Making Powdered Herbs

Normally we don’t garnish with dried herbs, because the rough feel on the mouth throws the texture achievement of the entire dish into chaos.

However, there is a way to utilize the potency of a dried herb by turning it to powder. We use paprika, cinnamon, nutmeg et al as garnish and they’re all powdered. Now we powder the dried herbs. We’re already familiar with powdered sage and rosemary. All we need to do is find a way to powder them at home – and then grind others as well. You can’t do this in a blender or food processor. They won’t turn out. You must use a good quality coffee grinder.

When grinding dried herbs into a powder, fill the well of the coffee grinder, process till powdered, then sift through a wire mesh strainer over a bowl several times to remove all the residue bits.

Don’t try to push all the material through the strainer. Instead, shake softly back and forth not letting hard bits escape through the holes by you forcing them through with a rough shake. Discard the residue bits from bottom of strainer.

Place sifted powdered herb into a jar with a lid and use when wanted.

Powdered herbs are useful for adding to a dish just before serving by stirring till it disappears into the dish. It creates a more potent flavor profile. Just be sure that you want the added flavor and only sprinkle lightly to keep from overpowering the overall flavor achievement.

I used dried mint as the herb I wanted to powder. And it worked nicely in the dish in which I used it. Occasionally when I want a mint flavor in a dish I usually don’t have any fresh on hand. Now I can improvise with powdered mint.