Sliced & Diced: Fresh Herbs – Parsley
I needed a fairly simple Slice & Diced post this week as there is lots going on and my week became a *little* hectic on Wednesday which is when I normally work on cooking posts. I thought fresh herbs would be quick and simple. I was wrong. Mostly, because I like to do these things right with lots of pictures and step-by-steps. So I have decided that we will take it one herb at a time instead of all of them in one post. I started with parsley because you need fresh parsley for the April 2010 Menu (grocery list).
The funny thing about doing this post is that I was with a friend when I went to the grocery store to research the sizes that fresh herbs come in. (When I wrote the April menu I had NO IDEA and made guesses because I couldn’t find the answers in my usual locations. While at the grocery store, I picked up a bunch of parsley and was telling my friend that I was working on a post series where I figure out how many cups of parsley are in a bunch. There were two nosy women lurking about who both looked at me and said, “Oh, about 2 cups.” I smiled kindly (while feeling very annoyed) and let them know that I had a cooking website and I was explaining about an upcoming post. However, upon conducting my research I laughed because they were completely WRONG! There was WAY more than 2 cups!
So I was a bit smitten thinking that I’m not too off course with these posts. It seems that the average cook (or at least the ones lurking in my grocery store) have no idea either.
I also didn’t know (I told you, I’m not a chef or have culinary training) that there are two different kinds of parsley sold in most grocery stores. There is Italian Parsley and Parsley. Parsley is used mostly as a garnish, that is the curly variety but can be used in cooking. However, when recipes refer to fresh parsley for cooking they are most commonly referring to Italian parsley (also known as flat leaf parsley). Ha, even I learn something new when writing this blog. I bought both so that we could compare and in case we ever have recipes that call for either.
Here is what I came up with:
The calculations for the dried equivalents will be coming shortly. I didn’t realize that I might want to try my hand at drying herbs so I got started late. I will let you know when I update this post.
We will use these calculations in any and all menus in the future. In addition, I have made adjustments to the April 2010 Grocery List to accommodate my findings. No need to buy more fresh herbs than you need.
It would definitely depend on how small you cut the parsley, too. Such varients!
Generally 1 tsp dried = 1 T fresh chopped herbs.
I think this was an awesome post. I was always wondering about the difference between Italian and regular parsley. What was the difference in taste? I tend to use a lot of cilantro and have only cooked with parsley a few times. Thanks and I look forward to other posts!
Yes, there is a big difference between curly leaf parsley and italian parsley. Curly leaf is, as you said, used as a garnish and also in traditional potato salad. It is much tougher, coarser & flavorful. Italian parsley is also used as a garnish to top different pasta dishes, but also more in cooking (soups, etc.). Parsley is actually a fabulous source of vitamin C.
If you want to get more into using parsely I highly recommend a window box to grow your own. Much less expensive.
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