Forum Thermomix
Questions Doubts and Requests => Recipe Requests => Topic started by: judydawn on October 04, 2009, 04:11:14 am
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Not exactly a recipe request but my coriander is growing like crazy and I need to pick some to encourage more growth. Not intending to cook anything where I can use it so was wondering if I could freeze it or something else. I think I have read that you can chop herbs, place in ice cube trays and cover with water to freeze. Would be interested to see if there are any other ways. Thanks guys.
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I have dried parsley by wrapping in paper towel then microwaving until dried. You can then break up the dries leaves and store in airtight containers to use later. I imagine the same would work with coriander. Funny - I was looking at my rampaging parsley this morning and thought I would dry some for the "lean" times. My coriander is not looking nearly as prolific so I am somewhat envious of yours as I love fresh coriander. Good luck.
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I too am a coriander lover and am envious of your crop Judy :) What about making up a coriander type paste like a pesto they sell in woolworths in the tubes in the fruit and veg section I am not sure what you would use maybe oil and the coriander blitzed?? I might have a look see at the labels next time I am at the supermarket to find out what is in them ;D
Or I just had a thought what about making a yummy coriander and cashew dip with garlic yummo ;)
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I have the Gourmet Garden tubes. I don't have coriander, but I do have Parsley & the ingredients are as follows:
Fresh parsley (47%), Dextrose, Whey Powder (from milk), Canola Oil, Acidity Regulators (Sodium lactate, Citric Acid), Sea Salt, Humectant (Glycerol), Antioxidants (Sodium ascorbate, Ascorbic acid), Thickener (Xanthan Gum).
No wonder that "Fresh Chopped Taste" just doesn't taste as good as real freshly chopped parsley!
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Thanks for your ideas everyone. I googled and came up with this site for some more interesting ideas.
http://www.mamtaskitchen.com/recipe_display.php?id=13437 (http://www.mamtaskitchen.com/recipe_display.php?id=13437)
Having read through this information, I took the last suggestion by Steve, went out to the garden, picked a huge bunch (from just one plant) with just the snip of my scissors and which has to be worth $40 when you see what you get for $3 at the supermarkets. Washed it, placed it in a plastic bag and in the freezer - quick, easy, no fuss method. Now my dear little plant can start sprouting again. I have never had such a prolific supply and wonder if it is because of all the mulching I have added to that section of the herb garden. Oh happy days :D :D :D
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Molly - I guessed it would be full of other 'stuff'
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So did I, but I never actually checked. I used to grow my own herbs, but my garden is very dry & is growing nothing but weeds at the moment.
I was interested in this topic & after googling, found the following website:
10 Easy ways to preserve herbs - http://tipnut.com/preserve-herbs/
One of the suggestions is a herb & oil paste (pesto) and even has suggestions for freezing it.
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As you have said - freezer blocks and then into bags.
Chermoula is good - make up the paste and then store with some oil over top in jars in fridge.
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I regularly freeze parsley but haven't tried corriander. Did attempt basil the other week & that seemed to "work" when I used it later. Not ideal but better than wasting it. Saw an ingenious contraption in a shop window this evening which proclaims to preserve fresh herbs for longer - will investigate next weekend & report back............
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lol i just feed my excess herbs to the guinea pigs!! :o :o that way I also always have fresh new growth coming through. My coriander is going wild at the moment as well. I have mulched and fed my herb garden dynamic lifter recently.
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Boy can those little guys eat :o :o :o GD has 3 of them and I'd sooner feed them for a day than a week :D :D
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Yes we have 3 too, got them when they were a month old and very tiny....now they eat and eat and eat!! Have had to stop the kids feeding them when they are playing with them as it seems to go in one end and out the other lol
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lol i just feed my excess herbs to the guinea pigs!! :o :o that way I also always have fresh new growth coming through. My coriander is going wild at the moment as well. I have mulched and fed my herb garden dynamic lifter recently.
Wonder what the flavour would be like? Sounds a bit like pre-salé lamb from the marshes around Mt St-Michel - pre-seasoned GPs. The South Americans may already do this ??
Just realised that some people may take that the wrong way - if there is a right way - it was a joke :-\ :-\ .
Sorry GPs - I used to breed them too - love the way they hit the ground running.
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ROFL
although no breeding going on here!!! :o :o made sure of that lol
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GD started out with 3 'babies' guaranteed all the same sex (F) but before too long 2 of them started getting awfully fat. Yep, 2 out of the 3 were pregnant when they were sold to DD. First one had 4, second one had 3 = 10 guinea pigs all of a sudden. They looked further into it so they could sex them and separate them and one day the door wasn't shut properly and there I was, chasing the 8 females around the back yard. Slippery little buggars as those who have them well know. I bought a proper lock for the cage and fitted it myself so that this grandma never had to do that again :D :D
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Did somebody get a video of that ?? - funniest home video material - maybe even a film !! :-*
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Trust you to see the funny side of it Thermomixer :D :D :D :D It is funny now when I think of it but I was as mad as hell at the time. BTW, they managed to find homes for them all thank goodness - who has the resources to feed 10 guinea pigs unless you buy a vegie shop :D :D :D
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Or the bobcat you would need to clear up the poop! ;D ;D.
Love the hints and tips for herb growing - as I hope to start a decent vege/herb garden when we are in our new house.
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Alioop, even if you have a herb garden in big pots it is the way to go. I hate paying the price they want for packets of fresh herbs in the supermarket when, for a little effort, you can grow your own. I love nothing more than wandering outside to pick something from my garden. I have chives, mint, parsley, coriander, oregano, sage, thyme and am growing spring onions and spinach at the moment. Something ate my basil and it wasn't snails so must have been birds pecking away at it. I had to laugh once when I told a neighbour who was looking after my garden when we went away for a month, that they could help themselves to anything in the garden. His reply was 'we don't use herbs, just S & P)
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Actually Judy that's a timely suggestion re the pots, as have taken a few big empty "trough"-type pots to mum's just recently as her place is going to be our temporary home for the next few mths. Should start the herb growing there as mum is a great gardener (in contrast to myself :-[ but I hope to improve ;D). Any further suggestions for starting out are welcomed!! ;D ;)
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My herbs are all in pots and I move them around the yard accordingly during the year. Coriander is about to go into a cool position to stop it shooting to seed in the heat ;) Mint is about to be moved to the doorways to help repel the summer flies.... makes it much easier
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Alioop. don't know if you have read the thread on composting we had ages ago. I bought myself a large plastic container with a lid and place all the vegie scraps/peelings in there throughout the day. At the end of the day I blitz it with a little water to help it along then tip it into holes I have dug ready out in my garden patch. Fill it in with dirt then use the next hole next time. Leave it for a while before digging over again and planting. I have found my spring onions and spinach grew much quicker than normal so it must be working.
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Thanks Judy - no, I think I came in later than the composting thread, but now I will do a search and read-up! :)
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Compost thread is here
http://www.forumthermomix.com/index.php?topic=125.0 (http://www.forumthermomix.com/index.php?topic=125.0)
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:-* :-*
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Hi Judy,
thanks for digging out the Compost thread. I used to make bokashi in my old house and should start again.What are you doing in winter with your compost?
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I puree my scraps & bury them all year round Tebasile
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The Bokashi works in the winter here - very mild winters.
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Maybe we should move to Australia ;D. I stored the finished Bokashi with soil in plastic bags in the garage ...... and it was leaking :-)). This winter I'm going to try a big garbage can....
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There's plenty of room over here. :-* :-*
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HI there,
have just been reading this thread and I love growing my own herbs like basil coriander etc. But I have never had much success from coriander.
I have tried planting from seeds and seedlings but they either die or don't sprout much. I feed them with seasol every 2 weeks and all the other herbs thrive, but alas, not the coriander. Its mine and DH's favourite herb and I add it to almost every meal.
Would love some tips from you gals as its sounds like yours are doing so well. Maybe its Perth's water???
Bronte
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Hi Bronte, I'm in Perth so can't be the water not letting you have success lol. I think mine thrive on neglect really to be honest. The only thing I do is move it to a cooler place at this time of the year and throw it a bit of dynamic lifter when I remember. Seasol alone isn't enough so try that one fortnight and some dynamic lifter the other - even once a month and save yourself some money!!
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I have never had the success that I had this time with my coriander plant. It normally goes straight to seed before I get a chance to pick it. I never fertilised this lot at all, didn't even think about doing so as it just grew (after being protected from snails) so I put it down to the fact that it was in a spot where I had buried all my vegie peelings which had been pulverised in the TMX. I keep a bucket in the sink for saving water and rising plates etc and this is also tipped out into the herb garden on a regular basis. It is planted around the eastern side of the house so doesn't get an awful lot of sun.
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Thanks for that,
so should I try from seed or plant. Or will the plant go to seed to quickly???
Bronte
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Either will go to seed quickly in the heat Bronte...especially this time of the year on. You could use either. I also put some shade cloth over mine in the summer to help keep the direct sun off it. I think regularly picking it has also helped stopping it going to seed. So if you don't have guinea pigs - get some lol. No really just pick it and dry it.
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Thanks faffa_70,
I think I know where to put it and no I dont have any Guinea pigs...although I would love some...maybe when my son is older???
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When I buy herbs, I buy them in a little pot (costs around $3) so it isn't exactly a seedling - it has had a bit of a start in life. I did read once that there is a coriander that doesn't go to seed as quickly but there is only ever one type in my nursery. It's all trial and error Thermobron - just try anything, seeds, seedlings, plant, whatever and then next time try something different until you eventually hit on a winner. The packets of fresh herbs you buy in the supermarket never have enough in them as far as I am concerned and for what you get, they are very expensive - growing your own is the way to go.
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Coriander is very hard to grow up here in Cairns but I seem to have some success so far by buying fresh coriander with long roots. Usually I use the roots but lately I have been cutting them off leaving a bit of the tops and sticking them in the garden. So far it seems to be working is the bush turkeys dont scratch them like they did my lemon grass. did you also know you can grow pineapple by cutting off the tops and just sticking them in a pot or garden.
Gretchen
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I had heard that Gretchen, do you do it? Especially in the north of Australia where things seem to propagate so easily.
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Here is one I prepared earlier!(http://)
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Wonderful, can you cut the top off it again & plant that. Is this how the commercial crops are grown?
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Yup. Can do. Easy as. Funny really as i Sydney Ii used to buy small pineapples with their stems from the florist to use in flower arrangements. go figure :-))
Gert
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You're just a show-off Gretchen :P :P :P - and I'm very envious :'( :'( :'( :'(
I can't seem to grow coriander either - goes straight to seed, but my brother used to grow heaps without any going to seed and he didn't appear to do anything different >:( >:( >:(
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Think I will put all types in a pot and see what happens..... :)
My mum grows pineapples in the deep south of WA...she has amazing green thumbs, but sadly no luck with corriander.
Thanks for all the advice
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I did a bit of research on coriander and growing it seems to be a problem for 9 out of 10 people. Cooler months seem better for slowing the going-to-seed problem apparently. Some say they don't bother because it only costs 50 cents a bunch at the shops - well hello, not in South Australia it doesn't, it's $3 for what I would call a 1/4 of a bunch so it is worthwhile persisting to at least get one good crop that you can either dry or freeze. I count myself lucky that I was able to do that this time round.
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$3 and a small bunch at that Judy. Now when I buy coriander I use what I need, plant some roots and blitz the rest for the freezer. I think some I have planted may survive. Fingers crossed.
Gretchen
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Don't feel so bad now JD - I just thought that I was a complete idiot for not being able to grow it.
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But look at all the things you CAN do Thermomixer ;) ;) ;)
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..always look on the bright side of life... do do do....