Herbs

I love planting herbs, but sometimes wonder what I can do with all of them (mint! aye!) once they grow. Here are just a few ideas! 

Making Herb Ice Cubes 
(to put into drinks, soups, or anything really!)

1. Harvest the freshest, healthiest leaves
2. Wash, if necessary, and pat dry with paper towels
3. Stuff 2-3 individual leaves or a spoonful of chopped herbs in ice cube trays.
4. Fill the tray half way with water. Make sure the leaves are down into the water, as best you can. They will tend to float, but we'll fix that with the next step. Place the half filled tray in the freezer.
5. Once the ice cubes are pretty much frozen, finish filling the try with water. The leaves will no longer be able to float and should be completely surrounded with water. Now place the tray back into the freezer to freeze solid.
6. Once the ice cubes are frozen, remove from the tray and store in freezer bags and label which Herb/herb mixture is inside.
7. When ready to use, toss the whole ice cube into your favorite stew or dish. 

I have done this with a bunch of Italian Parsley. I add a cube or two to soups I'm making, or I've added 2-3 cubes to a pan of Roast Chicken and root vegetables.
Just today, in fact, I put 3 cubes into a separate sandwich baggie and placed it in a sink of very hot water to melt. Once melted, I added it to my processor along with the other marinade ingredients for my Herb-Roasted Chicken dinner that I'll be cooking up (and posting!) tomorrow! 

Drying Herbs

Follow steps 1 and 2 above.
Here's where you can do three different methods.

Method 1 - Bunch drying
Remove the lower leaves along the bottom inch or so of the branch
Bundle 4 - 6 branches together and tie as a bunch. You can use string or a rubber band. The bundles will shrink as they dry and the rubber band will loosen, so check periodically that the bundle is not slipping. Make small bundles if you are trying to dry herbs with high water content.
Punch or cut several holes in a paper bag.
Label the bag with the name of the herb you are drying.
Place the herb bundle upside down into the bag.
Gather the ends of the bag around the bundle and tie closed. Make sure the herbs are not crowded inside the bag. Hang the bag upside down in a warm, airy room.


Method 2 - Oven Drying
Place the leaves or stems on cookie sheets and warm them about 3-4 hours at 180. This has been my method of drying herbs such as Rosemary. Once dried, and cooled, I then plucked off the leaves and placed them in my almost-empty Rosemary jar!


Method 3 - Dehydrator Drying
Preheat the dehydrator between 95 and 115 ° or slightly higher for more humid areas. Place herbs in a single layer on dehydrator trays and dry anywhere from 1-4 hours, checking periodically. Herbs are dry when they crumble, and stems break

And there's always using them fresh in soups, salads and other meals! Now go and enjoy those herbs, don't let them go to waste!