Parsley is not just a Denny's decoration

When I say the word "Parsley", what comes to mind? Do you picture the curly dark green leaf that is featured on sub-par restaurant's fruit buffets? When you were younger, do you remember your mother telling you not to eat the curly leaf and that it was only "decoration for the food"?

If you do indeed recall these childhood memories about a dark green, curly, "non-edible" leaf then you do know what parsley is. Or rather, you know ONE TYPE of parsley.

The curly, bitter tasting offender

There is, however, another type of parsley- Italian Parsley. The Italian variety is a much better herb and we use a lot of it at Savory. It might just be one of our favorites. We use it with other herbs for an herb mixture, we chop it up and use it for garnishes, and we will flavor our food with it.

The superior form of parsley

Now, when picking up parsley at your local grocery store, it's easy to get it confused with Cilantro. Both have a similar leaf shape but cilantro has undertones of lime. Plus, it'll be labeled at the store. To mince, cut about halfway up the bundle and continue chopping until very small bits. You don't need to tear off each of the individual leaves, but don't include all of the stems, either. 

Use fresh Italian parsley in your cooking! It goes well with chicken, herbed bread, noodle soup, and many other dishes. Using fresh herbs will give off more flavor than dried herbs, and it will make your run-of-the-mill chicken dinner morph into a superb meal.

Magical Seasoning

I had a friend at Culinary school introduce me to Johnny's seasonings. 

 Like the label says, it's pure magic.

 

 I mainly use Johnny's when cooking meat but its uses extend to vegetable, home made fries, soups and burgers. 

It's important to salt and season your meat before cooking; it helps the seasoning become part of the meat rather than have it taste like meat with salt. I like to sprinkle Johnny's on just before I start to cook the meat. You can also use other spice rubs but this one is already mixed! It works well on any kind of meat- beef, pork, chicken, and fish.

Simply seasoning the meat before cooking makes a big difference in the dish. Try it for your next meal and wow your tasters with its' depth a flavor!