ALL ABOUT HERBS 



New Plants, New Uses 



After a winter of reading flower 

 and herb catalogs, it's time to 

 get rolling out there in the gardens! 

 Soon customers will come streaming 

 though the doors looking for new 

 plants and new ideas. Here are a few. 



Last year, Beth Simpson at Roll- 

 ing Green Landscaping showed me 

 a new sage — a shorter, compact 

 plant called Ornamental Broadleaf 

 Sage {Salvia 'Bergarten'). It is lovely; 

 it doesn't seem to get as woody 

 and rangy as regular garden sage 

 (Salvia officinalis) and the broad sage- 

 green leaves look beautiful in the 

 herb garden or small landscape. 

 Best of all, the leaves are just as 

 tasty and tender as can be. 



If you haven't cooked with fresh 

 sage, you've missed something very 

 special and you might want to try 

 this recipe. If you like it, you might 

 want to print it up and give it to 

 customers when they purchase S. 

 ■Bergarten.' It's one of my concoc- 

 tions based on old-fashioned bread 

 pudding — you can use a variety of 

 herbs and it's quick and easy to 

 pop into the oven for a hearty 

 breakfast before going out to work 

 in those gardens. 



Savory Herbal Breakfast Pudding 



Take a loaf of your favorite French 

 bread and cut into one-inch-thick 

 slices. Melt half a stick of butter in 

 the bottom of a 13 x9' pan. Sprinkle 

 three tablespoons of minced fresh 

 sage leaves and a bit of minced pars- 

 ley and chives over the melted butter. 

 Arrange the slices of bread over the 

 herbs. Beat six eggs v^^th 3/4 cup milk 

 and a bit of salt and pepper. Pour 

 around and over the bread slices. 

 Sprinkle a half cup to a cup of grated 

 cheese of your choice over the top 

 and refrigerate until morning. Sprinkle 

 paprika generously over the top and 

 bake in an oven (preheated to 350F) 

 for about 20 minutes — or until the eggs 

 are set and the top nicely colored. 

 Serve with a fresh fruit cup and you 

 have a perfectly wonderful breakfast. 



There are two dill varieties that I 

 highly recommend. They're not brand 

 new, but I haven't seen them around 

 much. The first is Dill Bouquet. This 

 one produces lots of seeds after the 

 big yellow umbels of florets go by. 

 The huge seed heads can be gath- 

 ered into a paper bag and the bag 

 tied right there in the garden so the 

 heads don't mature and drop when 

 you're busy and not looking. Dill seed 

 is wonderful in potato salad, cole slaw 

 and other cabbage dishes, squash, 

 carrots, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts. 

 For persons who make a lot of pickles 

 from their garden, this is a "must 

 have." 



The second dill is Dukat Dill. 

 This is the one to grow if you like 

 "dill weed" and want lots to dry for 

 later use. Its leaves are more abun- 

 dant and the plants do not go to 

 seed as fast as other types. The fla- 

 vor is mellow and aromatic — won- 

 derful with fish, green beans, new 

 potatoes. IVlince the leaves and 

 sprinkle them over your salads and 

 fresh garden tomatoes. Plant this 

 one several times so you'll have a 

 supply all season. 



This recipe is for Dill Mustard 

 Sauce, excellent over grilled salmon 

 or other fish of your choice: 



Dill Mustard Sauce 



I tsp. salt 



I tsp. fresh ground black pepper 



1 tbsp. sugar 



1/2 tsp. ground allspice 



1/4 cup cognac 



1/4 cup white wine (I've used just 



wine with no problem.) 



6 tsp. Dijon-style mustard 



3 tbsp. chopped Dukat Dill leaves 



Put all ingredient except the mustard 

 and dill weed into a small saucepan. 

 Bring mix to a boil and boil vigor- 

 ously until reduced by half. Strain and 

 keep hot while you grill the fish, just 

 before serving, stir the mustard and 

 dill into the hot sauce. Pour a spoon- 

 ful over each serving and garnish with 

 a dill sprig and a bit of lemon. A su- 



perb summer supper with salad and 

 crusty bread. 



Anise hyssop {Agastache foeniculum) 

 is not new, but I am amazed at the 

 number of people who do not know 

 of it. It's gorgeous in the garden — 

 tall and sturdy, with blue-to-laven- 

 der flowers that are much appreci- 

 ated by the bees and butterflies: 

 very nice for the back of the border 

 and excellent for culinary use. The 

 leaves and flowers are all sweetly 

 anise-scented. They make a natu- 

 rally sweet tea, are wonderful 

 sprinkled over a fresh fruit cup, and 

 delicious for baking, marinades, or 

 tossed with salad ingredients. 



There's a new cilantro making 

 headway on the market. Known as 

 Vietnamese cilantro {Polygonium 

 odoratum), it's a tender perennial 

 that propagates quickly and easily 

 from cuttings. It tastes like regular 

 cilantro (coriander), but does not go 

 to seed or die back as fast. I kept 

 one inside in a pot this winter and 

 it did rather well as long as I kept 

 it trimmed back so it wouldn't get 

 lanky and weak. We use it just as 

 you would the regular varieties — in 

 salsas and other such recipes. 



Epazote {Chenopodium ambrosioides) 

 is often discussed in the cooking ar- 

 eas on-line. Called Mexican tea, it's 

 unthinkable for good Mexican cooks 

 to prepare beans without a sprig of 

 fresh epazote. An annual that self- 

 sows readily, its leaves are used ex- 

 tensively in central and southern 

 Mexico. As we become more aware 

 of ethnic cuisines, it's important to 

 learn about the herbs and spices 

 used in them. I finally found a seed 

 source at Shepherd's Garden Seeds. 

 This is a small sampling of the 

 new plants and seeds available to 

 us. It's great fun to search them out, 

 give them a try in your own gardens 

 and kitchens, then pass your find- 

 ings along to your customers. 



Tanya \ackson, a well-known area herbal- 

 ist, can be reached at 603-431-6774. 



THE PLANTSMAN 



