|
June 2005
A
few hints on cooking with fresh dill weed and a few tips
for growing dill in your garden. First off, in my opinion,
there is no comparison between using fresh dill and dried
dill. I don't like dried dill at all and I love the plant
fresh. But so you know, 1 tbsp. chopped fresh dill is
the equivalent of 1 tsp. dried dill weed and 1/2 oz.
fresh dill will be about a 1/2 cup of leaves. Dill is
an herb that should be added to a dish just prior to
serving, as the flavor diminishes the longer it is cooked.
Dill seeds, on the other hand, gain more flavor when
they are toasted. Dillweed is commonly used in seafood
recipes, but is also great with chicken and other meats,
especially grilled meats. It adds nice flavor to dips,
spreads and soups, and potato salads. I adore it in omelets
and think it's fabulous tossed with many different kinds
of vegetables, especially carrots. Some people like it
in bread, I'm not a huge fan of that use.
Growing
dill in your own herb garden is great because then you can
cut it, use it as you need it and serve it while its taste
is tops and its color the greenest of green. It'll keep in
the fridge for a week, better if you keep the ends in a glass
of water and loosely wrap the tops with paper towels, which
is a good technique for storing herbs of many varieties,
but be warned, it will wilt pretty quickly. You can also
freeze it, and this will still be better than using dried
dill weed, but nothing will beat a fresh cutting that goes
straight from your yard to your kitchen.
Unfortunately,
dill plants like sun, but do not like hot weather, so growing
dill can be tough depending on where you plant it and whrere
you live. It also does not like to be overwatered. Here in
Los Angeles, we can only grow dill from January until about
May and then it starts to die off. but while it lasts, it
is a treat.
April 2005
Maybe
now the rain has stopped, I can put some dill plants in
the garden. Too late to start from seeds as dill
like to be planted in the winter in warm weather areas like
Southern CA.
June 2004
Fresh
dill just can't be beat. I only wish it could grow in my
yard all year round. Dill, like all herbs, likes sun, but
hot weather is not this plants's friend, and so, here in
So. CA, it can't take the full summer sun in the least, so
every spring I savor the opportunity to have fresh dill while
it lasts, and know that come the end of summer it'll be time
to start the next batch.
2002
I
realized I wasn't using dill as much as I would because every
time I bought it at the store, it seemed to go bad before I
got a chance to use it all. So, even though I had already pretty
much planted the rest of my garden for this year, I took the
if you can't beat 'em, join 'em approach. Because as soon as
I had this realization, it was clear to me that I had an easy
answer to removing that obstacle. Next day, on our weekly trip
to Farmers' Market, I bought myself some plants and even though
all of the main areas were already full, I figured I'd find
a place for the plants later. Which I did. Now, when I want
that tangy taste of dill, whether it's for an omelet or for
seasoning some vegetables,all I have to do is walk outside.
Yum!
Return
to Herb
Index
|
