Great family recipes
How to make a Bloody Mary
In our exclusive interview with "Queen of Herbs" Jekka McVicar, we discover some of the medicinal properties of everyday herbs, valuable tips on incorporating them into your cooking, and learn just how easy it is to grow your own. If you can free up a window sill, you're already on your way to tastier meals.
Sweet dishes
In many ways, we've become blinkered by convention so don't be afraid to think outside the box when it comes to using herbs in cooking. Experiment with new ideas and try herbs in sweet dishes too. For example, basil biscuits are absolutely delicious as is basil panna cotta. Don't be restricted! One of my favourite sweet dishes using herbs is rice pudding with the addition of bay, which is infused in the milk of the rice pudding. Another of my all-time favourite herbs, lemon verbena is simply delicious as it smells distinctly of lemon sherbet and makes the best teas and jellies. You can add it to fruit salads too.
Use the seeds
The seeds of many herbs can be used in cooking, but many people never think to use them; shame — as this is where you'll find the most concentrated flavour of the herb. Lovage — which is a witchcraft herb used as a love potion or aphrodisiac — has a superb seed for cooking with. Grind up with a mortar and pestle and add to soups, for a delicious, meaty flavour. It's also really nice with potatoes instead of salt and pepper. The celery seed is a key ingredient in Indian cooking and can be used ground up in pasta and bread.
Barbecues and grilling
Use rosemary with your grilling. Place the herb onto the grill, laying vegetables on top. Same with fennel stems; place them directly onto the grill and put your fish on top of that. The flavours of the herbs are infused while the food cooks and makes for delicious dishes.
There is no secret to knowing which herbs go with which foods. If you know and love the flavour of the herb, you can use your imagination and guess what else it might go well with.
If you're stuck in a flat or don't have a garden, it doesn't mean you can't grow herbs. All you need is a window box around 10 inches [25cm] long and six inches [15cm] wide, which will be large enough to grow four plants.
Make sure your container has drainage holes and place a layer of gravel in the bottom. Fill with good potting compost — the best you can buy — as the soil is the engine for the plants' growth. Use organic potting compost if you can, but if you can't get hold of any, use a soil-based one because that will hold in the moisture. Fill your container to an inch [2.5cm] below the surface.
Choose four herbs you're going to cook with most; don't choose something you've never heard of before because you won't use it! The best herbs to start with are:
Once you've planted all four plant seeds you can leave them for a month. The potting compost will have enough food in it to last about six weeks, but just to be safe begin feeding them after four weeks, and do it every Friday ("F" for Friday, "F" for feed — this is a great way of remembering, as you'll need to get into a routine) with liquid feed.
Ensure they have partial shade. The midday sun will shrivel them up so it's important to water them in the mornings, and then you can top up in the evening if it's been a particularly hot day.
Just pick them as and when you want them, to use in your cooking. That's all the maintenance they'll need! If you pick them and can't use them immediately, store them in the fridge or a coolbox. Some herbs can be frozen (parsley, dill, fennel). Place them in a plastic bag in the freezer and when you take them out, chop them immediately.
Many herbs have been around for over 2,000 years, like coriander for example, dill and fennel. Many of these have long been used as a medicine as well as a food. Many theories claim that herbs help with stomach bugs, but there are lots of other specific healing and medicinal properties of some common herbs.
Use basil to calm nerves To alleviate anxiety, nervousness and that "butterflies" feeling, make yourself a basil tea — it works wonders. All you need is four or five leaves in a mug of boiling water, which has been left to stand for five minutes. Basil is also used in some parts of the world to help children with fever or restless sleep.
Use mint and fennel to aid digestion Mint and fennel are both great for aiding indigestion and fennel can be made into a syrup to treat babies with colic or painful teething.
I've known Jamie for nine years and we're good friends. I know his mum and dad, and [his wife] Jules, [and daughters] Poppy and Daisy. I'm so excited that Jules is pregnant again [she's expecting the couple's third child in April 2009]. Jamie is one of the most unbelievably energetic people I've ever met, and has a heart of gold.
I helped him start his first herb garden, built his vegetable garden for a TV series, made him an orchard under-planted with wild herbs, and am now doing his herbs for his new restaurants, Jamie's Italians.
