Frozen Herbs for Winter Dishes
Do you like cooking with fresh herbs? Not only do they taste great, they smell lovely too! It’s simple to use fresh herb plants too. You can always cut off what you need and mix in with the rest of your ingredients for a fresh flavor you’ll love.
How do you manage in the middle of winter when there are not any fresh herb plants around?
Try freezing as a fresh alternative to drying your herbs because it’s a easier and better way to keep your herb plants fresh. In three steps you can set them aside for future recipes—grow them, harvest them and freeze them. You don’t have to do anything special to prepare your herb plants for freezing, other than rinsing them. If they’re not packed too tightly, you can crumble the frozen herb plants in your hands before you open the freezer bag.
If you do want your herbs measured before you freeze them, you can dice your herbs up and freeze them in ice trays. Once you dice the herb plants, put a tablespoon of herbs into the ice cube tray compartments and cover with water. Put these cubes into the freezer bags and later, when you are ready toss a few cubes into your soups, stews and other dishes.
If you want to try freezing herbs, these are some nice ones to start with:
- Basil: Remove the foliage from the stem just before the buds of your basil when you are ready to harvest your herbs and dry your herbs. Put the dried leaves into a freezer bag so that you can make use of them later on. You can also skip the drying out part and stick your herbs straight away into the freezer. Another way to keep your basil is to layer them in the bottom of a plastic container and cover your herbs with extra virgin olive oil, which will both keep and bring out the taste. They’ll last for several months this way.
- Parsley: It isn’t just a pretty garnish; you can use parsley in any Italian meal. Parsley will work well in almost any Italian meal. Nobody appreciates parsley for it’s positive attributes. It cannot help it if the other Italian herb plants (like oregano, basil and garlic) have stronger, more memorable flavors. Parsley works hard to help other herbs taste better. Toss it into any meal (usually near the end of the cooking process) and parsley will make the rest of the herb plants that much nicer. 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 are ready to use them, just crunch the bag up in your hand and they are instantly diced.
- French Tarragon: If you plan to over-winter your French tarragon herb, be sure not to cut it back too much. Of course it’s best to use the leaves fresh, but you can tuck some of these leaves into a freezer bag and they will get you through the winter months. Spice up your chicken or fish dishes with this plant. It also goes well with cream sauces, vinegars and mustards.
Do not forget to write the name of the herb on the freezer bag so that when you bring it 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.
