Keeping cilantro or other cilantro ideas (no food processor)

KtJo101 · #1 12-30-2007, 12:17 PM

Hi!

Here's my cilantro situation:
It's difficult to find fresh cilantro where I am in Madrid (Spanish food is not Mexican food!) so I bought a bunch about a week ago because the Mexican store I found wouldn't sell me just a little. Now I'm going out of town for two weeks and I have a lot left! It's still fairly fresh.

Some ideas:
Cut the stems and put in a bowl of water with a plastic bag over it in the fridge. (But will this really keep two more weeks?)
Dry it out on paper towels and then wrap it in plastic and put it in the fridge. (Not sure if this will keep two weeks either...)
Freeze it. (But won't I lose a lot of flavor?)
Make a pesto or sauce and then freeze that. (But I don't have a food processor or blender or even anything close. I don't even have a microwave.)

And what can I do with the stems?

Any other tips are greatly appreciated!

Kate

ChefDrizzle · #2 12-30-2007, 04:24 PM

i found the best way to keep cilantro/parsley etc. fresh for longer is to rinse them off, allow to dry really well and then wrap it in paper towels, not too tight but enough so it sorta "hugs" it... lol.. then after youve wrapped them in the towel, wrap it in plastic wrap and just put it in your fridge.. ive had parsley and such last me anywhere from 1 to just about 3 weeks.. it all depends on how fresh the herbs were when you got them...

as for freezing.. ive heard mixed opinions of my chefs and other cooks say its the way to go and others say it definately isnt... personally i dont think freezing is the way to go mainly because whenever you freeze herbs, the water inside the cells of the plant turn to ice and the cell walls get destroyed and compromise the dexterity of the product.. fresha is betta!!

and the stems... id just use them for a bouquet garni for a soup or something...

you can make the pesto still without a food processor.. just be ready for manual labor.. if you have a knife and 2 hands, you can chop the cilantro as fine as you want.. soooo many times ive had to mince parsley down to a nice velvety texture for garnish lol.. you can do the same with the garlic of course... now for the pine nuts, id put em on a pan and toast them in the oven briefly... then take the nuts and cover them with a towel and just take a mallot and lightly crush the nuts... so basically all you have to do after these steps is figure out what else your puttin in there and get a bowl, a wisk, your oil and get your arm ready for some intense mixing.. lol

hope this helps..

KtJo101 · #3 12-30-2007, 06:05 PM

Thanks for all the advice! Incredibly helpful. I'm going to try drying out the cilantro and wrapping it in paper towels like you said. If it's still good when I get back from my trip, I'll try out the pesto. (If I have the energy!)

shel · #4 12-30-2007, 07:23 PM

[quote=ChefDrizzle;204065]you can make the pesto still without a food processor.. just be ready for manual labor.. if you have a knife and 2 hands, you can chop the cilantro as fine as you want.. soooo many times ive had to mince parsley down to a nice velvety texture for garnish lol.. you can do the same with the garlic of course... now for the pine nuts, id put em on a pan and toast them in the oven briefly... then take the nuts and cover them with a towel and just take a mallot and lightly crush the nuts... so basically all you have to do after these steps is figure out what else your puttin in there and get a bowl, a wisk, your oil and get your arm ready for some intense mixing.. lol
[quote]

A somewhat more "traditional"ethod is to use a mortar and pestle - works a treat ...

shel

ChefDrizzle · #5 12-30-2007, 08:57 PM

i concur with shel about the mortar and pestle, but the only problem you might come across with that is it might make the pesto a bit mushier, mainly cuz your just grinding the crap out of the ingredients.. basically depends on the texture your trying to accomplish.. chopping everything by hand you can regulate how fine you get all your ingredients.. you cant really regulate that with the m & p.

shel · #6 12-31-2007, 12:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ChefDrizzle

i concur with shel about the mortar and pestle, but the only problem you might come across with that is it might make the pesto a bit mushier, mainly cuz your just grinding the crap out of the ingredients.. basically depends on the texture your trying to accomplish.. chopping everything by hand you can regulate how fine you get all your ingredients.. you cant really regulate that with the m & p.

I disagree - the mortar and pestle have been used to make pesto for centuries. I'm just an ignorant NewYork City boy. yet even I can make a good pesto using this old, time honored method. Probably because of my ignorance, I've never heard of the chopping technique, but there's so much I don't know. However, I'd suggest that, if you're "grinding the crap" out of the ingredients, yu're not using a proper technique.

shel

ChefDrizzle · #7 12-31-2007, 05:01 AM

well shel you may be right as far as technique goes with using the M & P.. i myself have mainly used the contraption to grind down fennel seeds/peppercorns/whole grain mustard etc.. not quite to make pesto.. from the day i ever started working in the restaurant industry ive allways been taught to achieve good knife skills in the kitchen.. so to this day 5 years down the road ive taken that philosophy and i will thank the first chef to ever let me work under him to make that my forte... basically i gave my own opinion based on my particular skills that i am good at.

so hey, if your good at mushin stuff up in a bowl.. have at it, your prolly better than i am.. but if your good enough not to chop your own finger off.. i prefer the knife method..