Coaching Cooking

If you get hungry for Spicey living enjoy! Photo by Mary MacIntyre

The previous blog gives you some information. I have an artemesia plant, and I wonder. Need to more research, especially on the relationship to wormwood. I love my artemesia plant just as it is so I might just get my tarragon in bulk at the local less expensive health food store.

What’s an herb without recipes? It’s a still live and thriving plant!

Watch the whole series.

Too much tarragon can overpower your recipe

By Peggy Trowbridge Filippone, About.com

Tarragon Cooking Tips
• When tarragon is dried, the oils dissipate. Thus, fresh tarragon has a much more intense flavor than dried, and should be used sparingly.

• To retain the most flavor of fresh tarragon during storage, freeze whole sprigs in an airtight baggie for 3 to 5 months. No need to defrost before using.

• Dried tarragon should be kept in a sealed container in a cool, dark place and used within 1 year.

• Heat greatly intensifies the flavor of tarragon, both fresh and dried.

• Tarragon vinegar is easy to make. Put fresh tarragon sprigs into a sterilized bottle of distilled white vinegar. Taste after a few days. Continue steeping until it suits your taste. Once desired strength is achieved, remove the sprigs.

• Vinegar can also be used to preserve fresh tarragon sprigs. Store in the refrigerator. Rinse and pat dry before use. Use the preserved tarragon in sauces, butters, or any recipe where fresh is not required.

• Tarragon is also a good herb to use in infused oils.

• Tarragon is a prime ingredient in Bérnaise Sauce and the French favorite herb mixture, fines herbes.

http://homecooking.about.com/od/herbsspices1/a/tarragontips.htm

Wow! That last video is a must see! There is so much information there, and techniques and suggestions about herbs. A class in itself.

Hoemcooking, see the link? Also provides you with mutiple resources to expand your knowledge about cooking with herbs. Please visit.

Mezzaluna: Italian for “half-moon”–a single or double curved blade, with a handle. Also called a crescent cutter, but that’s not as good a name, I think. Used for chopping herbs and such. Added bonus of the double handle is a little arm workout.

I wanted one from the first time I watched Nigella Lawson mincing parsley and chives with it. Luckily, that year I received two for Christmas. It’s not a gadget that you need necessarily, but it’s awfully fun.

Mezzaluna