Fresh Is Best
Take advantage of abundant foliage during the summer months to preserve your fresh herbs for later use. These herbs will not work for garnishes, and the texture will change. Frozen herbs become limp, and dried specimens become brittle, but the flavor will remain.
The easiest method is drying. Gather several stems into a bundle with the cut ends together. Tie with string or twine, and hang upside down in a warm, dry space—but not in direct sunlight. Space the tied bunches to allow good air circulation. Drying will take about 2 weeks. Strip the leaves and store in an airtight container. Use in recipes as you would purchased dried spices.
You have several choices when freezing herbs. Start with clean leaves that have been stripped from their stems. Discard any blemished leaves.
Method 1: Coarsely chop leaves and pack into plastic ice-cube tray compartments. Fill with water to cover, and freeze. Once frozen, pop from the trays and place in zip-top freezer bags.
Method 2: Pulse about 1 cup clean leaves with 2 tablespoons olive oil in a blender, and place into ice-cube trays.
Take these cubes directly out of the freezer, and stir into soups and sauces. Defrost, pat dry, and add to softened butter for flavoring vegetables or sliced French bread before toasting.
To learn more about herbs and how to create a beautiful and unique herb garden, see "Tasteful Spot of Color," on page 68 of the June/July 2009 issue of Sandra Lee Semi-Homemade magazine.
