Basil

One of the easy ways I have found to extend the season on our herbs is to dry them during the summer. My favorite to do this with is basil. We pick the leaves making sure they are in good shape. We then lightly rinse them and stack them in the dehydrator. I have found that they sometimes will fall through the holes on the racks as they lose their water content so I put aluminum foil under them. After drying, I put them in a baggy to use later. This tastes so good in the winter when I want some basil. The quality is so much better than store bought. I simply crush the dried leaves into whatever I want to season. It is like having fresh basil all year long.

Before I had a dehydrator, I would take the fresh leaves, put a little olive oil in them and then grind them up in food processor. I would take the mixture and put in ice cube trays. After they were frozen I would take the cubes out of the trays and store them in a large freezer bag. When I needed basil I simply took one or two cubes out and added it to the recipe. This works well also.

I have also dried parsley, cilantro and celeriac with the first method.

What methods do you use to preserve your herbs?