3 Resourceful Ways To Make Use of Your Aging Herbs
When life gives you a bunch of herbs — young or old — make pesto, herb oil, and compound butter
Freshly chopped rosemary, thyme, and sage — it’s a festive Christmas and Thanksgiving experience for the senses. Aside from the holiday season, they’re perhaps on a more regular rotation throughout your weekly meal roster.
Whether you have a bunch of herbs in the fridge or beside the window, they’ll, admirably, always coat flavour, freshness, and interest around your culinary creations, like a beautiful varnish.
However, on the flip side, there are those times of culling semi-squashed clamshells of wilted and brownish herbs from your fridge drawer. And on the windowsill, rests a pot of basil that has only gone to seed — or maybe it’s on its last legs.
Before chancing either scenario again, make sure to take a look at these quick and easy tips. They’re easy and fun to implement.
1 | Make a Pesto
Basil: It’s the flagship herb of the standard pesto. And yet, you can come up with just about any flavourful combination of herbs and nuts to make the popular pasta sauce.
That said, the key is to select a majority of soft herbs, if you plan to use the pesto as a finishing sauce. Rosemary, in this case, wouldn’t be an ideal choice.
In a raw form, sharp, hard rosemary leaves would not otherwise break down to a fine enough paste. The flavour, without being cooked out, would also be a tad too strong, tossed with leftover, cold pasta for lunch, for instance.
However, if you have a ton of parsley to get through, as they’re so often sold in large bundles, you’re all set to blend it all in a food processor to a smooth paste.
Use your pesto to marinate any kind of meat; bolster the flavour of your soups; and even fold it into your freshly cooked rice for added flavour, colour, and fragrance.
Just remember to remove most of the stems from parsley and cilantro as they’ll add unwanted bitterness and toughness in flavour and texture, respectively.
If you enjoy a coarser finish, hold off on adding too much oil; for a looser result, add more oil.
2 | Create a Tasty Herb Oil
Herb oil isn’t quite the weeknight affair. But this delicious method is the perfect way to make use of any soft, leafy herb. Tarragon, dill, parsley, chives, and cilantro, especially, work well for this fresh and elegant condiment.
Just remember that your oil will pack more of a punch if the herb is inherently stronger in flavour, like rosemary or thyme. For the recipe, light olive oil or any other neutral-tasting oil, such as grapeseed or sunflower oil, tends to work the best.
With the help of either a small food processor, jug blender, or immersion blender, combine 2 cups of your oil with 3–4 cups of your herbs; purée until as smooth as possible.
Ensure to scrape the sides with a spatula for an even and thorough blend. Next, transfer the mixture into a small saucepan. Gently cook it over medium to low heat for 4 to 6 minutes. Then pass it through a fine-mesh sieve lined with a cheesecloth over a bowl to cool.
After letting the oil cool completely, it is ready to be placed into the fridge in an air-tight container. You can also store it in squeeze bottles, with a label of its date.
You’ll now be set for several weeks with this delicious oil; otherwise, you’re welcome to put it in the freezer. This recipe yields about 2 cups.
When it comes to using your oil, simply drizzle it over Caprese salad, grilled meat, or hot soup — it’s tastes wonderful and looks enchanting drizzled into a seafood chowder. You can even mix it with balsamic vinegar and salt to make a tasty dip for your bread.
3 | Put Together a Compound Butter with Harder Herbs
Picture a beautiful herb-studded disc of butter melting over a steak. Or imagine stuffing neatly cut rounds of the compound ingredient between the skins of a whole chicken, all set to be roasted in the oven.
Herbs of the woody variety — namely, rosemary and lavender — are perfect candidates for making this cylindrical compound butter.
And softer herbs with bold flavour compounds like oregano, tarragon, and sage, are well-suited for the flavour enhancement, too.
Since a block of butter or two is sure to be around, why not combine herbs with big ol’ delicious fat. You’ll save the sad, wilting herbs, and you’ll gain great flavour in a very easy-to-use format. Just make sure to leave enough time for the roll to set in the fridge, for at least one hour.
Related: Fridge Finds: Several Ways To Use Up What’s Left of Your Jar of Curry Paste
