Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Thyme for Herbal Vinegar!


This is the perfect time to preserve the herbal harvest by making herbal vinegars.  Some years I have really been carried away making herbal vinegar!  Still using that!  Here are the ingredients for Nasturtium Peppercorn Vinegar.

You need:  2 cups of nasturtium flowers, 1 cup of nasturtium leaves, 2 sprigs of rosemary, 1/4 cup chopped chives, 2 tablespoons of peppercorns, one sterilized canning jar (leave boiling water in the jar for 10 minutes) and white wine vinegar.  Easy, peasy as Jamie Oliver would say.  This recipe is from The Complete Vinegar Book by Kathy (Kathleen) Gips.  She owns the Village Herb Shop in Chagrin Falls, OH.  I think it is very pretty in the jar before you decant it.  I put it in a sunny window for two weeks.  Mine is going to be ready just in time for my presentation on Saturday.  It gives you a peppery taste for your salads and stews.  I'll put a picture on this posting of the finished product.  Got to go make raspberry jam!

4 comments:

Unknown said...

Do you take the herbs out and put in fresh for presentation? Or does that matter?

I have made vinegar with purple-leafed basils and replaced with pretty "fresh" leaves after it is cooled. Mostly for table presentation.

Your jars makes it look like you could dip out the "pickled" nasturtiums and use them in a salad.

Comfrey Cottages said...

yum yum! so you have apresentation coming up?

Lemon Verbena Lady said...

Hi Ladies,

Cindy, I usually take out the herbs because they are pretty spent after two weeks time. Sometimes they don't get removed for a lot longer!
Again, I think the flowers would have to come out in the first days because they are fairly delicate and they tend to look pretty bad pretty quickly! Basil is one of the best herbs to use in vinegar and purple basil makes such a beautiful vinegar. Thanks for stopping by, Cindy.

Hi Leslie, Yes, I have a presentation on Saturday to about 100 people. It will be my last of the year. I actually had someone call to try and schedule me for the same day. It does not happen too often! Hope things are going smoother for you and your family! Thanks as always for your comments!

Comfrey Cottages said...

things have calmed down here hon. thanks for the wishes:) the 17th month old dylan, and i , are getting into a routine now that the others are in school:) and evan got his stitches out and all healed well:) big herbal and honey hugs to you dear