Preserving the Harvest - How to Make Herbal Seasoning Frozen Cubes

I've talked before about freezing as a method of preservation for herbs and I have discussed making herbal pastes. This time I am going to combine the two and show you how to make an herbal paste and freeze it.

I harvested these herbs for a program that was cancelled so I needed to use them up in a hurry.  We could not cook them all so I decided that I would make an herbal paste and try a new technique someone turned me onto this summer.

These frozen nodules of goodness are great in seasonal soups, stews, gravy and sauces. And because they are the size of an ice cube, you do not have to thaw an entire jar of puree making the herbs easier to use in cooking especially when pressed for time.

How to make frozen herbal seasoning cubes

1) First off, harvest your herbs that you want to freeze and give them a cleaning and air dry to remove the wash water.

2) Next, pulse the herbs in a food processor or blender with enough broth, olive oil or water to get your desired consistency. Use just enough liquid to blend the herbs together well. It was close to 1 teaspoon or two, not a full tablespoon for this average size Osterizer.

•   for basil use olive oil (I used purple basil)
•   for thyme you can use broth or water.  I made some with chicken broth and some with water
•   for sage a lighter oil like canola is good or chicken broth if you intend to use it in stuffing
•   for tarragon or dill I suggest water because you do not want to mask the light flavor
•   for garlic or garlic chives use a bit of olive oil (If you love garlic but hate mincing fresh, this is the way to go.)
  
  
  

3) Prepare your trays or muffin tins. They should be clean and dry.  I experimented with spraying cooking oil in some of them.  I do not think it make much difference in the removal stage.  One friend suggested placing a fresh leaf in the bottom of the tray to make an imprint in the cube.  It makes them very pretty and I felt like Martha Stewart doing it - which is a good thing!

4) Plop spoonfuls of your mixtures into the cleaned ice cube trays or mini muffin pan or other suitable containers and freeze. Be sure to mark the trays with what you placed in them because except for the purple basil, they all look alike as a puree.  Allow them to freeze at least overnight, 12 hours is better than 8.

5) When they have frozen solid, pop them out and store them in a zip lock bag in the freezer.  These will keep for quite a while.  My friend said she had some from 2 years ago that she was still using and the flavors were just fine. 

frozen cubes in ziplocks in a freezer bag

I also experimented with blending a few of the herbs together in the cubes too. 

thyme & tarragon frozen

   

Thyme & Basil before freezing

When you use the herbal cubes, just take one (or two) out and toss in whatever you are cooking. It will melt down fast and incorporate its flavorful goodness into your dish. With this technique you save some sweet summer for your winter dishes.

Lemon Sorbet in an Ice Cream Freezer

The ice cream freezer was patented on this day (May 30th) in 1848. Now at the time they were hand crank and required elbow crease as well as large amounts of chipped ice, but they did create a great frozen treat.

When my husband was Farm manager and later Site manager for Kline Creek Farm in Winfield, Illinois, every summer we would have an Ice Cream Social where we would hand crank hundreds of gallons of ice cream to serve to visitors. 

courtesy of 1890 farmer on flickr.com

The volunteers used ice blocks from the previous winter's ice cutting on the lake at the farm. They crushed it and mixed it with rock salt, then packed it around the one-gallon metal containers that held the ingredients. The salt melted the ice while a crank turned the container. As ice melted, more was added until the eggs, cream, sugar and flavoring became ice cream.  It took about one and a half hours to make a gallon of ice cream this way.

When you make icce cream with herbs you generally do soe with a simple syrup rather than eggs and cream, which results in a Sorbet rather than an ice cream.  However, you can still freeze it and enjoy on a hot day using your ice cream freezer.  So selebrate the patenting of the Ice Cream Freezer with this great recipe using my favorite herb! 

Lemon Verbena Sorbet

2 1/2 cups water
2 cups granulated sugar
1 1/2 cups chopped lemon verbena
2 tablespoons lemon juice

Combine the water, sugar, and lemon verbena in a medium, heavy saucepan, and bring to a boil. Stir the pot until the sugar dissolves, and then reduce the heat to medium-low. Allow the pot to simmer for 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and allow the herb-syrup to steep while it cools. Refrigerate for 2 hours, or until thoroughly chilled. Strain, add the lemon juice, and process in an ice cream machine according to the manufacturer's instructions. Transfer the sorbet to an airtight container and let firm in the freezer for at least 2 hours before serving.

Freezing Herbs - Preservation in Ice

About a week ago I posted ways to dry your herbs in the microwave. Today I am going to present another method of preserving herbs. When drying an herb you can change the flavor, but preserve it. However, some herbs, like chives lose so much flavor in drying that the dried herb is a shadowy substitute for the real thing. So if you want to preserve a closer to fresh flavor, freezing may be the answer. There are many different ways to preserve herbs through freezing. Some have a longer life than others.



Short Term Storage (three weeks)

Lay whole herb leaves (for sage or basil) or whole sprigs (like thyme or tarragon) onto cookie sheets lined with parchment or wax paper. Place the sheets in the freezer for at least one hour, or until herbs are frozen. Then place the frozen herbs into freezer bags and press out excess air. Label the bags with contents and date.

To use the herbs, remove leaves or sprigs you need and chop them into your recipes. No need to defrost before use.


Longer Term Storage


Herbal Ice cubes – (4 months)

Freezing chopped herbs in water or broth. Although not as concentrated as oil purees, the individual cubes are easy to add to winter recipes.

Freeze recipe-sized portions of herbs in the liquid base you most often use for winter soups, stews, sauces and marinades. Later pull out the individual cubes and drop them as needed into the cook pot.

One of the easiest ways to do this is chop and blend the herbs, then measure 1 tsp. to 1 Tbls. Into sections of an ice cube tray then cover with broth or water. Once they are frozen pop out the cubes and place them in a zip seal bag with the measurement and herbs listed on the bag.


Frozen Puree – (4 months)

Pureeing, or making an herbal paste, is the more reliable method for freezing fresh herbs. All you need light oil, fresh herbs and a blender.

The technique involves slowly drizzling canola, safflower or other cooking oil while chopping the leaves in a blender. The oil coats the herb particles, preserving their color, flavor and texture. Purees can be used with any culinary herb. You can combine two or three herbs and even add garlic if you want. Freeze the herb puree in small containers so that you can use what you defrost within a week. Always label the jars with contents (herbs and oil used) and the date.

Purees are ideal in any dish including roasted meats, vegetables, sauces, butter, marinades, and salad dressings. They are used as an equal substitute for the freshly chopped herbs. So, if a recipe calls fro 1 Tbls freshly chopped basil, simply substitute 1 Tbls. Basil puree.

To create Puree:

• 1 to 2 cups fresh herbs
• ¼ to ½ cup oil

Gently rinse and dry herbs. Put the herbs in a blender or food processor and pulse-chop until finely minced. With the motor running, slowly drizzle the oil into the chopped herbs until they are coated completely, but without excess oil pooling at the bottom. If the herbs look dry, add a bit more oil and mix well. Scoop puree into small, ¼ to ½ cup containers. Pour a layer of oil over the top, then cover, label, date and place in the freezer.

The best part of these methods? When winter gets you down, these will be a tasty reminder of summer’s bounty and that winter will not last forever.

These recipes are just one aspect of the Backyard Patch. For more details on Herb Puree (Pastes) search our blogs in August 2010. To read our herb research, or see a listing of our more than 200 herbal blends for cooking, tea and bath visit the Backyard Patch on-line at http://www.backyardpatch.com/