Culinary Herbs
When fresh herbs are unavailable, dried herbs provide an invaluable back-up. They are of course, more concentrated in flavour when dry;
thus, you only need to use half the quantity specified for fresh herbs in recipes. To see what products are available for online purchase, please visit my eBay boutique by clicking on the logo.
Bay Leaf
Esteemed by the Romans, bay leaves are added to add a strong flavour to many dishes. Add one or two to enhance stews or stuffings; add to a bouquet garni; insert a leaf under chicken skin before roasting; use to flavour rice; or add to milk custards or béchamel sauce.
Greek Oregano
Traditionally used to flavour tomato sauces in Italian and Greek cooking, this oregano is usually used dried. The leaves can also be added to sausages and stuffing. It has a strong flavour so should be used sparingly. Possibly best simply sprinkled on top of a pizza. What a difference it makes!
Thyme
Thyme is an aid to digestion and helps break down fatty foods. It is one of the main ingredients of bouquet garnis, and is good to use in soups, stocks, marinades and stews.
Sage
Sage leaves are usually used with onion to stuff poultry. It is also used in italian cuisine to flavour butter for pasta sauces. A myriad of uses!