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Herbs Frozen in Olive Oil: A Fast and Easy Method of Preservation

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Herbs Frozen in Olive Oil: A Fast and Easy Method of Preservation

Herbs Frozen in Olive Oil

I have been skeptical of the utility and practicality of the idea of freezing fresh (and thus rapidly aging) herbs in olive oil in ice cube trays but the overabundance of basil in my crisper led me to try and love this as a method of preservation.

While I can’t add much to what you might have read online already about how simple it is to chop herbs, pack into ice cube trays, and cover in olive oil for freezing, I can do a few things for you Dear Readers.

This post may contain affiliate links. All opinions are my own. ​

I can attest to the practicality of doing so. I had almost half a pound of fresh basil withering away and was on the edge of spoiling. I chopped it (with the help of a friend who encouraged me to try it) and packed it into my ice cube trays. These are the trays that were gifted to me for my wedding and they are the biggest ice cube trays I have seen, and the quantity of oil + herb seems far more practical than a tiny, regular sized ice cube. If you need more ice cube trays, I love these and they can be purchased by clicking the photo below:

Of course, you don’t need fancy, big-block silicone ice cube trays to preserve your herbs. I just found it to be particularly handy to do so.

Once the herbs are packed in their little cubbies, pour olive oil slowly over the top. Cover with plastic wrap and freeze overnight.

The cubes of oil and herb pop right out of the silicone trays and are ready to be stored in an airtight container in the freezer.

I honestly thought this was a tip that would fall into the “Pinterest Fail” category but I really am happy with the result. I can now fully encourage my thrifty Wildflowers to save some herbal goodness from the compost heap in this manner and I’d say use the biggest ice cube tray (or tiny container) you have for a more useful quantity.

Of course, by saving the last little bit of wilting basil, or by choosing to make the most of the abundance you have in the now, you are helping solve part of a much, much bigger issue. Food waste is something I try very hard to avoid for many reasons, and you should too. The green I care the most about is dollars and I’m not ashamed to admit it. I’m not alone in this camp, and yet over a third of the garbage in landfills is food. That is so much money wasted! One of the tiny tweaks to your routine can be saving herbs in olive oil and you’ll be saving all kinds of green.

The infographic below explains in short order how much food is wasted in the US, the cost in dollars, and the reasons behind the dates on packaging. The dates are NOT regulated (except on infant formula) and by becoming better Wildflowers, I am certain we all can become better about wasting less and thus wanting not.


Food Waste infographic from A Domestic Wildflower's post about freezing herbs in olive oil

Source: Fix.com

What else have you saved this way, Wildflowers? Fill me in as I am feeling a little late to the party! Share in the comment section below!
Herbs Frozen in Olive Oil: A Fast and Easy Method of Preservation

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Tips for Grinding Your Own Hamburger

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Tips for Grinding Your Own Hamburger

Grinding your own hamburger may seem like an activity best left to a white-clad man behind the deli counter but it is actually not difficult and can result in a very versatile food product that you can prepare at home. Follow these tips for a successful meat grinding session.

I have spent a lot of years trying to figure out how best to use up the wide array of wild game from the sky, land, and lakes that my husband brings home from hunting. Frankly, in terms of meat that I can cook quickly in a wide variety of meals, you can’t beat ground.

There is one important tool and several tips I can suggest for grinding your own beef, buck meat, or other game.

This post may contain affiliate links. All opinions are my own. ​

The first thing you will need is a means of grinding the meat. I have this grinder, which attaches to my Kitchen Aid stand mixer and I think that for your money, it is a home run. It is small and fits nicely back in its box when I am not using it, it is relatively inexpensive, makes use of an appliance I already own and is simple to use. I really don’t have the desire to buy a whole separate appliance for a task I tackle only a few times a year. The photo link below is indeed an affiliate link but I can honestly recommend it without reservation. The one thing I would change is that the hopper is a bit small sometimes but then again if it were bigger, it would take up more cupboard space. I also love this because I have used it in a rush, with big chunks of meat, and I have never clogged it nor made it halt. It’s a workhorse, and if you plan on processing meat in the future, I don’t think you’d regret this purchase.

In addition to this important tool, you will need to follow a few tips to be in hamburger heaven. Read on, Wildflowers!

The ratio of fat to lean and bacon ends: the Wild game is typically very lean. We are often under the false impression that fat is an evil substance when in fact, it can be very healthful. Furthermore, if you are interested in eating healthfully, you won’t find much more ‘natural’, ‘healthy’ ‘organic’, or any other buzzword you want to use than wild game. The trouble is that fat is what gives meat its flavor, it helps keep us feeling full, and is what makes cooking meat easier. It helps a hamburger hold its shape, for example. Enter bacon ends. You can purchase in your grocery store or from your butcher bacon ends which are irregularly shaped and sized pieces of bacon with a lot of fat included. By adding bacon ends to your meat in a ratio of about ¼ fat or bacon ends to ¾ meat, your result is a flavorful, tender, and appropriately fatty blend. By all means, play with this ratio but I’d bet you would be happiest with a meat ground to this ratio. If you are watching your metaphorical waistline, I would suggest the same ratio but eat a bit less. As for the bacon flavor, I wouldn’t say the meat tastes like bacon. It tastes better, and that is very different.

Cold shoulder: You want the shoulders, roasts, and every other part destined for the grinder to be nearly frozen. Room temperature meat is actually more difficult and slower to grind than ice cold meat and I feel comforted by the meat being really cold because it has to sit at room temperature at least for a bit while being ground and awaiting packaging.
Aim for so cold that it is very, very firm.

Grind twice: I really hate tasks that take a lot of time but this is a step you shouldn’t skip. By grinding the meat twice, you can use tougher cuts of meat-either from afield or from the grocery store- and still get a tender burger (or stroganoff, or taco, or whatever) and you better incorporate the all-important bacon ends into the meat.

Procedure: Try to have an idea of how many pounds of meat you will be processing so you can get the ratio right. This can be difficult if the meat is being cut off the carcass as you grind (which is the way we do it in my home) but try to get a good guess.

Use the medium-sized grinding plate in the grinder. Have several bowls ready to catch the meat as it is expelled from the grinder, and space on your freezer or refrigerator shelves for the bowls to hang out in between grindings and packaging.

Slice the meat into sizes that will slide down the hopper of the grinder. It can be long slices or chunks, but it has to be able to slide down the hopper.

Fill the hopper with meat, and then with a bit of bacon ends, and press down with the hopper while the mixer is set to medium-low. Once you get comfortable with filling the hopper (3 small handfuls of meat, 1 small handful of bacon is my routine) and pressing it down, you can turn the speed up. Because the grinder works quickly, you will probably be filling the hopper frequently and you won’t have much downtime.

You will see how in this photo, the white of the bacon fat is ground, but not well incorporated.

This is after the second trip through the grinder. Much closer to hamburger color, right?

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Package in weights most useful to you in freezer paper like that below.

I like to wrap lots of packages with one pound and a few in two pounds but think about the recipes that you like and the number of people you most often feed and wrap accordingly.

I jumped on Periscope during my last meat grinding session to share the process. Here’s the YouTube video!

Cheesecake Ice Cream: No Ice Cream Maker Required

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Cheesecake Ice Cream: No Ice Cream Maker Required

Dove with Butter and Herbs

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It has become a bit of a joke among those in my cattle ranching family that I have all manner of wild game on my supper table and rarely now do I serve steak. Above all else, I try to be practical, and because my husband is an enthusiastic hunter and fisher, I have had to learn to cook a wide range of beasts. My freezers are filled with meats that are wilder, leaner, and more ‘free range’ than anything you might pay top dollar for in a specialty market and I suppose I am very fortunate in that regard. I am no expert, and I plan on asking Santa for these books in order to improve my game cooking skills even more. I have read a bit by this author, Hank Shaw, and I can tell he’s the Real McCoy. Check him out on Instagram. He does things like roast grouse bits to make broth. It’s awesome.

Dove and other birds have a tendency to be dry, and the key to a dinner that doesn’t end up in the dog dish is keeping the meat moist. Dove is a rather small upland game bird and the way our family loves them cooked is in a foil packet on the barbecue. The foil keeps the moisture in, and the butter and herbs are a perfect compliment.

Procedure:

Arrange cleaned dove breasts (that look charmingly like stylized hearts) on 2 sheets of aluminum foil. Doubling the foil is critical; without it, a hole in the foil is likely and you will lose all your butter. Beneath and atop the dove, add slices of real butter, adding up to about ½ a tablespoon per breast, give or take, erring on the side of more.

This isn’t a recipe exactly because it depends on how many your hunter or grocer has available. I had 10 breasts in these photographs so I used about 5 tablespoons of butter.

Tuck 3-4 bay leaves beneath the butter, and sprinkle with rosemary and thyme, salt and pepper. Add a few more slices of butter on top for good measure.

Dove with Butter and Herbs | A Domestic Wildflower click for this simple and delicious recipe!

Dove ready to be sealed in a foil packet and headed for the BBQ.

Fold up the foil packet, and if possible, fold in such a way that you could open it up while still on the barbeque. I fold the top down the way you might hold a brown bag lunch, for example.

Cook on the barbecue, on medium high, for 10 minutes. Dove is done when the meat is not bloody, and darker in color. You might unfold your packet a bit to peek and perhaps retrieve a breast to slice open. Just don’t spill the butter!

Pour reserved butter into a dish for dipping pieces of meat into. Alternatively, you could use it to make a gravy, which I haven’t done but I’m sure would be delicious, or you could pour on top of accompanying potatoes or rice.

I’m always looking for more ways to cook wild game, Wildflowers, so please share your favorites in the comments below!

Craftsy’s Knife Skills Class

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