Fresh Herbs

[ElizabethB]

Hi All

I have been on line and found numerous methods for drying, preserving and storing fresh herbs. I am curious to know YOUR favorite method.

[pepperhead212]

I don't dry herbs, as a rule. Mint is the only one, and only for mint tea. Oregano, savory, and thyme are some that taste good dried, and I buy them, keeping most in the freezer, filling the jars as needed. Sage is another that is good dried, but it loses one flavor component much more than the other when drying, so it tastes different, and I like the fresh better. For this, and epazote and spearmint, I salt layer the leaves. To do this, you simply put the leaves into a jar, a couple layers at a time, sprinkling kosher or sea salt on them, and pressing down on them. You can get a large amount of leaves in a jar this way. I have read that this can be done with just about any herbs.

Before I started growing basil (and a number of other herbs) hydroponically in the off season, I would grind basil up with just enough oil to get it to circulate in the FP, then put them (regular and Thai) in those little popsicle molds, and freeze it. I didn't make pesto and freeze it, as the garlic seemed better to me if I add it fresh. Basil is one of those herbs that just isn't the same dried!

[ElizabethB]

Thanks Dave,

Compound butter is a favorite of mine. I can make it with most herbs. Freeze it in silicone trays then transfer to zip bags. I like to have plenty of compound butter on hand around the holidays. My family loves to see my compound butter on the dinner table for our huge family holiday gatherings.

I also like oiled herbs. A good bit of herbs with a little oil in the FP. Store in the fridge for quick use or freeze for later. Great as a dip for hot French bread.

Herbed mayonnaise is a big favorite in my household - basil and dill. This time of year I usually have a pint of each in the refrigerator. We use it as a sandwich spread and as a salad dressing.

My dill is done but I have a lot of basil, sage and thyme. Some oregano.

I need to do something with my basil. It is bolting like crazy. I have new plants started for fall herbs. Basil, dill and oregano. The thyme, sage and oregano are tender perennials. My oregano is hanging on but looking wimpy. I think I need a larger pot.

I absolutely love having fresh herbs just outside of my kitchen. I am going to try to keep basil and dill over winter by moving my plants under the patio cover before first frost. I can hang a light bulb over the pots when the temperatures get really low. I have never attempted to grow basil and dill over winter. An experiment

[applestar]

People keep talking about compound butters but no one seems to have posted how to make them. Could you?

[ElizabethB]

Compound butter is nothing more than room temperature butter with herbs.

Chop the herbs fine. Put the soft butter and herbs in your FP. Pulse until well blended.

How much herb to use depends on the herb and your taste. With basil and dill I use lots of herbs. Basil I use at least 1 cup loose packed per stick of butter. Taste. Add more basil if you want a stronger flavor. The dill, thyme & oregano I never measure - just taste. With strong tasting herbs like rosemary and fennel start with less and add more.

I have some silicone trays that I got in the candy making section at Walmart. I fill them up, freeze them, pop out the butter and store it in a zip bag in the freezer.

I also make compound butter with roasted garlic. Roasted garlic is another thing I keep in the refrigerator.

Let your imagination run wild - parsley, cilantro, jalapeno. I have also made it with store bought sun dried tomatoes.

When you roast a chicken or turkey loosen the skin and tuck a lot of herbed butter between the skin and the meat. When you serve a steak place herbed butter on top of the hot meat. Spread it on toast. Use it with scrambled eggs or an omelet.

Use it instead of plain butter when making a sauce.

There is no end to the ways you can use compound butter.

Easy to make and easy to store.

[pepperhead212]

Elizabeth, Sage is something that lives through mild winters in my area, and even when it dies off, it comes back - only 2 of 33 winters killed my sage here, when I had to replace it. So it seems that it should not be killed where you are! Rosemary I'm sure is a perennial there - I have to cover it (when below 20º for long) and occasionally put a heater under the cover (when it gets in the single digits), but that's it.

Apple, I have a page of compound butters in my "blue book" - my hand written favorite recipes started back in the 70s. Most of them are probably Julia Child recipes. You can see the tarragon in that butter is blanched, which may seem strange, but this keeps the color in the herb - they tend to turn brown when you use them fresh. This isn't really a problem, if you use them when made, but the leftovers definitely turn brown. I also use a thin, mayonnaise like sauce, in which the Thai basil is blanched briefly, keeping the sauce a bright green, rather than turning brown.

img005 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

[applestar]

Thanks for the recipe tips! This year so far I have basil, Rosemary, parsley, oregano, marjoram, thyme, 3 kinds of mints, mitsuba/Japanese parsley, garlic chives, garlic so far. Dill and cilantro are tiny but hopefully will grow.

Also of course have green developing coriander from spring crop -- have you tried the soft coriander before they toughen up? I put some in salsa in place of cilantro -- strong and yummy.

[pepperhead212]

Apple, I grew a bunch of rau ram - a.k.a. Vietnamese coriander - this season, and I've used it in place of cilantro in a few dishes, in which it was very good. Not the same flavor, of course, but very good, and it seems to love the heat! It does not bolt - I grew it from cuttings from a batch from the Asian market. One is growning great in a junior Earthbox, next to a Perilla plant I started the same way. The ones in the gtound are doing well, but not as good.

Update - here's a photo of it:
DSCF0198 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

[imafan26]

Actually, I grow herbs because I like them fresh but there are a few that are better dried like bay leaves and dill.
Bay leaves- dried in the oven over low heat for 4 hours. It can be done in a dehydrator
Lavender- tie flower bundles with rubber band and store in cool dry place ( usually hang from rafters) until dried then it can be used in sachets, and potpouris
Basil, thyme, rosemary, can be made into herb butters. You can add garlic to any herb butter
Lemons, limes - freeze juice in ice cube trays. Use for lemon ade or lemon tea
Dill, can be dried, but I prefer it fresh
vanilla. It is a long process. After the pod is pollinated, wait about 9 months for it to ripen and turn black. After picking pods they have to be brought out every day on a sunny day for about 6 months and taken in if it rains. Dried pods can store in an air tight bottle for a long time, or pods can be placed in sugar.
Basil can be washed dried and stored in a clean air tight bottle layered with rock salt
Cilantro, basil, thyme, marjoram, dill can be pureed and frozen in ice cube trays. O.k. for cooked dishes but they don't have good texture or color for garnishes or Thai dishes.
Green onions actually store better chopped up than whole in the frig for a couple of weeks
Ginger- After harvest peel outer skin by scraping with a large spoon. Cut into 1 inch pieces and place in a clean jar. Cover with Dry Sherry or Shao Xing wine. Make sure pieces are always submerged or mold will grow. Can be kept a 6 mos to a year. Ginger flavored sherry can be used in Asian dishes. Do not reuse sherry. Need to use fresh wine for new batch.
Tumeric and ginger can be stored in a cool shady place in moist sand for about 3 months. Plant it out if it sprouts.
Kaffir lime leaves can be frozen, but it loses texture and flavor over time. If you make the curry paste and freeze that it lasts longer.
Chili peppers- pickle in vinegar, salt, garlic, dry, dry; pulverize to powder and freeze. Peppers get rancid over time so dried peppers, pepper seeds, and pepper powder last longer if they are frozen after processing.
Stevia- make infusion steep one cup of stevia leaves in a cup of hot water. You can use alcohlol,or glycerin to preserve it longer. strain. Keep in refrigerator. Do not make large batches, it does not keep more than a month very well. It can be dried and ground to a powder as well.
https://www.superfoods-for-superhealth.c ... tract.html
culantro- process in food processor or blender with a little water until smooth. Freeze in ice cube tray and use in dishes for cilantro flavor, or make recaito and freeze sauce use in soups and stews.
https://www.thespruce.com/puerto-rican- ... pe-2138273
garam masala. I would make garam masala using some of the store bought ingredients like cardomom and cinnamon but the dried seeds head of my fennel, coriander, cumin, and dried bay leaves. My pepper vine has not flowered yet, but it is still alive.
https://indianhealthyrecipes.com/punjabi ... er-recipe/

[rainbowgardener]

I dry a lot of herbs. I just cut stems and put them on a cookie sheet. Put the oven on warm and leave it for 15 min or so, then turn the oven off without opening the door. In a couple hours, if the herbs aren't dry enough, I repeat the process. I do this with oregano, thyme, sage, lavender, rosemary, etc. Sometimes basil, but I prefer to make the basil into pesto or something. I freeze a bunch of pesto for winter. I also use the basil, especially purple basil, in jellies, infused into vinegar, as an ice cream ingredient, etc.

[imafan26]

That reminds me, you can make a lot of flavored oils and vinegars with different herbs. The ones I most commonly see are rosemary, tarragon, and basil.

https://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/basil-vinegar
https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/basi ... pe-2129366

[pepperhead212]

This is a good place to point out the dangers of homemade herb flavored oils. People often get botulism poisoning from something as simple as putting a couple of cloves of garlic and a sprig of rosemary in a bottle of oil. And unless you strain the herbs out completely, as with a paper filter that foodnetwork link recipe recommended , even the tiny amount of herb that would go through a fine SS strainer would be enough to harbor the bacteria, and oil is the perfect anaerobic environment for them to grow in.