post, but for now let’s start with something nice to mop up those curries with - an Indian styled Coriander Naan Bread.

I don’t cook Indian food much - it’s far too complicated for my liking. Don’t get me wrong; I love the food, but it’s the complex assortment of ingredients that I generally don’t have in my kitchen that throws me. Naan bread, for example, is generally baked in a Tandoor - something I definitely don’t have.

This Naan is a simple introduction to Indian food, with coriander added for extra authenticity. If you are find the prospect of a fully fledged curry as an accompaniment a little daunting, try your home made Naan with a take away. We all cheat a little - don’t we?

This article also doubles as my entry for Weekend Herb Blogging, which this week is hosted over at the excellent website Saffron Trail.

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Bite This!

This article is part of a larger event, “My Favourite Herb“, hosted by Kalyn’s Kitchen (as a part of the Weekend Herb Blogging series of events). The idea this time around is for me to create a post about my favorite herb with reasons for why, and then display my “best” recipe for it. As Kalyn says, the recipe must be the “best of the best”. That’s a lot of pressure!

I have selected Rosemary as my herb of choice. There’s something amazing about this hardy evergreen shrub. It is very easy to grow, and is the first one I started with, around 10 years ago. The same plant is still alive in my garden today, having been transplanted from pot to ground. One sprig of this is enough to transform lamb in water into a stew with a delicious pine scented sauce.

How on Earth can I create the “best” recipe for this herb? Well, to justify my choice, it had to be one which showcased the herb itself - simply creating a lamb recipe with the Rosemary hidden within is not enough. I’ve chosen a Pesto made with Rosemary, as it allows the flavour of the Rosemary to take centre stage above all else, in a simple and uncomplicated way.

Traditionally a Pesto is created with Basil, Garlic, Pine Nuts, Parmesan and Olive Oil. I’ve tried to keep this recipe as close to that original one as I can, however didn’t feel Basil was appropriate - it just wouldn’t work with the Rosemary. Since Rosemary is a very woody herb, it still needed a leafy companion to make this Pesto work. After a little deliberation, I chose Rosemary’s cousin Mint, which works in harmony without overshadowing it’s companion. Mint and Rosemary are both well known as accompaniments to Lamb, and work well together.

I hope you agree with me that this is a simple yet elegant sauce, which highlights the flavours of Rosemary. It is delicious served alongside Lamb in almost any form.

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Bite This!

We were fortunate enough to have a couple of weekends away recently, one to the North Yorkshire Moors, and one to a small town called Moffat in Scotland. Both places shared hills, forests, and field after field of purple Heather.

As always, this abundance of Heather got me thinking - “Can I eat it”? Surely it’s not so infeasible. Heather honey is for sale in supermarkets everywhere, and Wild Game (such as Grouse) enjoy Heather as the main part of their diet.

It’s been a couple of weeks now since our trip, and that’s given me time to search around for a few of the most interesting ideas for using Heather in the kitchen, a couple of which I’ve posted below as part of my entry for Weekend Herb Blogging #50, which this week is hosted by The Kitchen Pantry (usually by Kalyn’s Kitchen).
Of course, if anybody else has any culinary concoctions for Heather, feel free to post them here!

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Bite This!