The Wisconsin Gardener

Lovage is not as well know in this country as it is in Europe and particularly Germany. It gets used a lot in my kitchen. The strong celery flavor is great in soups and stews, and it doesn't diminish in cooking. I tend to use it fresh and dried. However, here's an herb that we all know very well. This is sage. It usually plays a starring role in our Thanksgiving turkey. The flavor tends to compliment fatty poultry and other meats. It also makes a nice tea when blended with lemon balm and spearmint leaves. However, I have to admit, I don't use it that much in my kitchen as much as I use the lovage. The fresh leaves have a strong, sort of astringent, flavor. But you take these same strong-flavored leaves, you dip them in a flour-egg batter, and they're transformed into something wonderful. That's the recipe I'm going to show you. This is deep-fried sage leaves. It's very simple, and you really will enjoy the results. Start out with 1/2 cup of flour. This is white flour I'm using. You can also make it with whole wheat flour. That's what it looks like. It has a stronger flavor and a little heavier consistency. To the 1/2 cup of flour I'm going to add a speck of salt, and this is a 1/2 cup of sparkling mineral water. You have to use the sparkling kind, with the carbonation. You need that. A tablespoon of oil. This is canola oil. Olive oil is also fine, whatever your taste. We dump those in, and I'm going to use a wooden whisk to mix them up and get this well blended. This shouldn't get a real thick batter. It should be very light. I'll try to get most of the lumps out. To that then I'm going to add one egg white that's been whipped until it has stiff peaks. We're just going to fold that right in. Then again, blend this well. Get out the last few lumps there, and this is the batter for deep-fried sage leaves. Now from here it's very simple. You take your leaves and you're going to dip them in the batter, both sides, and then we're going to fry them in hot oil, about 350 degrees. Again, I use canola oil. You can do it with olive oil. It's really a matter of your own taste. You have to watch these very carefully. They will fry up fairly quickly and you don't want them to get too brown. You want them golden brown. This recipe is actually a combination of two recipes. It's part my dad's recipe for beer-batter fish. In fact if you substitute beer for the mineral water, it's great for fish. It's also part of a recipe for the deep-fried sage leaves that I lost a couple of years ago. That's where the egg white come in. Here's the finished product, deep-fried sage leaves. Serve them warm. Sit back and watch people try to figure out what they're eating. Growing sage is very easy in the garden. It's a native of southern Europe so give it full sun, well- drained soil and warmth. I have the most success with this common variety, but there are also varieties with more colorful leaves. There's also a tended perennial called Pineapple sage. I grow that in a pot so I can bring it indoors are the first sign of frost. This is a great recipe to get to know quite a number of herbs. It works for lovage leaves, and you can deep-fry parsley leaves as well. It tastes great.