Featured Ingredients: Fresh Herbs

One of the most exciting ways that I have improved the flavors coming out of my kitchen is cooking and baking with fresh herbs. The most satisfying way to begin that improvement has been to grow the herbs myself. Not only does that make it possible to pop wonderful and unique flavors into anything on demand, its also more economical. For the price of a container of fresh herbs (or, sometimes, not-so-fresh herbs) I can buy an herb plant or a package of herb seeds. Just a bit of care, and those plants can give me fresh flavors at my fingertips for months.

In a good year I grow a wide variety of herbs, and now I find a fairly long list of them to be essential: chives, sage, thyme, cilantro, oregano, parsley, dill, tarragon, rosemary, and different varieties of basil and mint. I’ve also had fun with summer savory and sweet stevia. This year, I’m happy to say that I’ve already got a bit of a starter kit going (Yay!), and so I’ve been perusing The Messy Apron Archives for recipes to kick-start a new season of cooking.

I have compiled a pared-down list of favorite recipes that feature fresh herbs. There’s quite a variety here: noodle dishes, soup, sauces, salads and baked goods. All have the vibrant flavors only fresh herbs can bring to a dish.

The simplest, and sometimes laziest, dishes are simple pasta dishes with noodles and often additional vegetables tossed with herbs. This post features more of a widely-applicable method rather than a recipe, my go-to method for quick suppers from late spring to early fall. 

 

I also love Asparagus and Pasta with Balsamic Tarragon Sauce and Bacon in the spring,

Pasta with Cherry Tomatoes, Olives, and Basil in the summer,

 

And Warm Noodles with Cilantro and Coconut Lime Dressing just about any time of year. (Cilantro, along with parsley, is actually easily and affordably sourced in supermarkets.)

 

If you can get garlic scapes in the spring, this Pasta Carbonara with Garlic Scapes and Garlic Chives is a delicious way to use them.

Herbs are also fantastic ingredients for jazzing up beans, which I cook with all the time. White Beans with Sage and Garlic is the first recipe I make when I feel like my sage plant has grown large enough to sacrifice plenty of leaves.

 

When I have herbs and the weather is cool, either in spring or fall, I make White Bean Soup with Fresh Herbs.

Toss cold beans with herbs, vinaigrette and a few other favorite ingredients and you get something delicious like White Bean Salad with Green Olives and Tarragon.

 

For an even simpler salad, there’s Fresh Peas with Mint.

When I have a bumper crop of herbs, I make pesto. There are four herb-based pesto varieties in The Archives, and I love them all: Basic Basil Pesto, Spinach Chive Pesto, Parsley Hazelnut Pesto, and Spicy Cilantro Mint Pesto.

If you need a dip instead of a sauce, there’s Garlic and Herb Vegetable Dip, which can feature just about any herb you like.

Or, there’s Spicy Eggplant Dip with Basil and Mint.

Finally, you surely can bake with fresh herbs as well. Tomato or grilled cheese sandwiches are fabulous on this Whole Wheat Cornmeal Bread with Basil

 

And Lemon, Lime and Basil Cookies are a fabulous sweet treat with which to celebrate your fresh herb crop.

I can’t wait to dive into these favorites as well as vary some of them with different herbs and other ingredients. Of course, there are plenty of new recipes to try, and I no longer have to put off the ones that feature fresh herbs. I’ve got fresh herbs at my fingertips!

Recipe Revisit: Maple Date Cake

I’ve been planning to re-visit this cake recipe for some time. I’ve even had the dates ready in the refrigerator. It was an extremely generous gift of homemade maple syrup given to me by my cousin last weekend that finally made me realize that I absolutely had to fix the recipe for this cake. Like, now.

First of all, full disclosure: I used up some other maple syrup that I had in my refrigerator to make the cake in these photos. It was very difficult not to just dive into the liquid gold with which I had been entrusted. It just made me feel like such a special person, endowed with a powerful gift. I desperately need to clean out my refrigerator, though, so I tidied up a bit for this recipe. (With great power comes great responsibility, you know.)

I really have no idea what the heck I was doing in the original post about this cake. I think I was desperate to get something out there for a blogaversary. I admittedly used the wrong size pan, although what made me choose the size that I did is totally unclear. If the past is another country, my past mind is an alien planet.

 

So, I think I have it now: a 13 x 9-inch snack cake is the way to go with this recipe. The sticky-sweet maple-y glaze still works on top of it’s surface, and the cake, made a bit delicate in texture by the addition of whole wheat pastry flour, holds together quite well when individual servings are cut from the pan. Even though there is some of that whole grain flour, however, the cake is still very fluffy and tender.

And the flavor is fabulous! Using maple syrup in the batter sweetens with just a bit of a maple note, not quite caramel-y, but not like molasses, either. You know, that ethereal uniqueness of real, pure maple. If you want a big kapow! of maple flavor, you could add some maple extract. I like things as they are here, though, with the additional maple in the glaze enhancing flavors in the cake, nutty punches from walnuts and a bit of whole wheat, and pockets of sweet, chewy dates.

I didn’t need to change any of the ingredients or the method of combining them in this recipe, just the way they are baked. And I’m so glad I did. This wonderful cake needs to be in my kitchen as much as possible. The 13 x 9-inch cake delivery system is quickly becoming my favorite way to save the day!

Maple Cake with Walnuts and Dates
Adapted from Martha Stewart Everyday Food Magazine

For the Cake
1 ½ cups plus 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour, divided
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
½ teaspoon cinnamon
2 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
2 sticks (16 Tbs) unsalted butter, room temperature
¾ cup pure maple syrup
½ cup sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
¾ cup sour cream
¾ cup chopped walnuts, toasted
¾ cup finely chopped pitted dates

For the Icing
¼ cup pure maple syrup
2 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted
pinch of cinnamon
1 cup powdered sugar

1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Liberally oil, butter, or spray with cooking spray a 13 x 9-inch baking pan. Set aside.

2. Combine 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour, whole wheat pastry flour, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl. Whisk together to distribute ingredients evenly. Set aside.

3. In the bowl of a heavy duty mixer with a paddle attachment (or a large bowl for use with a hand mixer) beat the butter, maple syrup and sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy. This will take 3-5 minutes. Add eggs one at a time and beat well after each addition. Beat in the vanilla.

4. With mixer on low speed, alternately add flour mixture in 3 parts and sour cream in 2 parts (begin and end with flour mixture). Mix well to combine after each addition.

5. In a medium bowl, combine the walnuts and dates. Stir in the remaining 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour to coat them. Gently stir the walnuts and dates into the batter.

6. Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Spread the batter evenly and smooth out the top.

7. Bake at 350 F 40-45 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center of cake comes out clean, without any wet batter clinging to it.

8. Remove from the oven and place on a cooling rack.

9. To prepare the icing, combine ¼ cup maple syrup and melted butter. Add the powdered sugar and whisk until completely combined and smooth.

10. Pour the icing over the still-warm cake, spreading to edges (it’s okay if it drips down sides between the cake and the pan). Cool completely (or almost completely) before cutting and serving.

Makes 15-20 servings.

Other recipes like this one: Maple Date Oatmeal Bars, Applesauce Cake with Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting, Carrot Snack Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting, White Cake with Berries and Lemon Glaze, Zucchini Multigrain Coffee Cake

One year ago: Marmalade Cream Cheese Baked French Toast