# About fresh sage



## Liz Brooks (Jun 17, 2009)

I recently ventured into herb gardening and I am sharing my discoveries. Do you have any cool tips for me about sage?


----------



## Uncle Bob (Jun 17, 2009)

I hear it pairs well with pork chops and works well in fresh breads.


----------



## luvs (Jun 17, 2009)

chix & other poultry, fish like cod or tilapia, &, as mentioned, pork. they work well with sage. if you dry & pulveruize it, then mix with water in a little pot, it smells lovely as it simmers. just keep an eye on it for evaporation!


----------



## ChefJune (Jun 17, 2009)

sage is also delicious to potatoes and eggs, and of course, it's essential for Thanksgiving Dressing/stuffing.

You can dry the excess by separating the leaves and leaving them on a baking sheet in the oven overnight with the oven on the lowest possible setting. Dried sage is almost as good as fresh (unlike many other herbs, where the quality and flavor deteriorates greatly when dried).


----------



## Liz Brooks (Jun 17, 2009)

Thanks guys, this info is great! So far I have made sage and white wine pork chops, and beer and sage dinner biscuits. Hoping to whip up a sage butter this weekend!


----------



## BreezyCooking (Jun 17, 2009)

Outside of poultry stuffing (& stuffing underneath poultry skin along with softened butter), my favorite way of using fresh sage is to stuff bunches of it inside of fresh trout, along with thin lemon slices, before dredging them in seasoned flour & pan-frying. Both delicious & very attractive - especially if you have small/medium-size single-serving whole trout.

Use small bunches of sage, & arrange them so that the leaves protrude slightly from both the head & tail ends of the fish.


----------



## mcnerd (Jun 17, 2009)

I like using fresh sage to "smudge".


----------



## Alix (Jun 17, 2009)

mcnerd, smudging? As in purifying smudging? I don't know much about it and I don't want to hijack, I just wanted to know how it worked.


----------



## Liz Brooks (Jun 18, 2009)

What is smudge?


----------



## recipesandtips (Jun 18, 2009)

Use a sage & butter for a sauce with pumpkin ravioli or spinach & ricotta.In a pan melt the butter until foaming throw in the sage-if you rub it between your fingers it will release more flavour, touch of lemon juice then pour over the ravioli.
  Actually sage goes really well with pumpkin. So for example a great side dish-gratin of potatoes, pumpkin & sage works well. Just layer potatoes, pumpkin & sage. Season each layer. A little vegetable stock. Bake in the oven. Easy!


----------



## mcnerd (Jun 18, 2009)

The Smudging Ceremony

Smudging is a nice use of your excess Sage when you are not cooking with it and also might get you in the right frame of mind to do great in the kitchen.

It's use reminds me of a Catholic service (I'm not Catholic) and the priest is waving this container (smudge pot) on a chain as it is smoking.  I assume it is the same purpose.

If you live near the West Coast and its deserts you can get Sage by just stopping along the side of the road and getting it.


----------



## Chief Longwind Of The North (Jun 18, 2009)

mcnerd said:


> I like using fresh sage to "smudge".



We smudge with sage and sweetgrass.  Sage is a wonderful herb for traditional uses, as well as for flavoring things.  Thanks for bringing that tip to life for everyone who might not know of this practice.

My tip isn't cullinary, but a bit of horticultural knowledge.  Sage is actually a member of the mint family of plants.  Notice its "square tube" shaped stalk.  It's the only mint that I can stomach, and I love it.  

Sage also has health benefits aplenty.  Here are a few addresses you might find interesting: Sage: Medicinal Properties of Sage | Salvia | Salvia Officinails

Medicinal Uses of Sage

Sage

Sage is indeed a very useful and flavorful plant.  I personally think a spice pantry isn't complete without it.

Also, it is easy to grow in pots, on a window sill.  You will find that many of the herbs and spices we take for granted have beneficial properties.

In my Native America heritage, (don't know if my European bloodlines appreciated the herb as much.  But I do know that much of Mediteranean Europe does.) sage is a sacred plant.  Seems that some of my ancestors knew what they were doing.

Seeeeeya; Goodweed of the North


----------



## licia (Jun 18, 2009)

GW, I've never heard of sweetgrass. Is that an herb?  Do you grow it from seed or plants or cuttings? What flavor does it impart to the food? Sorry for the 20 questions.


----------



## Chief Longwind Of The North (Jun 18, 2009)

mcnerd said:


> The Smudging Ceremony
> 
> Smudging is a nice use of your excess Sage when you are not cooking with it and also might get you in the right frame of mind to do great in the kitchen.
> 
> ...



Sweet sage grows wild in the Great Lakes region as well.  "Tis a wonderful thing.

Seeeeeya; Goodweed of the North


----------



## Chief Longwind Of The North (Jun 18, 2009)

licia said:


> GW, I've never heard of sweetgrass. Is that an herb?  Do you grow it from seed or plants or cuttings? What flavor does it impart to the food? Sorry for the 20 questions.



Wikipedia has an informative article on sweetgrass and its uses, thought it doesnt' mention that the Great Lakes region also has native sweetgrass.

My Native American Heritage is that of Chippewa, or Ojibwa.  In fact, my mother's maiden name was Ojibwa.  On my father's side, there is Cherokee in the mix ( have 1/4 blood quantum for both, then throw in another 1/4 German, followed by Scottish, Irish, and a hint of French, yep, that's me, a regular mutt).  Sweetgrass is harvested by many in my tribe (Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians).

It's funny though.  To look at me, you wouldn't guess that I had any Native American in me.  I had white-blonde hair aas a child, which turned darker as I grew older to it's now medium brunette color, and have blue eyes.  Two of my sisters look nearly 100% Native American, and one sister looks 100% Irish.  We all had the same mother, and my odest sister and I shared the same father (Mom divorced my Dad when I was about 3 and I lived with her and my step-father during the weekdays, and with my Dad on the weekends).  My mother looked very Ojibwa, espcially as she grew older.  I was the only blonde-haired, blue-eyed one of the bunch.  I used to get some good-natured ribbing by relatives and freinds of the family that I must have been the mailman's kid.  But my Dad had green eyes and had light-brown hair as a child.  And as I said, my mother's father was full-blodded German, with her mother being full-blooded Ojibwa.  On my father's side, there is probably some black in the family as well, thoigh I don't know if I have any in my direct bloodline.  Cherokees often intermaried with African/American.  So I am truly a man of many races, and consider all of them equal in value.  I am a child of my Creator, and all other titles were created by mankind, and aren't so important.

Wow!  Did I ever get off-topic.  Sorry 'bout that.  Here's the link to that sweetgrass article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sweetgrass    I'm gonna see if I can be more useful on another thread now.

Seeeeeeya; Goodweed of the North


----------



## ChefJune (Jun 18, 2009)

Alix said:


> mcnerd, smudging? As in purifying smudging? I don't know much about it and I don't want to hijack, I just wanted to know how it worked.


 
Yes, purifying smudging, I am sure Mcnerd meant.  After you thoroughly clean a room you can cleanse it further by burning dried sage in an abalone shell and taking it to the outer corners of the room.  Lots of folks I have known use this technique especially when they have just moved into a new home or apartment.

Hope that explains things....


----------



## Alix (Jun 18, 2009)

Thanks all. I like to learn a little something new each day and I think I'm good for a couple of days now. Much appreciated!


----------



## Wyogal (Jun 18, 2009)

Sage and garlic go well with squash (winter type), like pumpin in the aforementioned post. It really helps change the pace of the usual cinnamon/ginger squash flavoring.  I also like it with garlic and butter as a 'sauce' for a ricotta gnocchi that I make.


----------



## salubriousbunny (Jul 28, 2009)

*Tips for Harvesting Sage?*

I could ask this on my gardening forum too, but you guys are a little quicker on the draw. 

I have a Sage plant new to me this year, and so far it only has one main stem with lots of big leaves at the bottom. If I only want a little bit of sage, should I just pull off one of the big leaves? Will a new stem form from that?

Or should I cut from the top to prevent flowering? Or should I cut quite a bit and dry it, to promote bifurcation (getting two stems?) 

And for a soup broth (chicken wild rice), should I just toss in a fresh whole leaf? Or does it need to be dried? Or cut?

Thanks!


----------



## sparrowgrass (Jul 29, 2009)

The sagebrush that grows in wild in the dry west is not the same plant as the herb sage that you put in turkey gravy. 

Sagebrush is an artimesia (like dusty miller or sweet annie)--herbal sage is salvia.

Don't go out in the desert and pick sagebrush for your stuffing--the flavor won't be the same.

Use the desert sagebrush for your smudging needs --it smells wonderful.


----------



## Constance (Jul 29, 2009)

Take the top 4 inches out of your plant and use it fresh or dry. That will make it bush out.


----------



## bigdaddy3k (Jul 29, 2009)

Sage, summer savory and salt added to ground pork makes the finest southern sage sausage around. Its a must for biscuits and gravy!


----------

