What and How Do You Cook with Fresh Sage? archived

butter and sage sauce for pasta

Sage goes really well with pork. Get some pork tenderloin or pork chops and rub sage on it before you cook it, and it will taste fantastic.

Funny how two of the four cooking questions I know the answer to were asked here tonight

richiekiss identified one of the best uses, I think. If you want a REALLY simple application - I often just tuck the leaves under chicken breast or under the skin of chicken parts and bake. I'll add some butter and salt too for juiciness.

lara, what are the other two questions? I want to pose them to you.

Tom--
The questions are: "How can I make really good soft pretzels in the comfort of my own kitchen?" and "How hard is it to cure a duck?"

I tend to think of sage as more of a fall/winter herb - it has a strong flavor and the meat needs to be able to stand up to it.

You can fry sage leaves and they make a delicious garnish. You can chop a small amount up with thyme and mix with some butter and stuff under the skin of a chicken that you can roast.

This is an easy pork tenderloin recipe that I make a lot:
Pork tenderloin with Sage and Marsala Sauce
1 large pork tenderloin (1 1/4 to 1 1/2 lb) trimmed and cut in half crosswise
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/4 tsp fresh ground pepper
2 tsp pink peppercorns crushed (optional)
2 Tbs unsalted butter
1 Tbs extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup sweet Marsala
1 Tbs chopped fresh sage leaves
Fried sage leaves for garnish

Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 375. Season the pork with S&P and rub evenly with peppercorns if using. Heat 1 Tbs butter and the oil in a 10 inch ovenproof skillet over med hi heat. Put the pork in the pan and sear golden brown on all sides about 5 mins total. Transfer to the oven and roast until 140 degrees (10 to 15 mins). Move the pork to a cutting board and tent loosely with foil. Pour off and discard most of the fat in the skillet. Set over med hi heat and add the Marsala. Bring to a vigorous simmer scraping the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon to loosen any browned bits. Simmer until reduced by half about 2 mins. Off the heat add the remaining 1 Tbs butter and the chopped sage. Swirl the sauce until butter melts. Slice the pork into 12 pieces, arrange on a platter and pour the hot pan sauce over the meat. Garnish with fried sage if using.

Sage is also great with roasted squash (not the summer squash variety) or sweet potatoes. You can peel and slice a sweet potato into rounds and roast it for about a 1/2 hour, with the sage or fry the sage leaves as eliz suggested and put those on top of the roasted potatoes.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/database/sageonionstuffing_3580.shtml

Posted By: laraTom--
The questions are: "How can I make really good soft pretzels in the comfort of my own kitchen?" and "How hard is it to cure a duck?"

on the second question, don't you first need to know what the duck is suffering from before you can answer how hard it will be to cure him?

ok, now i'm done being lame...

i like to fry sage in a bit of butter, remove it, then brown some italian sausage in there, some shallots, deglaze with white wine, then reduce some heavy cream in it. finally, i add some cooked pumpkin (canned is even fine, but not pumpkin pie filling) along with some nutmeg and white pepper, then stir it up good and let it cook for a bit longer (add liquid if it is too thick). i put this over pasta and crumble up the fried sage on top, along with a topping of toasted pine nuts.

yummy!

I think mommyrock needs to come over and cook me lunch :hungry:

Yes, that's what's missing in mommyrock's life: the chance to cook your lunch.

Posted By: Tom ReingoldYes, that's what's missing in mommyrock's life: the chance to cook your lunch.

See? Is that so hard to understand?

:rolling:

what is missing from mommyrock's life is a way to make it a sufficiently profitable enterprise to cook lunch for tigerlilly, such that she can quit her job. if tigerlilly wants to match my current income, i'll be right over...

Veal Saltimboca. We just had some friends visiting, who made this. It was delish.

- Thin cutlets of veal (or beef, or chicken) 2-3 per person
- Prosciutto
- Sage
- Lemon juice.

One layer of veal, a slice of Prosciutto and a sage leaf. Hold together with a tooth pick.
Fry in a pan, first the side with the prosciutto until it is slightly crisp, then the veal side. Pour some lemon juice over it, while it is still cooking. All really quick, since it is so thin.

As a side, some rosemary potatoes. Yum.
- Dice potatoes, spread them out on a baking sheet, add salt, pepper, oil and rosemary twigs. Put in the oven at 350F until slightly crisp on the edges.

Hmmmm....

DANG IT ALL! Guess I'll just have a tuna sandwich today..... :sad:

Posted By: mommyrock

Posted By: laraTom--
The questions are: "How can I make really good soft pretzels in the comfort of my own kitchen?" and "How hard is it to cure a duck?"

on the second question, don't you first need to know what the duck is suffering from before you can answer how hard it will be to cure him?

ok, now i'm done being lame...

:rolling: asking for advice about the curing of the duck was one of my first posts on MOL, and someone (I believe it was Hank Zona) immediately chimed in with a countdown to lame puns & double entendres.

Fresh sage? Make pesto.

Same technique as with basil. Use appropriately. Stuffed inside a pork loin before grilling would work.

I love sage. I make chicken breasts--my husband's favorite meal--where I finely cut up the sage, put it on the chicken breast with sea salt and fresh ground peppper. Cook the breasts in olive oil, remove-put in oven warmer. Add a lot of garlic, a bit of onion or shallot and then some white wine (if pan is too hot, deglaze right away with some of the white wine), a little water. Cook until browned. Add some chicken broth and the cooked off chicken juice, cook until thick. Add a couple of pats of butter and some lemon juice--cook until it thicken to your preference. Pour on chicken.

Serve with rice.

Watch men grovel at your feet (women too)...