How To Freeze Mint
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Freezing preservation has many uses little dreamed of a few years ago. The freezing of mint is one of them. This novel application of the freezing technique is sure to interest every home gardener who has his own freezer or who has access to a locker plant, for it will enable him to preserve a supply of mint sauce or syrup for year-round use. This method is especially valuable because mints have an aromatic, refreshing aroma which is largely lost during dehydration, canning or any other method of preservation except freezing.
Spearmint, one of the common varieties, often called "garden mint" or "lamb mint," can easily be identified by narrow, heavy-veined leaves with saw-toothed indentations around the edge. The square stems carry pale purple flowers in whorls. Spearmint is the mint most often used in the home in the making of sauces, mint jellies, iced beverages or as a garnish in fruit cup or fruit salad combinations and in the making of confections.
Peppermint, another variety of mint, can be identified by smooth slender stems, light green leaves with purple flowers in dense terminal spikes. Strong-flavored peppermint is used in the making of oil of peppermint, menthol, soap pastes and in many other ways.
You can easily grow mint in a corner of your garden, it is just one of my backyard landscaping ideas. It needs a fairly rich soil, with adequate humus, and preferably a shady location. The occasional cutting of plants will improve the growth. Do not permit flowering stalks to go to seed before cutting, as quite often this will cause the plants to die. Spearmint is subject to rust and the ground should be burned over to eradicate this disease. Manure is apt to cause rust, and therefore commercial fertilizers should be used if any is required. Spearmint is a perennial but should be renewed every three or four years. To renew a small bed, chop up the whole area with a sharp edging tool or spade, deep enough to cut the runners, water well and cover with a thin layer of rich soil.
This will start new plants and avoid a tangled mat of roots.
Pick the tenderest and greenest leaves from your mint bed for freezing. Wash quickly and carefully in cold, running water. Remove all stems and flowering spikes. Be careful not to crush any of the tender leaves as the delicate flavor is easily lost from bruised leaves. Remove the wash water by placing them on a dry towel. Like all other products that are to be frozen, mint should be handled quickly and carefully so as not to lose the fresh mint flavor and color. The flavor oils of the mint leaves also are rapidly lost if the mint is held at too high a temperature even for a short time.
Mint syrup. To prepare mint syrup, mix one cup of extra sweet corn syrup ("Sweetose") with one-half cup of water. This syrup has the remarkable property of absorbing the mint flavor and holding it perfectly for many months in the freezer. Place one-half cup, gently packed, of stemmed, washed, whole mint leaves in a one-pint frozen food container. Cover with syrup. Cover, label and place in freezer to freeze.
In the making of mint syrup the leaves retain their characteristic shape and delicate mint flavor, and so can be used separately as a garnish, in fruit cups or in beverages. Frozen mint syrup will thaw at room temperature in about two hours. If syrup is frozen in water-tight containers they may be placed in running cold water and will thaw in about 45 minutes. As you can well imagine, the delicate flavor and aroma of the mint is lost if the package is allowed to remain open during defrosting.
The mint syrup may be used in many ways. To make a tasty refreshing mint drink, called a mint tinkle, use one cup of thawed mint syrup, two tablespoons of lemon juice and two twelve-ounce bottles of gingerale. Add lemon juice to syrup. Fill glass one-fourth full of chopped ice, add one-fourth cup mint syrup and fill glass with gingerale. Garnish with mint leaves or lemon slices.
The addition of one tablespoon of thawed mint syrup to each glass of chilled orange juice adds a pleasing flavor. For an accented flavor on fresh, canned or frozen pears, pour a tablespoon of mint syrup over each serving. For added zest, flavor iced tea with two tablespoons of thawed mint syrup. Southern gentlemen may enjoy their favorite mint julep the year round by freezing the mint in the summer time as directed on page 607.
Mint sauce. Frozen mint sauce is delicious to serve on either hot or cold roast lamb or with baked or broiled fish. To prepare mint sauce, measure out one cup extra-sweet corn syrup ("Sweetose") and one-half cup cider vinegar. Combine and bring to a boil, remove from heat and allow to cool to room temperature. Have ready one full cup chopped mint leaves in a pint freezing carton. Pour the cooled vinegar-sweetose syrup over the leaves. Allow three-fourths inch headspace for expansion in freezing. Label carefully and freeze. To use, thaw at room temperature for two hours or in running cold water for 45 minutes.
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