- Home >> Lifestyle: Preserves: Herb Vinegar
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- Making
Herb Vinegar From Your Herbal Garden
- By Mary Hanna
A way to use your amble herb
crop from your herbal garden is to make flavored vinegars. To
make herb vinegar, wash and dry your fresh herbs thoroughly then
pour warm vinegar, not hot, over them in glass jars. You can
use any type of vinegar but distilled. Be sure that the fresh
herbs are completely covered by the vinegar. Seal the jar and
allow them to sit for a month or two to mingle the flavors. Do
not allow the herb vinegar access to direct sunlight.
After the herb vinegar has
steeped, remove the fresh herbs that you used and add new ones
for a fresher look. If you want to add garlic or chili peppers
to the herb vinegar, thread them on wooden skewers so that they
will stay submerged.
There are no herb vinegar recipes
that have strict rules. Use your imagination when pairing fresh
herbs to be used in your herbal vinegar. Here are a few that
go well together.
Cinnamon Basil and Whole Cloves
Lemon basil by itself
Cinnamon sticks with Whole Cloves Nutmeg and Allspice
Parsley, Sage, Rosemary, and Thyme –no kidding
Dill flowers with Peppercorns
Basil Garlic and Peppercorn
Hot Peppers alone or with Pearl Onions
When you start to use your
herb vinegar, as the level of the liquid goes down take out any
of the herbs that are exposed to the air in the jar. If you leave
them in the jar they may form a mold. Never use metal tops on
the jars, they will rust from the vinegar.
Your herbal garden has been
a success but now you have so many herbs you don't know what
to do. You've already made several herb vinegars. Still your
herbal garden have produced so much basil you can't think of
any other ways to use it. You've garnished every plate this summer
with parsley from your herbal gardens and you still have a bumper
crop. It is one dilemma that many herb gardeners have had over
the years. There is a fix for abundant herbal gardens.
From your herbal garden you
can freeze herbs or dry herbs easily and by utilizing these methods
you will have herbs long into the winter months. A favorite method
is to wash and dry the herbs. Put them in the bottom of plastic
ice trays, fill with stock and freeze. Anytime you make soups
or stews just pop in as many as you wish. Once frozen put them
in Ziploc bags and label with the name of the herb. If you were
diligent about pinching your herbs back during the growing season
you should have a lot of herbs from the herbal garden. Pinching
applies to oregano, chives, basil and thyme. Woody herbs like
rosemary should be cut vigorously to keep them from getting too
woody.
To freeze herbs without the
stock, wash and gently dry the herbs. Put them in a Ziploc bag
that can withstand the freezer. As needed you can take out your
herbs and chop them for your recipes. The herbs will no longer
be of use for garnishing but they will retain their flavor, they
just won't be as intense as fresh herbs from the herbal garden.
To dry herbs is pretty simple.
Pick the herbs from the herbal gardens after the dew has dissipated.
Harvest from your herbal garden just before the herbs bloom.
That is when the herbs are at their peak flavor. Gather them
into a bundle and tie a string around them. Hang them upside
down in a room with good circulation and no light. This will
take a bit of time. Drying time varies with humidity and temperature
of your climate and the item that you are drying. Most of the
time about 14 days will do it. To check pull off a leaf, if it
crumbles easily it is ready. Once they are dried put them in
a tight sealed container away from light.
You could use the microwave
to dry herbs. Once again, harvest your herbs from your herbal
garden after the dew is gone. Wash and gently dry the herbs.
Put them between two pieces of paper toweling. Two paper towels
on the bottom and two on the top. Cook them on high for one minute
and then check them. If they are still moist, cook again at twenty
second intervals. You must watch this very carefully. Hot spots
could occur and the towels catch on fire. Once they are crisp
seal in an air tight container in a dark spot. Now you will have
dried herbs from your herbal garden all winter long..
Another alternative is to dry
herbs in your oven. Turn the oven on to its lowest setting. Spread
the herbs out on cookie sheets, put them in, prop open the door
and check in about an hour, if they are not done continue drying,
check ever thirty minutes. If possible leave the herb leaves
intact. If you crush them before storing they will lose flavor.
When you go to use your dried
herbs the rule of thumb for usage is that for every tablespoon
of fresh herbs you would use, only use ½ teaspoon of dried.
This was to help you use up
the abundance of herbs that you grew in your herb garden this
summer. Enjoy!
Good Luck and have fun!
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