Recipes from our Herb Society Members

Watermelon Paw Paw Mint Salad

Method: 

• Chop watermelon and pawpaw into bite size pieces and arrange on a plate. 

• Sprinkle with crumbled feta.

• Drizzle with sweet chilli sauce 

• Squeeze a lime over top

• Finish with chopped mint and serve 

• Refreshing and delicious! 

Most herbal teas are infusions.  The general rule for making herbal tea is 1 teaspoon dried herb or 3 teaspoons fresh, crushed herb to 1 cup of boiling water.

To make herbal teas always try to use a warmed teapot, preferably china, but never aluminium!  Place herbs in pot and pour over boiling water – just like making a ‘normal’ pot of tea.  Allow to infuse (steep) for 3 to 5 minutes.  Add lemon or a slice  of honey if you wish – but never add milk to herbal tea!

There is really no limit to the combinations you can use for herbal teas, but here are a few suggestions you can try:

• Lemon balm, bergamot and pineapple sage 

• Lemon balm or verbena and mint

• Apple mint, basil and lemongrass 

• Elderflowers and mint or peppermint

• Lemongrass and ginger 

• Lemon verbena and 1 nasturtium flower

• Peppermint geranium with a slice of lemon

• Ginger and mint - delicious served hot or cold

• Dandelion root is a great coffee substitute

• Lemongrass, lemon myrtle and lemon balm (add mint if you wish)

• Chamomile tea is relaxing and is claimed to sooth the digestion.

NOTE:  Because some herbs have medicinal properties it is not wise to drink too many cups of the same tea in a day unless you are trying to treat an ailment.

Hazelnut and Raspberry Cake 

Original recipe and image from Real Delicious by Chrissy Freer. 
Made for us by Jacqueline Steffen

Supper Time ~ November

Life is definitely too short not to eat cake! The trick to good health is to eat something you really enjoy, eat only a small piece, and eat it occasionally, not every day.

Preparation: 15 min   Cooking 45 min.

Ingredients: 

• 1/3 cup (45 g) buckwheat flour

• 1 tsp baking powder

• 1 tsp ground cinnamon

• ¼ tsp ground nutmeg

• 4 eggs (55-60g each)

• 2/3 cup (140g) caster sugar

• 200g hazelnut meal

• 1/3 cup (80ml) macadamia oil

• 1 cup (120g) raspberries, extra to serve

• 1 lemon (zest only), finely grated

• chopped toasted hazelnuts, to serve

• Greek-style or thick coconut yoghurt,
to serve.

Jacq’s adjustments:

• I used rice flour instead of buckwheat. 

• I also used 1/3 cup of raw sugar, which I ground to caster sugar consistency, in my coffee grinder.

• Macadamia oil is great for this cake but rice bran oil could be used.

Method: 

Preheat the oven to 170°C.

Lightly grease and line a 22 cm round spring-form cake tin with baking paper.

Sift together the flour, baking powder and spices.

Use an electric mixer to beat the eggs and sugar until pale and thick. Fold in the spiced flour mixture, hazelnut meal, oil, lemon zest and half the raspberries.

Spoon into the tin and decorate the top with the remaining raspberries. Bake for 40–45 minutes or until golden and a skewer poked into the centre comes out clean. If the cake browns too quickly, cover the top with foil. Cool in the tin for 10 minutes, then remove the sides of the tin and cool completely on a wire rack.

Scatter with hazelnuts and raspberries and serve with yoghurt.

This cake will keep in an airtight container in a cool dark place for 4 days.

Cook’s notes:
Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C.

Herb and Zuchinni Slice  

Ingredients: 

• 6 egg 

• 1 cup self-raising flour

• 1 1/2 cup tasty cheese, grated 

• 3 zucchini, grated and drained

• 1 tsp fresh ginger, finely grated 

• 1 carrot, grated

• 1 onion, finely chopped 

• 2 garlic clove, finely chopped or grated

• salt and pepper to taste 

• 2 tbs sundried tomatoes

• Herbs - recipes said basil but I used parsley, chives, garlic chives and rosemary, chopped.

Method: 

• Preheat oven to 180C.

• Grease a lamington tin and line if removing for serving.

• Put eggs in large bowl, add remaining ingredients and mix well.

• Pour mixture into tin and bake for 20 to 30 minutes, until a knife inserted comes out clean and slice comes away from the edges.

• Serve hot or cold with salad.

  Herb Glaze and Rub ideas for a 

Christmas Ham

by Elspeth & Christine

Thyme & Honey Glaze:

• 3 tablespoons unsalted Butter

• 2 tablespoons chopped Thyme

• 1/4 cup Apple Cider Vinegar

• 1/2 cup Honey

• 1 teaspoon Soy Sauce

HOW TO: Combine ingredients and coat ham evenly before cooking.

Herb Ham Rub:

• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh Thyme

• 1 teaspoon chopped fresh Rosemary

• 1 teaspoon chopped fresh Tarragon

• 1/2 teaspoon dried untreated Lavender flowers (culinary lavender) if available

• Coarse salt and freshly-ground black pepper.

HOW TO: In a small bowl, combine the thyme, rosemary, tarragon, and culinary lavender. Season the ham with salt and pepper. Rub the herb mixture all over the ham and set aside to marinate before cooking.

Mustard & Honey Glaze:

• 1/2 cup Brown Sugar

• 1/3 cup Maple Syrup

• 1/3 cup Honey

• 1 tablespoon Dijon Mustard

• Whole Cloves, to stud

HOW TO: Combine ingredients and coat ham evenly before cooking.

Herb & Mustard Rub:

• 2 tablespoons Dijon Mustard

• 2 tablespoons Honey

• 1/4 cup chopped fresh Parsley

• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh Thyme

• 1/2 tablespoon chopped fresh Rosemary

• Salt and freshly ground Black Pepper

HOW TO: This rub is applied once the ham is almost cooked. Combine ingredients in the bowl and mix well. After about 1 and 1/2 hours, remove the ham from the oven and rub, or brush, the herb and mustard mix evenly over the ham. Return to the oven and bake for another 30 minutes.

Asparagus with Chervil Sauce  

• 2 kilograms asparagus   • 1 tsp salt

• 1 tsp butter   • 1 pinch sugar
• 1 shallot   • 1 tbsp butter

• 150g sour cream   • 4 tbsp pine nuts

• 1 bunch chervil  • salt & pepper.

1.  Peel the asparagus and cut off the ends. Bring a pot of water to a boil with the salt, butter and sugar and cook the asparagus for about 20 minutes. Lift out with a slotted spoon and drain.

2.  Toast the pine nuts in a dry skillet.

3.  For the sauce, peel and dice the shallot and sauté in some butter. Rinse the chervil, set some leaves aside for garnish and finely chop the rest. Add to the shallot and cook briefly. Pour in 125ml of asparagus water and simmer for 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the sour cream.

4. Purée the sauce in a blender and season with salt and pepper.

5. Transfer the asparagus to plates and serve drizzled with the sauce, garnished with the remaining chervil leaves and showered with pine nuts.

Fruit Mince 

Original Recipe from Margaret Fulton but this has variations and been made by Christine Siemon.

This recipe makes 6 cups of delicious fruit mince that you can use in tarts, desserts etc.  The culinary word ‘mince’ takes its origin from the French ‘emincer’ and signifies anything chopped finely.

Original recipe by Margaret Fulton.

Ingredients:
With Christine’s notes in italics.
• 375g seedless raisins
• 500g mixed peel (This is the sugar coated peel you can buy. I find it way too expensive and overpowering in taste. I reduce this quantity dramatically and add more dried sultanas/currants/dates.)
• 4 apples, cored
• 60g galcé cherries (or try cranberries)
• 150g almonds
• 500g sultanas
• 500g currants
• 2 cups brown sugar (1.5 cups is sufficient, just depends on your preference)
• 1 Lemon, juice and grated rind
• 1 Orange, grated rind only
• 2 teaspoons mixed spice
• ½ teaspoon grated nutmeg
• 125g butter
• ½ cup brandy or rum (up to 1 cup is also fine, again depends on your taste).

One more Tip from Christine: I use a mix of spices that I have on hand in the pantry... a little more than listed won’t hurt either!

Method

Finely chop the raisins, mixed peel, apples, cherries, almonds and half the sultanas (alternatively put through the mincer). Add the remaining sultanas with the currants.  Stir in the brown sugar, rinds and lemon juice, the spices, butter and brandy/rum.  Mix well and put into a
large jar.  Cover and chill.  Stir every day for a week. 

Fruit mince can be kept for months in the refrigerator.

Banana Cake with a
Nutty Cinnamon Crumble Topping 

From www.taste.com.au
Made for us by Sharon Ferguson.

Ingredients - Cake
• 150g butter, at room temperature

• 2/3 cup caster sugar   • 2 eggs

• 1 cup mashed banana
• 1 tsp Mixed Spice   • 1/3 cup milk

• 1+2/3 cup self-raising flour, sifted.

INGREDIENTS - Nutty Crumble Top
• 1/2 cup plain flour

• 1/3 cup self-raising flour

• 1/3 cup, firmly packed, brown sugar

• 1/2 tsp ground Cinnamon 

• 100g cold butter, finely chopped

• 50g pecans, finely chopped. 

Method

• Preheat oven to 180°C/160°C fan forced. Grease the base and sides of a 20cm square cake pan with oil then line base and sides with baking paper.

• Use electric beaters to beat the butter and caster sugar in a bowl until pale and creamy. Beat in the eggs until combined. Beat in the banana and mixed spice until well combined. Transfer mixture to a large bowl. Use a large metal spoon to fold in the flour then the milk until combined. Spoon cake mixture into prepared pan.

• To make the topping, combine the flours, brown sugar and cinnamon in a bowl. Use fingertips to rub the butter into the flour mixture until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in the pecans. Evenly sprinkle crumble mixture over cake mixture. 

• Bake for 1 hour 10 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the centre of cake comes out clean. Set aside in the pan to cool completely.

One-Pot-Wonder Tea Cake

Based on Taste.com.au “Easy Peasy Banana Cake”

• 125g butter   • ¾ cup “sweetener” (Note 1)  • 2 cups “mashed fruit” (Note 2)
• 1 tsp “flavours” (see Note 3)  • ½ tsp bicarb soda (see Note 4)  • 1 egg beaten  
• 1½ cups self-raising flour  • ¼ cup “liquid” (see Note 5)   • “Topping” (see Note 6).      

Method

• Melt butter and “sweetener” in medium–sized saucepan over low heat. • Add “mashed fruit” and “flavours” and warm through.  • Remove from heat and cool slightly.  • Add bicarb soda and beaten egg and stir through quickly. 
• Add self-raising flour and “liquid” and fold through thoroughly.  • Pour into a greased cake tin or loaf pan.  • Sprinkle with “topping” and gently press into the cake mix.  • Bake at 170C for 30-40 mins.

NOTES 

#1  “Sweetener”: white or brown sugar or stevia or any combination of all.

#2  “Mashed Fruit”: any combination that equals approx. 2 very large mashed bananas, eg. banana and strawberries, raspberries or blueberries. Usually make
banana the main fruit quantity for texture then make up the rest with another fruit. Even all papaya makes a lovely cake.

#3  “Flavours”: any herbs or spices that pair well with the fruit you have chosen, eg. rosemary, tarragon, basil, mint, cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg, wattleseed, ginger. Chop finely or blitz to a powder. Let your imagination run wild!

#4:  Bicarb Soda adds extra lightness.

#5  “Liquid”: original recipe says milk, but lemon juice enhances the fruit flavours.

#6  “Topping”: Nuts for crunch instead of icing. Walnuts and pecans pair well with earthy flavours, almonds pair well with berry flavours and macadamias pair well with papaya.

Now have fun, don’t over-think it.
Some of the craziest combos turn out to be winners!

 Soup Variations: 

Allergen Free Ideas by Sandy Rodgers

Our kitchen at the hall may not be ready in time for Herb Awareness this year... so we are thinking that having a wide variety of soups might make it easier to feed the masses on the day, rather than dishes that rely on ovens for warming.

FREEZE SMALL: Soups can be made ahead of time and frozen in small containers or freezer bags to stockpile in your freezer at home. In smaller containers, they are easy to defrost on the day. We have portable induction hotplates that work well for reheating. So please help out if you can over the next month and have a go at a herby soup and freeze for the day!

LABEL INGREDIENTS:  We do need to label the ingredients so the public can make informed decisions on what to eat. It makes it less complicated if we have lots of options that avoid common allergens and intolerances such as grains with gluten, dairy, eggs and nuts. We also get more vegan requests these days. Of course if you have a favourite soup containing any of these things or meat or pasta, please still make it, just label it well.

Many soup recipes are easy to swap out ingredients to make them allergen free!
Here are some tips:

GLUTEN FREE:  To thicken a soup, instead of your normal thickening agent, try adding arrowroot starch toward the end of cooking time, or try potatoes or potato starch.  Beware of adding Asian sauces that could contain gluten, read the labels carefully first before adding.

DAIRY FREE:  Substituting dairy for rice or other plant based milks and thicken as needed (see options above). Coconut, if it suits the recipe, is also a great alternative. There is also plant based sour cream now available to make a creamy soup.

NUT FREE:  If using a nut based milk to overcome the dairy issue, just make sure it is labelled well so we can advise those with nut allergens. For recipes with nuts on top... leave them off and we can add later if the customer desires.

VEGAN:  There are so many delicious soups made from vegetables, herbs and stock! Hearty stock can be made from mushrooms, vegetables, herbs and Kombu or seaweed. Some stock cube brands (like Massel) actually have beef and chicken flavoured stock cubes taht are vegan! Again, check the packaging to make sure.

Give a few of these ideas a try and experiment to see what suit your taste.

Many soup recipes can be found in our own “Cooking with Herbs” pages 55 to 62. Sage magazine Spring editions usually have recipes included from the previous Soup Night too. 

You’re not limited to these though, see what’s in the garden and have some fun!

 Crispy Curry Leaves 

Microwave Indian side dish -
so quick, so simple, so delicious!!!
Elspeth made it for us for supper... yum!

Original recipe by Tejaswi Lotia from Step into the Kitchen 

INGREDIENTS
• 1 cup fresh Curry Leaf Tree Leaves 

• 1 tablespoon Oil   • Salt to taste

• 2 teaspoons White Sesame Seeds

INSTRUCTIONS

• Wash the fresh curry leaves thoroughly and keep them soaked under water for
10 minutes.

• Using a kitchen towel or tissues, dry the curry leaves.

• In a microwave friendly cookware take 1 tbsp of Oil. Add about 2 tsp of white sesame seeds to it.

• Heat the oil using microwave standard settings for 30 seconds.

• Take the bowl out and add the dried curry leaves. Give it a toss lightly using a spoon so that the oil and sesame seeds coat evenly on the curry leaves.

• Put the bowl back in the microwave and cook it for another 2 minutes.

• The curry leaves should now be crisp.
• Season with salt as per your liking.