Dreaming Dove's Freezing Herbs Guide

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Freezing Herbs

Herbs can be stored successfully by freezing them and the process is quite simple.

Soft-leaved herbs can be deep-frozen. The most satisfactory are balm, basil, chives, fennel, mint, parsley, sorrel and tarragon. Young shoots or leaves are preferable. Cut them early in the morning on a fine day and process them without delay. Harvest them any later in the day and the essential oil content of the leaves is likely to have been reduced due to evaporation by the sun's rays.

Herbs

Herbs to be frozen should be picked with long stems so that you can tie them with thread into bunches. Arrange together a convenient number of sprigs, either the same or mixed, just as you will need to use them later, and tie, leaving a long thread.

Wash quickly and lightly if necessary and shake off excess water. Put them in a wire basket (as used in deep frying), or tie them in a piece of muslin.

Have ready a pan of boiling water (use one litre of water for every 125g of herbs) and a pan of ice water.

Plunge the herbs into the boiling water and hold under the surface for one minute, then remove and dip into ice water for two minutes. Drain very well; they must be quite dry before freezing. This blanching process helps to preserve the colour and flavour.

Chives and basil do not need to be blanched, but can be chopped, packaged and frozen straight from the garden.

Place each bunch into a square of plastic or a plastic bag (filling it tightly), tie the top and pack in labelled boxes.

If required chopped, do it while they are frozen just before using them.

To use, simply drop the frozen herbs into soups, stews, etc.

Parsley

Deep-freezing Parsley - The blanching of ferbs before freezing has the drawback of making them limp and is, therefore, unsuitable for parsley when it is required as a crisp garnish. Parsley can be frozen without blanching, but the attractive green colour will begin to change to yellow after three months.

First wash the sprigs of parsley in cold water and carefully shake off the excess moisture. Then put them into small plastic bags, each containing sufficient for use on one occasion, and put the bags into the freezer.

When the frozen parsely is needed, thaw it out slowly and use in the ordinary way. If small pieces are needed, rub the bag between the hands before opening, to break up the frozen and brittle leaves.

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