Tired Of Wasting Fresh Herbs?

Don’t you just hate to throw away and waste leftover herbs? Most of the supermarkets provide herbs in packets of 50 grams to 70 grams, whereas a recipe only requires 2 to 3 grams at maximum. While we can’t request the supermarts to pack herbs in a more sustainable way, we can try to store them more efficiently. Here are a few ways you can store your fresh herbs and preserve them!

Herbs are tender living things. They may not require a whole lot of care when they are in the soil, but preserving them is a tricky task. But keeping the below points in mind, you will be able to store your herbs just as you bought them!

Know your Herb!

Every plant is different, so every herb requires a different formula of care. Some common varieties in this category include basil, parsley, and cilantro. If your herbs have a hardier wooden stem, one you wouldn’t really want to eat, those count as hardy herbs. These are herbs like rosemary, thyme, and sage. 

Does it also depend on where did you buy your herbs? Yes! Did you get them from the supermarket, greenhouse or fresh farm markets? Usually fresh farm market herbs last the longest!

The mantra of Wash and Dry!

Doesn’t matter where you get herbs from, you have to cleanse, wash and dry them properly. The best way to store basil from supermart is to dry them between paper clothes and slightly wet cotton. You can also spread them on a tray for airdrying. Just make sure you get all the dirt off before drying them properly.

For Short Storage-

If you plan to use your herbs in a few days, here is what you can do. Clip off the bottom of their stems, remove any wilted or brown leaves, and put them in a quart container, Mason jar or water glass with about an inch of water at the bottom, like you would flowers. Keep them in the fridge and change the water every couple of days. This works great for tender herbs! For hard herbs, you can wrap them in clear wrap and store them in the fridge for 2 to 3 days.

For long storage-

If you want to store fresh herbs (hard herbs) for a long time, this is what you have to do. Just portion them into small portions, wrap them in the clear wrap without leaving any air pockets. Then you can put these portions in a larger easily sealed bag and freeze them for more than a week.

Tender herbs are a little more tricky. This is what we found the best way to store fresh basil. This method can work for any other tender herb. Blend your tender herb with olive oil or any other non-smell oil and make it into ice cubes out of the mixture. 

Confused about what to do with your freshly stored herbs? Head over to the foodism’s Food recipe blog to try out new recipes. Here is a simple Herb Chicken recipe that you can try at home-

Ingredients-

-2 boneless chicken breasts with skin

-50 grams of butter

-Rosemary, thyme/ tarragon, chopped finely

-garlic, chopped finely

-Salt and pepper

Method:

-Add Finely chopped garlic and herbs to butter and mix thoroughly.

-Slit the chicken breast from between and stuff the butter in between the chicken.

– Lift up the skin and repeat the same process.

-In a pan, heat 2tbsp of oil, and sear the chicken from both sides.

-To crisp up the skin, put the skin side down first on the pan and flip later.

-A medium breast taken 12 to 13 minutes to cook.

For Sauce- 

-1/2 Cup Chicken Stock

-2 Cloves Garlic

-White wine

-1 Tablespoon Fresh Basil Leaves

-1 Small Slice Fresh Lemon

-1 Tablespoon Cold Butter

-Salt and Pepper to Taste

Method:

-After you cook the chicken, leave any browned bits in the pan.

-Deglaze the skillet with the wine or other liquor of your choice. Be sure to remove the skillet from the heat to avoid a flare-up.

-Add in the chopped shallot and the garlic, cook until the liquor is reduced in volume and becomes syrupy.

-Once liquor has reduced in volume, add in the chicken stock. Add salt and pepper to taste if desired. Be sure not to over season as the sauce will reduce and become concentrated.

-Add in any accumulated juices from the chicken. There is a ton of flavour in the juices!

-After the sauce has reduced in volume, add in a small squeeze of the fresh lemon juice.

-Once the sauce has become thick enough to coat the back of the spoon, turn off the heat. Another way to gauge the consistency is to run a spatula along the bottom of the pan. Once the sauce streaks to where you can see the pan, the sauce is ready!

-With the heat off, add in the fresh basil(or other herbs), and add in the chunk of cold butter. Use the spatula to move the butter around and it will emulsify into the sauce and give you a perfectly thick, rich, restaurant-quality sauce!

Now you can serve this with your chicken breast and enjoy!