Do you love cooking with fresh herbs? Not only are they taste great, they smell wonderful too! Most herb plants are easy to cook with and are better if used fresh. Just clip a few sprigs from the nearest herb and add in with your other ingredients.
But what do you do when it is winter and fresh herbs are few and far between?
Freezing is much better for an herb than drying and it’s much easier. Just cultivate the herb plants, snip your herbs and put them in a freezer bag. 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 herbs in your hands before you open the freezer bag.
Some creative types chop their herb plants and freeze them in ice cube trays. Simply fill each compartment of the ice cube tray almost to the top with chopped chives 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 them out and mix the cubes into your sauces, soups, stews or other meals. Be sure to stir it!
Here are some herbs that really retain their flavor and taste when frozen:
- Basil: Once you harvest your basil, slice the stem just before the buds, remove the leaves and dry your herbs. Once they’re dry you can put your herbs in a freezer bag to store your herbs. If you do not have much time, just take the foliage and put them into a freezer bag and stick them in your freezer to keep them fresh. You can even put your herbs in a container and cover them with oil, which will bring out the flavor. You can store your herbs this way for several months.
- Parsley: It isn’t just a pretty garnish; you can use parsley in any Italian meal. Parsley will work well in almost any Italian dish. Poor parsley is pretty under-rated because it doesn’t have the power-packing taste or aroma of oregano, basil or garlic. Parsley works hard to help other herb plants taste better. Mix it into any meal (usually near the end of the cooking process) and parsley will make the rest of the herbs that much nicer. I put whole leaves in a freezer bag and lay it flat until it’s frozen, usually by putting something on top of my bags for a few days in the freezer. When you’re ready to use your herbs, just crunch the bag up in your hand and they are instantly diced.
- French Tarragon: Harvest sprigs of this fabulous plant throughout the summer months, but stop in late summer so that you do not hurt the herb. Fresh leaves are better than frozen, but in the middle of winter, I’ll take anything. Spice up your chicken or fish dishes with this herb. French tarragon also goes well with cream sauces, vinegars and mustards.
Don’t 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.
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