A few years ago, I bought a cute, clay jar of Herbes de Provence from a gourmet grocery store near my house. I have to admit that I bought it mostly because of the cute, clay jar. But I also bought it because I was reading A Year in Provence by Peter Mayle and was swept up in the whole southern France culinary romance. A new spice in my life wouldn’t be such a bad thing.
I used it on a baked chicken and it was wonderful. And then I used it on a chicken in the crock pot, with a little white wine and it was also very good. But chicken is as far as I ever got. I wasn’t sure exactly what was in Herbes de Provence, so I was a little chicken (ha!) to expand my horizons.
So for the equally uneducated, here is the scoop on Herbes de Provence, and a recipe that is not chicken.
The herb mixture does indeed come from southern France, and includes herbs found in the region: rosemary, basil, marjoram, thyme, sage, savory, tarragon, bay, fennel and lavender. The lavender surprised me a little, but if you close your eyes and breathe in, you can smell just a touch of it. Besides French cuisine, it’s also commonly used in Italian dishes.
Try Herbes de Provence in stews and sauces and on lamb, turkey, fish and potatoes, as well as on chicken. Here is a yummy recipe using the herbs on potatoes from Rachael Ray.
Rachael Ray’s Herbes de Provence Potatoes
2 to 2 1/2 pounds red potatoes, washed
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, enough to coat
2 tablespoons Herbes de Provence
1 tablespoon grill seasoning (recommended: McCormick Montreal Seasoning) or 1 teaspoon each salt and pepper
Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.
Line a cookie sheet with foil, for easy clean up. Cut potatoes into wedges and drop onto cookie sheet. Coat potatoes in oil. Season with dried spices and grill seasoning or salt and pepper. Roast, turning once, 25 minutes.