Herbes de Provence

My Carrera Marble Italian Mortar and Pestle

I had some Penzey's Herbes de Provence. The smallest possible jar. What they call .4 oz or a fourth of a cup. I will list the ingredients from the Penzey website:

The list is NOT in the order of the amounts of each herb. I cannot find a list of ingredients in the amounts of each ingredient from them.

Rosemary

Fennel Seeds

Thyme

Savory

Basil

Tarragon

Dill Weed

Oregano (they call their Turkish, but I call it Greek)

Lavendar

Chervil

Marjoram

I was down to my last half of a teaspoon when I decided to make some more of my own. Much to my surprise, I learned that rather than an ancient spice blend, Herbes de Provence came into commerce in the 1970s.

I looked at Martha Stewart's recipe and about a dozen or so more. I admit I like Penzey's. I did not want to buy dried savory, and chervil. Penzey's probably sells them but I was making a blend based on teaspoon measurement. If I had to buy those herbs, I would be into the same price range as buying more Penzey's. So I substituted 1/2 measure of sage leaves for the chervil and/or tarragon, dill weed and savory.

The Penzey's jar is a lovely size for making this recipe:

1 tsp. of rosemary, dried, needles? In any case, not powdered

1/2 tsp. fennel seeds

2 tsp. thyme

1 tsp. basil

1 tsp. oregano

1/2 tsp. lavendar

1 tsp. marjoram.

I put the rosemary, fennel and lavender in the mortar first and ground that up a bit so that the seeds and flowers would give up their essence a little. All the other ingredients were then added and the pestle was used to mix them without using much force. I didn't want to heat the herbs, but only crush them slightly.

The above quantities just filled the Penzey's jar and I spent about 69¢ on the lavender at a nearby mom & pop Latin market. The other herbs are staples in my kitchen.

The quantities I used are based on seeing a variety of recipes on the web. This is (and has got to be) an individual taste. Yes, mixing differing quantities is a nuisance, but I guess you could buy all those spices and make up gifts for friends.

To my friend and source of inspiration in all foodways: Julia Child, where ever she may be cooking 

Julia

 Bon Appétit

Title: Baked Basa with Herbes de Provence and Capers

Baked Basa with Herbes de Provence

with Capers and Anchovy Butter

Basa is a recent food product. I believe it's a farmed fish.

Yield: 2 servings
Cooking Time: 10 minutes
Preparation Time: 20 minutes
Category: Main Dish
Cuisine: French

Ingredients


12 ozs. basa fillet
1 tbs. capers
2 tsp. anchovy butter
1 tbs olive oil
1 tbs butter
1 tsp herbes de provence, heaping
2 tbs. lemon juice
1 clove of garlic, whole, peeled
1/4 tsp. salt
1 pinch black pepper



Instructions

Remove fish from 'frig 20 minutes before cooking time. Cut the lemon in half.  Rub both side of fish with a few drops of lemon juice. This will prevent the fish from easily breaking during serving. Sprinkle the fish with salt and pepper and the herbes de provence. Oil the cooking utensil with the olive oil. Bake the fish at 425 degrees for 10 minutes.

During the 10 minutes the fish is baking, heat a small utensil and melt the butter and anchovy butter  together. Add the capers and hear them sizzle. Add the garlic clove and cook until it colors a little.
Cover and reserve.

Place the fish and pour the sauce over the fish. Serve while hot. Serve on warmed plates.

Côtes de Porc Sauce Moutarde et Herbes de Provence

So the market had pork chops on sale. Center cut and about 5 to 6 ozs. each and I haven't had a pork chop in a while, so I bought the "family pack" of 10 chops.

I remembered that I had some Herbes de Provence in the spice cupboard and wanted to use that up, too.

Netsearching for pork chops and herbes de provence (in the French language) came up with:

Côtes de porc sauce moutarde et herbes de provence

So I do owe whoever dreamed this recipe up gratitude. I will add this to my permanent repetitive book of things I like to cook.

For those of you who don't speak French, I will give the recipe in English.

For two chops or two for dinner. You can easily make this for 4 to 6 by increasing the ingredients proportionally.

Preparation Time: 20 minutes
Cooking Time: 15 minutes

1 cup of rice (per 2 people)
2 pork chops, about 5 ounces each. They can be larger, but not much smaller.

crème liquide allégée - no quantity is specified and the instructions call for reducing it. To my best understanding, this is like American "Half and Half". Our Half and Half is about 10% cream, 90% milk. The French have theirs at 15% and I used heavy cream and am happy I did. You can make this with heavy cream and milk.

2 tsp. Dijon Mustard (not Yellow Mustard here, please)
3 cloves of garlic
1/2 onion, diced, per 2 people
sage leaves, fresh
Herbes de Provence (I have Penzey's in the cupboard, but any will work)
salt
pepper

First, using a paper towel dry the chops. Put them on a plate or pan and sprinkle each chop with salt and pepper and then cover them with the herbes de provence. Reserve.

Start making the rice. The chops take 15 minutes in a skillet or frying pan and the skillet will need 10 minutes to preheat. Time your rice accordingly. Mine takes 4 minutes to reach a boil, 25 minutes of simmering and will then stay quite hot for 30 minutes thereafter, if I don't uncover it.

I use my small toaster oven for heating plates and keeping food warm. It will be used for keeping the fried chops warm while making the sauce.

The French recipe calls for putting the chops into a non-stick skillet and starting the cooking from a cold pan. I didn't do that. The purpose of the cold pan is to prevent the chops from cupping or curling. This can be achieved by making 3/16 inch deep slits around the perimeter of the chop, every two to three inches. 

Add a light film of olive oil to the heated pan. Cook the chops on each side for 7 1/2 minutes. Meanwhile chop the onion and mush the garlic. Have ready the sage leaves and cream or half-and-half and the mustard. If you don't mind the cream and mustard should be standing on the counter at the start of the chops cooking to lose their 'frig-chill. After the chops are done, remove them to a warm oven.

Add the onion and fry 5 minutes until they are translucent. Add the garlic at the 3 minute mark. Add the cream. You will have to eye-ball that based on how much you like sauce with rice. Raise the heat, add the mustard stir to incorporate.

Now for the hard part.

Remove some of the sauce and onions to cover the chops. Add the sage leaves to the skillet and allow to cook 5 minutes longer. Serve the rice, pan sauce and the chops and onion sauce on top.

I had no fresh sage leaves. I used powdered sage. I cannot complain.