Tag Archives: Oregano

So what do I do with all those herbs growing in the garden?

28 Wednesday Apr 2010

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I’m always on the look out for recipes that allow me to use some of those yummy fresh herbs from the garden. Monday night I decided to try George Calombaris’ ‘Eggplant and tomato bake’. Yes that’s George from Masterchef–one of my favourite television programs. His recipe has copious amounts of parsley and oregano, so it was a perfect reason to raid the garden. He uses dried oregano but I’ve got so much in the garden I used fresh instead. Because mine was fresh I used about 3 times as much as the dried tbls spoon recommended by George. This recipe requires a bit of preparation but it’s worth it. It is the best stuffed eggplant recipe I’ve tried. The stuffing was unbelievably light and full of flavour. The quarter cup of finely chopped parsley lifted the whole dish and gave it a super fresh taste. I think it might even be healthy! What a bonus. It’s definitely one of those dishes you could easily eat too much of. It does have quite a bit of onion in it, which is fine with me, but it did give my partner a bit of heart burn that night. I’m going to make it next time I have a mix of vegetarian and carnivores over for dinner because I reckon the meat eaters will love it too. I’m dying to make it again and am salivating at the thought of it. If anyone wants the recipe let me know and I’ll post it.

A Bouquet of Oregano

24 Saturday Apr 2010

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I sometimes think oregano is a little underrated. Popular cooking shows seem to focus on basil when featuring Italian cooking but I remember oregano playing a larger role in my mum’s cooking. Oregano is a must in both pizza and pasta sauce. However, the most interesting way I remember my mother using it was with a barbeque. She would pick a bunch of the longest and bushiest stems and tie them into a bouquet. She would then dip the bouquet into a marinade of olive oil, crushed garlic and freshly squeezed lemon juice and brush the meat while barbecuing. Her method meant that the meat was delicately infused with the flavours of the marinade and not overwhelmed by it.

My oregano is growing like crazy in the garden. It’s a revelation as I’d always grown it in a pot. Now, in the ground, it’s spreading like lawn. I have to keep cutting it back so it doesn’t take over. We gave a bunch to Poppet’s day care the other day and the cook was really pleased because she was making Jambalaya for lunch and said she would use the oregano. Wow, what great lunch for the kids I thought. I asked Poppet what he had for lunch that night and he said ‘Ginger Bread Man’, which is his standard answer to that question.