NOVEMBER 5, 2009 ISSUE
Mountain Living
Sage Advice in the Kitchen
Purple Garden Sage, left, and Golden Garden Sage
Fresh sage leaves browning smell like Thanksgiving dinner. Even now, when we enjoy sage at other times in many ways, it reminds us of stuffing and warm holiday meals.
Garden sage, Salvia officinalis, is easy to grow and one plant can provide enough leaves for many meals. I have harvested fresh leaves in every month of the year, even looking under fresh snow to find green and gray pebbled leaves ready for the kitchen. During cold winters the plants become bare branched but sprout new leaves early in the spring. Garden sage grows into a large plant, two to three feet tall, and has lovely blue flowers for several weeks in May and June. Other varieties come with colored leaves but fewer flowers. Tricolor has cream and green and pink leaves, Golden Garden is yellow and gold and green and Purple Garden Sage leaves are colored deep green and darkest blue and purple.
Sage needs full sun and very good drainage. Plants can live for many years but can collapse and die suddenly. That happened to our biggest plant this fall. It was planted on a hillside but lost all of its leaves and died after we had rainfall every day for more than two weeks.
Fresh sage leaves are available in the grocery store. They are usually in the little plastic packages with the other herbs but during the Thanksgiving season are sometimes featured in bundles, too. Look for leaves that are soft gray green and don't have wilted edges or brown spots. Sage dries well and dried sage is a fine addition to any recipe but the fresh has a complexity of flavor that makes your autumn cooking sing.
Sage's unique flavor compliments the flavors in our rich harvest meals. Add fresh sage to ground pork or chicken for your own sausage or add more fresh chopped leaves to a commercial sausage. Tuck fresh sage leaves into turkeys or chickens before they are baked or sprinkle them around potatoes before you roast them.
Sage combines well with cheeses, especially nice sharp cheddars, ham, cooked dried beans, and all of the cruciferous vegetables like cabbage, cauliflower and broccoli. Try adding finely chopped fresh sage leaves to biscuit dough or placing a leaf in the bottom of each soup bowl before you ladle in a steaming soup or stew. Finally, you can use sage in the classic brown butter sauce and turn any pasta or vegetable into something special.
Brown Butter Sage Sauce
This simple, basic sauce takes under five minutes to make and brings out the best flavors in anything you serve with it. The sage does have an assertive and distinct flavor but when you brown it everything comes together and just works. Think about using this over your favorite fall vegetables this Thanksgiving when you need something fast and uncomplicated. This is also wonderful over stuffed pastas like tortellini or ravioli. There are good ones in the dried pasta aisle and the fresh ones in the dairy case come in delicious flavors like cheese prosciutto and wild mushroom.
Ingredients:
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter
12 fresh sage leaves
Coarse salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Preparation:
Place the butter into a small skillet. It is best to use one with a light or shiny finish because you need to be able to see what's happening in the pan as you cook.
Have the sage leaves washed and dried very thoroughly so that no moisture remains on them.
Heat the butter, over medium, until the liquid has simmered away and evaporated and the butter solids are just beginning to color. Add the sage leaves and cook, stirring constantly, until the butter is very fragrant and the leaves and butter solids are a golden light brown color. Watch very carefully and remove from the heat a little early rather than a little late. The sauce will continue cooking a little after you take it off of the stove and, if it is not toasty enough, you can always heat and brown it a little more.
Add a sprinkle of salt and a grinding of fresh pepper and serve over pasta or potatoes or winter squash or cauliflower or...
Brown Butter Sage Sauce Variation I
Make the above recipe and add the finely grated rind (yellow part only) and juice from one lemon along with the salt and pepper. The citrus combines beautifully with the butter and adds a bright, freshness that compliments everything.
Brown Butter Sage Sauce Variation II
Make the original sauce all the way to the end. Then, add about one cup of stock. It can be homemade or commercial (the ones in the paper boxes are the best I have found in the grocery store) and you can use vegetable stock, chicken stock, beef stock or a seafood stock depending on what else you are having for dinner. Let the stock simmer until it has thickened and reduced by about one half and serve hot.
Creamy Brown Butter Sage Sauce
You can use this quick delicious sauce on just about anything. It is rich and full of flavor and is perfect for a quick meal over pasta and broccoli on a busy fall evening. Many families want some creamed vegetables at Thanksgiving, even if that is rarely on their tables any other time. This only takes about five to 10 more minutes than opening a can of “cream of something soup” and the flavor is infinitely better. Think creamed onions or carrots or green peas or any other vegetable. You can make this ahead up to adding the last half of the cheese, doubling or tripling the recipe as needed, add the vegetables and put into a shallow baking dish. Refrigerate, covered, until you take the turkey out of the oven. Put the casserole in, still covered and bake until bubbling about the edges. Uncover, sprinkle with the reserved cheese and bake another five minutes until golden brown.
Ingredients:
6 tablespoons unsalted butter
17 fresh sage leaves
1 garlic clove
1/2 cup white wine
1-1/2 cups heavy cream
Pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
Coarse salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Red hot pepper flakes
1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
Preparation:
Use a light colored or shiny metal pan so you can see exactly when the browning happens. Melt the butter over medium heat. Wash the leaves and dry them thoroughly. As soon as the liquid in the butter evaporates and the milk solids are just beginning to color add the sage leaves. Cook, stirring constantly, until the leaves are lightly browned and everything smells nice and toasty. Remove from the heat. Peel the garlic clove and grate it into the pan along with the freshly grated nutmeg. Stir and let the garlic and the nutmeg cook a little in the residual heat. Put the pan back onto the stove and add the wine and cream.
Simmer until the sauce thickens slightly. Add the seasonings and about half of the cheese then taste and see if you need more. Begin with a pinch of salt, several grindings of black pepper and a small sprinkling of the hot pepper.
Pour the sauce over your tortellini, ravioli, little new potatoes, steamed broccoli, grilled chicken, etc., and then top with the remaining grated cheese.
To make a comment, ask a question or find out more about sources, contact Amy at amycookehcp@bellsouth.net.
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