The Pantry
Jan 8, 2009 general food, groceries
This morning Michael Ruhlman posted about items he stocks in his freezer as a written response to Mark Bittman’s terrific article, Fresh Start for a New Year? Let’s Begin in the Kitchen. As previously mentioned, I am now a deep freeze advocate, and both articles are worthy of your time if you have not already read them.
What particularly caught my eye, however, was one of the comments on Ruhlman’s post. He’d requested that people comment on items they stock in their own freezer pantry, and one college student had this to say:
Freeze fresh herbs in an ice tray. You can’t really defrost them and use them as fresh again but they are great to throw into soups and sauces. Freeze them in chicken stock if you’d like.
I’m curious if anyone has ever done this and how it worked out? It does not strike me as a particularly sound practice–like those chopped tubes of fresh herbs you see in the produce departments now–but then what the hell do I know?
Tags: freezer, Mark Bittman, Michael Ruhlman, pantry
From the mountains of Panama and Ethiopia, to the urban-jungles of Portland and Chicago, journalist Michaele Weissman takes us behind the scenes for a look at the world of third-wave specialty coffee. How did we get to Starbucks, and where we go from here?
January 8th, 2009 at 11:48 am
I will often freeze certain herbs and place them in chicken broth as ice cubes. I found that the taste is much better then using dried herbs, but not as strong or full of flavor as fresh picked. There are slight differences in the notes. The “herb pops” are great in soups, or stews whee you want fresh herbs but they are out of season. I prefer to grow my own fresh herbs and harvest them and freeze them when there is a plethora ofherbs during the summer. They can also be frozen in tea, lemonde and make a refresshing zing during warmer months.
On a differnt note is anyone aware of a Foodie social group that is active in the St louis area? if so please email me. DBGrow@wmconnect.com
January 8th, 2009 at 1:27 pm
Please explain how you use your deep freeze. I put my homegrown herbs in ice cube trays (with water) and it works very well.
-Brad
St. Louis
January 8th, 2009 at 4:59 pm
I have frozen fresh basil from my herb garden for many years, pureeing it with either water or olive oil, putting it in ice cube trays, popping them out when frozen and storing in a zip lOC bag. Flavor is not quite as strong as fresh but very good.
January 8th, 2009 at 7:13 pm
I freeze homemade pesto and it defrosts pretty nicely. And Trader Joe’s sometimes sells frozen cubes of fresh herbs. I haven’t used them myself but have been told they’re pretty good.