Last night was supposed to be the first frost of the season, which turned out to be a false alarm but that's fine... Of course I didn't get home until dark and had to hastily cover my tomatoes, herbs, lettuce and garlic (not necessary but I had an extra blanket). We also harvested all of the zucchini (large and small) and dill.
So, about the dill... I have no idea how to preserve it! I was hoping to make cucumbers but none of mine grew. So now I have 15 or so dill plants drying in my basement. From my brief research I know I cannot leave them to dry on a table in the basement, I will end up with moldy-dill. Yuck!
I am in need of any and all advice, ideas, recipes, or crazy suggestions from my gardening friends and family! Thanks in advance!
So, about the dill... I have no idea how to preserve it! I was hoping to make cucumbers but none of mine grew. So now I have 15 or so dill plants drying in my basement. From my brief research I know I cannot leave them to dry on a table in the basement, I will end up with moldy-dill. Yuck!
I am in need of any and all advice, ideas, recipes, or crazy suggestions from my gardening friends and family! Thanks in advance!
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| (tasteforlife.com) |
Oh, and for 5 minutes today it snowed. That's right, the 's' word on September 14th.
3 comments:
I always keep dill in the freezer. In fact, I keep all herbs in the freezer. I wash them, shake them dry and put them in ziplock bags. When they are frozen, you can easily crumble them. You should not defrost them before using them because then they become soggy.
Fresh leaf dill! Lots you can do with that. You can blend it into a slurry and freeze it into ice cubes, for compact fresh flavor available in units. I splurged this year on Tovolo silicone ice cube trays which are actually cubic and thus make the most of precious freezer space.
Lots of other pickles use dill. I'd recommend carrot dills because carrots are great to pickle and can -- retains fresh color, cheap, stays crispy, that familiar flavor when cukes didn't pan out. You can brine it, vinegar pickle it, fridge pickle it, or can it. Dill leaves taste much the same as dill flowers or seeds, but a whole frond works better if you're fermenting.
Drying dill is as easy as hanging by string in small bunches, laying out on a screen on a table beneath a slow ceiling fan, or out of a food dehydrator. It doesn't take long -- know how dill dries out if left out on the counter overnight? Store some dried, crumbled leaves crumbled in the cupboard, but keep a bigger jar on ice to keep those essential oils in frozen darkness, all year.
Dill can also be infused into olive oil -- blanch it to keep it color-stable, blend or food process a few sprigs of fresh dill with a cup of oil, and drain it through some cheesecloth into a sealable jar. Keeps chilled for a week, or frozen for a year. Could be great with potatoes; roasted, mashed, baked French fries, or dill potato chips. Blanching makes green eggs and ham a possibility.
You could also infuse it into vinegar. This way, you could preserve some of the flavor for mid-winter pickling, when fresh dill is unavailable. Also, dill-infused vodka -- Bloody Marys.
Wow! Thanks for all the ideas! I have mint to do use and might do something like the silicone trays.
Dill Vodka and Bloody Marys sounds great. I have heard of adding fruit to vodka but hadn't thought of adding the dill, would bring a nice flavor.
I hate to waste anything I've been tending to all summer so these ideas were very helpful. Thanks!
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