Recipe: Herbed Vinegar

In this season of preserving, don't forget your herbs! Infused vinegar adds zest to your meals year-round without being complicated or time consuming to prepare — and it gives renewed purpose to that half-bottle of vinegar sitting in your pantry when everything else is put up.

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Use this infused vinegar in vinaigrettes and homemade mayonnaise, or add a splash to soups and stews to add some spark. If you start with a half bottle of vinegar, you’ll have plenty of room for the herbs and there’s no need to fuss with decanting. 

Makes about 1 cup

Photograph by Alex Proimos from Sydney, Australia

Ingredients: 
½ bottle white wine vinegar or 1 cup distilled white vinegar
1 bunch fragrant fresh herbs such as tarragon, rosemary, or thyme
Pinch salt

Prepare: 
Leaving the leaves on the stems, wash the herbs in several changes of water. Dry thoroughly.

Preserve: 
Infuse: Submerge the herbs in the vinegar in the original bottle or in a pint jar. Add the salt. Recap and shake every day for 1 week to develop flavors. Keeps for up to 1 year in a cool, dark place.

Recipe excerpted from Put ’em Up!  © 2010 by Sherri Brooks Vinton. All rights reserved.

Want more recipes from Sherri Brooks Vinton?

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