Tuesday eating from your yard tip~Anise Hyssop (Agastache foeniculum) came to mind this week because it has traditionally been used to help us deal with the heat and recover from heat stroke, as an expectorant or for a dispirited heart. Both the anise hyssop leaves and flowers are edible and taste like licorice/anise, so if you are repulsed by licorice read no further. Take heart though you are not alone, deer don’t like anise hyssop either.
While deer don’t like anise hyssop the bees love anise hyssop and we love the anise/licorice flavored honey they produce. Anise hyssop also makes a really lovely lightly licorice/ anise flavored simple syrup. The anise hyssop simple syrup stores well in the refrigerator for a taste of summer in the winter. I take shot glass full when I’m melancholy or have a cough. The anise hyssop simple syrup is lovely in adult beverages or poured over of a bowl of ice cream and/or peaches then topped with the little anise hyssop flowers or chopped leaves.
Anise hyssop is especially good paired with apricots, peaches and cranberries. So add some chopped leaves to your cranberry sauce or fruit jelly. For a party pleaser I take a cup of apricot jam and three tablespoons of finally chopped anise hyssop leaves in a sauce pan on low heat until it it melts nicely together. Then cool and serve over cream cheese.
Unlike many herbs cooking doesn’t destroy the flavor, so you can add anise hyssop to your soup or stew or wine sauce.
Anise hyssop makes a really nice infused water. To make an infused water fill a jar 1/3 full of crushed leaves to release the flavor, then fill the remainder of the jar with warm water and put it in the refrigerator for a day or two. Anise hyssop can also be used to flavor vinegar or alcohol. To infuse the vinegar or alcohol, follow a similar process of a jar 1/3 full with crushed leaves, then fill the remainder of the jar with either vinegar or alcohol. Store it in dark place for 4-6 weeks plus then strain and enjoy!
In my favorite book, Garden Spells by a Sarah Addison Allen, they make anise hyssop butter on toast~heaven! A few leaves and flowers are also a nice addition to a green salad or edible garnish.
There are lots of recipes for anise hyssop in baked goods, but I don’t pick up the taste. Maybe I need to double the anise hyssop in the recipe. Has anyone had luck? I have given up as there are plenty of other things to flavor my cookies, muffins and bread.
How do you eat anise hyssop?
