Homemade Herbes de Provence

I've always dreamed of visiting the southeastern region of France, specifically Provence, and love the cuisine of the area.  When I cook Provencal inspired cuisine I feel like I'm getting a tiny piece of Provence in my own little kitchen.  As well, there's something so quaint and cosy to me about having a little jar of Herbes de Provence and sprinkling some on a chicken to be roasted in the oven, on a steak to be grilled or to roll a log of goat cheese in

This year I decided to dry bunches of Thyme, Oregano, Rosemary, Sage and Lavender and make my own homemade blend of Herbes de Provence.  Since I have a decent sized perennial herb garden and toward the end of summer and early fall, I end up with more herbs than I know what to do with, this was a perfect solution!  Also, it makes a wonderful gift with a really special homemade touch.

Air drying herbs is a lot more simple than people assume, all you need is some string, a few twist ties and a dry place to hang them.  I decided to hang my herbs out in my detached garage since it's a very dry, clean area without dust and out of the way.  I left my herbs out there for a few weeks to make sure they were really good and dried.  Once fully dried, remove all the leaves from the stems, combine and chop up in a food processor to make a fine ground mixture.

Herbes de Provence is really just a mixture of herbs that are readily available in the south of France. Different families and areas add different types of herbs to their own blends, but it typically contains Savory, Marjoram. Rosemary, Thyme and Oregano.  However, I don't have Savory or Marjoram in my garden so I used what I have at hand.  As well, contrary to popular opinion. Lavender is not traditionally included to the blend, but has become very common since Herbes de Provence has been commercially produced by spice wholesalers.  However, I have Lavender in my garden and while it doesn't add much in the way of additional flavour (that I notice at least), it really contributes a lovely aroma to the blend of herbs.

Here's the specifics/recipe:

Large bunches of fresh Thyme, Oregano, Rosemary, Sage and Lavender (or any combination of herbs you like or have available)
String for hanging herbs
Twist ties

Cut the fresh herbs from the plant when the weather is dry, since this will kick start the drying process (as opposed to cutting them when it's raining or dewy) and discard any brown leaves or stalks.  There's no need to wash the herbs if they're grown in your own garden, unless you use some form of chemical pesticide.  Secure the end which was closest to the roots with a twist tie.  This will allow you to easily tighten things up as the herbs dry and shrink, preventing wastage of loose herbs falling.  Loop the string around the bundle of herbs and attach to a wall or anything which you can hang the herbs from with good air circulation.  Leave to air dry for a few weeks to ensure the herbs are fully dried out.

After a few weeks when the herbs have completely dried out, remove the leaves from the stalks and combine together.  At this points you could jar the leaves just as they are or further chop them up to a fine grind in a food processor.  If you choose to process the leaves further, it's very important the leaves are completely dry, otherwise the leaves could start turning into a paste as they are chopped in the food processor.

Once processed to your liking, store in airtight spice jars or plastic food storage bags.  The dried herbs will keep for a year, maybe even longer since they're quite potent when homemade.

Bon appetit!