Herb Vinegar

I fell in love with herbs many years ago – growing them, smelling them, and finding delicious ways to use them.

 

My herb garden contains garlic and regular chives, oregano, tarragon, lovage, winter savory, lemon balm, several varieties of thyme, rosemary, parsley, and sage. All are perennial herbs, coming back year after year with the exception of parsley which is biennial and reseeds itself.  The tender annual herbs, basil and cilantro I grow from seed each year in my vegetable garden.  The herbs thrive in the protected southern exposure of my house and I always have an abundance to harvest for dried herb mixes and my favorite – herb vinegar.

 

On a warm September or early October day, I pick mass quantities of all of my herbs, give them a thorough rinsing, then lay them out to dry on the counter.  While they are drying I assemble quart jars (sterilized in the dishwasher) and my vinegars: apple cider, rice wine, red wine, and white wine varieties.  I don’t use any distilled white vinegar as it is too harsh.  I also don’t use balsamic vinegar since it tastes wonderful on its own. I generally buy bottled vinegar at the supermarket, soak the labels off, and reuse the pretty shaped jars for the finished product.  If I have several empty vinegar bottles I’ll buy a gallon of red wine vinegar to use (this is the variety I use the most).

   

When the jars and herbs are dry, I pack the quart jars with herbs, garlic cloves, lemon rind, etc., keeping a list of the ingredients that go into each jar. Next I microwave the vinegar in a large glass measuring cup and heat. I pour the hot vinegar over the herbs, cover the jar with plastic wrap, and put a canning lid over the top to secure the jar.  I always use non-reactive equipment because of the acidity of the vinegar – glass, plastic, wood, are all fine. I store the quart jars in my cool, dark, storage room for two to three weeks, giving the jars as shake every few days to mix them up.  When the vinegar tastes like the herbs, it’s time for the finishing touch.

      

I assemble my clean vinegar jars and use a plastic funnel lined with coffee filters to strain the vinegar. I put a few sprigs of fresh herbs in the finished bottle, attach a label, and seal with a cork. Voila! Beautiful jars of herb vinegar ready for gifts or my own cooking experiments. 

Here are my favorite herbal combinations :

Asian Vinegar: rice wine vinegar, Thai basil, garlic cloves, fresh ginger, hot peppers, cilantro

Italian Country Vinegar: red wine vinegar, rosemary, oregano, sage, basil, parsley, garlic cloves, black peppercorns

One of my favorites as you can see by the large bottle this vinegar gets!

 

Hot Pepper Vinegar: white wine vinegar, hot peppers (which can be taken out and used as well)

 

Herb Jalapeno Vinegar: red wine vinegar, hot peppers, marjoram, savory, garlic cloves, cilantro, rosemary, thyme

Lemon Garlic Herb Vinegar: white wine vinegar, lemon basil, lemon thyme, lemon balm, lemon rind, garlic cloves

Raspberry Vinegar: white wine vinegar, raspberries, 1 tablespoon honey

Provencal Vinegar: red wine vinegar, thyme, rosemary, oregano, basil bay leaves, garlic cloves, orange peel, peppercorns

Although its a temptation to just let the pretty bottles sit on my counter, I use the vinegar in salad dressings, sauces, soups, stews – anything basically that needs a little boost of flavor.

My current favorite salad: chopped tomatoes, chopped cucumbers, feta cheese, chopped basil, olive oil, Italian country vinegar, dash of salt, and sugar to bring out the sweetness of the tomatoes. I made this last night with the new vinegar and it was a delicious side dish to the pulled pork sandwiches.

Salsa

   

When faced with oodles of tomatoes and peppers from my garden, my favorite use of the bountiful harvest is to make up big pots of spicy salsa.  This year I made two batches of salsa and now have many pints of the delectable condiment in my storage.

 

Most salsa recipes are similar – tomatoes, peppers, onions, vinegar or lemon juice (extra acid necessary for safe canning), salt, garlic, spices, etc. I’ve tried a few different variations and my absolute favorite recipe goes like this:

57 tomatoes (1/2 blended 1/2 chopped)

4 chopped onions

4 chopped green peppers

2 1/2 jars sweet yellow peppers (drained)

3/4 jars hot yellow peppers

4 jalapeno peppers (finely chopped or blended)

4 cloves of minced garlic

1/4 cup chopped cilantro

1 tsp. dried oregano

1 1/2 tsp cumin

1/4 c. salt

1/2 tsp. pepper

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 cup lemon juice

2 20 oz. cans tomato sauce

Cook for two hours.

Pour into pint jars, wipe tops of jars, place hot lids and rings.

Process in canner.

Notes:  I know it seems strange to count the tomatoes, but that is what the recipe says, so I just do it! I do adjust for size of tomatoes however – some of mine were pretty small, so I added extra.  I basically chop and blend until I have two big pots about 2/3 full of tomatoes. While the tomatoes are cooking away I start chopping the onions and peppers in my little food chopper.  I generally chop all my veggies with just my big cutting board and my awesome Cutco knives, but this is a job for an electrical gadget. I don’t usually use the bottled peppers since I generally have an abundance of various types of peppers from my garden.  I purposely plant peppers with a variety of heat just for my salsa. Don’t skimp on the sugar and salt – I’ve actually decreased by half the amounts in the original recipe and this amount is perfect!

 

After all that hard work, I take great satisfaction in admiring jars of beautiful salsa.  I serve this salsa year round with fajitas, taco salad, burritos, omelets, fried potatoes – the list could go on and on.

Green Beans

 

I planted Stringless Blue Lake pole beans this year and have been rewarded with amazing production despite repeated attacks by the nefarious Mexican bean beetle.  Resembling a lady bug with an orange-red body and black spots, this beetle lays numerous eggs on the back of the bean leaves and the yellow larvae proceed to eat up the bean leaves until they look like this.

 

Upon returning home from a summer vacation, I was appalled to find nearly all the bean leaves skeletonized.  I immediately started hand picking the pests - squashing bugs, eggs, and larva indiscriminately.  I was rewarded with nice fresh leaves in the fall and a burst of new beans! 

 

 

 

I much prefer growing pole beans to bush beans for the simple reason that they take up less space growing up a trellis, not to mention that they continue to grow new leaves and produce beans all season long.  My last picking was October 25th, just before eight inches of snowfall. The snow didn’t come with a frost though, and I’m hoping to harvest a few more yummy beans.  .  . in November!

Canning Pears

Easiest way ever to can a beautiful jar of pears:

Start with the largest, sweetest, fresh pears possible - yellowish green, not too ripe.

Cut the pear in half, peel carefully, remove the stem and core.

Arrange peeled halves aesthetically in wide mouth quart jar.

Sprinkle with 1 tablespoon “Fruit Fresh” (contains ascorbic and citric acid) to keep pears white.

Sprinkle with 1 tablespoon sugar to enhance flavor.

Pour boiling water over the pears, filling the jar to within 1/2 inch of the top.

Wipe the rim, place lid and band, process in canner for 45 minutes.

 

 

Over the course of a week, I canned two 35 pound boxes of pears and yielded  30 quarts of pears.

Listening to Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein” made the time peeling many, many pears zip by!

I love the way beautiful jars of pears look on the shelves.

 

Prickly Pear Juice and Jelly

Living in the desert means that it’s difficult to grow berries and other fruit. However, prickly pear cactus plants grow abundantly!

Last week I went to a demo to learn how to use the fruit of this cactus. They are tricky because of the fine stickers that will stick in your fingers. So, you should pick them with tongs and never handle them. First, you put the prickly pear into a pot and add water – just enough to get them cooking. You don’t want to dilute them too much. Then, cook until soft, about 15 minutes. 

Mash with a potato masher to get all the juice out.

Strain the juice through layers of cheesecloth.

On it’s own, the juice is pretty bland and not sweet. You can add  a cup of it to a pitcher of lemonade for a gorgeous fuchsia colored drink. The juice also makes a yummy jelly with 2 1/2 cups juice, 3 cups sugar, and 1 package of pectin.

     

I bottled this batch as juice and used the self seal bottling method – pour hot liquid into the bottle, cover quickly with lid, tighten, and turn over. The hot liquid inside will seal the top.

 

Mangos

I bought a 5 kilo box of mangoes from Mexico (there were about nine mangos in the box) for $5.50. We love mangos for smoothies, mango salsa, and just about anything! Now, thanks to this lovely freezing method, we can have them all winter in our smoothies.

First, cut up the mangos and put them on a wax paper lined baking sheet in the freezer.

Once they are completely frozen, take them off the baking sheet and put them into a freezer bag.

 

Result: delicious frozen mangos for half the price!

Elderberry Grape Jelly

I designed my backyard to be as edible as possible. The border along the back fence includes lavender, currants, gooseberries, elderberries, and raspberries.

Every August the elderberry bushes bend with the weight of the dark purple berries. This year I was late in harvesting, but still filled several bowls with the clusters of small elderberries.

My grapevines covered the fence but when I looked under the leaves, my harvest was not as large as in previous years. Could it have been the cold spring? I did get enough juice for the elderberry jelly and made raisins with the sweet green Himrod grapes.

To juice the grapes and elderberries I use a steam juicer - so easy. I spent some time removing the fruit from the stems by sliding a fork down the stem, easily popping off the berries and grapes. I juiced each kind of fruit separately, then following the directions from the low sugar pectin I made jelly! I used the proportions for grape jelly and did about 3/4 elderberry juice and 1/4 grape juice. I like the mix better than straight elderberry jelly, but have made that in the past and it's good too! The extra grape juice went into quart jars for special occasions. 

The finished product - Elderberry Grape Jelly 2010!