How to Dehydrate Fresh Herbs

My poor basil plant faced a serious emergency, its little branch broke. Thus leaving me with a bunch of perfectly fine basil leaves.

Really, this wasn't a big issue because I've had a plethora of ideas set for the plant. Storing the herb for winter use has been a priority of mine since it is a key ingredient in many recipes we enjoy. Lately the choice of storage has either been pesto, or drying the leaves for sauces! So I collected the little branch and went to work!

This technique works for almost any herb, and couldn't be any easier! There are a lot of ways to dry herbs, nonetheless, we prefer this technique due to the lack of bug issues.

Directions:
What you need:

• Dehydrator
• Herbs of your choice

Collect herb leaves, be sure to use ones without bug holes in them.

Place leaves in bowl and let soak. After soaking, pour leaves in colander, finish washing off, then lightly towel dry. Place leaves on dehydrator trays.

Let dry for 4-6 hours, or until leaves are crispy.

Sometimes a majority of the leaves will dry, leaving you with some still a little wet. You can choose to store the already dried ones and continue to dehydrate the others, or freeze the remaining damp leaves in a Ziploc bag.

To store the leaves you can leave the leaves whole, or crumble them in a mason jar for easy use.

We add the dried herbs to not only pasta sauces, but to sautéed veggies, dipping oil, soup, and Chile Verde sauce. It is just so tasty, and obviously full of flavor! You can make one jar for each herb, or combine the herbs to make special mixes! Basil and oregano is an old favorite of ours.

Hope you all can store your fresh herbs this summer for winter meals!

Nancy Jane

Easy, But Not So Quick, Dehydrated Apples

This household is overwhelmed with a bounty of apples. The season began last week for us with the sweet and juicy Pear Apple. We hate wasting fruit, though the rotted ones tend to go to the chickens. However, we really want to enjoy them ourselves, the chickens can't have all the good stuff!

To keep the season going all through winter, and to keep my fruit cravings in check, I have been dehydrating apples all week like a mad woman! 

Here are the easy steps to drying apples. You will need a dehydrator, knife, apple corer, citric acid, bowl of water, and apples! There are no specific amount of apples in these instructions. I have been drying the ones I knew we were not going to eat. You can easily purchase a bushel and dry them all before they go bad.

Citric Acid is important to this technique. It simply preserves the apple slices and prevents them from browning after they are exposed to the air. You can purchase this at a local grocery store in the canning section. 

First, take the skin off apples, then remove core with the apple corer. Just push it down the middle of apple and pull it out! Then thinly slice the apple. 

Place the apple slices in a bowl filled with water and citric acid. Measure as the container suggests.

After you complete slicing all the apples, place a towel down on counter. Put a dehydrator tray down on top of it and place slices on it. Be careful not to stack on top of each other, they can touch though.

Now you have the option to leave them plain, or add cinnamon and sugar on top! Important! Lightly add the cinnamon and sugar mix. I made the mistake of smuthering the apples in the mixture and it turned into a terrible sticky mess!  

Once the apples are loaded, turn on the dehydrator and let sit for 6-8 hours, or until apples are completely dry. You want to make sure they are finished or the apples will mold. 

If you are concerned about warming up the house, place the dehydrator outside until the 8 hours are complete.

Once finished, stick in a ziplock bag or mason jar and store for the winter!

They make delicious snacks, and you can use the cinnamon sugar apples for baking!

Nancy Jane