this spice mix is very good and flavorful and we love it on pork or chicken. Fennel Spice Michael Chiarello This is my favorite spice mixture. There is almost nothing it doesn't taste good on or in. Use it to make spice-encrusted pork ribs, chops, or tenderloin; veal chops; chicken breasts; duck; beef; liver; or eggplant. Ingredients (Makes about 1-1/4 cups) 1 cup fennel seeds 3 tablespoons coriander seeds 2 tablespoons white peppercorns 3 tablespoons kosher salt Directions Put the fennel seeds, coriander seeds, and peppercorns in a heavy pan over medium heat. Watch carefully, tossing frequently so the seeds toast evenly. When light brown and fragrant, pour the seeds onto a plate to cool. They must be cool before grinding, or they will gum up the blades. Pour the seeds into a blender and add the salt. Blend to a fine powder, shaking the blender occasionally to redistribute the seeds. Store in a tightly sealed glass jar in a cool, dry place, or freeze. Grilled Chicken with Grilled Mushroom Vinaigrette This makes a delicious, easy, one-dish supper. You can use whatever wild mushroom you like, or try dried mushrooms when mushroom season is over. And if you don't want to light the grill, this can be done on the stovetop or under the broiler. Ingredients (Serves 4) 4 thick slices bread, cut from a good, crusty loaf Extra virgin olive oil for brushing on bread, plus 1/2 to 3/4 cup Salt and freshly ground pepper 4 boneless chicken breast halves, skin on About 2 tablespoons Fennel Spice (see basics recipes) 1 pound mixed fresh mushrooms such as shiitake, morel, chanterelle, and domestic 2 teaspoons finely chopped fresh thyme 1 tablespoon minced garlic 1 tablespoon minced shallot 2 tablespoons sherry vinegar 2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley Directions Brush the bread on both sides with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Place on a baking sheet and set aside. Coat the chicken well with the Fennel Spice and set aside until ready to cook. Prepare the grill and place the bread on the grill, away from direct heat, and grill on both sides until brown and crispy on the outside but still soft within, about 5 minutes. Leave the mushrooms whole, and toss in a bowl with 1/2 cup of the olive oil, 1 teaspoon of the thyme, the garlic, and salt and pepper to taste. Immediately grill the mushrooms (be careful not to allow the flames to flare up and burn the mushrooms), turning at least once, until browned and cooked through, about 5 minutes. As the mushrooms are done, return them to the marinade in the bowl. Let cool, finely chop, and return to the marinade. Add the shallot, vinegar, parsley, the remaining 1 teaspoon thyme, and salt and pepper to taste, to the mushrooms. Toss well and add the remaining 1/4 cup olive oil, if necessary, for balance. Toss well again. (The mushroom vinaigrette may be made a day ahead, covered, and refrigerated, and then returned to room temperature before serving.) When the coals have burned down to a medium fire, place the chicken, skin side down, on the grill and cook until browned, about 2 minutes. Turn over, move to the edge of the grill away from direct heat, and continue to cook until opaque throughout, about 7 minutes. Remove to a plate. Place a grilled bread slice on each of 4 plates. Slice the chicken breasts crosswise and arrange on top of the bread. Pour any accumulated chicken juices into the mushrooms and stir. Spoon the mushrooms over and alongside the chicken. and some notes from forum friends--i just love the salad and bought fresh mushrooms and a bubl of fennel last night so we could have it this weekend: Dances I first tried it raw in a salad vinagrette. Very good, surprizingly pleasant. The licorice is more in the aroma than the flavour, and the texture is not crisp but more fibery but not unpleasant. I ate it in salad for the whole week, I couldn't get enough of it. A grating of fresh parmesan cheese, and wowee! Then I decided to try some sauteed with garlic. I sliced a garlic clove and sliced the fennel. Added it to a bit of melted margarine on low heat, grind of salt and pepper. I sauteed until the fennel was tender and the garlic browned but not burned. If you want a taste sensation so complex and wonderful it almost makes you faint, take a bit of garlic and a bit of fennel on your fork. Gracious! Not so licorice when cooked, I can't even explain the savory flavour. It's like tasting every single fall vegetable at the same time along with celery and garlic and onion. I am DEFINITELY going to add this to my next roasting pan! Well, at least the next roast I don't want DH and DD to eat ;). Dances, my first experiences eating fresh fennel was similar--I couldn't get enough! I will try your sauted fennel with garlic. I made Alice Waters' (Chez Panisse) simple recipe for Shaved Fennel, Mushroom, and Parmesan Salad (see link below). I ate almost the entire salad. Only difference is I sauteed the mushrooms as I don't like them raw. Basically, the recipe/method is: 1. Cut off the feathery tops of the fennel at the base of their stalks and remove the outer layer of the bulbs. Slice the bulbs very thin with a mandolin or a very sharp knife. 2. Assemble the salad in layers on a large platter or on individual salad plates. 3. First make a layer of the fennel slices. Squeeze lemon juice evenly over the fennel and drizzle with fruity olive oil, salt and pepper. 4. Then make a layer of the mushrooms, also slice very thin. Squeeze more lemon juice over them, drizzle evenly with olive oil, salt and pepper. 5. Grate or cut thin shavings of the Parmesan with cheese slicer or a vegetable peeler and arrange them on top of the salad. Drizzle with olive oil. Serve immediately. * Other options are artichokes and balsamic vinegar. MQ

OOH I love Rosemary. We are in the process of thinking out a new herb garden and you can bet there will be a number of rosemary plants. Probably my favourite recipe using rosemary is a Sausage and Rosemary pasta sauce. It is also wonderful in bread, cooked with lamb, pork, beef and chicken. Here are a few favourites. Home Cookin Chapter: Recipes From Thibeault's Table ========================== Adapted from Robert Alda's recipe. 4 to 6 Italian Sausage, hot or sweet, or combination Olive oil 2 shallots 3 ounces of Mortadella 1/2 cup dry white wine 1 tablespoon dried or fresh rosemary 1 tablespoon dried basil 2 to 4 cans tomatoes (depending on number of sausages) . Par boil sausage for 2 to 4 minutes. Mince Mortedella and shallots in food processor. Heat in oil in large pot and add mortadella and shallots. Remove casings from sausage and mince in processor and add to pot. Cook until meat starts to brown on the bottom. Add the rosemary and basil and the wine. Simmer until wine has evaporated. Puree tomatoes but leave some texture and add to pot. Simmer for at least 1 hour. Remove any fat that surfaces. Serve over fusilli or Conchiglioni (shell) shaped pasta, to pick up the little bits of sausage. Options: I have made this without the Mortadella and it works. When I don't have good Italian Sausage I make this same dish using ground pork. Saute the pork and season with the shallots, couple of cloves of garlic, hot red pepper flakes, grind some fennel(optional) with the rosemary and basil, and then follow the above directions. (Tastes almost identical) Home Cookin Chapter: Recipes From Thibeault's Table Beef Tenderloin - Kabobs ======================== 2 pounds beef tenderloin, cut into cubes (from 1 inch to 2 inches) 2 - 3 cloves of garlic minced 1 large shallot, chopped 2 tablespoons fresh thyme chopped/ and/or Rosemary 2 tablespoons fresh parsley chopped 1 cup red wine 1/2 cup olive oil salt Black Pepper - Coarsely Ground 2 Green Peppers cut into squares 2 large white onions- cut into 1/4's (option: Large Cherry Tomatoes) . Cut beef tenderloin in to nice size cubes. Mix together all of the other ingredients and marinate the beef for about 4 to 6 hours. Par Boil onions and green peppers for less than one minute. Drain and cool in icewater. REmove meat from Marinade and thread onto metal or wooden skewers, placing a piece of green pepper and onion inbetween each piece of meat. Grill on high heat. Turn a few times. Tenderloin should be served rare to medium rare so these do not take long to cook, depending on your grill. Home Cookin Chapter: Recipes From Thibeault's Table ===================== http://www.thefreshloaf.com/recipes/potatorosemaryrolls?destination=node%2F423 Potato Rosemary Rolls Makes 18 small rolls or 12 hamburger sized buns 1 potato, cooked and mashed 1 lb (3 1/2 cups) bread or all-purpose unbleached flour 3/4 - 1 cup water 2 teaspoons instant yeast 2 teaspoons salt 1 tablespoon butter 1 tablespoon dried rosemary or 2 tablespoons fresh rosemary 1 teaspoon ground black pepper 1 teaspoon ground sage leaves Cook the potato until soft, either by boiling or baking in the oven or microwave. For this batch I chopped up and boiled the potato. I then reserved a cup of the potato water to add to the loaf, figuring it had additional nutrients and starches that would help my loaf. Mash the potato. Removing the skin prior to mashing is optional: if you are using tough skinned potatoes like russets I would suggest removing them, but with soft skinned potatoes such as yukon gold or red potatoes I typically leave them on. The chopped up skin add nice color and texture to your rolls. Combine the flour, mashed potato, yeast, salt, pepper and herbs in a large bowl. Add 3/4 cups water and knead or mix for 5 to 10 minutes, adding more water or flour until a consistency you are comfortable working with is reached. I added close to a full cup of water and ended up with an extremely sticky dough that was difficult to work with. I was only able to shape the rolls by repeatedly dipping my fingers in flour. The end result was wonderful though. (I encourage amateur bakers to push the limit of what they think they can handle, moisture-wise. More often than not you'll be pleasantly surprised with the results, though you can go too far and end up baking a pancake, which I've done more than once.) Place the dough in a greased bowl, cover the bowl with plastic wrap or a moist towel and let the dough rise until it has doubled in size, typically 60 to 90 minutes. Remove the dough from the bowl, gently degas it, and shape it. For rolls or buns you can weigh them if you like or just eyeball them. I cut racquetball sized chunks of dough (larger than golf balls, smaller than tennis balls) then rolled them into balls in my well-floured hands. I placed them on a baking sheet covered with parchment, placed the entire sheet in a plastic trash bag, and set it aside to rise for approximately an hour again. While the dough rose, I preheated the oven to 375 degrees. If you have a spritzer, spray the top of the rolls with water right before placing them in the oven. Place them in the center rack and bake them for 10 minutes. Rotate the pan 180 degrees and bake them for another 10 to 20 minutes, depending on size. My large hamburger bun sized rolls took close to half an hour to bake. You'll know they are done when the bottom of the rolls is solid and slightly crispy. If you have a probe thermometer, check the temperature inside one of the rolls. When the internal temperature is approaching 200 degrees F, they are ready to pull out of the oven. Home Cookin Chapter: Recipes From Thibeault's Table Italian roasted chicken (Rosemary Lemon) ======================================== Edited November 10th, 2006 This recipe is my version of the Italian Chicken we use to order in a Italian restaurant in Sault Ste. Marie. It can be made with small roasting chickens, chicken pieces or cornish game hens. 2 Cornish Game Hens 3 or 4 sprigs of rosemary 2 heads of garlic, peeled and cracked salt, pepper juice from one or two lemons lemon zest (optional) hot red pepper flakes 1/2 cup olive oil Kalamata olives (optional) chicken broth . If using roasting chickens or game hens, split the birds down the back and remove the back bone. Place the chicken halves or pieces in the roasting pan. Toss in the garlic cloves and the sprigs of rosemary. Season with salt, pepper and red pepper flakes. squeeze the lemons over the chicken and drizzle with the olive oil. You can prepare the chicken up to this point and let rest in the fridge for an hour or two. Roast in a 450°F Check after about 20 minutes and add some chicken broth to the pan. This will stop the garlic from getting burnt. (If you are using the olives add them now) Add more if needed. When chicken is done, remove from pan and add a little more chicken broth, stir and serve sauce over the chicken. My favourite side with this chicken is Spaghetti Aglio E Olio

Ah, my favorite dressing that goes over pork barbacoa salad: Creamy Tomatillo Salad Dressing Place the following in a blender: 3 fresh tomatillos, cut into quarters juice of 1/2 lime 1/2 cup buttermilk (or make w/dry buttermilk mix) 1/2 cup mayonnaise 1/2 cup sour cream 1 package of dry Ranch Buttermilk Dressing Mix 1 cup fresh cilantro (abt. one bunch) 2 stalks of green onions w/ends 2 cloves crushed garlic 1/2 to 3/4 tsp. salt 1/4 tsp. crushed cayenne pepper You can play around with the buttermilk/mayo/sour cream ratio depending on your preference or what you have on hand. This is one of those things I crave every once in a while, a big salad with beans, rice, cheese, pork, guacamole etc etc.

This has no place in my spice rack, either. It's another herb which is best used fresh, or frozen. Dried, it's like dried hay! Chervil should only be used fresh, as it loses its flavour on drying. It is a short-lived plant and should be sown at regular intervals to keep up supplies. In hot climates, it's a bit like coriander to grow - blink, and it's gone to seed! That doesn't stop me growing it, however. It's a good herb to have. Chervil can be substituted for parsley in any recipe  it has a distinctive, subtle, little Âbite (a hint of liquorice) but is otherwise similar in flavour. It goes well in cheese and egg dishes. Add to consommes, vegetables such as beans and peas, combine with lemon balm and add to fish dishes or chop into omelettes, scrambled eggs, potato salads and quiches. Use in green salads, with shellfish, chicken, veal eggs, cream, asparagus and tomatoes. Ingredient for fines herbes. The Wild Chervil ((Anthriscus sylvestris) is Cow (Dog) Parsley. It closely resembles poisonous plants like Hemlock, so best to leave it alone in case you pick the wrong one! Folklore: Served on Holy Thursday as it is said to represent new life and rebirth and was therefore heavily used during Lent. Chervil promotes lust. It is also regarded as a funeral herb and is used when wanting to contact the dead. In the Language of Flowers, it denotes sincerity. An infusion of the leaves helps dispel wind and ease digestion and sweetens breath. Used to treat respiratory problems. Often used as a detoxifier and to lower blood pressure. Externally, a strong infusion of the leaves will ease the pain of insect bites. Chervil vinegar, made with the seeds, helps stop hiccups. An infusion of the leaves makes a good skin cleanser and freshener which helps discourage wrinkles. It also makes a good hair rinse. Use the flowers in dried arrangements and both the flowers and leaves in potpourri. Good companion plant for radish.