Herbgeek and others who preserve herbs in the winter....

[catherine]

I love my herb bed, and I'm always so sad to see winter come when I can't run out to my kitchen garden and snag some parsley or thyme.

Here are the herbs I have that are still growing/not dead in my garden. Taking suggestions on preserving: Overwinter? Dry? Freeze?

Parsley--I have a lot of both curly and flat leaf
Thyme
Rosemary
Oregano--starting to die off but still mostly green
Lavendar--I plan on cultivating those in my yard and expanding plantings as I go along. Should I cover them with leaves and/or burlap to protect them from the frigid temps and strong winds?

Mint/chives/sage/basil are all done. Let me know what I should have done if I had caught them in time.

Thanks!

[herbgeek]

Parsley--I have a lot of both curly and flat leaf-
Thyme
Rosemary
Oregano--starting to die off but still mostly green
Lavendar--I plan on cultivating those in my yard and expanding plantings as I go along. Should I cover them with leaves and/or burlap to protect them from the frigid temps and strong winds?

Mint/chives/sage/basil are all done. Let me know what I should have done if I had caught them in time.

Parsley I chop and freeze. I've only done this curly, which stays nice and fluffy after cutting and stays dark green when frozen. Not sure about flat parsley and how it would fare.
Thyme I mostly dry- it doesn't seem to lose flavor like more leafy herbs.
Rosemary I dry, freeze and also simmer in oil on the lowest heat for 1/2 hour or so and use that to drizzle on roasted veggies or breads.
Leave the lavender alone, and prune in the late spring. Its one of the last to come to life. I prune it as the snow is melting but could also be done later.
Chives I don't bother with as they seem to lose their flavor- I only make a chive vinegar in the spring with the flowers.
Basil I preserve with either olive oil or butter. I put all together in the food processor, then put the goo into a freezer bag- smoosh it so its flat and can break off the piece I need easily. Don't fill the bag more than about 1/3 full or it will be too thick and get too hard to break off pieces easily.
Sage I dry, and put in honey for sore throats. Dried sage to me is a different herb than fresh, I like it also but its different.
Mint I dry for tea, or freeze individual leaves in ice cube trays when I'm feeling like being a fancy pants and want to use fancy ice cubes in drinks


oops forget oregano- this I dry and use for anything Italian or any stews with meat, or with black bean dishes.

[SteveinMN]

Dried sage to me is a different herb than fresh, I like it also but its different.

I took a cooking class once with a nationally-known chef from India who claimed that every herb and spice offers eight different flavors -- raw whole, raw chopped/ground, dried whole, dried chopped/ground, toasted whole, toasted chopped/ground, sauteed whole, and sauteed chopped/ground. He passed around some spices in the various states to make his point. Very illustrative, and one reason why I do prepare flavoring agents like herbs and spices (and onions, garlic, chives, etc.) different ways depending on what I want them to do in the dish.

[iris lilies]

I took a cooking class once with a nationally-known chef from India who claimed that every herb and spice offers eight different flavors -- raw whole, raw chopped/ground, dried whole, dried chopped/ground, toasted whole, toasted chopped/ground, sauteed whole, and sauteed chopped/ground. He passed around some spices in the various states to make his point. Very illustrative, and one reason why I do prepare flavoring agents like herbs and spices (and onions, garlic, chives, etc.) different ways depending on what I want them to do in the dish.

I love this idea!

[JaneV2.0]

I took a cooking class once with a nationally-known chef from India who claimed that every herb and spice offers eight different flavors -- raw whole, raw chopped/ground, dried whole, dried chopped/ground, toasted whole, toasted chopped/ground, sauteed whole, and sauteed chopped/ground. He passed around some spices in the various states to make his point. Very illustrative, and one reason why I do prepare flavoring agents like herbs and spices (and onions, garlic, chives, etc.) different ways depending on what I want them to do in the dish.

And if any group is expert at using spices, it's certainly the Indians!

[NewGig]

Steve, what a great idea. Thanks!

[frugal-one]

I took a cooking class once with a nationally-known chef from India who claimed that every herb and spice offers eight different flavors -- raw whole, raw chopped/ground, dried whole, dried chopped/ground, toasted whole, toasted chopped/ground, sauteed whole, and sauteed chopped/ground. He passed around some spices in the various states to make his point. Very illustrative, and one reason why I do prepare flavoring agents like herbs and spices (and onions, garlic, chives, etc.) different ways depending on what I want them to do in the dish.

This sounds good. Did you get a handout or place to reference to make a determination of when to use the spice/herb and in the best form?

[SteveinMN]

This sounds good. Did you get a handout or place to reference to make a determination of when to use the spice/herb and in the best form?

In the recipes handed out at the class, the author (Raghavan Iyer, btw, his cookbooks are recommended) specified when, for example, to toast the mustard seeds or when to make a paste from the chilis and herbs.

So much of it, though, is subjective: crushing an herb or seed typically releases more of its flavor, which may or may not be what you want in the final flavor of the dish. A mustard or coriander seed, whole, would go through the cooking process and result in a little pop of flavor when you chew it. Maybe that's what you want; maybe that pop of flavor is a disruption to the experience. Sauteeing flavors the fat in which you cook (and that will depend on what you're cooking); that would diminish the flavor a little because you typically do not serve something in all the fat it was cooked in; it also would change the flavor of the spice a little because you're toasting it in the process of sauteeing.

I've adapted the instruction for non-Indian cooking by sometimes cooking, say, onions, until they're translucent and then tossing them in a slow cooker, if I want an onion flavor that's not that sharp. On the other hand, cooking onions all the way to carmelized and then putting them in the pot may result in a dish that's a little too sweet because of the carmelization. It's actually fun to play with it a little. If I make pork chops and sauerkraut, I don't just toss some dried caraway seeds on top; now I toast them first because I prefer them that way. Others may try it and decide they like just dried caraway seeds. Or crushed seeds. Experiment!

[razz]

OK. I will chop and freeze the flat parsley remaining today in the interest of research and because I was trying to figure out what to do with it.
Never thought about chive vinegar using the blossoms. I
I am going to try chopping the garlic with olive oil and freezing it in flat bags in order to break off what I need. I had tried freezing it in small containers but they are too hard to access when frozen solid.

Great ideas, HG. Thanks!

[iris lilies]

The concept of flattening frozen material is very interesting and some thing I can think about because I’ll bet I can make that useful with things like chopped ginger.