This week…FRESH HERBS!
Fresh herbs. I love cooking with fresh herbs.
And I love the fact that I can cook with fresh frozen herbs that I grew in my own garden in the dead of winter. Once or twice throughout the summer, I’ll harvest a bunch of herbs and then freeze them. It’s a simple process, but it does require a little extra time in the kitchen. But I promise you’ll thank yourself come February 8, 2011, when you go to make an Italian stew…and you have fresh Italian garden herbs in your freezer!
The process is simple.
- Soak.
- Rinse.
- Puree with some water. Any combination of herbs will do.
- Freeze in ice cube trays.
- Once frozen, pop out and store in a freezer baggie or container.
- Enjoy in your favorite pasta sauces, soups and stews!
And don’t forget…you can always use a combination of Italian type herbs to make a great pesto and freeze that too!
If you’d like to learn more about Square Foot Gardening, please check out the Square Foot Gardening books by Mel Bartholemew.
Do you have any favorite recipes that use fresh garden herbs??!!?? We’d love to check them out!
{ 8 comments… read them below or add one }
Twitter: FamBalanceSheet
July 31, 2010 at 8:52 am
The ice cube idea is a great tip. I freeze parsley by just washing, chopping and bagging it then I just break off what I need.
Thanks for the carnival.
Twitter: thelocalcook
July 31, 2010 at 10:26 am
I have not tried the pureed way of preserving herbs. Usually I only have extra basil and parsley – which I just wash and vaccum seal and freeze.
Thanks for hosting!
I have never tried this before, but I will! We’ve grown our own herbs in window boxes for the last few years. We never really know what to do with our extra. Thanks for this idea!
Twitter: freedom_journey
July 31, 2010 at 11:34 am
I want to try this! Also will include this post in my weekly roundup next week.
Twitter: AleasLeftovers
July 31, 2010 at 12:50 pm
I have never tried freezing fresh herbs before. I have empty ice cube trays, an abundance of herbs, and am out of room to hang more herbs to dry, so I will give it a try this week.
I froze some mint sprigs in ice cube trays. Great addition to drinks during the summertime!
http://workinghomekeeper.blogspot.com/2010/06/cool-mint.html
Mary Ellen
I love these ideas! I have the pasta bookmarked to try for sure! Thanks!
I wish I had thought of this before! Brilliant! I hate throwing away herbs, but I don’t always get to them in time.