November 20, 2017
Drying Mint
I’ve had my Reynolds, Georgia, grandmother’s mint in my garden for nearly 50 years now–through moves to three different houses.
I almost lost it a few years back here in Maine, but put it in three different places in my garden and when it began to come back, gifted it to a neighbor for extra safe keeping. It is now close to running amok, as mint will do. But I love to walk by it and pinch off a piece and crush it in my hands. In places I ruthlessly mow it down and enjoy the heavenly mint smell wafting across the yard.
I particularly like throwing some leaves into a stir fry. It just adds a very interesting layer of flavor.
So, this year I’ve tried drying it, stripping off the dried leaves, and stuffing them into glass jars.
High end mint teas are nothing more than dried mint leaves and sell for $6 or so a box of 20 packets!!!!
The mint I’ve dried is working find in stir fries–not like the fresh, but an interesting taste layer nevertheless.
To dry, just cut some stems and stick them into a kitchen glass for a few days.
I use parchment paper to capture the leaves as I strip them from the stalks with my fingers.
The jars are freebies after I’ve eaten the raw cream they contained.
And, voila!
Winter pleasures
(I also blogged here about preserving mint and basil in olive oil in the refrigerator–and have to dig out some of those leaves next stir fry to experiment.)
Louisa Enright's Blog 