The Magic Of An Herb Garden

Nothing adds to the color, flavor and presentation impact of a dish like fresh herbs. It doesn’t matter if you are cooking for two or a dinner party of twenty, make sure you add fresh herbs to your dish.

I always have a supply of herbs on hand. Summertime is great as many herbs are perennials that come back year after year and are plentiful.

Check out the video of an herb garden tour

(Maya garding the garden with fennel, sage and oregano in the background)

We even keep a few herbs growing in the windowsill through the winter. Whenever we entertain, I keep jarfuls of 2 or 3 herbs next to my prep area for use and a mixture of chopped herbs in a container as part of my mise en place.

(herbs on the windowsill)

I do have a confession to make, I haven’t always been a fresh herb fan. As a child I remember begging my mother not to ruin my plate of soup with parsley. My sister tells the story of taking her daughter Emily to a special restaurants and having her insist to the waiter that she didn’t want any green stuff on her food. I am proud to say that even the picky Emily recently sent me a picture of her grilled pizza creation with green stuff – fresh basil. Yeah Emily!

Some of the major herbs consist of:

Basil – There are numerous kinds of basil including spicy and sweet basil. Basil adds a unique flavor and character to many dishes. It’s usually mixed with tomatoes and other vegetables in French food. It also adds zest to pasta dishes and other delicacies.

French Tarragon – This smells like anise. It’s widely used in French seafood dishes. It blends well with the rich taste of fish, shrimp and other seafood, while adding a distinct and memorable flavor that makes the dish even more enticing.

Thyme – Thyme comes in many flavors and is a very versatile herb. It can add zesty flavor to a wide variety of stews, meats, soups, seafood, dressings, sauces and more. It can also be used in marinating meats and seafood so that when you cook them, it brings out the natural flavor of the dish while infusing its own distinct taste.

Sage – Sage has been around since the Roman times and is unique in that it’s one of the few herbs whose flavor gets stronger as it dries further. Its subtle but tasty flavor is great for salad dressings, soups and sauces. It’s best to add sage at the final stage of cooking.

Mint – Fresh mint adds that cool and refreshing flavor to any dish. Even water is made even better if you add some mint leaves.

Chives– Chives are an important herb in the French kitchen and they have the most delicate onion flavor which make it a wonderful seasoning for many dishes.

Fennel – Fennel is a beautiful tall and graceful perennial herb with fine feathery green leaves and bright yellow flowers. It looks very much like dill but the flavor is a sweet anise which is very different.

Parsley – All varieties of parsley are hardy biennials but mostly treated as annuals. Of course no herb garden would be complete without its parsley! The two most popular ones are the curly leaf parsley and the French or the flat leaf parsley which undoubtedly has the better flavor.

Oregano– Oregano is a culinary herb, used for the flavor of its leaves, which can be more flavorful when dried than fresh. Oregano’s most prominent modern use is as the staple herb of Italian-American cuisine. Its popularity in the U.S. began when soldiers returning from World War II brought back with them a taste for the “pizza herb”, which had probably been eaten in southern Italy for centuries.^[13] There, it is most frequently used with roasted, fried, or grilled vegetables, meat, and fish. Oregano combines well with spicy foods popular in southern Italy. It is less commonly used in the north of the country, as marjoram generally is preferred.

No matter what you are making. No matter what you are cooking for. Fresh herbs will make it better!

If you enjoyed this blog and similar other stories/supper club lessons follow me on Facebook and Twitter and subscribe to get future blogs at www.impromptufridaynights.com/blog and check out my book Impromptu Friday Nights a Guide to Supper Clubs. Published by Morgan James Publishing and available through most channels where books are sold.

New York Delis Are The Answer

Where would I go if I had to find dishes for both a:

Supper club dinner party?
My last meal?

The answer is a New York deli. You can‘t go wrong and you certainly can’t beat the combination of salads, meats, fruits, cheeses, breads and desserts that you can find. Now there are chains of Gourmet Markets that are like deli’s on steroids that are fantastic.

Last week we visited relatives in Montauk New York. Maureen and Brian drove out from Yonker’s for the weekend. They were having a dinner party that night and stopped at Citarella’s, a gourmet market in Easthampton, to pick up 3 or 4 dishes for a ready-made dinner party. There were lots of great options but Citarella’s is famous for their food and being proud of their product. Brian pointed out while he was sure the artichoke hearts were great, but $16 for two was a little crazy.

(Citarellas’ Gourmet Market in Easthampton NY)

(Pictures of Fort Pond Bay in Montauk NY)

This reminds me of the story that Ina Garten, the Barefoot Contessa tells. Her first shop was in Westhampton (The poor man’s Hampton) where my mom lives. She opened up her second shop in Easthampton. In the first week a guy came in and Ina saw him hemming and hawing over the lobster salad. Ina worried that she had overpriced her salad at $20 a pound. She asked the guy if he needed help and he said: “Yes I am just not sure if I need 5 or 6 pounds”. She knew she was in the right Hampton.

We also went to Sag Harbor for lunch. Back in the 1800’s Sag Harbor was a center of the Whaling industry. Today it is a quaint old town with lots of shops, marinas and restaurants. We love to go to Schiavoni’s Grocery to pick up salads for a picnic lunch in the park, on the harbor. Schiavoni’s is an IGA and has everything from cleaning supplies to gourmet food fare.

The Hamptons are great, but you can get amazing food in thousands of deli’s across the New York area. Traditionally, deli’s were place where you bought sandwiches. The deli meats and breads are fantastic. Where I grew up in Westchester, north of New York City, you didn’t get subs or heros. You got wedges. They were called wedges because they were served on wedges of Italian bread. The breads were so good that anything that came on them would taste great. Give me a bologna wedge from Lake Farms in Silver Lake NY, and I have died and gone to heaven.

Today most delis have an assortment of salads and side dishes, as well main courses such as chicken/veal cutlets, chicken Piccata, eggplant parmesan, and on and on. To make a long story short, you can get all kinds of great things without having to cook anything. The good news is that while this type of offering used to be unique to New York, Los Angeles and Chicago, today you can get it in a lot of the U.S and in markets around the world.

In the end, to be a great supper club host/hostess you don’t need to know where to cook, you just need to know where to buy.

Do You Love Lobster?

The People that love lobster, really love lobster. Building a summer time menu around lobster is always popular. Lobster salad is a great summer-time way to enjoy lobster in s supper club dinner party.

(Susan and Jennifer at Jennifer’s and Ethan’s wedding rehearsal dinner which featured – LOBSTER)

My wife Susan is a consummate lobster lover. She remembers the first time she had lobster as a ten-year old girl. She enjoyed it then and never misses the chance to enjoy it again. When we make our annual pilgrimage to the beach she tries to have lobster at least once a week. Somehow lobster tastes better at the beach. I will never forget the lecture she gave an old boyfriend of our daughter’s who was a Memphian. He hade the mistake of saying that the lobster from Kroger in Memphis was as good as lobster in the Hamptons. That boyfriend didn’t stand a chance…

(Another crustacean that lost out to Susan)

After college we had an annual “Hamptoons” party with over 20 friends at my parents place in Westhampton. The highlight of the weekend was a lobster feast we would have on Saturday night. Every year some of our guests were lobster neophytes. Susan would conduct “How to eat lobster” training. Back in the day, there was a fair amount of alcohol consumed at those parties. Somehow the combination of a little too much alcohol and a lot of lobster with butter led to stomach issues. Every year we would give out the “Poison Lobster” award to poor sucker that was either over served kamikazes or over indulged with lobster or both.

(Susan relaxing by the pool in Westhampton)

Lobster salad is a great, lighter way to enjoy the prince of the seafood world. I prefer to serve lobster salad in conjunction with a salad ring. Check out the recipes:

Lobster Salad

Salad Ring

I prefer my lobster salad as part of a larger salad with cucumber, tomato and fresh mozzarella versus a lobster roll. My daughter’s in-laws spend summers in Montauk N.Y. where lobster rolls are legendary. I have had some great lobster rolls in Montauk and elsewhere. For me, the bread takes away from the lobster versus the salad ring that complements the lobster. In the end, whether it is in a roll or with a larger salad it doesn’t matter. It is all about the lobster.

(Ode to Montauk and its Lobster Rolls)

Build a supper club menu around lobster and you can’t go wrong.