This was a very enjoyable read with great information and a mix of recipes. I gave it 3 stars though because some of the recipes were adventurous and might seem inaccessible. Overall a great book for a garden enthusiast!

Lovely informative book.
Well written with beautiful pictures. Great for an inexperienced beginner or those more knowledgeable..

Cooks worth their apron strings all know how herbs can transform mundane dishes into extraordinary culinary masterpieces. And cooks who may not yet be experienced in using fresh herbs, but want to learn should surely pick up Herbs: Delicious Recipes and Growing Tips to Transform Your Food. Judith Hann, who is definitely an expert, has released an excellent book, full of growing hints, history and uses for herbs, and most importantly mouthwatering recipes using herbs.

Even busy cooks who don’t have time to fuss over meals will appreciate this cookbook, since most of the recipes are simple and easy to follow. Inexperienced cooks as well as those with years of experience will appreciate the recipes that turn out picture perfect. The photographs are very good, and make it difficult to decide which dish to make. Unfortunately, there isn’t a photograph of every dish, but most are pictured, and I took pictures of my own dishes for my personal cookbook that has a feature to add pictures.

Especially appreciated are the growing hints. Many of us have nice herb gardens, but are often unsure when one of our herbs isn’t doing well; this book will explain. It also is the reason that I added more herbs to my garden this year. Because I like this book so much, I even expanded my AeroGarden® (I now have 4 in my kitchen) so that I can grow most of my favorite herbs year round.

Some of my favorite recipes that are included in this excellent book: Veal Saltimbocca (which I substitute pork tenderloins), a perfect Bérnaise sauce, Tangy Tarragon Chicken, and an incredibly rich Minty Chocolate Mousse with Crystallized Mint Leaves. The Chive Flower Omelette was fun to serve, and we loved the Apple and Rosemary Cake.

If you are interested in adding herbs to make your cooking more exciting, Herbs: Delicious Recipes and Growing Tips to Transform Your Food is a cookbook you’ll want to add to your collection. Hann is a genius when it comes to the herbs, and the book is a delight to read. Five Stars!

Special thanks to NetGalley for supplying a review copy of this book.

Written by an expert on herbs, Judith Hann is clearly passionate about her subject and this comes across in her clear, well organised and inspiring book. The four seasons create the structure to the book and is preceded by an interesting explanation of how herbs took over her life. As a herb grower myself I was pleased to see that a good range of herbs has been included and not just the basics. There are pictures for clarity followed by the history, how to cook with, and how to grow and store each of the herbs. There is a good selection of tempting recipes, in addition to herb teas, cheeses , ices, syrups, sauces, oils and vinegars.
Reading this has left me with a wish to grow and cook with many of these herbs including lovage, a herb I have never grown, but apparently the author's favourite!

The book is beautifully laid out with chapters focusing on seasons. I particularly liked the herb gardener’s action list for each season. Then there are details of a selection of herbs that grow well in that season, including a brief history, growing and cooking advice. Beautiful photos, especially the ones showing the leaves and the rooted cuttings.

From a gardener’s perspective the book was a delight, giving ideas for growing herbs from pots on a windowsill, to a dedicated herb garden. Judith Hann’s passion for herbs and her experience growing them is evident as she gives details on a range of herbs –explaining how she plants and grows herbs for her own use, including useful suggestions about which varieties to grow and with solid advice re cutting back, propagating etc.

From a cook’s perspective on first reading the book I was not that enthusiastic, but going through it a second time, I realized that there was more that appealed to me. Maybe not all recipes that I would want to cook, but it certainly provides the stimulation to cook with herbs that I do not use a lot, or those that I tend to use regularly in the same recipes.
On my list to try:
Apricot Clafoutis with Lemon Verbena
Sorrel and Salmon Fishcakes
Nectarines with Amaretti and a Lovage Drizzle
Pork Loin with Oregano Tapenade and Tomato Sauce

There were also a number of suggestions that I know I will incorporate in my cooking repertoire, such as the Strong Herb Pesto (using walnuts and powerfully flavoured herbs) which is recommended for use in Pesto Triangles as a delicious alternative to spanakopita or samosas. The section on herb oils and vinegars and herb preserves was also very interesting and includes their use in interesting sweet and savoury recipes.
There are very useful suggestions such as when to add herbs to ensure maximum flavour. I chuckled at, and agreed wholeheartedly with, her comments about parsley’s “unkind fate” to be overused in uninspiring ways.

TITLE: Lots of pictures and helpful information will help you bring cooking to life

This is more of a reference book than a cookbook. If you are just getting interested/involved with herbs, this is a great book to get you started.

Lots of descriptive pictures, helpful and interesting information will have you planning your herb garden and buying seeds.

Instead of a lot of recipes, the author gives you her knowledge and advice so that you can intuitively choose an herb or two or three to compliment your own dishes.

Don't expect a good helping of recipes. You will be disappointed. It's really not a cookbook. It's a book on herbs to pique your interest.

*I received a temporary download of this book from the publisher.

I received an e-copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This is a nice book on herbs for the beginner or intermediate gardener or for a cook who wants to better understand how to incorporate fresh herbs. I like that the author explores the history of the various herbs and edible flowers, discusses the unique characteristics of each, and offers insight on her personal experience with each plant. Each herb has a history, cooking, and growing section, and recipes. Most of the herbs will be known to readers, but I wasn't familiar with cicely and hope to try it soon. She also includes seasonal advice, but I would encourage the reader to check with their growing zone and adjust as needed.

The recipes are simple and designed to showcase the delicious and subtle flavors of each herb. She includes recipes for a variety of dishes, as well as oils, vinegars, and sauces. The pictures included are beautiful, but there wasn't a picture with each recipe.

I recommend this book for anyone interested in growing their own herbs and learning how to use them in the kitchen.

When I opened this book I became wild from excitement. There are two elements that I love to see in cookbooks and this one had them both (along with other things I am really positive about). First, it divides herbs and recipes according to seasons, which I think is extremely useful when you try to cook with respect for the environment, and mostly there will be economic benefits too. Secondly, it contains some really useful basic information both for people who are going to set up their first vegetable garden (one day, one day!) or for those who have no garden at all but do enjoy some fresh herb plants on the window-sill.
Oh, how I wish that Judith Hann was part of my family, because she seems so lovely, and it would be great to have a family member with a garden as beautiful as hers. Imagine the meals you must when you would visit!
All of the recipes seem relatively easy, with not too many ingredients, and because they center around herbs I am expecting them to be rich in flavor. The book has a beautiful clean design and gorgeous photos, a bit in the style of Linda Lomelino’s photos (but then herbs instead of cakes). I would definitely consider this as a gift for my mother, or other family members.

The first thing I want to say about Herbs is how gorgeous it is – even as an ebook.  From the cover through the photos that are generously shared throughout the book – each one makes me want to grow herbs and then eat the food made with them.

To be fair, Hann was pushing on a bit of an open door as I have been trying for the last few years to do just what she is looking to help me achieve – a herb garden, one that I can use year round and comes back year on year.

So far, I haven’t been very successful, and my herb garden (now that the summer is over) consists of one surviving plant – sage (which seems to still be going strong).  That doesn’t meant that what I planted didn’t grow well this summer, they did, they just didn’t hang around.  Reading Herbs,  it looks like I’ve made a few rooky mistakes there (choice of soil being the biggest one), but there isn’t anything I can’t fix next year and nothing scary.

Which is the next thing I want to say about Herbs – it is a book that takes the scary out of creating a herb garden and makes you think you can do it.  Possibly not surprising as, as well as an author, Hann teaches classes on growing herbs.  If her teaching style is anything like her writing style, I bet they would be good classes.  She is clear, straight-forward, natural in her delivery, and enthusiastic.  I made it an easy, informative, and encouraging read.

The structure of the book really helps, taking you through each season and each of the key herbs from that season, looking at their origins and how best they can be used – including tasty sounding recipes in which to use them.  Some of the herbs, like basil, I was very familiar and comfortable with.  Others, this book really helped fill in the gaps as to how best to use them – borage for example, which grew like crazy in my previous house and that I never knew what to do with so I just kept cutting it down (which now feels like a sin!).

A big one for me was parsley, which I grew successfully this summer then didn’t know what to do with, palming bunches off to family and friends.  For next year, I now have a list of recipes to try – though knowing my luck, the damn thing won’t grow anywhere near as well.  There are other things I want to try next year too, like herbed vinegars and ice cubes for those warm summer days.  And maybe edible flowers, which are also covered here.

And this leads me to my only criticism, which is not really of the book, but the timing.  It came out in mid-September, too late for me really to be able to make use of it until next year.  It would have been very nice to have this in the spring so I could plan what I wanted to did.  Still, there is next year, and I will definitely be taking advantage of what I’ve learned then.

I liked this book a lot and would recommend it for any green-fingered (or wanna be green-fingered types out there).

WOW wonderful book on how to grow each herb and the recipes using them........

I requested this book on NetGalley because I liked the look of the book and I was not disappointed. I began growing herbs with just a few pots and not unlike Hann, I quickly became obsessed with learning more about growing herbs and using them more often and creatively in my cooking. If this sounds like you, then this book is a must read. It's a growing guide written by season bound to help you grow more both in quantity and variety. It also has some wonderful recipes to help you use all those herbs. If this were not enough, it's filled with gorgeous photography which I particularly enjoyed as I too enjoy photographing my garden and herbs. A beautiful book bound to be treasured by the herb gardener.

As a long-time herb grower, I was fascinated with this book, neatly broken down by season and by individual herb, detailing the history, growing, and cooking of each. Deliciously simple recipes add to the appeal of this book.

A feast for the senses by an innovative herb gardener

I love everything about Herbs by Judith Hann. In her book, she leads the reader through the four seasons of the year, featuring her favorite herbs, telling a little bit about their history and cultivation, and providing mouthwatering recipes to the reader. Artful photographs accompany the recipes and are a feast for the eyes. Just looking at the photographs makes me dream of the scents and aromas of Judith's culinary creations. The herbs featured in the book are used in many unconventional ways. Who, for example, would have ever thought about putting sorrell into ice cream? The innovative use of flowers in many different ways is also amazing. Reading this book I feel as if Judith is taking me by the hands and leading me through her beautiful herb garden. I would love to meet her in person, see her garden, and get a taste of her marvelous herb dishes. I am also taken back in time to my parents' garden reading for example about the wonderful herb lovage. My mother used to grow it and she would put it in all of her hearty soups which always tasted wonderful. Right now I only have lemon balm and some rampant peppermint in my backyard. Judith Hann inspires me to add a variety of other herbs next year.

A free copy of this book was given to me by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

I received this book for free through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Herbs guides the reader through growing and eating during each season, with recommendations on planting, harvesting, and storage. Each herb is discussed individually, including their histories, which was very interesting.

This book is excellent for those wishing to cook with herbs. Hann provides many delicious-sounding recipes using a variety of herbs which I wouldn't have thought to use. She describes the flavours well and has an enjoyable voice that made this book a pleasure to read.

The information given on growing the herbs was less useful. Hann is an extremely accomplished gardener and talks about cutting back plants and splitting their roots and such in a casual manner. Despite having spent many dull summer evenings watching my mother do things with her plants, I have no idea what's involved with cutting back plants and so if I decided to grow any of these herbs I would definitely need to seek out additional information elsewhere.

In all, I think this book would be excellent for gardeners who want to expand their herbal horizons and use them extensively in their cooking.

This beautiful book is all about herbs, written by someone with an obvious passion for them. Not just a cookbook, this book not only explains how to use the herbs written about, but how to grow them as well. The book is divided into seasons, with each intro giving a list of things to do in that season to take care of your herb garden.

Each herb talked about has a history section as well as tips on cooking and growing before a few recipes where it has a starring role. Besides the section on each herb, interspersed throughout the book are pages on things that involve multiple herbs, such as a page on pesto, herb teas, and herb cheeses.

Personally, most of the recipes in this book are not to my taste, but it’s well worth checking out just for the loads of information on the different herbs and sections on making herb syrups, herb ice cream, herb preserves, and anything else you could think of. This would make a great gift for an adventurous cook or a gardener.

Herbs by Judith Hann promises Delicious Recipes and Growing Tips to Transform Your Food. This book delivers. It includes information on herbs that are well known but also some lesser known herbs. I was thrilled to see pineapple and tangerine sage included along with a recipe to use pineapple sage. I found the growing tips to be useful even for a seasoned gardener. The recipes gave me creative ways to utilize the herbs growing in my garden. I also have a list of a few herbs to add to my garden next year.

This is a useful and well organized volume for the home cook desiring to add herbal interest to their cooking, especially those interested in growing their own herbs. Ms. Hahn presents herbs to us in a seasonal arrangement, including the best conditions for growing herbs and how to care for them as they mature. She describes the flavors each herb imparts, the typical cuisines that use it, tips for harvesting and preservation, and numerous culinary applications, as well as recipes. Measurements and temperatures are given in American, UK, and European equivalents. I think it's a terrific addition to the bookshelf of anyone interested in growing or cooking with herbs.
I voluntarily read an advanced review copy provided by the publisher via Netgalley and I offer my opinion in response.

This book is a great bible to have around the house if you plan to grow your own herb gardens. This is our plan and I found this book so informative. It tells you the best things to do depending on the season, how best to take care of certain herbs, and additionally (going above and beyond) tells you what's best to do with them when cooking. It includes lovely recipes that I personally can't wait to try out.

This is a great recipe book, but it's also more than that: I really liked how it was organized in 4 major parts - one for each season - and then sub-chapters dealing with each particular herb (its history, way of cooking, and way of growing, and only then offering recipes and instructions for preparing). It's really in-depth and shows a lot of research, and a lot of love for herbs. I especially appreciated the party about the historical usage and appearance of different herbs.

This is pretty much a cook book that focuses on herbs so if you are looking for some great recipies to use with your herbs in, this will work for you.  The other information presented is pretty basic so if you already have others that already have the basics this one won't present much new information.  There are plenty of photos and information if you are looking for a book as a gift this one would be a great starter.