# Sage & Tarragon... I have no clue how to use them



## MyNyssa

I don't cook as much as I probably should but my husband loves me anyway! I planted my very first garden this year and I am growing some good stuff. One of my problems is I don't know how to use some of it or what to put some of it in... Sage & Tarragon being the two main things throwing me for a loop. I also have tons and tons of Basil (so much I've had to give some of it away). So my question(s) to you are: Sage, Tarragon (maybe Basil) how in the heck do you use it in your meals? What do you use it for? I'm not a real big meat eater (every now and then but not too often). Any suggestions would be highly helpful. Thank you in advance!


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## Andy M.

Sage is great with all kinds of poultry and makes Thanksgiving turkey stuffing taste like it does.  A little goes a long way.

Basil.  Basil pesto is a delicious topping for bruscetta or as a sauce for pasta.  It's so easy to make.  Fresh basil is also great in quick tomato sauces for pasta or as a topping on pizza.

I don't do much with tarragon.


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## CWS4322

Sage is really nice added to dishes when you pan fry the sage. A tomato-moz. panni with pan fried sage on top of the chees is lovely. French Tarragon has a licorice taste. A very nice way to use French Tarragon is to make a zucchini slaw: 

Recipe Details


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## merstar

Tarragon is good with chicken, turkey, shrimp, salad dressings... Tarragon mayonnaise is good on sandwiches, etc.
Basil is great in pasta dishes, bruschetta, salads, soup...
Sage is good with roast chicken, turkey, pork...


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## CWS4322

Tarragon is also very nice with scrambled eggs, and with marinated cucumber slices.


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## Zhizara

Tarragon is wonderful in any kind of sandwich salad.  Tuna, egg, and chicken.

Sage as said before is what makes Thanksgiving stuffing taste right.  Like Andy said don't overdo.

I love to make tea with fresh herbs.  Basil is particularly delicious.

Did you plant some Thyme?  Fresh is delicious in chicken broth.  Snip the fronds and put them in whole then fish out the twigs and toss them.

Rosemary in the potato cooking water infuses the potatoes with flavor.  Very aromatic.


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## buckytom

tarragon and sage are also good on fish, especially in a marinade before grilling, or put in a foil pouch with the fish, or just a bit of fresh chopped over sauteed filets.


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## nana

A classic dish prepared with sage is Saltimbocca (Saltimbocca - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia). The traditional Saltimbocca is made with veal, but recently I've tried a version prepared with fish. It was also delicious.

Basil is one of my favorites herbs. It goes perfect with tomatoes, whether in a salad or in a sauce.


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## MyNyssa

Wow, thank you everybody. Hopefully the hubby's up for some new things!


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## CWS4322

Welcome to DC and I hope you stick around.


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## Chief Longwind Of The North

Each of those herbs you listed also go very well with other herbs and spices.  For instance, combine basil with oregano, savory, garlic, thyme and rosemary to make tomato based sauce for pasta, or cabbage rolls.  Combine those same herbs with ground beef, add in egg, bread crumbs, a little salt and pepper, and you have meat loaf or meat balls.

Combine sage, red pepper, black pepper, and salt to ground pork to make your own breakfast sausage.  Or, use those same flavors to enhance gravies for a pork roast.

Put together mayonnaise, a little salt, black pepper, oregano, basil, garlic, and mix with just enough milk to make it creamy and you have home made ranch dressing for salads.

Mayonnaise, sweet pickle relish, tarragon, and a touch of lemon juice make a wonderful tartar sauce for fish and seafood.

And just so you know, flavorings made from seeds, such as fennel, pepper, nutmeg, etc., are called spices.  Flavorings made from the leaves and flowers of plants are called herbs. 

As you play around with herbs and spices, you will begin to find all kinds of uses for them.  They enhance everything from egg rolls to ice cream.  They are great on veggies, meat, poultry, in savory and sweet sauces, in main courses, and in deserts, beverages, virtually anything you can put in your mouth and swallow.

Use flavorings such as liquid smoke, Worcestershire sauce, soy sauce, maggi, hot sauce, etc. as you would herbs and spices, to enhance the natural floavors of foods.

Tip:  It is sometimes easier to place fresh herbs into a little muslin or cheesecloth bag so that after they have given their flavors to a soup, or sauce, it is easy to remove them.  Tea bags are a classic use of this technique.

Tip 2:  Go easy on adding herbs and spices (seasonings) to foods.  Put a little in and let it cook for ten minutes or so.  Taste the food.  Add a little more if needed.  And always remember, you can always add more, but once it's in the soup (or sauce, or desert cream, or whatever), you can't take it out.

I have destroyed what could have been very good food by adding to much of something.  The delicious, but potent herb - cilantro - comes to mind.

Seeeeeeya; Goodweed of the North


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## Zhizara

Thanks, GW for the tip about the difference between herbs and spices.  I was wondering about that just this morning.


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## CraigC

Just don't carry large quantities of sage around with you in plastic bags! You just might get arrested for possession.

Craig


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## MyNyssa

Craig, You are too much! And Goodweed, you are much appreciated (as are all of you). I didn't know the difference between herbs and spices, so thank you for clearing that up. I guess I'm going to have to get into a routine of making dinners and other meals so I can actually use the goods growing in my garden! 
Keep all of your suggestions coming, I love reading them and jotting them down.


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## Rocklobster

Lots of good info. My favorite way to use Tarragon is in tar tar sauce. Goes well with battered fish. I use Sage mostly in sausage making. Its nice with pork in those little breakfast links or patties.


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## BreezyCooking

While I grow both, don't use much sage except for the usual Thanksgiving stuffing & stuffing a handful into whole trout before grilling/broiling/pan-frying.  As for Tarragon, it's a definite favorite here, & I add it to virtually everything - a handful inside a chicken for roasting, chopped into a sauce for poultry or seafood, & added to garlic mayonnaise to accompany chilled lobster &/or shrimp or added to my "Red, White, & Blue Potato Salad".

Caveat for both?  They're both strong-flavored herbs, so start small & taste as you you go.


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## BubbaMc

Tarragon is great for béarnaise sauce.


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## purple.alien.giraffe

I like to marinade mild ocean fish such as pollock in a little lemon or lime (or both) mixed with water, a little tarragon and some dill weed. It's really good baked or grilled.

I love sage in rice dishes, especial brown and wild rice. It's also good cooked into vegetables such as rutabagas and celery. I also like to heat apple cider with sage and black pepper and use it to brush onto pork chops as they're cooking.


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## qmax

Surprised no one has mentioned tarragon and mushrooms.  A classic combination.


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## CraigC

Butternut squash ravioli in a brown butter sage sauce.

Craig


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## Claire

Both are also good in lean pork dishes.  Pound some filets really thin.  Roll with the sage or tarragon leaves (I'd use one or the other, not both), bread, sautee.  Then pour some wine (preferably fortified), cover, and let simmer for a bit.  Slice and pour the liquid over the pinwheels over rice, mashed potatoes, or pasta.

Most herbs can be chopped finely then tossed into the water you're using for couscous or rice.  When done, toss it all, add another pinch or two of the fresh herbs and some butter or olive oil.


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## CraigC

Stick whole sage leaves under the skin of whole cornish hens or chicken. I don't use tarragon because, except for basil, any "liquorice" flavor is frowned upon in this establishment. Same goes for marjoram.

Craig


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## CWS4322

CraigC said:


> Stick whole sage leaves under the skin of whole cornish hens or chicken. I don't use tarragon because, except for basil, any "liquorice" flavor is frowned upon in this establishment. Same goes for marjoram.
> 
> Craig


 
I stick about 6-8 fresh sage leaves under the skin of turkey when I roast it. Tarragon is one of those "love it, hate it" type of herbs. A friend hates all the anise-like flavors. I like to combine fennel with dill, so I would think tarragon would combine well with dill...


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## buckytom

lol, craig, i read your post about licorice flavour in the voice of that talking baby from the etrade commercials.

btw, chervil has been mentioned recently,  with great respect. 

and italian sweet sausage ain't italian sweet sausage in jersey without fennel seed. there are supermarkets that make their own sausage with and without in the italian-american neighbourhoods nearby me, but they're just playin'for the left footers.


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## ChefJune

Sage is also a great flavoring for potatoes!

I love tarragon with chicken, in chicken salad, as seasoning or combined with mustard panko for fish.

Don't give that Basil away!  Once you get hooked on Pesto/Pistou you will never have enough of it.


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## CWS4322

For my "inside" herb garden in the winter, I have cinnamon basil, purple basil, regular sweet basil, and lemon basil. I plant seeds about every 3 weeks from November until April. The ones I plant in April go outside for the summer. Basil, fresh tomatoes, some EVOO, basalmic vinegar, and feta cheese...yum. I also overwinter my rosemary, french tarragon, oregano, thyme, and sage. Sometimes they dry out, but I try to mist them every day and keep them in the sunniest window. Herbs actually like it cooler, so one of the problems is that our houses are too warm in the winter and too dry for them. And, I have a bay tree that goes outside in the summer and comes in for the winter...It's sprouting new shoots now!

You can buy fresh grocery store mint, put it in water, and it will root. I do that in the winter as well so I can have fresh mint. The seeds don't germinate well for me for some reason.


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## mija

Chicken loves tarragon: leaves taken from the stem and either chopped or all; if you are roasting, push some in the cavity, I also like putting a lime or lemon pricked all over in the cavity. You should also slide some under the breast skin and at the neck. I also use it in salads and soups.

Sage, it all depends on which sage you are growing. Ordinary sage goes well in soups and to cook meat. But pineapple sage is definitely fruit salads friend.

From the point of view of meat, talking about herbs, my grandmother used to say: “If an animal would eat it, then it will cook beautifully with it.”

Basil and tomatoes are a classic.


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## NoraC

I did a pasta primavera for lunch yesterday with a brown butter sage sauce - YUM.  Would have been even better garnished with some toasted walnuts, but I had an allergy issue with one guest (actually a low dose response/chemical burn issue, but she prefers to call it an allergy)


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## joesfolk

I love tarragon in anything tomato based. A little goes a long way. It has an anise flavor which frankly I am not fond of but in sauces used sparingly it adds a real depth of flavor.  By the way, tarragon will come back every year so it's a real bargain in the garden.  And each year mine gets so big that I have tons to dry for winter or to give away to friends and neighbors.


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## flpaintmaster

I haven't read the complete thread so my suggestion may be a duplicate.  Tarragon works well with wilted spinach; saute a little box of raisons & a handful of sliced almonds, when the raisons are fat & round & and the almonds have some brown on them add a bag of spinach & leaves from a few sprigs of tarragon, sprinkle a little balsamic vinegar over it if you like.  Tarragon & basil will kick up a salad very nicely I think.

Tim Abbott


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## Claire

As a general rule, I find that spices and dried herbs need longer cooking, but are stronger.  So put in a little bit earlier and taste, taste, taste.  Fresh I tend to add at the end, for a fresh taste that sort of perks up the dish.  Many people do NOT like licorice, and I've almost given up on the licorice flavored herbs and spices, much as I like them myself.  Sage?  It wouldn't be Thanksgiving without it.


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## no mayonnaise

qmax said:


> Surprised no one has mentioned tarragon and mushrooms.  A classic combination.



I was going to post this verbatim until you beat me to it lol.  I think tarragon works with mushrooms supremely, and pairs with mushrooms just as well as thyme.
I also think tarragon goes will with french fries.  Is that weird?


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## Foodie-4-Life

Another idea for your sage, especially if you have vegetarian guests, is combining classic flavors of pumkin, sage, and butter/oil.  One way is to make pumpkin ravioli with sage and butter sauce.  Cut out the stem a pie pumpkin and remove all the seeds and "guts".  (The seeds can be saved for a garden, or you can baked them seperately for snacks!)  Stab about six slits in the pumpkin, this will help it steam and not explode in the oven.  Roast the pumpkin at 350 F, for half an hour to 45 minutes.  While it is cooking, make ravioli (a simple basic pasta recipe I am sure you can find online).  Once the pumpkin is done, remove some of the meat and put it inside the ravioli as stuffing.  Be sure to seal the edges!  Boil the ravioli.  Make a sauce from melting butter (or if you are vegan, use oil) in a pan and adding your sage to it.  When the sage is starting to wilt (and you should be able to smell it), remove the sauce from the heat.  Combine when the ravioli finishes cooking.  Add salt, parmesan cheese, and pepper to your taste.  

As a college student with limited countertop space, I would roast the pumpkin (as indicated above) then shred the pumpkin meat with a fork, going up and down.  It makes this fine, spaghetti texture to it.  I'd cook the butter and sage as above, and pour over the top.  It made for a really delicious fall treat!  You can even do this with just a microwave, by cutting the pumking up into manageable chunks after it has been cored, and nuking it for about 15-17 minutes. Microwave the butter/oil with sage for 1.5 - 3 minutes.  

Hope that helps!


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## Chief Longwind Of The North

If no one else has said it, sage pares very well with savory bean dishes.  I often use it with cumin and coriander for bean soups, or refried beans, rice 7 Beans, etc.  It's great in split pea soup, and lentil soup too.

Seeeeeeya; Chief Longwind of the North


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## Whiskadoodle

Good idea Chief.  Sage in beans and for me, especially split pea soup.  I usually put in marjoram,  gotta try this too.  This might bump it up a little.  

Sage is also good in Italian foods.   A little,  a hint of it.  I like basil and oregano and fennel flavors,  but when I add a little sage, it bumps these kind of dishes up too.  

Tarragon is good in many sauces, like bearnaise or hollandaise or just snipped on top as a garnish.  For my own use,  it gets put on some salads,  greek salads, chicken salads, potato salads,  much like some use parsley.


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