Centuries ago, French chefs initiated the term “fines herbs” (pronounced “feen erb”), to designate the more delicate herbs. The category generally includes chervil, chives, parsley and tarragon, though it has been known to also include marjoram, savory and a few others, depending on whom you’re asking. This designation is widely acknowledged by chefs around the world: If a recipe calls for “fines herbs,” you can assure it will include the aforementioned four.

Less official, though no less helpful, is a designation used by chef Jan Birnbaum of Epic Roasthouse in San Francisco, among others. He designates the term “big herbs” to refer to those herbs whose flavors can stand up to heartier meats and vegetables. These “big herbs” include sage, rosemary and oregano, herbs that are very much at home in a roast house such as Epic.

FRESH VS. DRIED HERBS

These herbs, be they “fine” or “big,” are best used in their fresh states to enjoy their truest flavors. Dried herbs tend to have more concentrated flavors, stronger on the palate than their fresh counterparts. You can typically add them to a recipe earlier in the cooking process, as their concentrated strength will stand up to the heat of cooking.

When cooking with fresh herbs, on the other hand, it is typically best to wait until as late as possible to add them to a recipe, when the cooking process will have a greater effect on their flavor and what chefs call “brightness”—generally the reason one cooks with fresh herbs in the first place.

That being said, each has its place in the cooking process; even if you are cooking with fine herbs, using a more delicate protein will allow you to cook them without losing their flavor. With bigger herbs, on the other hand, you can more or less throw caution to the wind: they can handle being roughed up a bit. Here are two recipes, one for fine herbs and one for big ones, utilizing the strengths of each to help crate a delicious dish:

Ingredients

 
Preparation

1. Chop herbs and whisk into aïoli, reserving a teaspoon of each. Add lemon juice to taste, until you achieve desired acidity and brightness.
2. Lay sole filets on a foil-covered baking sheet and season with salt and pepper.
3. Using a spoon or spatula, place a generous dollop of herb aïoli at one end of each filet.
4. Roll up filets so that the herbs are in the center, and secure with a toothpick.
5. Add your reserved herbs to the melted butter and brush each filet generously.
6. Bake at 350°F for 20 to 25 minutes. Baste with herb butter once or twice throughout the baking process.
7. Remove toothpick before serving.

RECIPE: BIG HERBS-CRUSTED LAMB LOIN

The crust you get on this lamb recipe is absolutely scrumptious. If seasoned and seared properly, it will be crunchy and herbaceous, giving way to tender, medium-rare lamb beneath. This is the beauty of big herbs: they can stand up to lamb’s flavor as well as the searing process. Some of the herbs may char a bit here and there, but overall it works quite well with the dominant flavors in the dish.

Ingredients

 
Preparation
1. Chop garlic and all herbs, combine, and set aside.
2. Using your hands, rub the loin generously with the olive oil and butter mixture, making sure to coat the entire surface.
3. Spread your herb/garlic mixture on a cutting board and roll the lamb loin around in it to create a crust. The better you cover the loin, the more flavor you will get.
4. Season all sides generously with salt and pepper.
5. In a large sauté pan on high heat, heat the oil; sear lamb loin on all sides. This will take roughly 5 minutes; do your best to leave the lamb alone as it sears in order to achieve a nice, crispy crust. A little smoke is okay, as the herbs may burn slightly; just don’t allow it to get to a point where smoke is pouring from the pan. (This step can also be done on a grill.)
6. Finish the lamb in the oven, baking at 400°F for 20 minutes. Remove and let rest for 10 minutes before slicing and serving.

Save money by mixing your own household
cleaners. Spray bottles from Liquid Fence.

As we were cleaning out a cabinet, we came across an empty Windex spray bottle that had been stored, awaiting repurposing.

Shortly before that, we’d come across Grandma’s recipe for an all-purpose household cleaner. In the early part of the 20th century and for centuries before that, housewives bought the basic ingredients—baking soda, borax, rubbing alcohol, soap (liquid soap was patented in 1865), vinegar and washing soda (a laundry ingredient)—and made their own cleaning products.

Try this simple all-purpose cleaner, which we’ve been using on counters and appliances:

 
Not only does it work; the ingredients cost about fifty cents, compared with $3.69 to buy a name-brand bottle.

If you like the idea of making your own household cleaners, here are recipes for everything from floor cleaner to non-scratch scrubs.

We never start a diet without loading up on these favorites from our Diet Nibbles Section. Each is so delicious yet low in calories.

When was the last time you used the wok? Time to start woking or give it away. Electric wok from Aroma.

Now, how about those kitchen gadgets, pots and pans? It’s a great weekend task, and other household members can join in, help and vote: what stays, what goes.

Last weekend we went through our two overstuffed gadget drawers and found three lemon zesters, eight corkscrews, an electric uncorker we haven’t used in the two years since we received it as a gift, six vegetable peelers, a mango slicer that didn’t work for us and a manual egg beater we haven’t used in decades. Oh, and a gadget that turns radishes into roses for crudité platters.

Elsewhere in the kitchen were grungy spatulas among newer ones. Two sterling silver cake servers from a past life of lavish entertaining. Seven bowl scrapers (we don’t use them, but companies keep sending them to us). Plastic containers piled so high, the stacks keep falling over.

If you’ve got a similar situation, this Tip Of The Day will solve it.

 
Enjoy the extra space you’ve freed up. We live in a small apartment with no storage lockers or other storage space.

But even if you live with a luxury of space, someone else can enjoy your white elephants.

Sandeman, the world’s leading Port producer, has created a hearty winter sangria.

This Winter Spice Sangria recipe celebrates the flavors and colors of the season: fragrant cinnamon and clementines plus tart cranberries, which complement the rich red-fruit flavors in Sandeman Founders Reserve. The ruby Port is available just about everywhere Port is sold, but should you be unable to find it, substitute another ruby port.

Port is also delicious served alone at the end of the meal, with the cheese course or accompanying a rich chocolate dessert or chocolate candy.

It’s easy to mix up a pitcher:
 
 
SANDEMAN WINTER SPICE SANGRIA

Ingredients

 
Preparation

1. Combine Port, cinnamon schnapps, clementine pieces, cranberries, cranberry juice and cinnamon sticks in a large pitcher. Cover tightly and place in refrigerator for at least 8 hours.

2. Right before serving, add sparkling clementine juice/soda and sprinkle allspice on top, to taste.
 
 
PORT vs. PORTO & TYPES OF PORT

Port in English, Porto in Portuguese, and sometimes written as Oporto, combining the article (“the Porto”), is the second largest city in Portugal. Located along the Douro river estuary in northern Portugal, Porto was an outpost of the Roman Empire. Port wine is produced in the region.

Port is made in several expressions: Crusted, Colheita, Late Bottled Vintage (LBV), Ruby, Single Quinta, Tawny, Vintage, Vintage Character and White. Here’s an explanation of each type of Port.