Chopping Parsley

In article <[email hidden]>,

Quoted message said:

Does anyone have an efficient technique for chopping large amounts of
parsley? Lately I've been cooking with it a lot and have found that I
get the best results when it's chopped almost to the consistency of a
fine, moist grain. This, however takes a lot of time. I tried using
my small electric chopper, but cleaning that takes almost as long as
chopping the parsley by hand. Any thoughs?

Also, is there a difference (other than texture) between the leaves of
parsley and the stems? How about for Italian parsley?

I just dry it in the dehydrator and crush it well with my fingers.
Works for me and I do really like the flavor and color!

I do the same with celery leaf, and fresh dill from the oriental market.
--
Om.

"My mother never saw the irony in calling me a son-of-a-[censored]." -Jack Nicholson

Quoted message said:

Does anyone have an efficient technique for chopping large amounts of
parsley? Lately I've been cooking with it a lot and have found that I
get the best results when it's chopped almost to the consistency of a
fine, moist grain. This, however takes a lot of time. I tried using
my small electric chopper, but cleaning that takes almost as long as
chopping the parsley by hand. Any thoughs?

Also, is there a difference (other than texture) between the leaves of
parsley and the stems? How about for Italian parsley?

It shouldn't be taking you very long to mince up a mess of parsley. Just
wash and shake dry, place on your cutting board and with your knife
point held down (never leaving the board) lift and move the back end of
your knife as you move around the board. Is a minute or two "too much
time" for a really large bunch?? The whole thing is the knife work.
Efficient knife work makes this a snap.

As for types of parsley, I find Italian parsley better flavored. I chop
the stems very fine also.
Goomba

Quoted message said:

Does anyone have an efficient technique for chopping large amounts
of parsley?

Having eaten about a head of parsley every day
for over 20 years, I have some knowledge in this
area. The easiest way I found to chop parsley
finely is to rinse it, strip it from the larger
stems, put the leaves in a large cup (I used
a large Pyrex measuring cup), and cut it up
with a kitchen shears. Just stab the shears
into the mass of parsley, cut as much as you
can in one stroke, pull the shears out, and
repeat. It doesn't take much cutting before
the whole mass is finely chopped.

Fiskars makes a kitchen shears which comes apart
easily for cleaning. I don't like Fiskars
scissors because of their incompetent design,
but this one product I would buy again.

Quoted message said:

Does anyone have an efficient technique for chopping large amounts of
parsley? Lately I've been cooking with it a lot and have found that I
get the best results when it's chopped almost to the consistency of a
fine, moist grain. This, however takes a lot of time. I tried using
my small electric chopper, but cleaning that takes almost as long as
chopping the parsley by hand. Any thoughs?

The food processor works for me. I have it running and feed the
parsley in through the tube.

Quoted message said:

Also, is there a difference (other than texture) between the leaves of
parsley and the stems? How about for Italian parsley?

Some people swear by it, frankly I'm a heathen and find very little
difference. But given the choice - I take curley most of the time
anyway because I like the flavor better.

Don't scoff. People are eating head lettuce and bragging about it, so
I can stay with curly parsley.

OmManiPadmeOmelet said:

In article <[email hidden]>,

Quoted message said:

Does anyone have an efficient technique for chopping large amounts of
parsley? Lately I've been cooking with it a lot and have found that
I get the best results when it's chopped almost to the consistency
of a fine, moist grain. This, however takes a lot of time. I tried
using my small electric chopper, but cleaning that takes almost as
long as chopping the parsley by hand. Any thoughs?

Also, is there a difference (other than texture) between the leaves
of parsley and the stems? How about for Italian parsley?

I just dry it in the dehydrator and crush it well with my fingers.
Works for me and I do really like the flavor and color!

I do the same with celery leaf, and fresh dill from the oriental
market.

I don't have a dehydrator but I dry bunches of leaf parsley on a sheet of
waxed paper, turning it every once in a while as I walk past. I then crush
it by hand and put it into the McCormick bottle and laugh whenever I think
of McCormick charging $4 for a bottle of the stuff.

Jill

Quoted message said:

Does anyone have an efficient technique for chopping large amounts of
parsley? Lately I've been cooking with it a lot and have found that I
get the best results when it's chopped almost to the consistency of a
fine, moist grain. This, however takes a lot of time. I tried using
my small electric chopper, but cleaning that takes almost as long as
chopping the parsley by hand. Any thoughs?

I use a mezzaluna. It works pretty slick once you get used to it.
Mine is single-bladed; I noticed the other day that Williams-Sonoma
has a double-bladed one. I don't know whether that's any better.

Sue(tm)
Lead me not into temptation... I can find it myself!

"jmcquown" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

OmManiPadmeOmelet said:

In article <[email hidden]>,

Quoted message said:

Does anyone have an efficient technique for chopping large amounts of
parsley? Lately I've been cooking with it a lot and have found that
I get the best results when it's chopped almost to the consistency
of a fine, moist grain. This, however takes a lot of time. I tried
using my small electric chopper, but cleaning that takes almost as
long as chopping the parsley by hand. Any thoughs?

Also, is there a difference (other than texture) between the leaves
of parsley and the stems? How about for Italian parsley?

I just dry it in the dehydrator and crush it well with my fingers.
Works for me and I do really like the flavor and color!

I do the same with celery leaf, and fresh dill from the oriental
market.

I don't have a dehydrator but I dry bunches of leaf parsley on a sheet of
waxed paper, turning it every once in a while as I walk past. I then
crush
it by hand and put it into the McCormick bottle and laugh whenever I think
of McCormick charging $4 for a bottle of the stuff.

Jill

I have thought that any DARK-colored leaf herb when dried becomes
pale-colored. I try not to buy anything dried that still has a high color.
I've seen dried parsley that is bright green, and all I can think of is
sulphites, sulphites, sulphites. Can you tell me, when you dry it yourself,
does it have a paler color or is it as green as it was before it was dried?
Thanks,
Dee Dee

"Mark Thorson" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Does anyone have an efficient technique for chopping large amounts
of parsley?

Having eaten about a head of parsley every day
for over 20 years,

Your health must be absolutely marvelous!
Dee Dee

Dee Randall said:

"jmcquown" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

OmManiPadmeOmelet said:

In article <[email hidden]>,
[email hidden] wrote:

> Does anyone have an efficient technique for chopping large amounts
> of parsley? Lately I've been cooking with it a lot and have found
> that
> I get the best results when it's chopped almost to the consistency
> of a fine, moist grain. This, however takes a lot of time. I
> tried using my small electric chopper, but cleaning that takes
> almost as
> long as chopping the parsley by hand. Any thoughs?
>
> Also, is there a difference (other than texture) between the leaves
> of parsley and the stems? How about for Italian parsley?
>

I just dry it in the dehydrator and crush it well with my fingers.
Works for me and I do really like the flavor and color!

I do the same with celery leaf, and fresh dill from the oriental
market.

I don't have a dehydrator but I dry bunches of leaf parsley on a
sheet of waxed paper, turning it every once in a while as I walk
past. I then crush
it by hand and put it into the McCormick bottle and laugh whenever I
think of McCormick charging $4 for a bottle of the stuff.

Jill

I have thought that any DARK-colored leaf herb when dried becomes
pale-colored. I try not to buy anything dried that still has a high
color. I've seen dried parsley that is bright green, and all I can
think of is sulphites, sulphites, sulphites. Can you tell me, when
you dry it yourself, does it have a paler color or is it as green as
it was before it was dried? Thanks,
Dee Dee

When I dry parsley it's as green as it was the day it was cut. I do remove
the longer stems. Chop it whole in florets. Place it on waxed paper and
let it dry. Turn it occassionally until it's dried and then crush it lightl
y with your fingers and stuff it into jars with sprinkle tops. Works fine
for me.

Jill

"jmcquown" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Dee Randall said:

"jmcquown" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

OmManiPadmeOmelet wrote:
> In article <[email hidden]>,
> [email hidden] wrote:
>
>> Does anyone have an efficient technique for chopping large amounts
>> of parsley? Lately I've been cooking with it a lot and have found
>> that
>> I get the best results when it's chopped almost to the consistency
>> of a fine, moist grain. This, however takes a lot of time. I
>> tried using my small electric chopper, but cleaning that takes
>> almost as
>> long as chopping the parsley by hand. Any thoughs?
>>
>> Also, is there a difference (other than texture) between the leaves
>> of parsley and the stems? How about for Italian parsley?
>>
>
> I just dry it in the dehydrator and crush it well with my fingers.
> Works for me and I do really like the flavor and color!
>
> I do the same with celery leaf, and fresh dill from the oriental
> market.

I don't have a dehydrator but I dry bunches of leaf parsley on a
sheet of waxed paper, turning it every once in a while as I walk
past. I then crush
it by hand and put it into the McCormick bottle and laugh whenever I
think of McCormick charging $4 for a bottle of the stuff.

Jill

I have thought that any DARK-colored leaf herb when dried becomes
pale-colored. I try not to buy anything dried that still has a high
color. I've seen dried parsley that is bright green, and all I can
think of is sulphites, sulphites, sulphites. Can you tell me, when
you dry it yourself, does it have a paler color or is it as green as
it was before it was dried? Thanks,
Dee Dee

When I dry parsley it's as green as it was the day it was cut. I do
remove
the longer stems. Chop it whole in florets. Place it on waxed paper and
let it dry. Turn it occassionally until it's dried and then crush it
lightl
y with your fingers and stuff it into jars with sprinkle tops. Works fine
for me.

Jill

Thank you, Jill -- I'm going to do this this week. You say, "Chop it whole
in florets." Do you mean you take the knife (and cut) to the leaves? Or
leave the leaves whole? Want to make sure.
Also I will do this with a bunch of "fresh" dill, that is if I can find
it -- usually it's pretty pitiful.
Dee Dee

Dee Randall said:

"Mark Thorson" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Does anyone have an efficient technique for chopping large amounts
of parsley?

Having eaten about a head of parsley every day
for over 20 years,

Your health must be absolutely marvelous!

I thought it was a healthful thing to do,
but now I'm convinced otherwise. Parsley
and certain other vegetables (Brussels
sprouts, broccoli, some others) seem to
have an anti-nutritional effect when eaten
raw. For most of the time that I ate tons
of raw or very lightly cooked (wilted) parsley,
I had a small recurring sore at one or both
corners of my mouth (where the upper lip
meets the low lip). I found that a very
large daily dose (2000 mg) of vitamin C
seemed to suppress this, but it wasn't until
I changed my diet and stopped eating so
much raw parsley that the sore went away
completely even without the vitamin C
megadose. Now I always fully cook the
vegetables which cause this problem, and
the sore does not reappear (unless I violate
may own rule about these vegetables).

I don't know what causes this -- only
certain green leafy vegetables cause it,
but not all of them. I can eat any amount
of raw cilantro or green onions with no
problem. Fruits and non-green vegetables
(carrots, onions, etc.) do not cause the
problem. I'd really like to know what
common factor is present in the problematic
vegetables.

On Sat, 27 Aug 2005 20:31:55 GMT, Mark Thorson <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

Dee Randall said:

"Mark Thorson" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

[email hidden] wrote:
>
> Does anyone have an efficient technique for chopping large amounts
> of parsley?

Having eaten about a head of parsley every day
for over 20 years,

Your health must be absolutely marvelous!

I thought it was a healthful thing to do,
but now I'm convinced otherwise. Parsley

Are you still eating so much parsley? If so, why? Do you like
parsley that much or a particular dish that contains it?

Sue(tm)
Lead me not into temptation... I can find it myself!

Quoted message said:

Does anyone have an efficient technique for chopping large amounts of
parsley? Lately I've been cooking with it a lot and have found that I
get the best results when it's chopped almost to the consistency of a
fine, moist grain. This, however takes a lot of time. I tried using
my small electric chopper, but cleaning that takes almost as long as
chopping the parsley by hand. Any thoughs?

Also, is there a difference (other than texture) between the leaves of
parsley and the stems? How about for Italian parsley?

I grow both. I like the curly better with fish and chicken, the flat
with beef, pork, and tomato sauced dishes. I also prefer the curly as
a garnish (I think it's prettier) and as a breath freshener... I enjoy
eating the curly but not the flat. I also prefer curly in dips and for
parsley butter/creamcheese.

To mince all you need is a wooden board and a sharp chefs knife. I
pinch the leaves off and chop the stems separately, add those bits to
soups/stews early on so they become tender. The leaves I roll into a
big tight ball and begin by shredding like it was a head of cabbage,
then cut across to mince, keep on until as fine as you like...
shouldn't take more than two minutes per cupful.

I don't understand what you mean by "cleaning", I pinch mine from my
garden and just rinse with cold water and shake dry... parsley is a
fairly clean herb, contains very little sand, if any. If I didn't
rinse it I doubt it would matter... I mean all what touches it is air,
sun, and rain. Oh, you mean cleaning the chopper... I see... I simply
give my knife a swipe both sides with a finger and flick those bits
into the pot as well. And naturally the parsley juice freshens the
board... sprinkle with a bit of salt and let that set awhile, than
scrape that into the pot, why waste perfectly good salt. Sometimes I
may clean the salty board by holding it over the pot and drizzling with
wine... hey, that's how I swirl the last bits from a can of tomato
sauce.

Sheldon

In article <[email hidden]>,

Dee Randall said:

"jmcquown" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

OmManiPadmeOmelet said:

In article <[email hidden]>,
[email hidden] wrote:

> Does anyone have an efficient technique for chopping large amounts of
> parsley? Lately I've been cooking with it a lot and have found that
> I get the best results when it's chopped almost to the consistency
> of a fine, moist grain. This, however takes a lot of time. I tried
> using my small electric chopper, but cleaning that takes almost as
> long as chopping the parsley by hand. Any thoughs?
>
> Also, is there a difference (other than texture) between the leaves
> of parsley and the stems? How about for Italian parsley?
>

I just dry it in the dehydrator and crush it well with my fingers.
Works for me and I do really like the flavor and color!

I do the same with celery leaf, and fresh dill from the oriental
market.

I don't have a dehydrator but I dry bunches of leaf parsley on a sheet of
waxed paper, turning it every once in a while as I walk past. I then
crush
it by hand and put it into the McCormick bottle and laugh whenever I think
of McCormick charging $4 for a bottle of the stuff.

Jill

I have thought that any DARK-colored leaf herb when dried becomes
pale-colored. I try not to buy anything dried that still has a high color.
I've seen dried parsley that is bright green, and all I can think of is
sulphites, sulphites, sulphites. Can you tell me, when you dry it yourself,
does it have a paler color or is it as green as it was before it was dried?
Thanks,
Dee Dee

I'm not Jill, but I also dry my own and it actually gets darker...
And I use no preservatives.

Drying my own is less expensive and fresher! Who knows how old some of
that stuff on the shelf is? ;-)

I know that my home dried herbs are better than anything I can buy.
--
Om.

"My mother never saw the irony in calling me a son-of-a-[censored]." -Jack Nicholson

In article <[email hidden]>,

Dee Randall said:

"jmcquown" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Dee Randall said:

"jmcquown" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...
> OmManiPadmeOmelet wrote:
>> In article <[email hidden]>,
>> [email hidden] wrote:
>>
>>> Does anyone have an efficient technique for chopping large amounts
>>> of parsley? Lately I've been cooking with it a lot and have found
>>> that
>>> I get the best results when it's chopped almost to the consistency
>>> of a fine, moist grain. This, however takes a lot of time. I
>>> tried using my small electric chopper, but cleaning that takes
>>> almost as
>>> long as chopping the parsley by hand. Any thoughs?
>>>
>>> Also, is there a difference (other than texture) between the leaves
>>> of parsley and the stems? How about for Italian parsley?
>>>
>>
>> I just dry it in the dehydrator and crush it well with my fingers.
>> Works for me and I do really like the flavor and color!
>>
>> I do the same with celery leaf, and fresh dill from the oriental
>> market.
>
> I don't have a dehydrator but I dry bunches of leaf parsley on a
> sheet of waxed paper, turning it every once in a while as I walk
> past. I then crush
> it by hand and put it into the McCormick bottle and laugh whenever I
> think of McCormick charging $4 for a bottle of the stuff.
>
> Jill
>
I have thought that any DARK-colored leaf herb when dried becomes
pale-colored. I try not to buy anything dried that still has a high
color. I've seen dried parsley that is bright green, and all I can
think of is sulphites, sulphites, sulphites. Can you tell me, when
you dry it yourself, does it have a paler color or is it as green as
it was before it was dried? Thanks,
Dee Dee

When I dry parsley it's as green as it was the day it was cut. I do
remove
the longer stems. Chop it whole in florets. Place it on waxed paper and
let it dry. Turn it occassionally until it's dried and then crush it
lightl
y with your fingers and stuff it into jars with sprinkle tops. Works fine
for me.

Jill

Thank you, Jill -- I'm going to do this this week. You say, "Chop it whole
in florets." Do you mean you take the knife (and cut) to the leaves? Or
leave the leaves whole? Want to make sure.
Also I will do this with a bunch of "fresh" dill, that is if I can find
it -- usually it's pretty pitiful.
Dee Dee

Try an oriental market for fresh dill.
I get hyooge bunches of it for 99 cents!

I remove the larger stems, then lay it in the dehydrator.
It's an inexpensive convection unit, 6 shelves. It was only
around $30.00.
--
Om.

"My mother never saw the irony in calling me a son-of-a-[censored]." -Jack Nicholson

In article <[email hidden]>,

Mark Thorson said:

Dee Randall said:

"Mark Thorson" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

[email hidden] wrote:
>
> Does anyone have an efficient technique for chopping large amounts
> of parsley?

Having eaten about a head of parsley every day
for over 20 years,

Your health must be absolutely marvelous!

I thought it was a healthful thing to do,
but now I'm convinced otherwise. Parsley
and certain other vegetables (Brussels
sprouts, broccoli, some others) seem to
have an anti-nutritional effect when eaten
raw. For most of the time that I ate tons
of raw or very lightly cooked (wilted) parsley,
I had a small recurring sore at one or both
corners of my mouth (where the upper lip
meets the low lip). I found that a very
large daily dose (2000 mg) of vitamin C
seemed to suppress this, but it wasn't until
I changed my diet and stopped eating so
much raw parsley that the sore went away
completely even without the vitamin C
megadose. Now I always fully cook the
vegetables which cause this problem, and
the sore does not reappear (unless I violate
may own rule about these vegetables).

I don't know what causes this -- only
certain green leafy vegetables cause it,
but not all of them. I can eat any amount
of raw cilantro or green onions with no
problem. Fruits and non-green vegetables
(carrots, onions, etc.) do not cause the
problem. I'd really like to know what
common factor is present in the problematic
vegetables.

Sores at the corners of the mouth is a B-vitamin deficiency.
Are you a vegetarian? If so, you need to supplement with
a daily dose of B-complex.

When I get lazy about taking my daily vitamins (including
the multi that is high in the above mentioned vitamin), I
get those sores. They are gone within 4 or 5 days of
taking supplements again, or increasing my red meat intake.
Beef has been SO expensive lately, I've not been able
to afford it much. Eating beef keeps that problem
at bay also.

YMMV.
--
Om.

"My mother never saw the irony in calling me a son-of-a-[censored]." -Jack Nicholson

Curly Sue said:

Are you still eating so much parsley? If so, why? Do you like
parsley that much or a particular dish that contains it?

No, I stopped eating parsley when I went on
a low-carb diet at the beginning of 2003.
I had fallen into the habit of eating curried
bulgar wheat with parsley almost every day,
and when I stopped eating bulgar wheat,
I also stopped eating so much parsley.

On my new diet, I would eat large amounts
of raw parsley only occasionally, and that's
when I noticed the connection.

OmManiPadmeOmelet said:

Sores at the corners of the mouth is a B-vitamin deficiency.
Are you a vegetarian? If so, you need to supplement with
a daily dose of B-complex.

I'm not a vegetarian (although I've quit eating beef),
and I already take a daily multivitamin. Yet even taking
the multivitamin is not enough to protect against the
effect of raw parsley (or Brussels sprouts, broccoli, etc.).
That's why I call it an anti-nutritional effect -- it's
not that I wasn't getting enough nutrition, it's that I
was eating something that seemed to be counteracting the
nutrients in my diet and dietary supplements.

Quoted message said:

Does anyone have an efficient technique for chopping large amounts of
parsley? Lately I've been cooking with it a lot and have found that I
get the best results when it's chopped almost to the consistency of a
fine, moist grain. This, however takes a lot of time. I tried using
my small electric chopper, but cleaning that takes almost as long as
chopping the parsley by hand. Any thoughs?

Also, is there a difference (other than texture) between the leaves of
parsley and the stems? How about for Italian parsley?

I have a rocking knife on my wish list for this purpose, but I've never
actually used one.