Product Description

The secret to transforming easy dishes into extraordinary meals? Fresh herbs. In The Herbal Kitchen, IACP award-winning cookbook author and acclaimed Herbfarm Restaurant chef Jerry Traunfeld presents simple dishes using herbs straight from the market, windowsill, or garden.

Until recently, the fresh herbs available in supermarkets were limited to parsley and maybe dill. Today, thyme, rosemary, basil, cilantro, mint, and sage are among the many fresh herbs as close as the produce section or the farmer's market. Not to mention marjoram, lovage, tarragon, lavender, shiso, and so many others.

Jerry shows you how to incorporate these fresh herbs into your everyday home meals. So whether preparing a workday supper for the family, a special dinner for two or four, or a feast for a table of guests, using fresh herbs in your cooking will result in fresh and vibrant food.

The Herbal Kitchen includes some recipes that are home variations of the innovative dishes Jerry prepares at the Herbfarm, while others are fresh takes on familiar classics such as Herb Garden Lasagna or Shrimp in Garlic-Sage Butter. All are uncomplicated and prep time is minimal -- with the emphasis on spontaneity and the unmistakable flavors of fresh herbs.

Start off with Asparagus and Lemon Thyme Soup, Spicy Verbena Meatballs, or Rye-Thyme Cheese Straws before moving on to Cinnamon Basil Chicken, Side of Salmon Slow-Roasted in Dill, and Root Ribbons with Sage. Delectable desserts include Warm Lavender Almond Cakes, Rhubarb Mint Cobbler, and a sinful Chocolate Peppermint Tart.

Once you're hooked on cooking with fresh herbs, you'll want to grow them yourself. The Herbal Kitchen is filled with important tips for growing, harvesting, and handling each of the herbs used in the recipes. Valuable information on the varieties of each herb is also highlighted, such as how to tell the difference between Greek oregano and Italian oregano, why you always want to choose bay laurel over California bay, and what type of lavender is best for cooking.

Filled with stunning photos of the herbs, the techniques for handling them, and the finished dishes, Jerry's definitive guide is sure to be a classic, reached for again and again.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #40690 in Books
• Published on: 2005-11-01
• Released on: 2005-11-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 272 pages

Amazon.com Review
There are herb gardens, and then there's the Herbfarm, both an award-winning restaurant with an award winning chef, Jerry Traunfeld, and an herb farm--literally. Over the past 14-years Traunfeld has had a farm's worth of herbs to work with in his commercial kitchen and at home. He opened the doors to his commercial kitchen with The Herbfarm Cookbook. And now he takes us home with The Herbal Kitchen. Here's a hint: It's all about heightened flavor through the creative use of herbs.

There's the humble roasted oyster, for example. Traunfeld makes a sauce of fresh sorrel, butter, shallots, cream, and lemon juice. Each oyster sits in its half shell atop a dollop of the sauce and bakes until plump. They are served topped with fine strips of fresh sorrel. Briny oyster meets tart sorrel gentled with cream and butter. Does it get any better? You bet it does. Roasted Oysters with Sorrel Sauce is but an appetizer, along with Minted Lentil and Goat Cheese Strudel, and Spicy Verbena Meatballs.

After a brief introduction to herb basics, Traunfeld moves on to appetizers and drinks (the Rosemary Gin and Tonic sounds intriguing). Chapters that follow cover soups, salads, fast suppers, meals for a crowd, intimate feasts, vegetable dishes, breads, and desserts. Consider the Shiso Crab Cocktail, or Black Olive Roast Chicken, Sides of Salmon Slow-Roasted in Dill, or Lavender-Rubbed Duck Breasts with Apricots and Sweet Onions.

These are precise, carefully thought-out and executed recipes, and they are all built around the masterful use of fresh herbs. You will want to attend to your gardening as much as your cooking with this book as inspiration. Work through The Herbal Kitchen from front to back and you will transform your relationship with herbs. The food you cook and eat will never be the same. And that's a delicious gift from one of the mighty. --Schuyler Ingle

From Publishers Weekly
The James Beard Award–winning chef of the Herbfarm near Seattle, Traunfeld (The Herbfarm Cookbook) certainly knows a thing or two about cooking masterfully with fresh herbs. Whereas his first book celebrated restaurant-status dishes, this volume concerns simple dishes for the home cook. Traunfeld concisely introduces the basics of starting one's own herb garden; storing herbs; chopping, slicing and tearing herbs; and measuring herbs. Then he launches into the redolent recipes, many as straightforward as Prosciutto Melon with Lime and Cilantro; Dilled Celery, Asian Pear, and Hazelnut Salad; and Lemon Rosemary Chicken enhanced with dried currants and green olives. Recipes in the "Intimate Feasts" chapter, including Sea Scallops on Summer Succotash, and Lavender-Rubbed Duck Breast with Apricots and Sweet Onions, can stand as complete and creative meals, or be paired with a side from the vegetables chapter, such as Mashed Winter Squash with Bay Butter, or Salt-Roasted Potatoes. Herb-infused desserts like Strawberry Rose Geranium Ice Cream are lovely and not heavy. Throughout, Traunfeld offers insight into the use of specific herbs and ingredients, creating a work that is at once practical, informative and inspiring. Color photos. (Nov.)
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About the Author

Since 1990 Jerry Traunfeld has headed the kitchen at The Herbfarm Restaurant, where he creates herb-inspired Northwest menus each week. Since he took over the stoves, the restaurant has garnered unanimous national acclaim as a premier dining destination. In 2000, Jerry won the James Beard Award for Best American Chef in the Northwest and Hawaii. His first book, The Herbfarm Cookbook, won the 2000 IACP award for best cookbook by a restaurant or chef. Jerry lives in Seattle with his partner, Stephen, and their two Shiba dogs.

Customer Reviews

Even Better than The Herbfarm Cookbook
I have both of Traunfeld's cookbooks. I have had great success with the Herbfarm Cookbook, and did not think that there could be a better effort, but the Herbal Kitchen is even better. They are different books and I will use both, but the Herbal Kitchen includes more fabulous dishes that you can put together on a weeknight. The Herbfarm Cookbook is a much more thorough compendium of recipies and herb growing/properties information. Get them both.

One of the best cookbooks published with simple recipes!
I have a bookcase full of great cook books. This is one of the best I have ever used because the recipes are simple and so full of flavor and one is better the next. Most recipes have no more than seven or eight ingredients and the photos included really represent the final dish.

Beautiful pictures and easy, but elegant, recipes
I have taken cooking classes from Jerry Traunfeld and walk away from each one with a renewed passion for cooking. This book only strengthens that feeling by providing the home cook with easy to follow recipes using herbs that kick up the flavor of every dish. Jerry offers alternates to each herb he has in his recipe which can be very helpful when faced with one not being available. I have never been a fan of duck, but after tasting the duck breast recipe at one of Jerry's recent classes I absolutely loved it.