Greenskeeping

I know, it looks a little weird, kind of like a terrarium for lettuce, but it's really a little bit of low-tech genius.  It's a terrific trick I learned from Michael Newburg, who grows the best, best greens at his Falls Brook Organic Farm.  Put your fresh greens in a big plastic bag, gather up the neck, blow a little air, aka carbon dioxide, into the bag, then seal it up quick.  If your greens are perfectly dry and really fresh (when Michael brings his to the Lyme Farmers Market, they’re only two-hours old), they’ll stay bright, firm and flavorful for at least a week like this.  The only problem is the amount of space the puffed-up bag takes in the fridge – but scrambling for a few extra cubic-inches of room on the shelf seems a small price to pay for greens that stay great from market day to market day.

Comments

[Christine]

I was just discussing with some friends some techniques in making our greens last longer, what perfect timing your post. Thanks for teaching us your neat little trick! :)

[Dorie]

Thanks for telling us about your herb trick, Tanya. And many thanks for the sweet words about my books. I love writing cookbooks and consider myself very lucky that that's my work. As a matter of fact, I'm leaving for France next week to start work on my next book, which is all about the foods of France -- you'll be hearing about it because I'll be blogging about it.

If you want to buy baking pans in Paris, there are a few very good places:

Dehillerin: http://www.e-dehillerin.fr/index.php

Mora: http://www.mora.fr/fr/index.asp

Dehillerin and Mora are shops for professionals. Many of the department stores have good baking sections too. Try:

Bazar de l'Hotel de Ville: http://www.bhv.fr , which also has the best hardware department in the city and an adorable cafe set among the hammers and screwdrivers in the basement.

[Tanya]

Hiya Dorie,

wow! U R back and blogging again. so wonderful. really informative posts.

i used to keep corriander & other similar herbs in refrigerator by a different method which helps to keep them fresh atleast for a week.

here it goes.: tie roots of corriander/parsley by a rubberband, put wet kitchen towel around them and put them in a plastic bag, & tie its neck after blowing some air in it.

i hv owned alomost all the books written by U.(except one : desserts by PH, bookstore attendent told me dat publisher stopped its publication, so sad ) the way U write, illustrate, make me imagine tat U R sitting next to me and telling me,explaning me da recipe in detailed. I am really looking forward more books from U.

Anyways, i am oso planning to make a trip to Paris by 1st week of July, definitely wld love to go all da places (patissier).

Can U help me out where can i get wonderful cake pans?

Bregds,

tanya

[Dorie]

Amy, thanks for the tip about the vegetable bags. I've seen perforated plastic bags in the supermarket that are supposed to be good for keeping vegetables, so I'll take a look this weekend. I couldn't find a US distributor for your product -- but I haven't given up.

Alex, good point about tearing, not cutting, greens. There's something about the interaction between metal and the greens that causes the edges of the greens to go dark. Have you seen the serrated plastic knives that are billed as lettuce knives? I've never used them, but it makes sense that they would work -- I think they'd be good for making slaw-like salads.

[alex]

Tear greens with your hands, dont cut them. The edges wont brown as fast. After tearing them, i just keem mine in a salad spinner on the top sheaf in my fridge. They last 3-4 days. Also, you can soak the greens for 10 min in cold water to freshen them if needed.

[Laura]

Merci Dorie! This will bring more herbs into my life... and sorry for the typos (oops).

[gilly]

Ha! What a great idea, Dorie!

[Amy]

Hi Dorie,

Another tip I swear by is Fresh N Crisp Vegetable bags - http://www.gelpack.com.au/fncrisp.htm

We don't have a crisper compartment in our tiny (140L) fridge, so these are lifesavers. Lettuce for almost two weeks without degrading, carrots for three weeks (not that they last this long.) Hope you can find some in your part of the world.

Also great for fresh bread (keeps the sourdough for about 3 days) and cheese (grated, 1 week).

Cheers,
Amy

(p.s.I loved Paris Sweets.)

[Kristen]

This is an idea I will surely put to good use! Thanks for the tip.

[Dorie]

Good question, Laura, about storing fresh herbs. I do three things with herbs and have more or less luck with the tricks depending on the quality of the herbs. If I'm going to use the herbs in a day or two, I treat them like flowers -- I snip a bit off the ends of their stems and put them in a glass of water. Somewhat more effective is to put a plastic bag over the "vase" and put the set-up in the refrigerator. A simpler variation is to cut the stems, wrap them in a damp paper towel then put them in a plastic bag in the fridge. Herbs seem more fragile than greens.

[Laura]

Does this works for fresh herbs too? I hate when my tarragon and pasley look sad hours after plucked from the market stall.

[brilynn]

More great advice as always. I've been picking fresh greens from my garden and they've been great!

[Lisa]

What a great tip, thank you =)

[jeanne bee]

well land sakes is that a nifty trick...I buy a lot of greens but my eating can't keep up with the greens life cycle! this could be the saving greens effort for the summer!

[Kelly-Jane]

Well, I'm going to remember this one - I am forever finding icky bags of lettuce in my fridge!

[Lynn]

Oooh, a way to keep my greens from turning into slime (besides eating it all in one day)? I'm excited to try this. Thanks for the tip!