The secret ingredient you've been looking for all your life? It grows (practically) everywhere
'It's all about the fresh herbs,' he said, gazing into my eyes as he minced a pile of minuscule thyme leaves without glancing down. 'He' was my boyfriend, Henry, then the poissonier ('fish guy') at Lutèce, one of the most acclaimed restaurants in New York City at the time, and very French.
We were at Henry's house in Bridgehampton, and he was making — of all things — tuna salad. Henry's tuna salad consisted of standard-issue canned tuna, Hellman's (a.k.a. Best Foods) mayonnaise, a spoonful of Dijon mustard, a squeeze of lemon juice, a few dashes of Tabasco, a big spoonful of sweet relish, finely chopped red onion and celery, kosher salt and, finally, the magic, the 'secret ingredient' we're all always looking for: fresh herbs! In this instance: thyme and Italian parsley.
Fresh herbs are the unsung heroes of the kitchen that make your food sing. Woody herbs such as rosemary and thyme add a layer of flavor to roasted meats and other vegetables as well as to soups, stews and stocks.
But the focus here and now, in the height of summer, is on soft herbs: those bright, sprightly greens with tender stems that you see locked up in plastic clamshells at grocery stores and piled abundantly at farm stands. They are the game changers.
Each herb has its own story to tell, but collectively, these herbs, including (but not limited to) basil, parsley, mint, chives, tarragon, cilantro, dill, oregano, marjoram and chervil, can be used for a specific recipe, and they can also be used improvisationally and with creative abandon.
I like to grab a fistful of whatever I have and cut them with scissors directly over whatever I'm making — a green salad, a salad of canned beans, or onto roasted vegetables or baked potatoes — or potatoes cooked in any way. You can finely chop them and stir them into mayonnaise or a vinaigrette. One of my favorite things to do is to make an herb-based condiment such as the Argentine chimichurri, or the bright, herbaceous French pistou or this spicy Asian, herby hybrid Sichuan chimichurri.
During summer, when basil grows like a weed and is more fragrant than ever, classic basil pesto is a no-brainer. (I know people are getting all creative with pesto made with carrot tops and other greens, but have you ever tasted a carrot top? There's a reason pesto is made with basil.) A spoonful of any of those takes something simple, like grilled steak, chicken or fish to make into the kind of finished dish your friends will ask you the recipe for. Spoon the condiments into soup and you might never be able to have soup without a fresh herb condiment swirled into it again.
And the good news is, this isn't like a $200-bottle-of-balsamic-vinegar kind of secret. Fresh herbs are cheap. Here in Southern California, with the exception of cilantro, which sprouts and goes to seed really quickly, and tarragon, which, like so many things French, has a reputation for being temperamental, fresh herbs are easy to grow year-round.
Kathy Delgado, who owns the beloved Vintageweave (her interiors shop used to be on Third Street near the Grove; now she operates the business out of her home studio in Long Beach), has fresh herbs in charming vintage vessels throughout her French farmhouse-inspired garden. She swears by a mix of quality potting soil and chicken or cow manure. 'It only smells for a day,' she assures us.
Once you've planted yours — or brought a bunch (or bunches) home from the market — the possibilities are endless. I am not a deft dill user, so I'm excited to try this Slow-Roasted Salmon with Dill and Lemon Salsa Verde. And since I'm all for maximum flavor with the least amount of effort (especially for summer meals), I appreciate the whole herbs added haphazardly over this Whole Grilled Branzino.
And I love the way cilantro, mint and Thai basil leaves are added whole and abundantly, as if one of the 'lettuces,' to Sandy Ho's Napa Valley Chicken Salad.
Now with the secret to a million delicious meals unlocked, it's time to get growing.
Eating out this week? Sign up for Tasting Notes to get our restaurant experts' insights and off-the-cuff takes on where they're dining right now.
What I love about this recipe is just how simple it is: just a few ingredients, all speaking loudly and clearly for themselves. Use the best olive oil you can find, more salt than you think you should, and don't measure the herbs. Just grab a handful of whatever you have and use scissors to chop way more than the 3 tablespoons called for over the squash and beans.Get the recipe.Cooking time: 45 minutes. Serves 4.
Fines herbes sounds a little too French and fancy for my style, but, as it turns out, it's just a combination of three ordinary herbs — parsley, chives, tarragon (very French, slightly sweet, with an anise-like flavor) — and one you might not have used before, chervil (a delicate leafy herb with a flavor between parsley and tarragon; if you can't find it, use more of the others). The combination transforms these perfectly scrambled eggs into not just an ideal breakfast — you could serve it for lunch or dinner. Get the recipe.Cooking time: 25 minutes. Serves 2.
Soup au pistou is a classic French summer vegetable soup, whose defining characteristic is the pesto-like condiment that is generously swirled into it. The word 'pistou' (like Italian 'pesto') comes from the Latin pistillum, which means to pound. For both pistou and pesto, the basil is traditionally ground using a mortar and pestle. (The difference is that unlike pesto, pistou doesn't contain Parmesan cheese.) Pounding the herbs (this pistou also contains parsley leaves) as they're called for here is still the best way to go as it gives you control over their texture and prevents the herbs from heating up from a whirring blade. But don't let lack of a mortar and pestle stop you. You can make it in a food processor. Do so in small batches and not to over-whir the herbs; you want the condiment to have texture.Get the recipe.Cooking time: 1 hour 20 minutes. Serves 6 to 8.
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Los Angeles Times
5 hours ago
- Los Angeles Times
The secret ingredient you've been looking for all your life? It grows (practically) everywhere
'It's all about the fresh herbs,' he said, gazing into my eyes as he minced a pile of minuscule thyme leaves without glancing down. 'He' was my boyfriend, Henry, then the poissonier ('fish guy') at Lutèce, one of the most acclaimed restaurants in New York City at the time, and very French. We were at Henry's house in Bridgehampton, and he was making — of all things — tuna salad. Henry's tuna salad consisted of standard-issue canned tuna, Hellman's (a.k.a. Best Foods) mayonnaise, a spoonful of Dijon mustard, a squeeze of lemon juice, a few dashes of Tabasco, a big spoonful of sweet relish, finely chopped red onion and celery, kosher salt and, finally, the magic, the 'secret ingredient' we're all always looking for: fresh herbs! In this instance: thyme and Italian parsley. Fresh herbs are the unsung heroes of the kitchen that make your food sing. Woody herbs such as rosemary and thyme add a layer of flavor to roasted meats and other vegetables as well as to soups, stews and stocks. But the focus here and now, in the height of summer, is on soft herbs: those bright, sprightly greens with tender stems that you see locked up in plastic clamshells at grocery stores and piled abundantly at farm stands. They are the game changers. Each herb has its own story to tell, but collectively, these herbs, including (but not limited to) basil, parsley, mint, chives, tarragon, cilantro, dill, oregano, marjoram and chervil, can be used for a specific recipe, and they can also be used improvisationally and with creative abandon. I like to grab a fistful of whatever I have and cut them with scissors directly over whatever I'm making — a green salad, a salad of canned beans, or onto roasted vegetables or baked potatoes — or potatoes cooked in any way. You can finely chop them and stir them into mayonnaise or a vinaigrette. One of my favorite things to do is to make an herb-based condiment such as the Argentine chimichurri, or the bright, herbaceous French pistou or this spicy Asian, herby hybrid Sichuan chimichurri. During summer, when basil grows like a weed and is more fragrant than ever, classic basil pesto is a no-brainer. (I know people are getting all creative with pesto made with carrot tops and other greens, but have you ever tasted a carrot top? There's a reason pesto is made with basil.) A spoonful of any of those takes something simple, like grilled steak, chicken or fish to make into the kind of finished dish your friends will ask you the recipe for. Spoon the condiments into soup and you might never be able to have soup without a fresh herb condiment swirled into it again. And the good news is, this isn't like a $200-bottle-of-balsamic-vinegar kind of secret. Fresh herbs are cheap. Here in Southern California, with the exception of cilantro, which sprouts and goes to seed really quickly, and tarragon, which, like so many things French, has a reputation for being temperamental, fresh herbs are easy to grow year-round. Kathy Delgado, who owns the beloved Vintageweave (her interiors shop used to be on Third Street near the Grove; now she operates the business out of her home studio in Long Beach), has fresh herbs in charming vintage vessels throughout her French farmhouse-inspired garden. She swears by a mix of quality potting soil and chicken or cow manure. 'It only smells for a day,' she assures us. Once you've planted yours — or brought a bunch (or bunches) home from the market — the possibilities are endless. I am not a deft dill user, so I'm excited to try this Slow-Roasted Salmon with Dill and Lemon Salsa Verde. And since I'm all for maximum flavor with the least amount of effort (especially for summer meals), I appreciate the whole herbs added haphazardly over this Whole Grilled Branzino. And I love the way cilantro, mint and Thai basil leaves are added whole and abundantly, as if one of the 'lettuces,' to Sandy Ho's Napa Valley Chicken Salad. Now with the secret to a million delicious meals unlocked, it's time to get growing. Eating out this week? Sign up for Tasting Notes to get our restaurant experts' insights and off-the-cuff takes on where they're dining right now. What I love about this recipe is just how simple it is: just a few ingredients, all speaking loudly and clearly for themselves. Use the best olive oil you can find, more salt than you think you should, and don't measure the herbs. Just grab a handful of whatever you have and use scissors to chop way more than the 3 tablespoons called for over the squash and the time: 45 minutes. Serves 4. Fines herbes sounds a little too French and fancy for my style, but, as it turns out, it's just a combination of three ordinary herbs — parsley, chives, tarragon (very French, slightly sweet, with an anise-like flavor) — and one you might not have used before, chervil (a delicate leafy herb with a flavor between parsley and tarragon; if you can't find it, use more of the others). The combination transforms these perfectly scrambled eggs into not just an ideal breakfast — you could serve it for lunch or dinner. Get the time: 25 minutes. Serves 2. Soup au pistou is a classic French summer vegetable soup, whose defining characteristic is the pesto-like condiment that is generously swirled into it. The word 'pistou' (like Italian 'pesto') comes from the Latin pistillum, which means to pound. For both pistou and pesto, the basil is traditionally ground using a mortar and pestle. (The difference is that unlike pesto, pistou doesn't contain Parmesan cheese.) Pounding the herbs (this pistou also contains parsley leaves) as they're called for here is still the best way to go as it gives you control over their texture and prevents the herbs from heating up from a whirring blade. But don't let lack of a mortar and pestle stop you. You can make it in a food processor. Do so in small batches and not to over-whir the herbs; you want the condiment to have the time: 1 hour 20 minutes. Serves 6 to 8.
Chicago Tribune
9 hours ago
- Chicago Tribune
Route 66: Hamburgers so savory, they can make you cry
EL RENO, Okla. — The air downtown smells of grilled onions, wafting from the flat tops of three Route 66 restaurants that have helped give this small town about 25 miles west of Oklahoma City a distinct culinary identity. They're called fried onion burgers. Plenty of places put onions on burgers. Few have been doing it as long, or as well, as they do here. 'They're not like any burger,' said Lyndsay Bayne, 48, the city's public information and marketing manager. 'It's hard to explain. You have to eat one.' A few years before the country plunged into the Great Depression and the nascent Route 66 ferried Dust Bowl refugees west, a man named Ross Davis needed a way to stretch the supply of expensive ground beef he had to serve customers at his Hamburger Inn in El Reno. Onions, he realized, were cheap. And so, the story goes, he decided to bolster each patty with shredded onions. Lots of them. Thus, the fried onion burger was born. After the stock market crash of 1929, its popularity grew and it took on a second name: 'the Depression burger.' The Hamburger Inn is no longer in El Reno, but the city's 19,000 residents have three options all within steps of each other on Route 66. Robert's Grill is the oldest, opened in 1926. Then there's Johnnie's Hamburgers & Coneys and Sid's Diner — a fourth, Jobe's Country Boy Drive-in, is about a mile west of downtown on Route 66. They all follow the same idea: A massive pile of thinly sliced white onions are deposited on top of the thinly pressed patty as it cooks on the flat top. Then, the entire thing is flipped on its other side, so the burger cooks on top of the onions, which caramelize and fuse with the meat. Follow our road trip: Route 66, 'The Main Street of America,' turns 100 The town has a festival every year where an 850-pound fried onion burger is cooked. Residents have their favorites among the pantheon of purveyors, and that seems to be largely based on tradition — they like best the place they went to in high school, or the place their grandparents took them as kids. There does not appear to be the same kind of fierce allegiance or rivalry seen with Italian beef in Chicago or with po'boys in New Orleans. But all are fairly united in the belief that the best fried onion burgers can only be found in El Reno. Of the burger joints selling them in places such as Oklahoma City, Bayne said: 'Bless their hearts.'
Buzz Feed
14 hours ago
- Buzz Feed
10 Tasty Products To Help You Discover Your Inner Chef
A 16-piece nonstick aluminum cookware set that will let you cook literally whatever you want without anything sticking anywhere. Imagine how much better cooking will be knowing you won't have to spend hours scrubbing after. This set includes an 8-inch fry pan, a 9.5-inch fry pan, a1.5-quart saucepan with glass lid, a 2.5-quart saucepan with glass lid, a 5-quart dutch oven with glass lid, two-piece cookware protectors (11.5 inch and 13.5 inch), a solid spoon, a slotted turner, and three piece ceramic prep bowls (6-ounce, 4-ounce and 2-ounce).Promising review: "I decided that I wanted to get some new pots and pans because my old ones are looking kind of shabby. And I saw the pink set and I thought, why not? So far, I'm very happy with the pans. They're very sturdy, and things are not sticking when I'm cooking. I'm impressed." —JLynnePrice: $69.96 (available in three colors) A carbon steel nonstick wok reviewers love for its high sides and beautiful stir-fry abilities. Say hello to your new favorite kitchen item. Promising review: "Love this wok! Great for fried rice and tons of other Asian-inspired dishes. So glad I didn't spend more on another option." —KimPrice: $24.96 A cutting board prep station set with removable trays so you can keep everything separate and tidy. Trying to find space for everything on the same cutting board is like trying to shove your queen bed in your tiny apartment bedroom. There's not enough room! Promising review: "For years, I always just used my countertop when cutting and preparing food in the kitchen. We recently replaced our countertops, so this could not have arrived at a more perfect time! I love most that this is an elevated cutting surface so that I can cut and push the prepared items right into the containers/trays that came with this Tasty Cutting board. This really is more than just a cutting board; it is a complete prep station. The trays have come in handy when my kiddos are helping in the kitchen. I can cut and chop everything for them, and then they each have their own tray, or we can line them up and have a mini topping bar. This cutting board prep station can be used in so many different ways. When I get finished, I just stack it all in the dishwasher. Super easy to use and super easy to clean up. My kiddos also love the bright colors!! LOVE it!!! I would definitely recommend this to friends, family, and anyone looking for a great cutting board/prep station. Another great product offered by Walmart!!."—multitalented1Price: $8.88 A nonstick griddle that'll make easy work of the most important meal of the day. Eggs? Sure! Sausage? You bet! Pancakes? What else is a griddle for?! Promising review: "I am a Tasty fan. I have purchased numerous nonstick pans and have always been satisfied with the price and workmanship. I don't want to spend a ton of money on nonstick pans. Colors are pretty, too." —browniePrice: $24.76 A stainless steel kitchen grater and zester to break down the finest cheeses into an even finer shred that will melt perfectly on any snack you can imagine. Plus, it comes with a built-in base to keep all those delicious little pieces exactly where you want them. Promising review: "I love it! I shred it up. I love zucchini to make eight loaves of bread and less than an hour and that's with taking a break." —CSBentleyPrice: $9.99 And if you'd rather keep the cheese blocks fully formed, serve them on this handy bamboo charcuterie board. It also functions as a cutting board and has a hidden utensil drawer for when the guests arrive and want to start picking away. Price: $29.98 A 15-piece stainless-steel knife set for taking care of any and all cutting, slicing, dicing, chopping, filleting, or carving needs. That's a lot of verbs, but if the set was smaller, not all of them could be included. This set includes an 8" chef knife, 7" bread knife, 7" slicer knife, 5.5" Santoku knife, 3.5" paring knife, 5" utility knife, 3" bird's beak knife, (6) 4.5" steak knives, all-purpose shears, and a black cutlery review: "Very sharp knives and the soft handle is easy on the hands." —WilmaPrice: $45.97 (available in two colors) A set of tongs because it's finally time for BBQ season. These tongs have steel-reinforced silicone teeth to ensure they can handle even the toughest steaks, and they're dishwasher-safe, so once it's time to clean up, they are a cinch. Can you already smell that intoxicating BBQ aroma? They're also heat resistant up to 400 degrees Fahrenheit, so they won't get damaged if you're grilling up meats and review: "These tongs are the best! They are strong, and the grip is awesome! I have been looking for strong tongs forever. All the silicone ones I have at home are not strong at all. Wow! I am shocked by the great quality! I highly recommend!" —ADRIANAPrice: $8.99 A Tasty cookbook that is jam-packed with 150 recipes, ranging across the full flavor palette. Check out how to make fried egg pizza, salmon poke bowl, mozzarella stick onion rings, molten lava brownies, and that's not 5 percent of what's in there. Promising review: "This book is great! I bought it for my 10-year-old who loves to cook. It approaches cooking in a straightforward way and gives you lots of easy-to-handle recipes with a wide range of flavors and styles without needing a lot of fancy prep tools or gourmet items." —wyodezPrice: $12.84 A nonstick frying pan that is also dishwasher safe. That's double the ease. No mess left behind and no time spent scrubbing. Just fry it up and toss it in with the rest of the dishes. Bim bam boom. Promising review: "My new favorite pan for scrambled eggs and small food portions. No stick and so easy to clean. Tasty products have always been top notch without breaking the bank." —browniePrice: $11.94
