divaliscious 1 year, 8 months ago said: drying fresh herbs easily I thought I share some info on how I dry my herbs... Now I love to use seasonings in my cooking like so many of you here...I just hate the prices though of spices - especially when some are over $4- for a bottle. Fortunately though, I have a local spanish/international grocery store that sells affordable fresh herbs - such as an extra large amount of rosemary for $2 or basil for $1.50 - now that I can afford. I find this store to be more affordable and even has better looking fresh herbs available than the local A&P or Stop-n-Shop (I'm in NY)
After just a couple of days though I am ready to create fresh dry herbs. I simply take them out of their packaging, place them on a plate and let them air dry either on top of the fridge or at the back of the stove. Within two or four days, these herbs are now dried, and can reuse the 'old' bottles and even recycled clean jam jars with screw lids for my new seasonings. If it's thyme or rosemary, I might, once dry, take off the leaves from the stems as I would do with cilantro and the like.
These freshly dried herbs are so much better than the spices you can buy at the store, their strength in smell and taste cannot be compared.
And lastly, when using the freshly dried herbs, simply squash them up in your hand before adding to your dishes, stews and soups.
The above techniques can also be used when you grow your own herbs...
Hope this helps some of you out there in cyberland!
lipsantos 1 year, 8 months ago said: More affordable herbs I know what you mean about buying herbs at the spanish grocery store. When I lived in Chicago, I also discovered that even the dried herbs could be bought at the local mexican grocery store in larger quantities and for a lot less than you pay for the little bottles. At one time (before Splenda) Equal was sold in glass jars with lids that opened on one side for spooning out the contents. I saved a lot of these jars and transferred the herbs from the plastic bags to the jars and put labels on them. They looked pretty sitting on the shelf and were easy to grab when cooking. Unfortunately, they quit putting Equal in glass jars and switched to plastic. But if you want to buy dried herbs for a lot less, check out one of these stores.
divaliscious 1 year, 8 months ago said: RE: drying fresh herbs easily Lip and to others:
I do wish people would check out these stores more often. Yes sometimes, these stores are a bit more crowded or may have some interesting unidentifiable smells - but the different products and produce cannot be compared to my other more common big-named stores.
Though I do have the luxury of being able to go to different stores simply because they are close and live in a small suburban city. But I truly find that the fresh herbs at said store are available all year round, and you get more quantity and quality for your money as when compared to the larger well-known stores.
luvshk 1 year, 8 months ago said: RE: drying fresh herbs easily I have shopped at a local mexican restaurant once, but only bought homemade tortillas. Never thought about herbs. What a great idea. I have learned so much on this site.
Diva - I've got some fresh parsley that I think I'll dry. Do I cut off the stems before I dry?
divaliscious 1 year, 8 months ago said: RE: drying fresh herbs easily you can... I simply crinkle them up a bit once dry - and the stems seem to fall away from the 'leaves' - though you may want to snip off most of the stems for parsley - when it comes to rosemary, oregano - cilantro, etc. - I usually just allow everything to dry on the stems, them simply slide them off the stems once dried.
btw the mexican or colombia sour cream is way thicker and smoother than our 'american' breakstones types (albeit three times the american price - go figure) - their queso blanco is a lot like a super milkd monteray then can be 'fried' in a pan while they also have a cheese that's similar to our farmer's cheese - some of these cheese are quite good, super fresh and taste and react differently and have a nice melting point.
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divaliscious 1 year, 8 months ago said:
drying fresh herbs easily
I thought I share some info on how I dry my herbs...
Now I love to use seasonings in my cooking like so many of you here...I just hate the prices though of spices - especially when some are over $4- for a bottle. Fortunately though, I have a local spanish/international grocery store that sells affordable fresh herbs - such as an extra large amount of rosemary for $2 or basil for $1.50 - now that I can afford. I find this store to be more affordable and even has better looking fresh herbs available than the local A&P or Stop-n-Shop (I'm in NY)
After just a couple of days though I am ready to create fresh dry herbs. I simply take them out of their packaging, place them on a plate and let them air dry either on top of the fridge or at the back of the stove. Within two or four days, these herbs are now dried, and can reuse the 'old' bottles and even recycled clean jam jars with screw lids for my new seasonings.
If it's thyme or rosemary, I might, once dry, take off the leaves from the stems as I would do with cilantro and the like.
These freshly dried herbs are so much better than the spices you can buy at the store, their strength in smell and taste cannot be compared.
And lastly, when using the freshly dried herbs, simply squash them up in your hand before adding to your dishes, stews and soups.
The above techniques can also be used when you grow your own herbs...
Hope this helps some of you out there in cyberland!
lipsantos 1 year, 8 months ago said:
More affordable herbs
I know what you mean about buying herbs at the spanish grocery store. When I lived in Chicago, I also discovered that even the dried herbs could be bought at the local mexican grocery store in larger quantities and for a lot less than you pay for the little bottles. At one time (before Splenda) Equal was sold in glass jars with lids that opened on one side for spooning out the contents. I saved a lot of these jars and transferred the herbs from the plastic bags to the jars and put labels on them. They looked pretty sitting on the shelf and were easy to grab when cooking. Unfortunately, they quit putting Equal in glass jars and switched to plastic. But if you want to buy dried herbs for a lot less, check out one of these stores.
divaliscious 1 year, 8 months ago said:
RE: drying fresh herbs easily
Lip and to others:
I do wish people would check out these stores more often. Yes sometimes, these stores are a bit more crowded or may have some interesting unidentifiable smells - but the different products and produce cannot be compared to my other more common big-named stores.
Though I do have the luxury of being able to go to different stores simply because they are close and live in a small suburban city. But I truly find that the fresh herbs at said store are available all year round, and you get more quantity and quality for your money as when compared to the larger well-known stores.
luvshk 1 year, 8 months ago said:
RE: drying fresh herbs easily
I have shopped at a local mexican restaurant once, but only bought homemade tortillas. Never thought about herbs. What a great idea. I have learned so much on this site.
Diva - I've got some fresh parsley that I think I'll dry. Do I cut off the stems before I dry?
divaliscious 1 year, 8 months ago said:
RE: drying fresh herbs easily
you can... I simply crinkle them up a bit once dry - and the stems seem to fall away from the 'leaves' - though you may want to snip off most of the stems for parsley - when it comes to rosemary, oregano - cilantro, etc. - I usually just allow everything to dry on the stems, them simply slide them off the stems once dried.
btw the mexican or colombia sour cream is way thicker and smoother than our 'american' breakstones types (albeit three times the american price - go figure) - their queso blanco is a lot like a super milkd monteray then can be 'fried' in a pan while they also have a cheese that's similar to our farmer's cheese - some of these cheese are quite good, super fresh and taste and react differently and have a nice melting point.