fresh oregano

[phoebe]

I've got a wonderful oregano plant running wild in my garden. My problem is that most of the recipes I have that call for oregano, specify the dried herb. And I'm not sure that it's always best to just substitute--don't marinades work better with dried herbs? Does anyone have some good recipes that use fresh oregano? It's a very pretty plant, but I prefer to eat what I grow.

[chiffonade]

Rule of thumb is to use less of a fresh herb than a dried one because the water has been evaporated out of the dry herb, thus concentrating its flavor.

As for substituting your wonderful fresh oregano for dried - no contest...use the fresh. If your plant is notably robust, taste as you go along so you don't add too much. By all means use your fresh - after all, the dried herbs are around because not everyone is lucky enough to have their own plants .

[Suzanne]

Wait!! Chiff, I think you've got it backwards:

Rule of thumb is to use less of a fresh herb than a dried one because the water has been evaporated out of the dry herb, thus concentrating its flavor.

Shouldn't that be "use more of a fresh herb..." because fresh is less concentrated?


Oh, and one other thing: instead of adding the dried herbs early in the cooking process, add the fresh herbs almost at the end so their delicacy is not overwhelmed.

(Sigh, I wish I had herbs growing; but I've got a black thumb )

[phoebe]

Thanks Chiffonade and Suzanne. Actually, I'm making a pasta sauce tonight, but--stupid me--Is've been tossing in fresh basil and ignoring the oregano plant right next to it. I'll try the oregano and see how it alters the taste.

But what about marinades? I have a recipe for a Dijon mustard, lemon, balsamic, garlic, olive oil marinade that also calls for dried basil and rosemary. I've got both growing, but the turkey thighs need to marinate for at least 6 hours. Will fresh herbs stand up to all that time and acid? Is there something about dried herbs that work better in this sort of situation? If not, do I toss in the fresh herbs later in the process instead of at the beginning? Sorry if these are dumb questions, but I'm so jazzed about having the chance to ask them.

And Suzanne--I can't tell you how many plants I've killed or maimed. It's all one big botany experiment to me!

[Dlee]

phoebe,

Hi, Phobe.

Here are a few suggestions; When I make stockes I put in fresh herbs such as oregano. If I am doing soups after I saute my veg. I will add some dried herbs to get that complex flavor/taste. then at the end of the cooking process, I will finish with chopped fresh herbs. Such as chopped Oregano and a chiffonade of Basil.

Now for your marinade, I would put the fresh herbs in the marinade. In your marinade recipe you have Basil also, I suggest that instead of wasting the basil leaves in the marinade you use that in your pasta sauce and save the basil stems for the marinade.You may want to bruise the basil stems before you put them in the marinade. Don't worry about the 6 hr. marinade time, the fresh herbs will stand up to the time.

D. Lee

[Pete]

I prefer to use fresh herbs whenever possible, I find the taste to be brighter and fresher than with dried. Oregano is the one exception I make to that rule though. I prefer dried oregano over fresh many times. Maybe it is because I was brought up with the dried stuff, but pizza sauce does not taste quite right if you make it with the fresh stuff, and if I am making a long simmered tomato sauce I prefer the dried. Now if I am making a quick tomato "pan sauce" I use fresh everytime along with fresh basil. Again, IMHO oregano is one of the very few herbs that does gain something in the drying process.

[panini]

Pete,
I agree with what you are saying. I think when the flavor from the oregano gets concentrated from the drying it has a sweeter flavor. When I make a simmered sauce and I'm using fresh oregano I will usually use yellow onions and one white onion that I process with the fresh oregano to make a paste. Not my idea, I just remember my grandmother doing this in a mortar.
I actually think that the dry masks the acid from the tomatoes better then the fresh, but the way I do it gives me the same results as dry with better flavor since the onion is a little sweeter.
Who knows, everyone in my family thought I might me a little Mezza a Mezza because I used to spend all my time in the kitchen with my Grandmother. I think half of her little tricks were for better flavor and half were done from superstition.
jeff