Herbs

The best way to store basil may not be the prettiest way, but it can keep a bunch fresh and green for up to a week or two. Give this a try! To keep basil fresh, trim the stems and place them in a glass or jar of water, just like cut flowers. Loosely cover it with a plastic bag and leave it on the counter. Although certain herbs, such as parsley and cilantro or coriander, can be stored this way in the fridge, basil does better at room temperature. Refrigeration can turn the leaves black.

Remember these tricks and you'll never have to throw away a slimly, wilted bunch again.

When it comes to beans and lessening their “digestive consequences,” we have two main strategies: one, soak them before cooking and two, add epazote. Not familiar with epazote? Learn all about this pungent Mexican herb, plus how to cook with it.Epazote (pronounced eh-puh-ZOE-tay) is an herb native to Mexico and Central America that is perhaps best known for its carminative, or gas-relieving, properties.

Who doesn’t want a dollop of melted chive butter on their grilled steak or a dash of zesty chive vinegar on their salad in the dead of winter? I love blowing my guests away at a dinner party in December with flavors that evoke the smells, memories, and tastes of summer. Chive is a garden staple that can be preserved and used in many ways. Finding ways to enjoy the vibrant flavors of summer all year-round is one of the most rewarding aspects of gardening.

These are the two best ways to do it!

Let’s talk about fresh herbs. They smell great, they make our food taste incredible, and they are a pain in the you-know-what to get off the stem. If you try to tell me you actually enjoy picking off each tiny leaf, methodically working your way to a full tablespoon, I’m going to call shenanigans. Yes, fresh herbs make us work for our reward — no way around it. At the very least, we should be sure we’re stripping and mincing our herbs in the most efficient way possible.

With all the bean talk this month, we started thinking about which herbs and spices go well with specific varieties of beans. In general, most beans go well with herbs like parsley, rosemary, sage, savory, and thyme. You usually can’t go wrong with garlic and onions, either. Specific kinds of beans, like fava beans or mung beans, have other affinities with particular herbs and spices.This is not to say that other combinations won’t work.

Our lemongrass plant had an unfortunate run-in with a gust of of wind, resulting in a few snapped stems and a whole heck of a lot of leaves. Most recipes only call for the juicy stalk – any suggestions for what we can do with the leaves?We found a few notes on drying the leaves for use in herbal teas. We’ll try looping some of the leaves into rings and hanging them to dry. A lemony cup of tea sounds like a good cure for winter blues!

Q: I am seeing star anise everywhere on cooking shows lately. I can’t even say I know what it tastes like, let alone how to use it.Please satisfy my viewer curiosity and help me use a new, fun-looking ingredient!Sent by SaraEditor: Sara, star anise tastes a bit like licorice, with a sweet edge. We’ve talked about how well it pairs with tomato in sauces and soups (that licorice flavor is rather like basil!) and we also like to add it to homemade masala chai tea.

Have you ever tasted a new ingredient and wondered how you ever lived without it? This is how I felt after my first encounter with arugula blossoms at the Echo Park farmer’s market last week. At first glance, the clusters of veined flowers are a bit weedy and overgrown-looking and don’t attract much attention. How many years have my eyes glazed past them at the farmers’ market? Or have those in the know always snatched them up before my arrival?

Thai basil is sweet basil’s spicier, kickier cousin. It has all of that lovely licorice flavor and aroma that we love, but with a little something more. What do you cook with it?The leaves of thai basil plants are flat and blade-shaped with a purplish tinge that can spread over the entire leaf depending on the exact variety. Like sweet basil, thai basil is as aromatic as it is tasty. Lots of peppery, anise-like, and warm spicy flavors in this herb.

Last weekend we made our Malaysian Beef Curry, a slow, cinnamon and chili-spiced curry of beef slow-cooked in coconut milk and exotic flavorings. It’s deep and rich, yet total home comfort food. One of the key ingredients in the curry paste is galangal, an unfamiliar root that is yet deceptively similar to one of its cousins… Galangal (pronounced guh-lang-guh) is often found in Thai, Indonesian, and Malaysian cooking.

One of our favorite parts of summer is the abundance of fresh herbs–often in our own back yards!We find ourselves throwing herbs into everything we cook, relishing in their fresh green flavors. Since these herbs are so fresh, it doesn’t take a lot of persuasion to bring out their best flavor. We need to give them a little more TLC than their dried counter parts!