Frozen Basil and Garlic Cubes

Basil is one of the most ephemeral herbs, one that you can only use fresh for a couple of months of the year. It can be dried with some satisfying results, but I never do. I prefer it frozen in pesto or like this: frozen in cubes with olive oil. It will stay green this way and retain more of it's summery flavor. It's dreadfully easy to make.

The exact same thing can be done with garlic. Although garlic is available throughout most of the year, there are times when you buy a head of garlic and it sprouts almost immediately. My main motivation for freezing cubes of chopped garlic is that if you are relying on local sources, you are more likely going to have difficulty in finding it at times. I am not one of those people that worships garlic like a deity and smothers my food with it...yet I almost never cook without it. Soup without garlic? Pasta without garlic? While I may not kill my food with it, I do use it very steadily throughout the year. So putting some by in the freezer seemed like great insurance against any time I might not be able to find some locally grown.

It's easy. You need a food processor for the basil, but you can pretty easily hand chop the garlic if it pleases you to do so.

For the basil:

2 cups basil
1/4 to 1/2 cup olive oil

You put the basil (washed if necessary) in the bowl of the food processor. Pulse the processor a little bit first and then add 1/4 cup olive oil. The amount you need will vary. What you want is a basil paste. You need enough oil to really cover and mix with all of the basil, you don't want so much that your basil has turned into oil soup. You will have to count on yourself to find the optimal amount. Now pulse the processor until all the basil is well chopped. Scrape down the sides of the bowl if you need to with a rubber spatula.

Now spoon it into an empty ice cube tray. (I probably didn't need to specify that it be empty, huh?) When you've used up all the basil put the tray in the freezer immediately. If you leave the basil puree out at all it will begin to darken.

Easy peasy.

For the garlic you need:

1 cup garlic cloves
1/4 cup olive oil

Peel all the garlic and put the peeled cloves in the bowl of your food processor. Pulse the processor a few times to roughly chop the garlic. Now pour in the olive oil. Pulse again until the garlic is the consistency you want it to be. If you want it to be chopped, not pureed, be very careful how long to run your processor. I pureed mine quite by accident. Pureed garlic is still very useful for soups, but less useful for many past applications.

There you go. No salt. No pepper. Just plain garlic and basil cubes to be used in many ways when you can't get your hands on fresh.

Leave them in the freezer for one day. When they are frozen, pop them out of the ice cube tray and put them into a zip lock freezer bag. They will last longer if you put them in a vacuum sealed bag, but this is a waste if you're going to use them within a month or two. Personally, I could look at these pretty cubes all day long.

I didn't label and date my baggies because I still have a pretty good memory and if I still have any left next summer I won't be confused about how old they are. However, labeling and dating the contents of your freezer isn't a bad idea, especially if you make multiple batches of the same item on different days. It will help you figure out which to consume first. I do label and date most things I freeze.

I wanted to get these instructions done today so that any of you in need of ideas for what to do with an abundance of garlic or basil would not be left hanging. However, my back is still out and I plan to lay in bed for the next few hours on a heating pad... so happy homesteading people!