Your Herb Shop

Product Description

Fresh herbs offer a healthy and delicious way to spice up any meal, but growing and cooking with these delectable plants are endeavors fraught with uncertainty. What herbs will grow year-round on my kitchen windowsill? What foods complement rosemary? Which part of a lemongrass plant has the best flavor? Can I really eat the geraniums growing in my flower bed? This indispensable guide from The Herb Society of America takes the guesswork out of using herbs in the garden and in the kitchen by providing detailed information for cultivating a wide variety of herbs, along with easy-to-follow recipes that will surely impress even the most discerning palate.

Ranging from Alliums (onions, chives, and garlic) to Zingiber (ginger), the volume's first section provides horticultural information for each of the sixty-three herbs found in the National Herb Garden's Culinary Garden, including common and botanical names, family, place of origin, hardiness, and general light and soil requirements. Botanical sketches accompany many of the entries. Each entry also includes a short history of the herb, gardening basics, and suggestions for using the herb in your kitchen. Culinary herbs without Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS) Status are included in a separate section, with an explanation of their history and ornamental value. An informative introduction to this section compares several different definitions of the word herb, explains the advantages of fresh over dried herbs, describes the proper storage and use of spices, and suggests the best timing and methods for harvesting herbs.

In the second part of the book, HSA members offer classic and creative recipes for more than two hundred dishes incorporating a variety of herbs. Learn how to use the aromatic and flavorful herbs in your garden to enhance stews and casseroles, create dips and pestos, and add a new dimension to your favorite liqueurs. Among the mouth-watering recipes featured are Lemon Basil Tea Bread, Chicken Linguine with Fennel and Tarragon, Five-Herb Pasta Salad, and Rosemary Fizz.

The concluding section of the book contains a fascinating personal tour of the two-and-one-half-acre National Herb Garden, which lies in the heart of Washington, D.C., at the center of the United States National Arboretum, and of its various themed areas, including the Knot Garden, the Antique and Heritage Rose Garden, the Dye Garden, the Colonial Garden, the Native American Garden, the Beverage Garden, the Medicinal Garden, and many others. Complete plant lists accompany the description of each garden.

Green thumbs and gourmets alike will find inspiration in these pages to look at herbs in new ways--perhaps to see beyond their cupboards and into their own yards for ways to liven up their meals--and will gain the knowledge and confidence to grow and use herbs effectively. More than a gardening book, more than a cookbook, The Herb Society of America's Essential Guide to Growing and Cooking with Herbs will prove to be an indispensable companion for all herb lovers.

376 pages, 7 Halftones, 32 Line Drawings, 6.25 x 9.25

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Product Details

Publisher	Louisiana State University Press
ISBN	0807132551
Format	Hardcover
Creator	Katherine K. Schlosser
EAN	9780807132555
Label	Louisiana State University Press
Dewey Decimal Number	641.357
Studio	Louisiana State University Press
Number Of Pages	349
Title	The Herb Society of America's Essential Guide to Growing and Cooking With Herbs
Publication Date	2007-09
Manufacturer	Louisiana State University Press

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Customer Reviews

Great Cookbook

Review by KarenW, 2009-07-04

I received this book as a gift since I have recently begun growing my own herbs. The basic info about the herbs is interesting and helpful but the recipes are fantastic. Usually cookbook recipes are hit or miss but every recipe I've tried was good and most exceptionally so. I loved this book so much that I got one for my daughter who also loves to cook and use fresh herbs.

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HSA member review

Review by herb grower, 2008-12-16

Although happy with the information on individual herbs and wonderful recipes, this is not a book I could recommend to a beginning herb gardener because NO color drawings or photographs of any of the herbs described.

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Herb society book

Review by Julia A. Hostetler, 2008-11-11

This is a very good book for people who are looking for a practical guide on the use and growing of herbs. It is not a flashy book but has information that I have not found elsewhere such as lists of herbs grown in the National Herb gardens. Although the recipes are not extensive, the ones included are interesting and unusual.
This is a wonderful book to add to a collection of herb books but could easily be the only book a person would need to get started with herbs.

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Creative Ideas

Review by J. Andersen, 2008-07-31

The book is a great source of information about incorporating fresh herbs into your every day cooking. After looking for some time, I finally found a comprehensive cookbook for cooking with herbs.

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Church-Group Cookbook

Review by M. Symak, 2008-07-10

I expectated plenty of good evidence-based information on growing herbs from the Herb Society of America. What I got was 100 pages of general info on every herb out there and then 150 pages of unproven recipes. I have better herb information from most other sources. I would never have bought this book off the shelf. I felt like I was reading a church fundraising cookbook What a disappointment. I expected better from the Herb Society of America.

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