Using fresh herbs can bring new life to breakfast staples

Take a hint from the French and perk up your morning fare with the incomparable flavors of fresh herbs.

With just a few snips of your kitchen scissors you'll transform your favorite egg, potato, quick bread or crepe.

"Fresh herbs expand everything," explained David Barry, an instructor at the Culinary Institute of America who teaches breakfast cuisine.

"You can take something as basic as eggs and completely change how the aromas are going to taste," he said. "We turn to herbs a lot for our scrambles."

Adding herbs to a recipe can make it healthier, as well as tastier. The additional flavors reduce the need for salt, said Georgeanne Brennan, who wrote the cookbook "Brunch" and runs a cooking school in France.

Here's what you need to know to experiment with herbs at breakfast.

Eggs

Try adding one tablespoon of herbs, such as basil, parsley or chives, per two or three eggs. Opt for slightly less of more flavorful tarragon or dill, and just a teaspoon of woody herbs such as thyme, rosemary and sage.

It can be helpful to think in themes and accent other ingredients in your egg dish.

• French scramble: Round out a simple scrambled egg with chervil, parsley, tarragon and chives.
• Mediterranean scramble: Combine diced tomato, avocado and feta with freshly snipped cilantro.
• Tex-Mex scramble: Combine salsa, jalapenos, poblanos, broken corn chips, cheddar or jack cheese, and fresh cilantro.
• Provencal omelet: Fill your omelet with ratatouille (fresh tomatoes, eggplant and zucchini) as well as onion, garlic, fresh basil and a sprinkle of dried herbs de Provence.
• Italian omelet: Combine fresh mozzarella, fresh sage or basil, and a sprinkle of red hot chili flakes.
• Smokey quiche: Add bacon, onion and a teaspoon of minced fresh sage.

Potatoes

Use similar ratios of herbs per three potatoes as listed above for eggs.

• Spiked hash browns: Snip fresh parsley and sage into a hash brown mix before frying.
• Herbed home fries: Fold fresh lovage, thyme, parsley, summer savory, rosemary and/or chives into home fries during the final 5 to 10 minutes of cooking.
• Thyme scalloped potatoes: Fresh thyme and minced shallots complement creamy, eggy scalloped potatoes. Rosemary or sage also could be used.
• Rosemary potato pancakes: Combine rosemary, butter, cheese and mashed or grated russet potatoes. Flatten and fry on each side. Or try a similar technique with dill.

Breads

Herbs can transform a basic quick bread recipe to savory or sweet depending on your ingredient combinations.

Per dozen muffins, scones, biscuits, or rolls, add two to three tablespoons of delicate herbs such as chervil, parsley, or chives.

Use slightly less -- about a tablespoon -- for stronger herbs, such as sage, rosemary and lavender. Add them to the dry ingredients to keep them well distributed.

• Cheddar thyme muffins: Cheddar and fresh thyme blend nicely in a savory muffin or biscuit.
• Sage biscuits: Sage's strong flavor mellows nicely with goat cheese for biscuits or scones.
• Sweet rolls: Add cinnamon, nutmeg and cardamom with some extra sugar to rolls or biscuits.
• Basil scone: Experiment with different types of basils, including traditional, lemon and Thai.
• Harvest scone: Add currents, caraway seeds and thyme to create a savory sweet scone. Or use the same blend in a muffin.

-- Provencal scone: Add a teaspoon of fresh or dry lavender flowers to a basic scone recipe.

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CREPES AND PANCAKES

We tend to think of crepes and pancakes as sweet foods, and herbs as savory. But their flavors can combine in unusual ways in your standard crepe or pancake recipe.

Use similar portions of the herbs as with the previous breakfast foods.

-- Seafood crepe: Fill a basic crepe with crab, chives and tarragon.

-- Earthy crepe: Fill a basic crepe with sauteed mushrooms and thyme, parsley and a little rosemary.

-- Herbed apricot crepe: Tame the sweetness of apricot jam with thyme or lemon thyme to fill a basic crepe.

-- Dill crepe: Snip dill into your crepe batter, then wrap the finished crepe around lox and cheese.

-- Savory crepe: Fold fines herbs (a blend of chervil, chives, parsley and tarragon) into your crepe batter, then wrap the finished crepe around a filling of ricotta and caramelized onions. Or try parsley, chives or lemon thyme in place of the fines herbs.

-- Mint pancakes: Add apple mint to baked apples spooned over pancakes. Or combine chocolate mint and raspberries.