How to Cut Fresh Herbs

Video Transcript

"Hi, I'm Anne Appra and I thought we'd take a little field trip into my own organic herb garden. I'd like to show you my beautiful rosemary plant. It's very healthy and it asks me to trim it often, because that's how you inspire growth. When I trim rosemary for my events, I'm looking for beautiful pieces for garnish. If I'm going to use them for marinades or sauces, I might take the not so beautiful pieces and make use of them. In addition to rosemary, I also grow basil. It's best if you pinch the basil just before the leaflets. You get the very tops. Which are really pretty so you can use them for garnishes. If you're going to use them for soups or for sauces, you can take it down to about three quarters of the way and just pick the leaves off and it will make a really beautiful garnish or added fun for the sauces. I'm also growing chives. So I just take my regular pair of shears from the garden. I'm going to grab a hand full of the beautiful chives. I'm going to hold them over a cutting bowl and I'm going to take little snips and there is another step I don't have to do in the kitchen later. Beautiful, consistent, chopped chives. Ideally it's best to wash and thoroughly dry all of your herbs ahead of time, so you don't bring little friends from the garden in with you. This is Anne Appra for catering tips 101."