John Myers
Herbs can not only be used to season dishes – but numerous other products made from fresh herbs can also enrich everyday kitchen life. How about homemade pesto, herbal oil, or tea?
Fresh herbs are particularly good for these foods:
- Homemade pesto can be made from basil in combination with garlic, parmesan, pine nuts, and olive oil.
- Basil, parsley, lemon balm, marjoram, sage, borage, tarragon, or fennel combined with salt, onion powder, or paprika are ideal for preparing a tasty herbal quark. Similarly, you can make herb butter, herb lard, or all kinds of dips yourself with the help of fresh herbs.
- If you scald nettle, dill, or wild garlic with hot water and then mix them with a cheese mixture, herb cheese can also be made from fresh herbs.
- Herbal oils can also be obtained from dill, thyme, and rosemary by adding tasteless sunflower or wheat germ oil. To do this, the fresh herbs must first be washed and carefully dried. Ideally, you buy fresh twigs for this purpose, which you let dry overnight and only then process them further. Put the properly prepared herbs, chopped up or as a whole branch, together with the oil in a tightly sealable bottle. Store the bottle in a dark place, after about two to three weeks you can enjoy spicy herbal oil.
- You can also make herbal tea yourself: nettles, peppermint, fennel, or lemon balm are particularly suitable for this, but Mediterranean herbs such as thyme also taste good as a tea. For a tea infusion, you can use the herbs fresh or dried.
