Mad About Herbs

Ah, the benefits of not pruning the hedge at the bottom of the garden – lots of elderberries within easy reach thanks to the elder trees growing in the hedge! I had a lovely Sunday afternoon harvesting the elderberries then turning them into syrup and an elixir. It’s lovely being able to make useful immune system boosters with free food.  There’s even a website dedicated to elderberries, you’ll find it here.

Ready to cook after stripping them off the stems with a fork.

I turned this picking into 4 bottles of elderberry syrup flavoured with cinnamon and lime (the addition of lime being inspired by my Grow Your Own Drugs book which I got for my birthday). I also made some Elderberry Elixir which smells lovely already. It’s made with elderberries, honey and brandy and is currently infusing in my understairs cupboard. Just have to try and resist drinking it for another 4 to 6 weeks. After this time I need to strain out the elderberries and bottle it, oh and label it, then drink it – can’t wait! Thanks to Kiva Rose and Sarah Head for their recipes.

Elderberry Elixir infusing – doesn't look very appetising right now but once strained and bottled and you taste it you'll be surprised!

This little lot should help boost the immune system and prevent or reduce the severity of any colds and flu we come across as a family over the next few months.  I must try Kiva’s advice on the most effective treatment, she states “Take 1/4 – 1/2 dropperfull of Elixir every two to three hours at the first sign of illness. You MUST take the Elixir frequently rather than having a bigger dose further apart, it just won’t work that way. Use the same dosage if you are actively ill. For a general preventative dose, I suggest 1/3 dropperfull every four hours or so.” If you click on ‘Kiva Rose’ in the paragraph above, you will find the recipe for the Elixir and some more detailed information.

If you want more photos you can look at my previous blog post about elderberry syrup making.

If you have any favourite elderberry recipes, feel free to leave me a comment below. If you’d like the elderberry syrup recipe let me know that too and I’ll publish it in the next blog post.

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With lots of lush growth on the herb plants in my garden at the moment, I decided to have a go at making some herb butters again and wanted to share the basics with you so you can enjoy them too.

The basic method is to:

• Take half a pack of butter 125g (in the UK, most packs are 250g) and let it reach room temperature so it will be soft enough to mix the herbs into.
• Decide which herbs you’d like to use – they can be fresh or dried. Add between 1 tsp to 1 tbsp of each herb depending on the strength of the herb and to your taste. Prepare the herbs by chopping them finely, I find my Mezzaluna and wooden board that it came with the easiest to use, looks similar to this one but larger, but you could just buy the *Mezzaluna or even a *herb chopper if you’re not comfortable using just a knife to chop the herbs.
• Prepare any other ingredients that you wish to blend into the butter.
• Place the butter into a bowl and whip until it has a creamy texture.
• Blend in the other ingredients with a spoon or hand held mixer until they are evenly dispersed.
• Roll the butter into a log shape and wrap in greaseproof paper/cling film/foil, twist the end of the paper to seal it or fold ends as if wrapping a present and tuck underneath. Place in the refrigerator for about 2 hours to harden and allow the flavours to develop. Alternatively, place in the freezer (remembering to label it with the herbs you have used) and then just take a slice as you need it but use within a few weeks to enjoy it at its best. If you can’t wait until it’s chilled you can of course serve it fresh with your meal.

For something different you could flatten the butter to approximately 3 cm thick then use any shape of biscuit cutters to cut out some shapes out of the flattened butter. Flower shapes look good. Try these shapes or thick slices of the rolled style melted on steaks, other barbeque meats, vegetables or into soups and sauces for flavour or add to baked potatoes.

If you prefer to watch a video on how to make herb butter, this is one with Sophie Grigson making herb butter using a blender.

Making and trying herb butters is a good way to find out which herbs or blends of herbs are your favourites.

Here are just a few ideas for which herbs go well with certain foods but just let your imagination run riot and see what delicious combinations that you can come up with:

Fish: parsley, fennel, dill, chervil, coriander leaf, lovage, lemon thyme, lemon balm

Meats: marjoram, garlic, rosemary, mint

Chicken: tarragon, basil, sage

Vegetables esp. beans and tomatoes: basil, thyme

Egg based dishes: chives, chervil, parsley, tarragon

If you’d like a detailed recipe, leave me a comment and I’ll write a few blog posts with just recipes. Alternatively, if you have any favourite combinations feel free to share them below.

* these are affiliate links, the item price is unchanged but if you chose to buy via the link, a small commission will be paid to me which will help with the running costs of this site.

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