Thursday, September 9, 2010

Provençal Mixed Dried Herbs

From Richard Olney's "Provence The Beautiful Cookbook":

Commercial mixtures of dried Provençal herbs usually contain too many herbs, including rosemary, lavender and sage, and usually smell musty. If you are able to collect your own herbs and dry them, a good mixture is composed of thyme, oregano, savory and marjoram, in descending proportions. When the bundles are dry, store them in paper bags, stapled or covered over with other paper bags to protect them from dust without enclosing them in an airtight atmosphere, until autumn when all of the herbs have been picked and dried. Crumbled the bunches between gloved hands, whirl the crumbles, small batches at a time, in a food processor, pass the processed herbs through a sieve with the help of a gloved hand, put them into jars and store them. A wonderful seasoning for stuffings, marinades, sausage meat and pâtés, frilled meats and poultry, or to replace a bouquet garni if you are in a hurry or have no fresh herbs at hand.

2 comments:

  1. I love this recipe! I've wondered how to dry and store fresh herbs. Also I'll be sure to put this mix into my herb garden. This is indeed a beautiful cookbook. Thank you, Na.

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  2. I was excited to see this recipe for drying your own herbs --- I really cannot stand the lavender you find in the traditional Herbs du Provence so I am going to take the recommendation
    used here. I've never grown Marjoram before, but isn't marjoram just baby oregano??

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