Herb Bread

I admit it - I have not yet advanced to making bread the old-fashioned way - letting it rise, punching it down.  No, I still use a bread machine.  For the time being, I'm allowing myself this concession because let's face it - it saves time.  I took a recipe that came with my bread machine, then added a few ingredients, changed a couple of others, and voila!  A loaf of herb bread that was so delicious it was gone in one meal.  Here it is, and you can probably make a few changes of your own to suit your tastes.

Herb & Asiago Bread (for a bread machine)

1 3/4 cup bread flour
1 3/4 cup whole wheat flour
2 tsp. salt
2 Tbsp. sugar
2 Tbsp. butter
2 Tbsp. dry milk
1 1/4 cup water (lukewarm)
1 Tbsp. fresh basil, leaves cut into tiny pieces
1/2 tsp. fresh rosemary, stripped from stem and chopped
1 tsp. fresh thyme leaves, stripped from stem
1 garlic clove, pressed
1/4 cup freshly grated Asiago cheese
1 packet active dry yeast

Put all of the ingredients except yeast into the bowl of your bread machine.  Close the lid and add the yeast to the top dispenser.  Use the regular Bake mode - 4 hour setting.  Makes one average sized loaf.

Oh, Rosemary!

How fitting to give an herb a name that is pretty and feminine.  Rosemary!  It does flower in the spring and the leaves look like soft pine needles. The good smell and taste is also like pine. Rosemary is a versatile herb, used in savory and sweet dishes, and also found in many oils and lotions for the skin.  I hear it grows wild out west, is often found growing near the ocean, and is even grown as decorative shrubs when the climate is suitable.  It likes sun.  I didn't have any luck growing rosemary in Michigan last year, BUT where I planted it, it only had partial sun.  Unlike basil, that grew in the partially shaded spot despite it also liking full sun, my poor baby rosemary never took root.  Besides learning about the sun issue, I have also discovered that for climates that aren't mild year round, the best bet is to grow rosemary (from cuttings) in pots so that it can be taken indoors when the temperatures dip down to the 30s.  It will still require sunlight, however, so you will have to have a sunny window for the pot.

There are many wonderful recipes with rosemary, but let's go for the simple options first. 

Roasted Rosemary Potatoes
2 lbs. new potatoes, or small russet, scrubbed and quartered
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 clove fresh garlic, minced
2 tsp. fresh snipped rosemary, leaves stripped from stems
2 tsp. fresh snipped thyme, leaves stripped from stems

Arrange potatoes in 13 x 9 x 2 baking dish.  Mix remaining ingredients in small bowl, then pour over potatoes.  Cover with foil and bake in oven at 350 degrees for 1 hour.  Remove foil.  Stir potatoes, then bake an additional 15 minutes or until potatoes are cooked through.

More Basil...

Pesto is one of the common recipes which calls for fresh basil.  Once the pesto is made, you can spread in on baguettes, mix it in with pasta, over baked potatoes, on an Italian-style sub sandwich and more.  Let me know how you use pesto!

Classic Fresh Basil Pesto
2 cups fresh basil leaves, packed 
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
3-4 garlic cloves, peeled and minced
1/4 - 1/3 cup pine nuts or chopped walnuts
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan or Romano cheese
Salt & freshly ground black pepper to taste, approx. 1 tsp. of each

In food processor, add the basil leaves and pine nuts or chopped walnuts, pulse a few times.  Add garlic, olive oil, salt and pepper and pulse again until well blended.  Add the cheese last and pulse again for about 10 seconds.  Pesto may be stored in refrigerator in an airtight container (put a thin layer of olive oil on the top of the pesto before sealing the bowl, or freeze.  Yields 1 - 1 1/2 cups of pesto sauce.

Gardening tip when growing fresh basil
Basil thrives in sunshine, so plant it where you plant your tomatoes, or mix it in with your flowering plants that require sun.  It is a pretty plant, with rich green leaves and looks great in your flower bed!

Space plants about 1 foot apart.  They will grow to a height of 1 to 2 feet.  Pinch off tips and blooms as they appear to extend the growing season.  Cut sprigs for use in recipes as needed.