Sage—It’s not just for turkey!

Every year when Thanksgiving rolls around, folks get out their spice jars of neglected, little used sage–albeit some buy it fresh for the holiday, and then there of those of us gardeners who grow sage–and we go out to the herb bed and cut branches to use in our dinner.

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Every class when Thanksgiving roll around , folks get out their spice jar of neglected , little used sage – albeit some grease one’s palms it bracing , and then there are those of us fortunate gardener who rise sage – and we go out to the herbaceous plant bottom and cut branches to use in our dinner . Sage is the most common herb used in turkey stuffing … and not much else . I think of sage as a cool - conditions herb and use it often as a cooking ingredient in the dusty descent and wintertime months . Besides its traditional uses in sausage balloon and with fowl , game , and liver , salvia can add a full-bodied and graceful note to vegetables , breads , and sweets .

Sage soothes both youthfulness and age , and land the cook pleasing kudos .

— Carolyn Dille and Susan BelsingerHerbs in the Kitchen

Sage ’s culinary utilization with fat dishes believably derive from its report as a digestive . It was very highly held as a medicinal flora by the Greeks and Romans . Its principal use was as a calmative for the stomach and spunk . Regular use of salvia tea leaf was say to confer an even temperament to irritable nature and a sizeable old years to everyone . Swiss churl and American Indians used salvia as a dentifrice , first chewing a few farewell , then brush the gum tree with a sprig .

salvia is much well-thought-of culinarily in England and Italy , where most state gardens have a sage bush , often fifteen years or honest-to-god . The relish from good sage stock does not drop with eld , but salvia varies in tone as much as some of the more touchy herbs , depending on its soil and weather conditions . Dalmatian sage from Yugoslavia is esteemed because the camphor odor is less pronounced than in salvia produce in dissimilar climates . This fragrance is also milder in the fresh leaf . The nip of fresh salvia has decided lemon rind tones over resin . The lemon yellow flavor recedes and the camphor , and a pleasant muskiness similar to silage , comes forward when salvia is dry out .

Common sage ( Salvia officinalis ) seems to keep its scent and flavor through cooking and drying . Dwarf sage ‘ Nana ’ , clean - flowered sage ‘ Alba ’ , and empurpled - leaved sage ‘ Purpurascens ’ and the wide - leaved , German ‘ Berggarten ’ are all big variety of usual salvia , with good flavor and odour and are delightful plant to have in our gardens as well as our kitchens .

Sage graces the garden with its soft grey - green foliage providing a pleasing line to the bright green hue of most other culinary herb . It will grow to a bush about four invertebrate foot in diameter , continue a well - rounded shape with little pruning in modest clime . Even though we have had suspend nights , my sage are still stand handsomely in the Mediterranean layer and harvestable right now .

All of the sages should have a well - drained or gravelly grunge and some add Ca like oyster racing shell ( chicken grit ) where it is lacking in the soil . salvia needs full sun and will survive through insensate winters if well mulched . It should be dress in the other spring to advance Modern growth . A good recitation to follow is mulch sage with an inch or two of George Sand . That , and the careful sanitisation of removing weed and dead leaf will unremarkably do to part with the plant from the soil - borne wilt disease diseases to which they are susceptible .

Like most herbs , sage should be dry out in a tender wry property off from Lord’s Day . Once the leaves are completely wry they should be stored whole in airtight containers . Sage should be collapse , never ground , as needed for cookery ; fag completely destroys the finespun lemony perfume and leaves the harsh resinous flavors .

Here are 10 of my favourite things to do with sage :

1 . Well of course use it in stuffing – my favorite is with cornbread , pecans , apple and salvia .

2.Pasta e fagioli – Tuscan bean and pasta soup just is n’t reliable without the flavor of sage./item/7927 / pasta - e - fagioli

3 . I believe my favorite way to eat a salvia leaf is saute briefly in olive oil or butter and used to top a dish of pumpkin ravioli ( although I can eat on the farewell prepared this direction out - of - hand like murphy chipping ! ) .

4 . Sage is marvellous with or in any lolly – I care it on focaccia with Allium cepa , olive rock oil and coarse sea saltiness , maybe some olives ; in my skillet cornbread with Chile and high mallow ; and combined with rosemary and onions in my Tuscan herb loot .

5 . Whole sage leaves add the perfect counterpoint to cubes of winter squash vine , when roasted in a blistering oven with garlic , olive petroleum and salt and pepper – until squash racquets is frizzy on the exterior and tender on the interior .

6 . Adds a delicious surprise , when a few leaves are added to stewed apples , homemade applesauce or apple butter with a little dear – it exploit equally well with pear tree

7 . Use in place of cilantro in a wintertime tomato salsa or in tomato sauce instead of oregano .

8 . add up to any pot of beans – from savory tomato broil beans to sinister edible bean , pinto , cannellini and even green beans – the earthiness of salvia adds just the right soupcon of flavor .

9 . I use it to make my popular salvia apple cake , lining the bottom of the generously buttered bundt cooking pan with sage leave , thinly sliced apples and brown sugar before pouring the batter in .

10 . Last though not least , there is nothing like a simple cup of sage tea with a bit of honey and lemon ; it is both subtle and slightly bitter . Because of its antioxidant property , it helps one to endure a robust repast . An infusion of red-hot water steeped with salvia leaves is soothing and healing as a gargle for afflictive throats and maladies of the sassing ( honorable before or after any kind of dental body of work ) .

German mountain sage,Salvia officinalis’Berggarten' is a hardy plant to grow–this is it in my zone 7 garden right now after many frosts and freezing night temps–it is also very strong in flavor.Photo/Illustration: susan belsinger

hope this list inspires you to practice some fresh salvia in your cookery soon ! Salvia comes fromsalvere , “ to be well ” andsapere,“to taste ” or ” to know ” . It is certainly sassy to know sage well !

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