Topic: Bottling mint

[Hyacinth]

It's that time of year again 8)

Time to harvest the first growth from my mint bed and bottle it for myself, for my friends, and to sell for my local Hospice funds...I reckon to make 3/4 such harvests in a season.

Method is to whizz up mint leaves with white malt vinegar (to preserve the colour) in my blender - this year for the 1st time I'm also using Sarsons Cider Vinegar for peeps with a wheat intolerance - and put it into jars. I keep adding mint leaves until the blender's motor starts to complain. Simple as that. Because there are no additives, it will keep for over a year. To use, take out whatever you want & add extra vinegar + sugar to taste.

It's good to have, easy-peasy to do - and a nice little earner for your local Charity 8)

[manicscousers]

thanks for that, alishka, I'll have a 'do' at that,  ;D

[tim]

Must try. We have a 20' bed & have to cut bits of it down every few weeks to give continuity

Our Cider Vinegar is French & cheaper at the Chemist than s/market. Never use any other.

[Hyacinth]

Thanks for the input, Tim! I've bought a 500ml bottle of Maille cider vinegar from the Co-Op (no Sarsons available yesterday) - no idea of the price, now, but I'll certainly check it against  s/market prices - reminds me of the Olden Days when we bought olive oil from a Chemist! ::) ;) ;D

[honeybee]

Takes me back to the 60's when my Mum used to use a vey similar recipe, easy was what she did best, but it was always mighty tasty, oh I can taste those Sunday dinners with home made mint sauce on my lips right now  :P

[Sinbad7]

Yummyyyyyyy, me too Honeybee:)

Sinbad

[Sinbad7]

Not forgetting the Jersey Royals, and peas from the pod ;D

[jennym]

Great post. Have often been asked for mint sauce or suchlike, but since I'm not a mint lover I haven't bothered, but reading this post it might just spur me on. Would like to ask a few questions though, might seem daft but here goes.
What mint do you use? I have applemint, ginger mint, eau de cologne mint but can probably lay hands on plain mint if necessary.
Do you just use the leaves? does this mean you have to pull the leaves off the stalks by hand or is there a quicker method?
Seems that I'd need an awful lot of mint - for the amount you do in a batch in your processor, what do you start with? a carrier bag full of leaf and stalk?
Would be ever so grateful for guidance with this.

[Hyacinth]

Jenny, my mints for bottling are 'ordinary' mint and applemint. Applemint is great to do cos the leaves are larger :D and yes, a lot of mint, once blitzed, reduces dramatically, so I've never tried any of my other mints which tend to be low-growing, because I don't have the quantity needed.

So, method. Cut down the mint to ground level. In the kitchen strip the branches by holding them at the top, then running finger and thumb down the branch. Small stems will blitz OK & you don't need to be precise, larger stems will need their separate treatment or you'll be left with stalky bits in the sauce. Strip the mint into a sinkful of water & swish them around.Decant onto draining board.Rinse a 2nd time & that will be enough. My liquidizer has a 1ltr jug. I fill this 1/3 with vinegar, then get handfuls of mint, squeezed dry & fill up.Blitz.Keep adding mint + vinegar until the motor says "no more" ::) And that's when you put it into jars.

To quote Ramsay......DONE!

[Powderfan]

Hi Guys and Gals

My wife loves mint jelly rather than mint sauce so does anyone know how the mint jelly would be made?  I have not yet tried to grow mint but if I can make the jelly I will get some Brownie points with 'Er in doors.

PS is it odd to have mint jelly with just about every meal or should I start decorating the spare room?

Thanks

Michael

[valmarg]

ROSEMARY JELLY

5lb cooking apples
2 pints water
2 tablespoons fresh rosemary leaves
2 pints vinegar
granulated sugar
green food colouring (optional)
chopped rosemary

Wash and roughly chop the apples.  Put in a large saucepan with the water and rosemary.  Bring to the boil, then simmer for about 45 minutes until soft and pulpy.  Stir from time to time to prevent sticking.  Add the vinegar and boil for 5 minutes.

Strain through a jelly bag or cloth and allow the juice to drain for at least 12 hours.  Do not squeeze the bag or the jelly will be cloudy.  Discard the pulp.

Measure the extract and return to the pan with 1 lb sugar to each pint of extract.  Stir until the sugar has dissolved, then boil rapidly, without stirring for about 10 minutes until setting point is reached.  Skim the surface with a metal spoon.  Add a few drops of colouring (optional) and chopped rosemary (to taste).  Pot and cover in the usual way.

For rosemary substitute mint

I us this recipe to make mint, rosemary and parsley jelly.

Mint and rosemary jelly go well with lamb, parsley goes well with ham.

valmarg

[jennym]

Alishka, many thanks for the instructions, nice and clear (and practical  ;D ). The apple mint here is doing well so will have a go with that first, then do a small batch of the ginger mint.

Valmarg, your recipe for the jellies is very similar to the way I do them, got a few minor variations:
When making any jelly using apples, I use the pressure cooker now to save time. Often use juice of a lemon for each kg of apples, put into the pressure cooker before cooking to bring out the pectin.
If I use sour apples, I don't use vinegar, feedback from folks was that they preferred it without. The total amount of liquid used is about 1/3 of the amount you show, as there isn't much evaporation from the pressure cooker.
The cooked apple & liquid is strained through a series of metal sieves, starting with one with small holes, then graduating through 4 sizes to a very fine stainless steel mesh, so I don't use muslin or jelly bags at all now.
With rosemary jelly, if adding some at the end to show the leaves, I cook it first before adding because I've found they can be a bit tough if not pre-cooked. With mint jelly, I rub the precooked mint leaves through a sieve into the liquid, this gives a nice fine speckled appearance to the jelly.
Forgot to say, very soon I'll be thinning out apples from the trees - those teeny ones are really good for making a nice sharp apple jelly, so don't throw them on the compost heap  :)

[valmarg]

Ooo jennym, I've never got on with pressure cookers.  OH bought one, but it's now gathering dust in the garage.  Didn't like all the hissing and blowing ;D ;D  Admittedly that was c. 25 years ago, and there are probably much better models available now, but I just didn't like it.

We use our own grown Bramley apples, and find there is enough pectin without the addition of lemon juice.

The vinegar I use is distilled malt, and personally find it gives a bit of a sweet/sour taste which we like.

I discard the herbs that have been cooked with the apples.  The final addition of herbs is a very large pile of freshly chopped (in the case of the rosemary very finely chopped).

Either way, I think we both agree we end up with better than shop bought (no E numbers). ;D

valmarg