The Herbal Kitchen: Cooking with Fragrance and Flavor

Absolutely wonderful recipes with so much flavor and so healthy!!

Great book. Lots of very creative recipes for making good use of my new herb garden. Receipes have starters, salads, main course seafood, meat, vegetarian and desserts. Also good info on growing herbs. I thought it was cute to include one recipe for your dog....I'll have to see if our Chloe would enjoy those. I look forward to making some of these great dishes. Wonderful for entertaining!!

but it was not as comprehensive as I thought. If you are a foody and cook for adventurous people then this book is for you. I don't think the average family with kids would enjoy most of the recipes. Great pictures, though.

Great book, well researched. The author, a chef, is obviously very knowledgeable and passionate on this subject, and I learned a lot. The recipes are terrific and every one of them I have tried worked well. What I liked was the focus on getting the most flavor from natural, healthy ingredients since I am trying to avoid a lot of fat, and no longer eat gluten and rarely eat red meat. This perfectly fit the ticket. I now am growing many more herbs and adopted them into my daily eating routines. I'm so into making my own herbal teas and drinks now! Highly recommended.

I lost my original copy of this book and replaced it immediately. The recipes are not complicated, but they are big on flavor. I have an abundance of lemon verbena growing in my garden, and when I am tired of steeping it for tea or churning it into ice cream, I can pick up this cookbook and find some inspiration. In this case Spicy Verbena Meatballs with a Minted Yogurt Sauce. The book helps you think outside the box for those herbs that may not be in your everyday cooking repertoire.

I bought this book 3-4 years ago when we became serious about tending an herb garden. We love including fresh herbs in our foods. I hoped this book would help us use the many herbs we grew in new ways, and I was not disappointed. I use it daily during herb growing season. This cookbook May not be helpful unless you grow or buy fresh herbs.I haven't tried any of the recipes with dried herbs.

I worked in publishing for years, as well as kitchen stores, this book was always on my list. It's a kitchen staple...but...I have struggled with the warm lavender almond cakes - using exceptional ingredients and following the recipe precisely, it doesn't always pan out. And what I mean is, it doesn't come out of the pan. I cut the honey down from 1/4 cup to 1 tbsp as the cake felt too chewy with 1/4 cup. Not only that, but I used a NordicWare mold pan that were spiral molds and forget it - just a mess. I went back to the solid ring Bundt pan with so-so results. I find 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes doesn't cut it. More like an hour plus. At that it may be slightly overdone, but does come out of the pan.Pear rosemary upside-down cake - what a great recipe! So many compliments, but only after so many problems. I've found I've had to change the bake time to 1 hour at 375 degrees. Anything less is a sloppy mess, and I have had to flip it back in the pan for more baking time. Live and learn.The smoky tomato-bean soup is excellent and I've made it several times. I do find that if I use canned kitchen tomatoes there is no need for added salt. In fact, using bacon also negates the need for kosher salt. The flavors are wonderful.The zucchini-basil au gratin is perfect - what a great recipe. I used many fresh zukes out of my garden for this. Excellent. I did add a squeeze or two of lemon juice, which I felt was positive.This is a nice book. I would like to see more herb vendors on the east coast. I would like to try the chervil soup recipe, but cannot find chervil out here in Massachusetts. I even went to Pickety Place in NH and they said they did not grow it this season - apparently it can be difficult. And if you've never been to Pickety Place, I recommend it. Make a reservation always..

this is quite fun, unusual and nice recipes, may not be everyone's taste but for sure a conversation starter. We really enjoy it.