If you grow herbs as houseplants or in the garden, you'll, want to harvest and use them, so here's a handy list of foods they'll complement.

BEEF: About 15 herbs go well with beef; recommended are basil, bay, caraway, coriander, cumin, dill, marigold, marjoram, mint, sage, savories, tarragon and thyme (no rosemary).

PORK: Anise, basil, bergamot, chervil, coriander, cumin, dill, fennel, lemon balm, mint, marjoram, rosemary, sage, savories, tarragon and thyme.

LAMB: Other than mint, there's basil, bay, caraway, coriander, cumin, dills good, lemon balm, hyssop, marjoram, rosemary, sage, savories or thyme.

POULTRY: For chicken only: basil or bay is always good; also caraway, coriander, cumin, dill, lemon balm, marigold, marjoram, mint, rosemary and tarragon; for both sage and savories; for turkey, thyme.

FISH AND SHELLFISH: For fish, anise, basil, caraway, chives, coriander, dill, fennel, hyssop, lemon balm (excellent), marigold, marjoram, mint, parsley, rosemary, sage, savories, tarragon; shellfish and fish, rosemary and thyme.

BREADS AND CAKES: Coriander, cumin, caraway, dill, marigold and marjoram. Also anise, fennel, lovage and rosemary.

GOOSE: Sage.

DUCK: Dill is good, so is mint. But you might try hyssop, rosemary, sage, savories, tarragon.

EGGS: Scramble them with chives or dill. Or, with any of the following: anise, basil, chervil, coriander, cumin, lemon balm, lovage, marjoram, mint, parsley, rosemary, sage, savories, tarragon or thyme.

LIVER: Coriander, sage or tarragon.

SALADS: Anise, basil, bergamot, borage, caraway, catmint, chervil, chickweed, chives, comfrey, coriander, cumin, dandelion, dill, elder, hyssop, lemon balm, marigold, mint, parsley, salad burnet, roses, sweet cicely, tarragon and thyme.

SOUPS: Try anise, borage, chickweed, caraway, chives, cumin, dill, fennel, hyssop, lemon balm, lovage, marigold, marjoram, mint, salad burnet, stinging nettles, savories, tarragon, thyme.

OTHER INFORMATION:

Using Dried Chiles vs. Chile Powder: Some recipes call for preparing dried chilies such as Ancho or New Mexico varieties. You can substitute a chile powder for these, but it is hard to know what an accurate equivalent would be. Try one tablespoon of powder per pound of meat for starters. As with the blended chile sauces, add half of the total amount of powder initially, gradually adding more until it's right for you.

Note: Chile powder is not the same as chili powder. The former is pure, powdered chilies, while the later is chile powder plus a bunch of other spices (like "instant chili").