Power of Herbs

According to Charlemagne, an herb is the friend of the physicians and the praise of cooks. History records show that herbs are used mainly for treatment. But with creativity of the masters, herbs became the praise in cooking.

Today there has been a great surge of renewed awareness in herbs. A revival of the culinary arts and various ethnic cuisine has prompted new interest. Health conscious cooks have found that herbs contain no calories or fat - a fact of great importance to those on weight loss diets. Doctors even recommend the use of herbs and spices in salt-restricted diets to enhance flavor without adding sodium content. Adventurous cooks have found that raising their own herbs can be quite fulfilling as a hobby with the end results in cooking as just an added bonus.

-http://culinaryherbguide.com/usingherbsincooking.htm

Besides helping flavor foods when cutting back on salt, fat and sugar, herbs may offer additional benefits of their own. Researchers are finding many culinary herbs (both fresh and dried) have antioxidants that may help protect against such diseases as cancer and heart disease.

-http://lancaster.unl.edu/food/ftapr03.htm

Here are some ideas to help you start combining fresh herbs with your foods. 

BASIL - a natural snipped in with tomatoes; terrific in fresh pesto; other possibilities include pasta sauce, peas, zucchini

CHIVES - dips, potatoes, tomatoes

CILANTRO - Mexican, Asian and Caribbean cooking; salsas, tomatoes

DILL - carrots, cottage cheese, fish, green beans, potatoes, tomatoes

MINT - carrots, fruit salads, parsley, peas, tabouli, tea

OREGANO - peppers, tomatoes

PARSLEY - The curly leaf is the most common, but the flat-leaf or Italian parsley is more strongly flavored and often preferred for cooking. Naturals for parsley include potato salad, tabouli

ROSEMARY - chicken, fish, lamb, pork, roasted potatoes, soups, stews, tomatoes

SAGE - poultry seasoning, stuffings

TARRAGON - chicken, eggs, fish

THYME - eggs, lima beans, potatoes, poultry, summer squash, tomatoes

WINTER SAVORY - dried bean dishes, stews

Adobong Liempo sa Patis

Adobong Liempo sa Patis
(the Junatic way of cooking)

Ingredients:

500 grams liempo cut into 2 inches lenghtwise
250 grams potato
patis
vinegar
dahon ng laurel
salt and pepper
sugar
3 cups of water
1 large onion
5 cloves garlic
starch


How to cook:

1. Boil liempo until tender.
2. Season with salt and pepper, and onion and garlic.
3. When the water is almost half, add some patis and vinegar.
4. When the water is almost quarter, add bay leaf and ample amount of sugar.
5. Add the potato cut into circles.
6. When the potato is cook, add 1/4 cut of water with starch.

Makes 6-7 servings.
Cost P140.00

Chicken with Kalabasa

Chicken with Kalabasa
(the Junatic way of cooking)

Ingredients:

500 grams chicken breast
250 grams kalabasa
5 gloves of minced garlic
1 medium minced onion
1 medium chopped ginger
1 stalk of celery
fish sauce (patis)
tanglad
oil
salt and pepper to taste
a pinch of tarragon leaves
2 cups of water

How to cook:

1. Boil chicken in water for 15 minutes.
2. Season with salt and pepper.
3. Add tanglad leaves.
4. Set aside and cut into cubes.
5. Saute garlic, onion and ginger.
6. Add chicken and mixed until golden brown.
7. Add kalabasa cut into strips.
8. Add tarragon and celery cut into strips.
9. Season with patis and pepper.
10. Add the remaining chicken broth.
11. Put some starch on the chicken broth before adding (optional).
12. Serve hot with steamed rice.

Makes 5-7 servings.
Total cost: P100.00