Cook Club: Save sage for a winter taste of summer

As the weather cools and the year moves into November, most fresh produce has faded. Summer's juicy tomatoes and crisp cucumbers are, sadly, a mere memory to be either savored with longing until next year or substituted with pale grocery store imports. But a few fresh garden items remain; notably, hardy herbs like sage.

There is a reason so many stuffing and turkey recipes call for this fragrant green herb. Not only does it hang on well into fall, but its strong flavor is perfect for punching up almost any savory dish.

This perennial herb, related to mint, has soft, almost furry leaves that release a fragrant aroma when rubbed, chopped and cooked. It is perfect sauteed in butter or olive oil and is a worthy seasoning for meat, fish, casseroles, pastsas and egg dishes. It is a strong herb, so the only caution is not to use too much.

Even hardy and cold-weather resistant herbs like sage, however, won't stay green forever. As the temperature has dropped, I've been looking for ways to preserve the herbs that have been hanging on in my garden - I also have thyme and chives still going strong.

Along with the obvious choice of drying, herbs can be frozen in olive oil, water or butter. The olive oil solution is straightforward: either choose a single herb or make up a mix (think of that Simon and Garfunkel song and create a medley of 'parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme,” perhaps). Fill an empty ice cube tray with the herbs of your choice, cover them with oil and freeze. After the cubes are frozen, pop them out, store them in a plastic baggie and then pull them from the freezer, one at a time, when you are ready to cook a dish that would benefit from their flavor. Drop the frozen cube in a frying pan, let it melt and add whatever else you're cooking; eggs, potatoes, a veggie stir fry or meat. If you're making a soup or a stew, herbs frozen in water can be dropped in for the same effect (though a little olive oil isn't going to hurt most dishes). Pro-tip: Have a designated herb ice cube tray to avoid herb-flavored ice; I also use mine to freeze pesto.

Another easy herb preservation solution is to make compound butter. Basically, compound butter is butter combined with any ingredient you want to infuse it with. I choose sage - dollop a serving of this butter over a steak, onto baking trout of salmon or spread it on cornbread or savory muffins for an elevated taste.

Since sage is so perfect when sauteed and makes a delicious brown butter sauce, I started my sage compound butter by making brown butter. If you're not familiar with brown butter, it's basically a way to lightly cook the milk solids in butter to deepen the taste and bring out a nutty, hazelnut-like flavor. Add a handful of chopped sage to the browning butter and you have a delicious sauce to spoon over ravioli - I couldn't resist saving a few spoonfulls for lunch before turning the rest into compound butter. After a quick stint in the refridgerator to bring it back to spreadable consistency, the butter was ready to be whipped back into shape and frozen.

Many recipes call for shaping the finished butter into a log and storing it in waxed paper. I didn't have any on hand so just used a glass Pyrex container to store it. It can be sliced off and thawed as needed.

As the winter deepens, I'm looking forward to reaching into my freezer for a pop of summer-in-Iowa flavor.

Sage compound butter

Finely chop 1/2 cup fresh sage leaves. Melt 1 pound unsalted butter (4 sticks) over medium heat in a large skillet. It will start to foam and then bubble. The milk solids will start to sink to the bottom and begin to brown, and the butter should smell like hazelnuts. Drop sage into butter, stir and removed from heat. Pour into bowl, scraping milk solids from the bottom of the pan, and refridgerate until it solidfies slightly. Use a stand mixer with a paddle attachment to whip the butter on medium speed until well combined. If you don't have a stand mixer, just make sure the butter is well combined with a hand mixer or even a fork. Adjust amount of sage leaves to personal preference.

Store butter in freezer until ready to use. Slice off amount required and thaw as needed.

Herbs in olive oil

Fill ice cube tray with finely chopped fresh herbs and cover with olive oil. Cover tray with plastic wrap and freeze. After frozen, removed from tray and store frozen in plastic bag or Tupperware; thaw as needed for cooking.