![]() Blanching does a couple of useful things: It stops enzyme activities that can lead to the loss of flavor and texture, and it also cleans the leaves of any lurking dirt and organisms. The best way to do that is to give them a quick blanch first. Cork or otherwise seal the bottles and store in a cool, dark place for four to six weeks.If you're not going to use your hardier greens within, say, 10 days, you can also freeze them. Slide them into a repurposed glass bottle and fill with olive oil, white-wine vinegar or apple-cider vinegar. Hang them against a sunny windowsill or put them on a baking sheet in a low-temperature oven: bam, you’ve got dried herbs! Store them in plastic bags or glass vials.And then drop frozen cubes into soups and sauces whenever you want some fresh-cut flavor. Pop the finished cubes into a sealed container in the freezer. ![]() Freeze herbs by snipping them into small bits, packing the bits into an empty ice cube tray, filling with water and freezing. ![]() Herbs on the brink of going bad can go into a pot along with chicken bones, cheese rinds and other stock-making ingredients. These techniques should give you a week or more with your herbs, but then what? If you haven’t found good ways to use them fresh (like throwing them into scrambled eggs, frittatas, salads, marinades or pestos), you don’t have to throw them away. For a greener alternative, use a damp kitchen towel and an airtight container instead. Hard herbs on the other hand, should be wrapped in a damp paper towel, then loosely covered with plastic wrap or placed in a ziplock bag before going in the fridge. Basil should be kept at room temperature, but other soft herbs should be loosely covered with a plastic bag and then placed in the fridge. Snip the bases of the stems and put them upright in a glass of fresh water, changing the water every day or two if it starts to cloud. Soft herbs like to be treated like a bouquet of flowers. Hard herbs have woody stems and include rosemary, oregano, marjoram, and thyme. ![]() Soft herbs like basil, parsley, cilantro, chervil, mint, dill and tarragon have soft, tender stems. Herbs fall into two categories: hard and soft. Different herbs have different needs, so the very first thing you want to do is sort them. Not enough and they get dried out and lose flavor. Lastly, moisture too much of it and you get slimy, moldy herbs. Secondly, exposure to oxygen can turn herbs brown, so covering them up is key. But it doesn’t have to be that way! If you understand the enemies of freshness, and how to fend them off, you can make your herbs last much longer.įirst off, temperature almost all herbs are best stored in the refrigerator, except basil, which gets damaged by the cold. And few things as disheartening as reaching for them a few days later and finding them all wilted and swampy in the bottom of your produce drawer. Do you have any tips for storing or using herbs so I can stop being so wasteful?”Ī: Great question! There are few things as inspiring as a beautiful bunch of fresh herbs. Q: “I love cooking with fresh herbs in the summer, but I always feel like I use just a little and throw the rest away.
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