June 16th was National Vinegar Day.
I thought that was a great excuse to write about making herbal vinegars. They can only be done with fresh ingredients and this is the perfect time of year to use fresh herbs and make something that you can use now or save for winter when you want a fresh taste.Herbal Vinegar is the simplest and best way to capture the flavor of fresh herbs.
Create herbal vinegar by harvesting and washing a fist full of fresh herbs. Choose your favorite, but Basils, especially colored basil, thyme, lemon herbs and chives all make great tasting vinegar.Lay the herbs out to air dry after washing.Once they are dry place them in a glass jar and bruise them with the handle of a wooden spoon. Cover them with distilled white or white wine vinegar that you have warmed in the microwave on high for about 2 minutes. Seal the jar with a non-reactive (plastic) lid and let sit for at least two weeks shaking daily.
Strain and rebottle the herbs and use to make your favorite marinade or dressing.
Try this example:
Lemon-Basil Marinade
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Tags:
basil, chives, cucumbers, dressing, herbal vinegar, lemon, preserving herbs, thyme
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Preserving Herbs
Once you cut your herbs you must decide if you are going to dry them or preserve them. Drying changes and intensifies the flavor. Preserving allows you to hold onto the fresh herb flavor in some fashion.
There are three basic preservation methods:
- Herbal Vinegar – Using fresh air-dried herbs you place them in a glass (non-reactive) container. I use glass corn syrup jars with plastic lids. Cover the herbs with plain white vinegar or white wine vinegar. Bruise the herbs with a spoon or other implement. Then you can use one of two methods:
· Cold infusion – you allow the herbs to simply rest in a cool dark place for at least 4 to 6 weeks before straining and using the vinegar.
· Warm infusion – you microwave the container with herbs and vinegar for 2 minutes then cap and place in a cool dark place. This will only need 2 weeks before it can be strained and used.
Once the herbs have infused the vinegar with their flavor you want to strain and rebottle the vinegar for use. You can keep it in any...
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Tags:
gardening, herb salt, herb sugar, herb vinegar, herbal oil, herbs, preserving herbs
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