Whenever someone says the following words to you: “That Was the Best {insert whatever here} I Ever Had”. . . . you stop a moment and say thank you. When a few people tell you the same thing in one weekend, maybe you blush a little and say “Aw shucks.”
And then you blog about it. 🙂
We recently made some chicken salad for an appetizer and several people did say it was the best chicken salad they had ever had! Which was lovely to hear. But it’s just chicken salad, right? How could it be soooo good? Well…nothing is “just” anything when our not-so-secret ingredient is added.
LOVAGE
Lovage has been a secret weapon in our kitchen at the Brampton for years. It’s the kind of herb that most people cannot quite place (because no one has ever heard of it!), but just adore.
This article in the Washington Post is very informative and says it perfectly: this herb packs a lot of flavor into one little leaf. And it’s perennial, so once you plant it, you’ll have it season after season. That fact in itself is a life hack: perennials are awesome. Plant it once and reap the benefits for years! So here you have another in our series of posts on simple things to do in the kitchen that have a big impact on your cooking.
No recipe needed, just add lovage to your existing repertoire and wait for the compliments. Anywhere you might use parsely, add some lovage. Add it to scrambled eggs. To salsa. Mashed potatoes. Deviled eggs. Oh, man. Add it to deviled eggs, please. In a white bean hummus with lemon juice. So good.
It tastes a lot like celery; so much so that you can use it as a replacement if you absolutely must. It’s great in green leafy salads too, for an unexpected burst of flavor. Folks will tell you it’s the best salad they ever ate! It’s up to you if you want to keep it a secret. It’s safe with us.