Putting Food By

December 11, 2010  •  Condiments, Technique

I read an article today about a modern type of woman who sews, knits, gardens, cooks, and preserve foods. The twist was that this woman might also be a very successful business woman, not Laura from Little House on the Prairie. I think of it kind of like the Renaissance Woman, someone who is interested in many aspects of life, willing to try lots of things, and not be pigeon-holed into a labeled role. I’m a bit like that, as you might guess. While I have a very full and busy life with my business, my family, and friends, I still take joy in the simple act of preserving something that I’ve grown or made. Last summer I experimented with growing mint in the alley behind my house, figuring it could run wild if it wants. This week I cut it all down, stripped the leaves, laid them in the oven to dry, then crumbled them into a jar to use all winter. Got any ideas for how I should cook with it?And this mason jar is filled with roasted garlic. I purchased one of those huge bags of peeled cloves for a cooking class then forgot to use them in the mashed potatoes. So I poured the whole bag into a pan and simmered it (just barely simmering) in olive oil until the cloves were soft. You can store the roasted garlic in the olive oil like this in the refrigerator for quite some time, and when the cloves are gone, the flavored oil can be used for cooking. Easy peasy!

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