Using fresh herbs at Thanksgiving

I love the comforting aroma of using fresh herbs at Thanksgiving. Do you remember the song ‘Scarborough Fair’ by Simon and Garfunkel? The refrain in that song mentions four of my favorite herbs “parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme”. These are four great herbs to include in your Thanksgiving meal preparation.

Below, you will find some ideas for how to include these fresh herbs at Thanksgiving. First, some basic information on herbs:

• When choosing between fresh and dried herbs, fresh herbs have the best flavor.
• Fresh herbs can be grown in your home garden or purchased in a supermarket.
• As a rule, if a recipe calls for 1 teaspoon of a dried herb, then use 3 teaspoons of fresh herbs (3:1 ration of fresh to dried).

Parsley

Did you know that parsley is the most widely used herb in both the US and Europe! One possible reason is that parsley leaves are high in nutrients including vitamins A, B and C. Parsley is a biennial herb that is a member of the carrot family. While it is a biennial, parsley is usually grown as an annual and pulled up at the end of the growing season. Flowers will not appear on parsley until the summer of its second season. 

Flat-leaf parsley is best used for cooking while curly leaf parsley is used as a garnish. Here are some ideas for using parsley at Thanksgiving:

• Create a ‘rub’ for turkey using parsley in conjunction with sage, rosemary and thyme.
• Add chopped parsley to your homemade or store-bought gravy. Add parsley at the end of cooking time to perk up the taste.
• Use fresh curly-leaf parsley as a garnish on your appetizer platter.
• Add parsley along with sage and thyme to stuffing.

To learn more about growing parsley in your home garden, check out my blog post “How to successfully grow parsley in your home garden”.

Sage

Common sage or culinary sage is used in cooking. Sage is a perennial plant that has lovely green/grey foliage and is a member of the mint family. Lovely purple flowers bloom on sage in late spring. It’s best to harvest sage before the blooms appear.  

While sage can be used fresh or dried, fresh sage is more flavorful. Did you know that sage is the main ingredient in poultry seasonings? Here are some ideas for using sage at Thanksgiving:

• Create a ‘rub’ for turkey using parsley in conjunction with parsley, rosemary and thyme.
• Add sage along with parsley and thyme to stuffing.
• Sage can be added to cornbread and biscuit recipes.
• Try adding chopped sage to your post-Thanksgiving turkey soup.

Rosemary

With dark green needle-like foliage, rosemary is a perennial in USDA plant zones 8 and above. In lower plant zones, rosemary can not survive the winter and is grown as an annual.

Rosemary is a wonderful fragment herb. When using rosemary in cooking, remember that a small amount goes a long way due to its powerful flavor. Here are some ideas for using rosemary at Thanksgiving:

• Create a ‘rub’ for turkey using rosemary in conjunction with parsley, sage and thyme. In addition, you can place rosemary stems directly into the cavity of the turkey.
• A rosemary plant can be sharped into a topiary and used as a decorative holiday table centerpiece.
• Add rosemary to homemade bread.
• Here’s a great recipe from Ina Garten for Rosemary Roasted Potatoes

Thyme

A low growing perennial herb, thyme has woody stems with small green leaves. When thyme blooms, it is covered in small clusters of white/lilac flowers. Because thyme is a very aromatic herb, it adds delicate flavor to recipes.

Add thyme early in cooking because it slowly releases its flavor. While fresh thyme leaves can be frozen, the dried herb retains most of its original flavor. Depending on how thyme is used, either the whole sprig can be used, or the individual leaves removed. Here are some ideas for using thyme at Thanksgiving:

• Create a ‘rub’ for turkey using thyme in conjunction with parsley, sage and rosemary.
• Add thyme along with parsley and sage to stuffing.
• Use thyme when making a homemade salad dressing (remove the leaves from the sprig and add to the dressing)
• Make a ‘Thyme Butter’ and tossed with green beans. After blanching or steaming one pound of green beans, toss with the following:
  • 2 tablespoons melted sweet butter
  • ½ tablespoon fresh thyme leaves
  • 1 tablespoon fresh chopped parsley
  • 1 tablespoon lemon juice

I wish you much joy at Thanksgiving!