I use lots and lots of fresh garlic, onions, green onions, and ginger but sometimes it is a challenge to make sure what I buy stays gresh. Looking for some tips to add to what I already do..
garlic-- I use a couple of bulbs a day. NOT a few cloves I mean the whole bulb. The quickest way I've found to peel it in these amounts is to use a little rubber tube designed for the job. I put the garlic in.. squish it around an whallah.. peeled garlic. I haven't found a garlic press worth having but chop it several ways.. I smash it with the blade of my knife and then cut to desired size. If I want a paste I use a microplane grater.. but only with the large cloves as I want to keep my fingers.
If I need lots of it I put whole cloves in the food processor. I prefer not to store garlic in the refrigerator so I usually peel and cut it fresh as I need it. But sometimes I chop too much. When that happens I put the garlic in a small jar and cover with olive oil. It will keep a long time in the frig this way. Usually I don't need it to keep long as the next day I probaly need garlic and oil again anyway.
green onions- They don't keep long in the frig even in the crisper and if I run out I have to go to the store. So I buy small green onions with the roots showing and plant them in a pot. This way I always have some on hand just in case I run out. I can cut off parts as I need it or pull up whole plants and use it all. I keep some chopped in a small clear container in the frig so my family will use more of it in their own cooking.
onions- I store in a cool dark pantry away from potatoes. They seem to keep longer this way. I prefer to cut and use them fresh but keep some chopped in the frig to encourage my family to use more of it. Of course I always put it in a clear glass container with plastic top. My family has to see it to use it..
ginger- I buy lots of this too. Leaving it out like I do with garlic or onions will make it dry too fast so I leave out only a little. Peel the rest with a spoon and freeze whole in zip lock bags. When I need it I can take out the different size nubs for slicing in soups or if I need it to disappear into the dish like for a marinade I grate the frozen ginger on a microplane. It really works wonderfully. Frozen ginger grates even easier than fresh ginger. So I grate what I need and put the rest back in the freezer.
Other fresh spices that wouldn't last long in the frig I keep in pots or grow in the garden... basil, rosemary, peppers, etc. It is great to pick what I want when I want. When I buy herbs at the store I always seem to throw most of it out later.
Anyone else have any special tips or suggestions?
