Freeze Your Herbs for Cooking
I love to cook with fresh herb plants. Don’t you? Not only are they taste great, they smell wonderful too! It’s easy to use fresh herbs too. Just clip a few sprigs from the nearest herb and toss in with your other ingredients.
How do you survive in the middle of winter when there aren’t fresh herbs around?
Try freezing as a fresh alternative to drying them because it is a easier and better way to keep your herbs fresh. In three steps you can set them aside for future recipes—cultivate your herbs, harvest them and freeze your herbs. You do not have to do anything special to prepare your herbs for freezing, other than rinsing them. Even after they’re frozen, you won’t have to dice them to cook with them.
Some people chop their herb plants and freeze your herbs in ice cube trays. Just fill each compartment of the ice cube tray almost to the top with chopped basil or whatever other plant you want to freeze and add water. Once the ice cubes freeze, put your herbs into freezer bags and later take your herbs out and mix the cubes into your sauces, soups, stews or other meals. Don’t foget to stir it!
Here are some herbs that really retain their flavor and taste when frozen:
- Basil: Remove the foliage from the stem just before the flowers of your basil when you’re ready to harvest them and dry your herbs. Put the dried foliage into a jar so that you can make use of your herbs later on. If you do not have much time, just take the foliage and put your herbs into a freezer bag and stick your herbs in your freezer to keep your herbs fresh. You can even put your herbs in a container and cover your herbs with oil, which will bring out the flavor. You can store them this way for several months.
- Parsley: It is not just a pretty garnish; you can use parsley in any Italian dish. It will work well in almost any Italian meal. Nobody appreciates parsley for it’s positive attributes. It can’t help it if the other Italian herb plants (like oregano, basil and garlic) have stronger, more memorable flavors. What it does have is the ability to enhance the flavors of other herb plants. Mix it into any dish (usually near the end of the cooking process) and parsley will make the rest of the herb plants that much better. I generally take the leaves and put your herbs into a freezer bag, put the bags on the shelf of my freezer and then put a box of vegetables on top of themto freeze them flat. When you take out the bag to use the herb, just scrunch up the bag in your hand. No need for a knife.
- French Tarragon: If you plan to over-winter your French tarragon plant, be sure not to cut it back too much. Of course it’s better to use the foliage fresh, but you can tuck some of these leaves into a freezer bag and they will get you through the winter. Add your herbs to your chicken or fish dishes. French tarragon also goes well with cream sauces, vinegars and mustards.
Be sure to write the name of the herb on the freezer bag so that when you bring your herbs out of the freezer you will know what it is.
Good luck with your herb gardening. Be sure to let me know how your herb garden grows.
Here is more information on Italian Herb Garden. Here is a website with a free mini-course dedicated to Herb Gardens.
