How To

How to Cook With Dill

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By eHow Contributing Writer

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This versatile herb is a spice rack favorite, useful for many kinds of dishes. It's not only a flavor enhancer in salads and potato dishes, but perhaps best known as a "pickling agent" used in making dill pickles. Dill is another herb that has been well used over the centuries for calming the stomach and for good luck.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Step 1

Cut dill fresh from the plant. The flowering dill plant grows well in most soils. Many cooks prefer fresh dill, but you can also buy it dried on the supermarket shelf.
Step 2

Wash the herb to make sure dirt particulates are eliminated. One way is to swish the plant around in a bowl of water. You could also rinse it under the tap.
Step 3

Mince the dill leaf and add it to your dish. Dill leaf goes very well with Salmon, it's also a favorite in mashed potatoes.
Step 4

Use dill seeds. In old days, parents gave their children dill seeds to chew on to keep them happy, but that was before we had a hundred brands of chewing gum. These days, the seeds are useful in sauces.
Step 5

Store dill away from light and heat. The seeds can be kept in a sealed container. The leaf can be dried and stored, or kept in water for prompt use.

Tips & Warnings

For pickling, add a cluster of dill seeds at the beginning of the pickling process.
Use dill liberally. As it's a relatively mild herb, you can use a lot without overpowering your dish.
Another great use of dill is in cucumber salad, where cucumber is sliced thin and served in yogurt. A little dill, and/or salt, pepper or garlic salt will do the trick.

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