I am a self professed freezer maven. I freeze everything. Leftovers, Sauce, Cheese(shredded & whole), onions, soup, homemade empanadas...I think you get the point. I've pretty much mastered how to prevent things from getting freezer burn, thus given my items extra weeks and sometimes months in my freezer. BUT(there had to have been a "but" in here), every time I have leftover herbs over the winter from a dish I'm making I try to throw them in a zip-loc bag and freeze them? Within a few short weeks they turn brown and loose flavor. I've thought maybe I should douse them in lemon or get one of those super duper suction gadgets for the zip locs? THEN my friend and I took a Regional Italian Cooking Class at the Boston Center for Adult Education and learned something that may have just changed my freezing-herbs issue. The chef said when freezing herbs to coat them ever so lightly with oil and a pinch of salt then seal them in a freezer bag. Oil and Salt? Why didn't I think of that? Well, Chef we are putting it to the test. So I sprayed them down with Pam and sprinkled all with a bit of salt and in the labeled zip-locs they went. The Herbs are now nestled on top of my frozen-space saver-sauce in Zip-Locs (something I learned from Jamie Lee Curtis, this will be a separate blog someday). If this doesn't work I fear my freezing herbs days are over. I'll report back in 4 weeks to show the results...
Anyone else have any secret freezing tips?
I grow my own herbs through out the sweltering months, but something I just can't live without in the winter in my basil. I've dried it in the past, but miss out on a good half of the flavor no matter how I do it. So I bought .5 cup Glad containers, (the same I use for stock), and stuffed them solid, tossed a little chopped garlic in and come olive oil. Now all I have to do it pop one container out when I ready to make pasta.
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