Preserving Cilantro...In April?

A couple things before I jump in today... First of all, I have absolutely LOVED reading your answers to the questions I asked on Friday.  I love it that some of you are growing some gray hairs like me, that many of you would choose tomatoes (my first choice as well) and that Little House on the Prairie and The Cosby Show look to be your top favorites- they're mine, too!  If you haven't read through the comments, go on and do so- they're great.

Secondly, I want to mention that I am still plugging away memorizing a new verse every two weeks thanks to the prompting of Beth Moore.  Yesterday I chose verse number nine (of the year) and while my brain does not hold memory verses nearly as well as it used to, I am finding myself blessed beyond imagination through this process.  It's not too late to join in.  You can read a bit more about it here.  I've decided to post the verse I'm working on at the top of the right margin here to help me and to maybe inspire you to memorize along with me or chose your own verse to work on.  God's Word is a lamp to our feet (from Psalm 119:105)!

On to today's post!

We have tried (repeatedly) to grow cilantro.  We haven't been total failures.  It grows just fine, but then quick as a wink it goes to seed.  And this is looonnng before I want it for salsa and other summery dishes that just taste better with cilantro.

Well, this year, we didn't plant cilantro, but I have plenty of it.  Go figure.  Evidently, either the bird seed mix that we had been feeding to our lovely flying friends contained coriander (cilantro seed) or the cilantro I planted near the bird feeder three years ago re-seeded itself and chose to come up this year.  Regardless of how, up came cilantro several weeks back and it's been growing beautifully since.

I vowed not to waste one cilantro-y leaf and set to finding a way to preserve it.  In the past, I've frozen the fresh leaves on their stems as they are.  It works nicely, but the boldness of the flavor is muted a bit.  I was up for trying something different.

On Jennifer Jo's blog I came across a comment from Kris who shared what she does.  She makes a kind of cilantro pesto- without the cheese and nuts.  I think it's more of a cilantro sauce in condiment form.  So, last week, I headed outside with my scissors and snipped two and a half recipes worth.  I left the newest growth in hopes it will come back again and again.  I am determined this year, you see, to have cilantro.

Another thing I tried was that instead of freezing it in ice cube trays like I do pesto, I used my mini muffin tin.  I wanted the amounts to be smaller, since I'm planning on using it like a garnish, as you would fresh cilantro.

I froze it in the trays in 1 tbsp. portions.  I thawed some and ate it smeared on top of some leftover Chicken Chimichangas I had on hand and My. Word. Was it ever good.  It kept it's fresh and bold taste incredibly well.  I highly recommend making this sauce as soon as you can get your hands (and scissors) on some cilantro.  I am simply thrilled to have come across this recipe.  Thank you, Kris!

Cilantro Sauce, A Condiment (a recipe from Kris that I re-named)

Yields about 10 tablespoons.

2 cups cilantro, loosely packed
3 cloves garlic
3-4 tbsp. lime or lemon juice (I used bottled lime juice)
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 tsp. sea salt (I used kosher)
1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper (I used a little less)

Combine all ingredients in your food processor and pulverize.  Divide and freeze (in mini muffin tins or ice cube trays), then pop out and store in a bag and freeze again.  Or serve fresh for some amazing flavor.

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