to break them up a little and start releasing the aromatic resins and/or sulfates. The flavor is in there, it just needs a bit of help to get out.

I also find Mexican oregano a little punchier than Italian. I also use fresh green onions, they're easy to find these days and the difference is great enough to pay through the nose for fresh rather than dried.

Next time I use dried herbs, I'll try it.

Keep them away from light and heat.

Also, replace them annually.

They do get stale over time.

There might be other better ideas out there, and I hope someone else will come along to tell us!

Dried Oregano can be OK, but fresh-picked can be INTENSE , at least for my palette. If fresh, back off by 1/2 to 1/3rd. It is WOW! And not like you would expect it to be.

I enjoy dried basil, and parsley, and oregano. But ... dried cilanto? Not so much. Dried green onions? Not so much. Dried chives? Not so much. After the water evaporates, very bland.

I live in SoCal, so.... a little bit of water goes very far when it comes to the freshness and flavor of cilantro, basil and (chives) onions. I love chives, and green onions, and Mexican Onions (think green onions with a larger white bulb at the bottom - very cool).

... as for bringing out flavor? I usually "sweat" my flavors... (in a little olive oil, low heat... but coming on to high heat, slowly) If you have an electric stove? ...wait for it. I have one too. Electric heat sucks. (I wish I had gas heat again.) Keep the electric setting and just let it happen.


By the way, I always check in to the C&B forum, because I'm afraid of what I might miss!

-G

and you will notice a huge difference. Cilantro, green onions and parsley are usually ridiculously inexpensive. You can use the tops of green onions for chives. Others are really easy to grow on your windowsill - basil and oregano will grow for months if you just take what you need.

I use dried herbs only as a last resort.

With all herbs, and particularly fresh ones, it's important to add them at the end so they don't get overcooked. Some should even be added when you take the sauce off the heat completely.

I would suggest you play around with fresh herbs. I think you find your answer.

I live in Japan, and I can often find fresh green onions, but fresh cilantro is nearly impossible to find, and parsley is only occasionally available. I tried growing basil, but I don't really have a "windowsill" and usually have to leave whatever plants outside to get them enough sunlight.

Anyway, thanks for the pointer about the fresh herbs. I like Welsh onions in curry and tomato sauces, but have probably been adding them a little too early.

I'm also outside the US and I try to buy whatever they use. I bet they have some very unusual things in Japan.

Best of luck to you and work on that Japanese cooking!

Most of the flavor from herbs comes from the aromatics and essential oils which are mostly lost during the drying process, however some herbs to lend themselves to drying better than others. You can dry them yourself by hanging leftover fresh herbs stems up, then store them in tins or some other container that keeps the light out. This reduces the time from when they are dried to when they are used vs store bought dried herbs.

You can try making a paste with a little bit of boiling water before use but this will not work if they are stale

Basil freezes pretty well both in leaf form and made into a paste with olive oil. Cilantro, chives, green onions, and parsley are in such cheap abundance all year long that I think it best to buy fresh.

I don't know why you are not getting flavor from oregano. I have my own year round plants so I use fresh but I also dry it myself and find the flavor, though mellower than fresh, is still assertive.

I grow basil, cilantro, green onions, parsley, 3 oregano varieties, mint in a 1 x 8 ft. strip along my front walk. Sage, rosemary, tarragon and thyme in pots on the back steps. Water heavy ~ once a week and basically let them be. I'm on the Central Coast, CA so it's a bit simpler here, but doable about anywhere I figure. Seasonally by location of course. Around town I see more and more boxes of herbs in apartments' kitchen windows.

Come meal time I take a colander and a pair of scissors, simply snip a bit of what I need for dinner. Fresh herbs have a lot more flavor than dried so sometimes less is better 'till you get a feel for your own taste. And they don't have to spend long in a pot to season a dish.

Dried herbs - I tend to put them in to soak from the get go in whatever liquid, stock or sauce I'm going to make. Then cook. A neighbor crushes some into olive oil and sets aside for a marinara sauce.

you can use the seeds (coriander) as they do have a lot of flavor, but it is not the same. personally I would not use cilantro or coriander in spaghetti sauce. the others can be OK dried but depending on age won't have a lot of flavor so you need to use a ton of them.

crush them in your hand - if they don't have much aroma, they aren't going to add much to any cooked food either

and I don't, you probably ought to be replacing them every six months, not once a year. You can buy many of them fresh at the grocery store. As others have already noted, crushing those dried herbs with your fingers as you put them into whatever, helps enormously.

of dried herbs in general, try sautéing them in a little oil, or microwaving them in oil.

I used a bunch of fresh basil that I purchased at Fiesta Market, they have a section of fresh herbs. The bunch of basil cost $1.50, well worth it for the taste. Always use cilantro and parsley fresh, same for chives if you can find them.