When you have a sage plant....you have lots of it! I never try to use all of it any more than I try to use all my mint. I just use what I want, fresh and dry a good handful for winter use.
Linda

I agree with Linda. I no longer have sage or mint in my yard because they tried to take over, and I don't use them that much.

I can't think of "summer" uses for sage, but I make a few winter recipes even in the summer. Combine a bit of sage with ground pork and a bit of savory, marjoram or oregano, S&P to make breakfast sausage - I sometimes add fennel. (I used to think that the word sausage came from sau-sage, but I was wrong!) I made my Grits Faux Cornbread Stuffing a couple of weeks ago, despite the warm weather. I like it too much to have only in the winter or at Thanksgiving.

Lars

Baked Sage Leaves
1 bunch large sage leaves
1 egg and 2 egg whites, lightly beaten together
salt and pepper to taste
3/4 cup fine toasted breadcrumbs or flour

Preheat oven to 200C. Spray a nonstick baking sheet with olive oil. Using a pastry brush, brush the sage leaves on both sides with the egg mixture and season with salt and pepper. Dip each in breadcrumbs or flour, turning to coat on all sides, shaking off the excess. Arrange the sage leaves on the prepared baking sheet. spray the tops of the leaves with oil and season with salt and pepper. Bake until crisp and nicely browned, 10-12 minutes. Serve at once as an antipasto or garnish for other dishes.

Chicken in Butter Sage Sauce
2 boned and skinned chicken breast halves
2 tablespoons olive oil
4 tablespoons butter
8 fresh sage leaves
4 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese

Heat the olive oil in a frypan over medium heat until hot but not smoking, and saute the chicken breasts until golden brown on the outside and cooked through, about 5-8 minutes on each side. Remove the pan from the heat and cover. Melt the butter in a small saucepan over medium heat and boil just until it starts to turn golden brown. Add the sage leaves and stir until they are crisp. Put each chicken breast on a heated plate and sprinkle the Parmesan cheese over them equally. Pour the browned butter evenly over both chicken breasts and cheese, and place 4 of the sage leaves on each chicken breast. Serve immediately.

Fresh Sage Muffins
2 cups flour
2 teaspoons sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
pinch salt
1 cup milk
1 egg
1/4 cup butter, melted
1/2 cup finely chopped fresh sage
1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley

Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Mix milk with egg, butter, sage, and parsley. Combine with dry ingredients, mixing just enough to moisten. Pour into 12 greased muffin cups. Bake in a preheated 200°C oven for 20-25 minutes or until top springs back when touched.

Sage Burgers
1 large carrot, grated
1 large potato, grated
1 large onion, grated
1/2 cup wholemeal plain flour
2 eggs
2 sprigs fresh sage or 1 teaspoon dried sage
1/4 cup ground almonds

Chop sage and mix with remaining ingredients to make a firm mixture. Add more egg or flour to adjust consistency. Brush a baking dish with oil and form batter into rounds. Place burgers onto tray. Brush with a little oil and fry, or bake at 220°C for 15-20 minutes or until browned.

Sage Pesto
1/2 cup fresh sage leaves
1 1/2 cups fresh parsley leaves
2 garlic cloves
1/2 cup pine nuts or walnuts
1/2 cup parmesan cheese
1/2 cup olive oil

Combine sage, parsley, garlic, cheese, and nuts in a food processor. Process to mix. With machine running, slowly add the olive oil. Season to taste with salt and pepper and process to the desired consistency. Excellent tucked under the skin of chicken breasts or mixed with pine nuts and fresh bread crumbs and stuffed into game hens.

Dry-fry whole sage leaves until fairly crisp and serve over cooked pasta. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle over some minced raw garlic.

Sage leaves make an excellent substitute for toothbrush and toothpaste. Just rub a leaf over the teeth and gums to clean them and freshen the breath.

Grill some pieces of chicken until tender. Fry several sage leaves in butter for about 1 minute. Grate some cheese over the chicken, spoon some of the butter in which the sage was fried over the cheese, and garnish with sage leaves. Or serve fried sage leaves as a vegetable.

Chop a handful of sage finely, saute in olive oil with a little minced garlic. Stir in some chopped parsley, and toss into cooked pasta. Serve as a side dish with chicken, fish or meat.

This recipe posted here by AdrienneLIQ about 3 years ago is one of my favorite bean recipes and a great summer picnic dish. Sometimes I mix some French bread crumbs with olive oil and sprinkle on the top during the last 15 minutes of baking.

TUSCAN BAKED BEANS

Ingredients:
1 lb. dried cannellini beans
4 T. EVOO
2 cloves garlic, crushed
4 oz. Pancetta, roughly chopped
3 leaves fresh sage (if fresh not available, use 4t chopped fresh parsley).
1 Leek, finely sliced
1 - 14 oz. can plum tomatoes, chopped with their juice
salt and freshly ground black pepper

1. Carefully pick over the beans, discarding any stones or other particles. Place the beans in a large bowl and cover with water. Soak for at least 6 hours or overnight. Drain.

2. Preheat the oven to 350. In a small saucepan, cook pancetta until crisp. Remove pancetta from pan and set aside. Heat the oil and sautee the garlice cloves and sage leaves for 3-4 minutes until garlic is tender but not brown. Remove from the heat.

3. In a large deep baking dish combine the beans with the leek and tomatoes. Stir in the oil with the garlic and sage. Add pancetta. Add enough fresh water to cover the beans by 1 inch. Mix well. Cover the dish with a lid or foil, and place in the center of the oven. Bake for 1 3/4 hours.

4. Remove the dish from the oven, stir the beans, and season with salt and pepper. Return the beans to the oven, uncovered, and cook for another 15 minutes, or until the beans are tender. Remove from the oven and allow to stand for 7-8 minutes before serving. Serve hot or at room temperature.

**For vegetarian version, simply omit the pancetta.

Last Sat. I was watching Lidia's Italy, and italian cooking show featuring Lidia Bastianich. She was highlighting the cooking of Tuscany. She made the oddest dish, but she said it was delicious. It was vanilla pudding with sage. She didn't give a recipe, just said use a standard cooked vanilla pudding recipe, but throw in a handful of fresh sage leaves when you are adding the milk.

I am not a huge sage fan. I serve it with squash dishes, which I am not too prone to making in the summer since they aren't really available and I'm not in the mood to steam or bake them for long periods. Right now I'd be clipping it and drying it. I spread my herbs out on a dishtowel over my radiator to dry, takes about a week. The radiator isn't on now, but the surface provides ventilation under the towel from below. You can also tie them in bunches with a twist tie and hang them from something. I have a little wicker knick nack shelf I tie mine too sometimes.

You could use it in pot pourri or make sage tea to use as a hair rinse. I like the smell of sage, just not a huge fan of the taste, a little goes a long way with me.

I saw that episode of Lida's Italy, and I decided that I would not like vanilla pudding with sage either - I'm not that great a fan of sage either, although I love it in certain dishes.

Daisy's suggestion of sautéing it in butter for pasta or chicken is good. I like sage butter on pasta, but again a little goes a long way. You could probably make some sage butter and freeze it.

I like dried sage as much as fresh sage (for my purposes), which is why I no longer grow it. A small container of dried sage would last me more than a year, but I replace it annually. I used to collect wild sage from some of the mountain parks here (along with Bay Laurel - at different parks), but I haven't done that recently.

Lars

Mmmmm, sage. I take mine and pick a ton of leaves and toss them into a small zip bag and just freeze for fall/winter use.

Also very good are fried sage leaves with roast chicken or pork cutlets. A small amount of EVOO in a pan, and when hot, add the leave. They will become crispy and very good.

Thanks for all the great ideas!
The tuscan beans sound great - I love white beans and just found a long lost baked bean pot this week.

I also like the chicken, sausage, sage burgers, and sage butter. And, the fried/baked leaves ideas sound very yummy. It reminded me of a Oven Fries with Sage Leaves recipe I had made before. I remember it was very good.

I've never thought of sage pesto that sound interesting too.

I'm not sure I'm brave enough for sage muffins or sage pudding yet, but you never know.

And thanks too for the preserving tips, Lars and lpinkmountain, - I will snip some today to put away for the fall.

Denise

Sage struggles to grow here due to our heavy soils, so I grow mine in a container to help with drainage. So, I don't have the problem with runaway sage that y'all have. I try to keep a plant year round.

These recipes all sound good.

I like sage with green beans. One time Dh was doing his open up cans and heat them up for dinner thing, which is one of his favorite ways of cooking (hey, I'm not going to complain if he's willing to get in there and fix supper). Anyway, he pulled some dried sage out of the cabinet and added it to the green beans. They tasted good that way. You could certainly use fresh sage instead.

Sally

If the leaves are large enough you can serve them lightly fried in olive oil as a wonderful nibble while the first guests wait for the rest of the crowd to show up. Just coat the bottom of a heavy frying pan with oil, heat, place the sage leaves in the hot oil. Turn once after about a minute (maybe less)remove to paper towel and serve immediately. They taste smoky and savory. Mmmm!

I agree with LindaC...you'll never use it all!
But, I dry plenty for the winter, toss some in marinades for pork or chicken in the summer and you can put some stems (with or without leaves) on top of your coals when barbecueing for a sage smoke flavoring.

Enjoy the pretty purple flowers for a short term cut arrangement.

Use some in a crockpot chicken recipe.

Dry some more....

Make some sage infused oil.

I love the sage butter idea (freeze it).

Sage vinegar.

Share with family and friends (kinda like zucchini...grin)

Dry some more. :+)

Deanna (who has 2 LARGE sage plants)