H is for Herbs.

About 15 years ago, after graduating from university, I studied herbalism for a few years. I wanted to be self-reliant when I was away from civilisation, to be able to treat minor injuries and discomforts myself, with what I found growing around me.

During the day, I worked in an independent bookstore. In the evenings, I took classes in physiology, botany, aromatherapy and phytochemistry.

It was a great time, even though I spent the bigger part of my early wages on herb books I didn't necessarily need.

About half of the course consisted of practical work. We made syrups, tinctures, elixirs, balms, oils and lotions. I imagined myself an alchemist, stashed away in a lab in a cobweb-ridden tower.

Other evenings were spent in the kitchen, where we learnt to chop and taste, cook and bake with herbs, flowers and roots. I dreamt of becoming a chef or opening a patisserie.

It didn't happen. I've never used those skills professionally, but I've continued experimenting, in the kitchen as well as in my improvised lab-under-the-stairs.

Today I want to share a few easy herbal recipes, using everyday ingredients.

Most of them make great presents. Find a nice bottle, make a vintage-style hand-written label (which you can personalise as you see fit) and decorate with a ribbon, raffia, flowers or sprigs of herbs. Or how about trying them out with friends or family during a well-deserved, health-inspired spring get-together?


Recipes

Herb-infused oil

Ingredients:

• vegetable oil, enough to fill the container of your choice. Most food quality oils will do, but the milder the flavour, the more you'll taste the herbs.
  With mediterranean-style herbs like basil, thyme or oregano, I use a good olive oil.
• fresh herbs. To give an idea of quantity: per cup of oil (roughly 250ml), I use about 1 cup of fresh herbs.
  I make this with either one herb or a mixture of several. My favourites are: thyme, tarragon, bay leaf, basil, rosemary, oregano, chillis and garlic. Lemon thyme and (a bit of) sage make a particularly good combination.

Recipe:

• Wash the herbs and dry them well.
• Gently bruise the herbs to help them release their flavour.
• Put the herbs in a jar, add some fresh pepper.
• Pour the oil over the herbs. (Some recipes want you to heat the oil. I don't do that. I'm not a fan of heating vegetable oils because it changes the nature of the fats.)
• Close the container and keep in a cool, dark place for about a week. (Some recipes advise you to keep it longer. I find 1 week is enough; I prefer a more subtle herb flavour. You can taste in between to see if it needs a few more days.
• Strain the oil and pour it in the container you've chosen. You can add a sprig of dried herbs, a few peppercorns and/or dried chillis for decoration and additional flavour.

Tips:

• Choose a good quality oil. This will affect the outcome, as it's the main ingredient.
• Experiment with different herbs and combinations.
• After infusing the oils, don't keep them too long or they will turn rancid.
• Adding some lemon zest to the recipe gives a nice tang.
• You can make herb vinegars in quite the same way.
• Use this recipe with just oil (e.g. almond or sesame oil - check for allergies first!) and calendula flowers (marigold) to make a great body or massage oil.

Herb-infused wine

• To make a herb-infused wine, add cinnamon sticks, star anise, cloves, lemon or orange zest, ginger, lemon balm, ... to a bottle of white, red or sweet wine.
• You can either heat the wine with the herbs (don't boil!) and then strain, or add the herbs to the bottle, close, and leave it standing. Taste regularly and remove the herbs if the flavour is strong enough.
• I like to do this with mead or a nice-but-not-so-spectacular dessert wine, to give it more layers of deep and interesting flavour.
• These wines make a great and cherished after-dinner drink. They improve your digestion and general well-being.

Avocado Face Mask

Ingredients:

• 1/2 ripe, preferably organic avocado
• 2 tablespoons of warm herbal tea (camomile for a soothing effect, peppermint to refresh)
• 1 teaspoon of honey

Recipe:

• Purée the avocado with honey and tea to a smooth mixture.
• Apply to your face, avoiding the eyes.
• Leave on for 10 minutes.
• Rinse off with warm water, then once more with cold water.

Tips:

• If you're concerned about allergies, test out the mixture on a small part of your skin (e.g. the inside of your wrist), leave it on for a few minutes, rinse off.
• If you have some left: add onions, garlic and lime juice. Eat with nachos / corn chips. ;-)

Enjoy :-)

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From Basil to Bottle Bondage.

With spring so close, it's time to start thinking about the garden. I'm a city dweller, but we're lucky to have a patch of land to grow things.

Most of it is taken up by a herb garden. I love cooking as well as pottering around, which makes growing herbs and using them for food, drinks, cosmetics and medicinal concoctions the perfect hobby for me. I trained as a herbalist many years ago, and even though I've never practised it professionally, I still like to put those skills to good use.

Recently, inspired by sites like Urban Gardens and You Grow Girl, I've started thinking about time- and space-efficient ways of growing our own food, even - or especially - when living in a city.

Yesterday, I've worked on an urban gardening experiment of my own: trying to grow basil upside down.

I've killed a lot of basil plants in the past. They don't like to grow in open ground here, and on top of that, as soon as I plant them out, the local slugs gather en masse, conquer any defences I've provided and raze my brave little basil babies to the ground.

Well, not this time. They can besiege all they want, seize they will not.

Hopefully the basil will live happily ever after, at least until I appear with eager scissors. Snip snip!


Any gardening tips and tricks? Share them in the comments!

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