i have an abundance of mint right now
Posted by secondbase on Oct 21, 2006 · Member since Dec 2005 · 5540 posts
went to farmers market and purchased some goodies. i grabbed one bunch of mint and the woman gave me three others for free becuase it was so close to closing time. what on earth am i to do with four bunches of mint? recipes? does it freeze well? help
Hi Secondbase. Don't know if I'll be much help, but there are some excellent sounding recipes on this site that use mint- from main courses to desserts. Just type in mint in the search box, but you may have already done that! ;) I was curious so I googled freezing mint in case you couldn't use it all up quickly and this website offerred suggestions:
http://lancaster.unl.edu/food/ftapr03.htm
How to Store Herbs
Fresh herbs can be stored in an open or a perforated plastic bag in your refrigerator crisper drawer for a few days. If you don't have access to commercial perforated bags, use a sharp object to make several small holes in a regular plastic bag.
To extend the freshness of herbs, snip off the ends of the stems on the diagonal. Place herbs in a tall glass with an inch of water, like cut flowers. Cover them loosely with a plastic bag to allow for air circulation. Place them in the refrigerator and change the water daily. Herbs may last a week or more stored this way. NOTE: The flavor of herbs may diminish the longer they're stored.
If you have more herbs than you can eat, enjoy herbal bouquets throughout your house. You can use either single herbs, combinations of herbs or you can use the herbs as greenery mixed in with other flowers. To help preserve the aroma and color of your herb bouquets, place them out of direct sunlight.
Freezing Herbs
Several books and articles on herbs recommend freezing as an easy way to preserve herbs.
Recommendations vary on the best way to freeze herbs, how long frozen herbs will maintain a satisfactory flavor and which herbs will freeze well. Be aware that when herbs are frozen, they become limp, lose their color and are best used in cooked foods. The most conservative guidelines for how long herbs will maintain their quality frozen range from two to six months. Here are three possible ways to freeze herbs:
The easiest method and one recommended on the National Center for Home Food Preservation Web site <www.uga.edu/nchfp/how/freeze/herbs.html> states: "Wash, drain and pat dry with paper towels. Wrap a few sprigs or leaves in freezer wrap and place in a freezer bag. Seal and freeze. These can be chopped and used in cooked dishes. These usually are not suitable for garnish, as the frozen product becomes limp when it thaws."
Another method recommends washing herbs, cutting them into tiny pieces and then filling the sections of an ice cube tray about half full with herbs. Cover herbs with cold water and freeze until solid. Transfer frozen cubes to a freezer bag and squish out as much air as possible. Drop them into soups, stews and sauces as needed. Be aware herbs may stain plastic ice cube trays.
To save time chopping herbs into tiny pieces, you might try making a "slurry." Simply puree your washed herbs in a blender with a small amount of water. Pour into ice cube trays and freeze until solid. Transfer to a freezer bag and add to foods, as desired.
Regardless of how you freeze herbs, label them as to type (they tend to look the same frozen) and the date frozen. If you freeze quite a few herbs, it may be easier to find them in your freezer if you store the individual packages together in one large container.
Which method works best? Experiment for yourself with small amounts of herbs at the beginning of the season and sample your results a month or so later. Determine your personal preference before committing a lot of time (and freezer space!) to frozen herbs.
Mint grows like a weed in my garden. Something that I like to do that can use up quite a bit of it is make minty herbal tea (hot or iced). Just boil water with the mint leaves in it until you get a nicely-flavored infusion. I like to add some fresh ginger in with the mint and water too. Then strain the mixture to have a good hot tea or chill for an iced tea (infusion should be stronger for an iced tea). You could also make a satchel of mint and ginger with cheesecloth to skip the straining part if you like.
Elizabeth
iced mint tea sounds amazing! it's been really warm out here in california these past couple days. i am going to make some when i get home. any idea how much mint i should use for 2 quarts of iced tea?
Fresh mint tea DOES sound delicious. I just ran some mint leaves through my new juicer (tee hee) yesterday and found out that it adds a really mild, tasty element to apple and celery juice... but I'm not usually a big mint eater, except in tabouli.
I've frozen an abundance of sage leaves and had them do all right. I washed them and spun them dry in a salad spinner, and patted them further dry with paper towels, before wrapping them airtight for freezing. Once they thaw, though, they're goners-- so if you defrost the fridge, plan something super minty!
You might also consider doing a mint-jelly thing by simmering snipped mint with apple jelly, re-jarring it, and refrigerating the product (consume in a reasonable time frame). Or making Indian mint chutney to go along with spice-perfumed Basmati rice! :)
iced mint tea sounds amazing! it's been really warm out here in california these past couple days. i am going to make some when i get home. any idea how much mint i should use for 2 quarts of iced tea?
I never really measure the tea. Iced tea usually needs to be stronger than something you are going to drink hot (the flavor really mellows after it is chilled). For two quarts, I might use two handfuls or so. If you aren't going to add any other flavors like ginger (or several green or black tea bags for a more traditional tea flavor), you may need to add more mint. And simmer for quite awhile-maybe 15-20 minutes. Taste it and see how strong it is before you chill it. Then add some more fresh leaves for garnish after it's chilled and a sweetener if you like--I like mine without a sweetner, but my husband likes it with some agave nectar.
Oh and if you bruise or roughly chop the leaves first you may be able to get more flavor out of them. Really press the leaves into the strainer (or sqeeze the cheesecloth) to extract all the flavor.
Now I want some mint tea--out to the garden! I have a cold, so I'll make mine hot.
Elizabeth
I freeze herbs all the time (including mint)!
My best advice is to first chop the leaves, spread them out on a baking sheet and place them in the freezer until they've all frozen (should be an hour or two, just check them every so often). Once this is done pop them into a plastic container and back into the freezer. Freezing them seperate first prevents them from freezing in a big lump when you put them into the container.
PS. Mint tea is super refreshing. I like to add a little fruit sugar or agave nectar to sweeten, as well as the zest and juice of an orange, lemon and lime. Pop it in the freezer for a bit and it makes the best chilled refreshment ever.
MOJITOS!! ;D ;D ;D ;D
I looove mint tea! Another thing you could do is make a stong infusion, (let your tea steep a long time) then pour it into ice cube trays. When they freeze, put them in a freezer safe container (freezer bags work). This works as a nice refresher in water or lemonade, anything you want some deelicious minty-ness in!
I like to pick mint and just chew on it :) More refreshing than chewing gum ^_^
an update: iced mint tea on a hot california day is the most refreshing thing ever. and i do mean ever!
i melted some dark chocolate, added a touch of soymilk and vanilla and dipped the leaves in it. froze the leaves and it made an amazing dessert!