Monday, January 27, 2014

I Didn't Know That - Substituting Dried Herbs for Fresh



So many times I run across a recipe that calls for 'fresh' herbs and all I have are dried.  When that happens I usually add it to my shopping list and pick up the fresh herbs only to find that I don't use all of them and they end up going bad and thrown away.  So I finally got "smart" and decided to find out exactly how to substitute fresh for dried.  Here is what I found out.

Use 1/3 the amount of dried herb for the fresh called for in a recipe.  Example - substitute 1 tsp. of dried herb for 1 Tbsp. of fresh.  To substitute ground for dried leaf herbs, use about half of the amount called for.  And before adding a dried herb to a recipe, make sure you crush it between your fingers and thumb to help release the flavors.  Also, add dried herbs to recipes at the beginning of the cooking time to allow their flavors to develop.

Even though I love cooking with fresh herbs, it simply isn't economical for me to do so.

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