Tarragon

Once hard to find, tarragon now appears in such large bunches that cooks are often stuck with more than they can use. Shoving the extras down the neck of a bottle of vinegar is one obvious solution. But you can also finely chop it with butter to make tarragon butter that keeps, tightly wrapped, for months in the freezer. The butter can be used to finish seafood sauces—especially the steaming liquid from shellfish—or it can be whisked into a deglazed pan used to sauté chicken. It is not bad on grilled corn either. Don’t try to dry tarragon, as it just turns stale. If your tarragon sprigs have thick stems, remove the leaves (see “How to Chop Herbs Efficiently,”).