Herbsways Blog On Hold For A Reason

There have been no posts for quite a while on this blog for a very good reason. I have been compling a recipe book on Bulgarian cuisine where 100 recipes have been tried, tested and written up all using in the main homegrown produce.
Here is the introduction to the book which will be published and on sale before Christmas.

An Introduction To Bulgarian Cuisine

Bulgaria was founded in 7th Century from this time right up to the 18^th Century the Bulgarian diet was essentially based upon mainstay Europeans food such as various meats, dairy products, fish, cereals, fruits and vegetables. Into the 19^th Century Bulgarian cuisine began to develop its own identity with many of the Bulgarian recipes seen in this book originating from this time. The types of produce grown and used extensively in kitchens in Bulgaria are given here:

• Meats: pork, beef, lamb, chicken, fish, duck, goose and snails.
• Dairy products: Almost everyone in Bulgaria eats yoghurt regularly; you can only find the bacteria that make yoghurt in Bulgaria! There are two main kinds of cheese: sirene (white sheep’s cheese) and kashkaval (yellow cheese). Sirene can also me made from goat and cow’s milk.
• Cereals: Rice, corn, maize, sunflowers, beans, lentils.
• Vegetables: Potatoes, cabbages, (green and red), carrots, tomatoes, green peppers, eggplants/aubergines, cucumbers, gherkins, garlic, zucchini/courgettes, lima beans, haricot beans, broad beans, peas, lettuce, radish, turnips, asparagus, gumbo, mushrooms and olives.
• Fruits: Cherries, raspberries, strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, apples, peaches, pears, plums, apricots, watermelons, honey melons, grapes and quince
• Nuts: Peanuts, chickpeas, walnuts, hazelnuts, almonds and sweet chestnuts.
• Herbs and Spices: Parsley, coriander, rosemary, spearmint, savory, paprika, dill, thyme, cumin, devesil, summer savoury, oregano.

By the 20^th Century Bulgaria's economic interests were now linked with Middle and West Europe and exposure to common European foods like pizza, mayonnaise and cream as well as other foods not native to Bulgaria.

Bulgarian cuisine today is a mixture of typical Bulgarian dishes and imported global world foods including much fast food. On the other side of the coin Bulgarian cuisine is now exported worldwide not least for the reason from the masses of Bulgarian people moving overseas during the 1990s and stems from this demand.

Bulgarian home cooking is normally done starting with the cooking of the meat and gradually adding all other ingredients. The cooking process would have all been started and finished in one saucepan. Cooking food on a low heat is steeped in Bulgarian history. Many stews and casseroles are served in a brown-lidded bowl called a ‘gyuvech’ meaning earthenware dish. This gives the distinctive flavoursome, nutritious and well tenderised eating associated with Bulgarian cuisine.

I will be turning attention back into articles here once the book is out so thank you all for bearing with me.

Bulgarian Dill Potatoes

Dill is a herb that I never used to use in the UK. I didn’t know much about it and certainly didn’t cook many dishes that required it. If it was used it was in dried form in a small glass or plastic container. To be quite honest I wasn’t impressed with it at all.

Then Bulgaria was visited, they use Dill (called koper) in many dishes, not dried but unused fresh dill stored in freezers. I can’t remember many dishes without dill being included and of course everyone grows it here. When it goes to seed, which is around now, the dried plant with seeds still intact are used in the bottling of many vegetables such as gherkins, peppers, etc. There is now waste form the herb.

A potato dish was made two days ago was made with dill, which had such a profound effect on the flavour in combination that we just couldn’t stop eating once started. Simplicity with dill as the sole flavour to the potatoes was the key here. I will take you through the stages.

The potatoes gathered were still in the ground and the dill still on the plant growing in the garden only 30 minutes before starting this recipe. But as long as both are fresh it should still work for you.

Recipe For Dill Potatoes

Serves up to 6 people

40 minutes to cook
Ingredients:


1 kg new white potatoes

1 handful of fresh green dill chopped finely

100 g margarine

Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Method:

• Wash the potatoes and cut into roughly 2 cm sq pieces.
• Place in a pan of cold water and boil for 20 minutes or until just beginning to go soft. Whilst this is happening preheat the oven to 220 C.
• Drain the potatoes and place in an oven tray. Spread the margarine over the hot potatoes so it covers them evenly.
• Then sprinkle the chopped dill over the potatoes and season with salt and pepper.
• Place the tray into the hot oven and bake for 15 minutes.
• The dish is ready for serving.

Note:
The dill potatoes make just as good meal when cold or can be reheated with a little more margarine.

Sesame and Honey Energy Snack Bar Recipe

Quite often my Bulgarian partner would buy little sesame seeds and honey bars for us to eat in the journey each weekend to the village. They are an excellent little energy snack and have no chemicals in them at all with the texture typically hard and brittle.

I was informed that they are very easy to make. So I go the recipe off my partner’s friend who is a chef for a top hotel in Yambol. He recommended locally produced honey that it will produce herb-based flavours that will further enchance the great combinations of taste.

This recipe is very easy to follow and will also save you lots of money as these snack bars are quite expensive to buy ready made. They are just as good as any commercially produced snack bar and without preservatives.

Ingredients:

· 500 gm local honey
· 500 gm white sesame seeds
· The lemon peel of half a lemon

Method:

Bring honey and lemon peel to a boil in a saucepan. Add sesame seeds stirring continuously and continue to cook while stirring. Bring to the boil again and continue stirring. Remove from heat. Remove and take out the lemon peel.

Lay some parchment or greaseproof paper on a cool work surface and pour out the hot liquid evenly on the paper.

When it has cooled to room temperature put it in the fridge and leave there for around 4 hours.

Remove from the fridge a kitchen shears, break into pieces and serve.

This can be stored refrigerator or freezer in an airtight container.

TIP: You can make more or less as long as you stick to equal quantities of sesame and honey each time.

Picture Source www.goodnessdirect.co.uk/

Cheers For Stinging Nettles

Stinging nettles can be very painful and memories as a child from touching them are quite vivid. We learn from experience and most who have encountered stinging nettles for the first time I am sure were left with a lasting impression of pain. But nettles have many other uses, including the sting elements.

The Romans rubbed nettles on their body to reduce arthritic pain and is commonly prescribed in the treatment of arthritis today in the form of tea or tincture.

The nettle herb is rich in minerals including iron, calcium and silica and also vitamin C and chlorophyll. something that many don't know is that the nettle has lots of protein and excellent nutritional value and used as a good tonic for blood, iron deficiency, gout, chronic skin diseases and rheumatism.

Food wise, nettle can bee used in the same way as spinach and tastes simliar, try mixing it and cooking with spinach. Nettle beer is an old favourite of mine, the recipe is given here - Well worth the effort and don't forget, it is very cheap to make.

HOME-MADE NETTLE BEER

Ingredients

• 1 kg Young Nettles (Tops only)
• 5 ltrs Water
• 500g Sugar
• Juice of 2 Lemons
• 25g Cream of Tartar
• 15g Brewers or Wine Yeast

7 Step Method

1. Wash the nettles and shake dry in a tea towel.
2. Put the nettles into the water into large saucepan and 20 minutes.
3. Strain into a large container. Peel off the yellow rind of the lemons and squeeze out the juice then add the these and the cream of tartar to the bulk liquid stirring well.
4. After the mixture has cooled down to room temperature mix the yeast with a little of the liquid and then stir it back into the liquid.
5. Cover the container with a clean towel to form a lid, you may have to tie it on with some string to prevent the middle of the towel dipping into the mixture.
6. Leave in a warm place for around 3-4 days then strain the liquid into plastic lemonade bottles leaving around 4 cm of air for pressure that will build up.
7. Store the bottles in a cool dark place and you can drink it after about a week.

Cheers!

Herbes de Provence - Memories of France

I've been the south of France many times, usually on cycling tours and once there and you cannot fail to be inspired with the French use of herbs. The most famous is named after the region of Provence, called Herbes de Provence, which is are a mixture of dried herbs from the region. Not many people know that it was only invented during the 1970s!

Herbe de Provence is usually a mixture of rosemary, marjoram, basil, bay leaf, thyme, and sometimes lavender flowers and other local based herbs. The amounts of each herb depends very much of the manufacturer, although generally thyme is the mainstay herb which gives the unique taste produced by the herb mixture.

Herbes de Provence is of course used for cooking and many non cooked foods in France. To flavour grilled foods, especially fish and meat dishes as well as many vegetable stews. The herbs are added before or during cooking or infused with cooking oil before being added into the cooked food.

They are usually sold in bags worldwide and part and parcel of all kitchen larder. The mixture doesn't keep fresh for long so it is wise to buy little and ofter, or dry freeze supplies to extend their keep.

If you wish to make you own mixture I have given a simple instructions for this:

Ingredients:

* 3 Tablespoons dried marjoram
* 3 Tablespoons dried thyme
* 3 Tablespoons dried savory
* 1 teaspoon dried basil
* 1 teaspoon dried rosemary
* 1/2 teaspoon dried sage
* 1/2 teaspoon fennel seeds

Method:

Simply mix all the herbs well and put into and air-tight lidded jar. Store in a cool, dark place and this will be good for up to 6 months.

Lavender - Sight and Scent to Remember

It was my time in south France that created a love of the lavender scent. It was overpowering throughout many towns and villages that had processed the harvest in the late summer. The beautiful blue fields also stand out as one of the most memorable moments in time.

As well as being attributed to being one of the holy herbs, in biblical times ,during Roman times, lavender flowers were used as a bartered as currency and used in Roman baths to scent the water. Lavender was yet another herb that was introducted to Britain by the Romans. During Black Death, lavender oil was claimed to ward off the Plague.

The lavender flowers can be sugared and used as cake decoration. The most renown use for lavender is the ingredient of herbes de Provence and lavender sugar. Still with the French cooking in and around Provence, they have been incorporating this herb into their cuisine for countless years and long may it live.

There are around 30 different species now cultivated and grown worldwide. The most common cultivated lavender is aptly called the Common Lavender. Many will know that lavenders are widely grown in gardens. Its flower spikes are used extensively for dried flower arrangements. The pale purple flowers and flower buds are used in potpourris and when dried and put in pouches scattered amongst clothing gives a wonderful fresh fragrance. not many know that lavender also acts as a deterrent to moths. Commercial extraction of lavender oil from the flowers is used as an antiseptic and for aromatherapy.

The flowers produce nectar, which yields a high quality honey and is highly prized and marketed worldwide as a premium product.

Essential oil of lavender has antiseptic and anti-inflammatory properties. The oil is also popular used as fragrances for baths. An infusion of lavender acts as a soothing and healing remedy for insect bites. Lavender gathered in bunches are also used to ward off insects.

If laid on your forehead the lavender oil is said to soothe headaches and aid sleep and relaxation. Lavender diluted 1 to10 ratio with water is another remedy claimed for curing acne. This potion can also can be used in the treatment of skin burns.

Many lavender products can be found from food based products right through to cosmetics and oils based health supplements. The diversity is enormous. With all this the herb can still remain a fantastic addition to your garden and is basically very easy to grow and look after.

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Cooking with Mint

Peppermint has a stronger taste than spearmint, so if you are planning on using these in recipes you should have this in mind. The common garden spearmint goes well with savoury dishes. This is what you would usually find in supermarkets. Peppermint is used extensively in sweet recipes to it's strong flavour.

Oil of Mint can be substituted instead of mint extract but need to use 25% - 50% of the volume given for the extract.

Dried mint is a good standby but is best used in cooking that involve longer cooking times such as stews, soups and meat and poultry dishes. Freeze dried mint is a bit different as it can be used in most dishes as it retains it's moisture once defrosted. Used with omelets, sauces and dressings you will have no problem as it doesn't require cooking. The general rule of 1 tablespoon fresh mint to 1 teaspoon dried mint goes here. See Dried herbs.

Recipes with mint in come from all over the world India with its chutneys, England with her good old mint sauce and jelly, (invented by the Romans.) North Africa/Middle East extensively used with rice and other grains cereals.

In Greece, Turkey and the Balkans States mint is used in stuffed vine leaves. Further east we find mint in the Vietnam the dish, 'Pho', this is their national dish Moving on to another continent, the South Americas have mint in their salsa dishes. Mint is indeed an International herb.

Cooking mint with vegetables and imposing the mint flavour just send the taste up a league or two. Minted peas or minted new potatoes are a classic example of a bland vegetable transforming into a wonderful meal.

Meats such as lamb, poultry and fish dishes excel with the addition of mint.

Then there are the deserts which again make some thing good into something special with its' inclusion, mint and chocolate is a classic example.

There are thousands of recipes which include mint and I have selected a very simple Mint and Pea Soup for you to try out.


Mint and Pea Soup

Serves 4
Time 25 min


Ingredients :
1kg fresh or frozen peas
12 mint leaves
1/2 litre chicken stock
200ml cream
Salt and Pepper (Freshly ground)

Method:
Bring the stock to the boil and put the peas in with 2 tsp of salt. Bring back to the boil for three minutes.

Strain off the juice and keep to one side. Cool the peas down under some cold running water then add the mint leaves, cream and half the stock.

Ladle into bowls, season with an garnish with couple more mint leaves.

You may wish to browse a few site I have looked up that have some fantastic dishes you might want to have a go at.

http://recipes.epicurean.com/ - A wide range of mouth-watering recipes here

http://fooddownunder.com/ - An Australian based site with more recipes than you'll ever need

http://allrecipes.com/Recipes/ - Another 180 delicious recipes here.

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http://therakiasite.com
http://doshforu.com

Underrated Oregano

Oregano and marjoram are two herbs that many think are one of the same. Even botanists make claims that there is no difference between the two herbs. Well they are different no matter what scientist say, if you cook and use herbs you will know that the two herbs in question have a distinct difference to a recipe.
We are going to just take the greatly underrated oregano in this instance and is mainly produced in Turkey with a slightly bitter but stronger flavour than its Greek neighbour.
The use of oregano in medicine is prolific to say the least with the oil of the oregano herb well know throughout history as one of the strongest and most effective antibiotics. Coming from natural sources it is entirely safe to use. It also works against fungus, parasites and viruses and can be used externally and internally. What's more there are no negative side effects!
On the healthy food front, going back during the late 1940s, oregano became very popular it he United States, the reason being that American war veterans brought back with the the taste they had experienced with pizzas in which oregano was a plentiful topping. It did a fine double act taste wise with tomatoes and the sauces made from tomatoes. The addition of egg, cheese and basil made up a combination that was born and bred in Italy.
There are two other types of oregano, the Greek oregano and the Mexican varieties and they can be interchangeable with many dishes that require oregano. In Mexican cooking the Mexican oregano is used for its specific earthy taste and has small buds and flowers much more predominate that the Greek variety which has have a more leafy element.
Meat, liver and kidney dishes, along with salads and many stuffing are great with the addition of oregano. It is not just confined to pizzas dishes as many believe. Many soups, vegetable dishes, pasta sauces and scrambled eggs are also a great combining match for this versatile herb.
Fresh oregano is the best if you can grow it or buy it and with lightly sauteed courgette and onions is a treat you must try.For a simple elegant appetizer, even a simply dish of cheese on toast will be transformed into something really special is oregano it sprinkled on one minute before removing from the grill.

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http://365bulgarianadvetures.com
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http://therakiasite.com
http://doshforu.com