Drying Herbs

Seeing  all those fennel fronds last week reminded me that when you subscribe to a CSA a little knowledge of how to preserve things is useful.  Let's begin by talking about drying herbs.

Lots and lots of fennel fronds!

I may be going out on a limb here, but I would guess that almost no one was able to use all of the fennel fronds last week.  Fennel isn't like parsley.  With parsely you can just chop up a whole bunch and toss it into a pasta salad or tabouli.  But fennel has a strong flavor, and a little goes a long way.  And "little" is not how I would describe the amount we received in our delivery last week!  

But not to fear, all that fennel can be saved and used if dried, and so can any other herb that you find you are overwhelmed with.  It may seem charming and romantic to tie your herbs in bunches and "hang them" to dry, but this really isn't necessary and is just extra work.  I will use fennel as the example for a very simple herb drying technique, but this same technique can be used with any herb.

How to Dry Herbs

1.  Cut the fennel fronds (the wispy tops) from the very thickest stalks (there is no need to remove the leaves from the thin stalks, this will be done once dried).

2.  Rinse the fennel (or whatever herb you want to preserve by drying) and pat dry with towels.  

3. Lay the fennel on plates in a single layer.  I needed two plates to do this.

4. Lay a sheet of wax paper loosely over the plates to protect the fennel from dust.

5.  Place plates anywhere you have a little extra space - just not in the kitchen where they could pick up flavors and odors floating through the air.  If you place the herbs in a sunny window as I do, it will speed the drying, but it may also darken the herbs.  This is something that doesn't bother me, but if color is important to you then place in a dark room.

6.  Once dried, the fennel should be brittle and crumbly - and this may take many days.  Roll the stalks between your palms with a plate underneath to catch the leaves.  This will remove the herb "leaves" from the stem.  Place dried fennel into an airtight jar (save those spice jars) or ziploc bag until needed.  I don't crush or pulverize mine until ready to use.  That seems to preserve the flavor a bit better.

Now you have a nice little bag of dried herbs to use all winter long and they will be more flavorful than what you buy in the store.

The fennel fronds are drying on plates under wax paper.

When you are all done the fennel will
look like this.

Week 6 Recipes - Kolhrabi, Fennel, Green Cabbage, Garlic Scapes, Mesclun, Cucumber

Now that I have finished with my Sunday School class, I will have a bit more time to blog about my CRO cooking.  I hope to post at least twice each week about how I used things.

By now you may be feeling veggie overload.  How will you ever use it all?  Well, I have a meal planned for you that uses six - count them six - of your items received this week, including kohlrabi and fennel. 

The kohlrabi may be a bit of a mystery to many.  It is considered to be a part of the cabbage family, but really is used more like a potato.   The leaves and their stalks should be removed, the stalks discarded and the leaves saved for another use (cook with other greens or chop raw into salads).  The kohlrabi bulb should always be peeled and peeled again as the outer layers are tough and fibrous and do not soften in liquid or cooking.  Once peeled, you can cook and mash kohlrabi as you would a potato with non-dairy milk and butter, slice it into wedges to make "french fries" or just cut it into chunks and add to any dish.

The fennel bulb tastes strongly of anise particularly when it is raw.  It can be used this way in salads, but I prefer the milder taste of cooked fennel and typically slice mine into a stir fry.  The fronds (wispy green tops) can be chopped as you would any herb and used to flavor your dishes.  However, because there is an abundant amount on each bulb, I will dry mine and place in jars for use in the winter (more on that in a future post).

This entree is a wonderful take on a French dish called "cassoulet".  Cassoulet traditionally would consist of sausage and white beans, but in this healthy version we use all beans instead of sausage for the protein and add several flavorful herbs and vegetables.  The red wine is a key ingredient to flavor this stew so do not attempt to leave it out.  In a word, this dish is SAVORY!  So here is how we eat 'comme le Francais' Clarion River Organics Style!

Bean Cassoulet

2 large shallots, chopped

1 3/4 cup vegetable broth

After removing the leaves, the kohlrabi looks like an alien!

1 bulb Clarion River Organics Kolhrabi, leaves and stems removed, peeled and cut into bite sized pieces

1 tsp salt

1 tsp dried marjoram

1 tsp dried thyme, crushed between your fingers

1 tsp dried sage, crushed between your fingers

1 tsp fresh fennel fronds, chopped

1 cup dry red wine

1 carrot, sliced

1/2 Clarion River Organics Fennel bulb, sliced thin

3 Clarion River Organics garlic scapes, chopped

1 can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed

1 can aduki beans, drained and rinsed

2 cups chopped Clarion River Organics green cabbage (about 1/3 of your cabbage)

1 cup bread crumbs

black pepper

Heat a large soup pot over medium heat with 1/4 cup of the vegetable broth.  Add shallots to pot and turn heat down to medium low.  Simmer uncovered for 10 minutes.  

The peeled kohlrabi looking much like an apple

Stir in the kohlrabi and continue to cook, covered, about 5 minutes.  Add the salt and continue cooking covered about 10 more minutes.  

Stir in the herbs, wine, carrot, fennel, and garlic scopes   Cover and cook for about 15 minutes over low heat.  Add the remaining 1 1/2 cups vegetable broth, the beans, and the cabbage (it will look like too much cabbage, but it cooks down).  Bring to a boil.  Lower heat to a simmer, cover, and cook about 30-40 minutes until kohlrabi is crisp-tender.  Taste to see if more salt is needed and grind in a generous amount of black pepper.  

Ladle the stew into individual bowls and top with a generous helping of bread crumbs.  Serves 4-5.

Slice the fennel lengthwise into thin sticks

All of the chopped veggies ready for the soup pot

All the vegetables and herbs cooking in the savory sauce

Finish this dish with a generous helping of bread crumbs

And a simple side salad...

The depth of the flavors in this stew call for a simple side salad of Clarion River Organics mesclun and cucumbers (and a few grape tomatoes if you have them) drizzled with a lemon-dijon vinegrette (juice of one lemon whisked together with 1 tsp dijon mustard and 1 tsp olive oil).  Have you noticed how tender and mild the mesclun from CRO is?  Delicious!

Bon Appetit!