Oregano - washing, storage, and recipes?!
Oregano - washing, storage, and recipes?
I have a grocery bag full of oregano (5 big handfuls of fresh oregano). I don't know what to with them. Do I need to wash them before I store them in the refrigerator? How should I wash them? Any freezing techniques?
Also, please give me recipes that use a lot of oregano.
I am part of a Community Supported Agriculture so I get organic vegetables/herbs/fruits from a local farm. Whatever they grow is what I get. I'm pretty sure they will have even more next week.
Answers:
With so much, you may want to dry it. Wash it first, dry in paper towels. Bundle them up at the base of the stem with some kitchen twine and hang up side down. When they are dry, crush the stems between your hands onto wax paper and transfer to an airtight container. Save a bundle to use fresh in some spaghetti sauce or it's great in greek dishes. Add some fresh chopped to red wine vinegar, olive oil, garlic, salt and pepper for a greek dressing.
Do not wash it until your ready to use it. If you want to dry it it rinse it and pat it dry, take it off the stems and put it on a coooky sheet, cover it with a kitchen towel or paper towels and let it dry in the sun.
This is my favorite recipe using Oregano:
Pernil (Roast Pork)
by Daisy Martinez
12 cloves garlic, smashed and peeled
1 1/2 tablespoons salt
1 tablespoon black peppercorns
2 tablespoons dried oregano
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
One 5-pound pork shoulder roast, skin-on, bone-in
1. Using a food processor, grind the garlic, salt, peppercorns and oregano. Add the olive oil and vinegar and process into a paste.
2. Set the pork roast in a bowl. Using a sharp knife, make about a dozen 1 1/2-inch-long slits all over the roast, cutting as deeply into the meat as you can. Fill each slit with about 1 teaspoon of the garlic paste. Rub any leftover paste all over the roast. Cover and refrigerate for 1 to 3 days.
3. Preheat the oven to 450°. Set the roast, skin side up, on a rack in a roasting pan and roast for 1 hour. Lower the oven temperature to 400° and roast until the skin is golden brown and crackly and the meat registers 160° on an instant-read thermometer, about 1 1/2 hours; let rest for at least 15 minutes before carving.
4. To serve, remove the crispy skin (it will pull right off in nice, big slabs), cut into pieces and pile in the center of a platter. Carve the meat parallel to the bone and place the slices around the pieces of skin.
Yes, you should wash it in cold running water,pat dry then hang it in the sunlight to dry completely.If the herb has been properly dried, there is no need for refrigeration or freezing.
When I was a chef I would just lightly wash it, store it in a Ziplok bag, between layers of paper towel, with so much as stated drying is a good idea, destemming it and like pesto, putting it in a blender or food processor and make puree, then either freeze it small containers, purchase some plastic ice cube trays and pour the puree into them then went frozen put he cubed pieces in a plastic bag and store in the freezer.
Then when your cooking or making a marinate just pop one into the recipe, I use mine in tomato sauces, greek cuisine, marinating lamb, pork and poultry.
Just use a light veg oil or olive oil, if you can find the canola and olive oil mix it is nice, you will need to add a bit of acid to keep it from turning, a dash of lemon juice or vinegar, 1 teaspoon is enough.