March Featured Ingredient: Mint!

[Jenise]

Yes, "Featured Ingredient". That's the new name for "Ingredient of the Month", which we're dropping so that we're no longer tied to a calendar.

Our new featured ingredient is mint: dried, fresh, however you can find it. Except in some ethnic cuisines, it's so ubiquitous that it's taken for granted. It's the garnish on your dessert plate, or the flavor in your toothpaste. And just about every supermarket in every hemisphere carries it fresh year round.

But how often do you actually buy it? When was the last time you tossed fresh mint into your salad, or threw a couple sprigs into a pot of tea? The majority of people I know would answer that question, "Well, never!"

There is perhaps no item that grows in more people's gardens and yet never shows up on their dinner tables. Even in Kentucky, land of the mint julep.

I admit to being someone who used to use very little mint unless I was cooking Turkish/Armenian. Then I moved into a house where mint was already growing, and so the very plant itself nudged me to put it to use. And use it, and love it, I did. So much so that one of the first things I planted when I moved to the home I live in now was plant a bed of it.

And that's why we're putting it in the spotlight this month. It deserves better! And no matter where you live, no matter how you eat, no matter which diet you're on: you can have mint, and there's a dish out there you've been needing to discover.

For instance, St. Patrick's Day is coming up and lots of people will be cooking an annual corned beef. One of my favorite uses for mint is to turn an ordinary corned beef into something less ordinary by adding a bunch of mint sprigs to the cooking water. A bit of chopped fresh mint is also added to the mustard sauce (Dijon+mint+a little spicy white wine, like gewurz) we serve with the meal. Corned beef now tastes blah without this lovely little herb.

What are your favorite uses for fresh mint?

I love mint. I grow several varieties. Here is a really refreshing salad we eat a LOT of in the summer.


Mediterranean Salad

2 cups chopped fresh tomato
2 cups peeled chopped cucumber, seeds removed
½ cup finely minced onion
2 clove finely minced garlic
1 can garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
3 TBS fresh lemon juice
2 TBS chopped fresh mint
2 TBS extra virgin olive oil
salt & cracked black pepper to taste
1 head romaine lettuce

Mix all ingredients together and chill. This is best if it chills for at least 15 minutes. Serve on bed of romaine.

Serves 4

[Robin Garr]

Yes, "Featured Ingredient". That's the new name for "Ingredient of the Month", which we're dropping so that we're no longer tied to a calendar.

Excellent plan! Sort of like Open Mike, only a little more organized. But seriously, these featured ingredients projects are always fun, but don't always sustain interest for a month, so this makes a lot of sense.

You've inspired me to look for recipes using mint as a herb, and I don't mean mint juleps. In Kentucky, we just sell those things to unsuspecting tourists.

I do like it as a flavoring in savory dishes in Middle Eastern cuisine, though.

One favorite use is in <i>sabzeh</i>, the standard appetizer that's put out in many Iranian restaurants just like chips and salsa in Mexican-American restaurants: A big plate of assorted leafy fresh herbs - usually tarragon, flat-leaf parsley and lots of mint - which you tuck into pita quarters with chunks of feta cheese. The flavor combinations are amazing, and it's a much more interesting dish than you might think.

Anybody want to take on the challenge of defining peppermint and spearmint and other kinds of mint? I love mint, but I find too much spearmint flavor unappetizing because it reminds me of chewing gum.

Two excellent choices, Jenise.

This is a personal favorite -- I love peas and our mint grows like weeds. Most of the plants are in containers, but the darn stuff keeps coming up in the flower garden despite a three year effort to destroy it.

Chilled fresh spring pea purée with mint

Serves: 10 -- freezes well

4 oz minced leeks
4 oz minced onions
1 tbsp vegetable oil
8 oz shredded green leaf lettuce
1 lb fresh peas
2 pt vegetable stock

****** SACHET D' EPICES
6 ea chervil stems
6 ea parsley stems
6 ea white peppercorns
as req salt
as req ground white pepper
3 fl oz light cream or half and half or to taste.

****** GARNISH
2 tbsp mint or chervil chiffonade


YIELD: 2 quarts

1. Sweat the leeks and onions in oil until tender and translucent.

2. Add the lettuce and peas, cover, and smother briefly.

3. Add the broth, sachet, salt, and pepper and bring to a boil. Simmer until all the ingredients are tender. Skim and stir the soup periodically.

4. Remove and discard the sachet. Purée the soup until smooth. Refrigerate.

5. Add cream to the cold soup. Adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper. Add the garnish to the individual portions.

Cook's Notes: Mincing the mint gives more flavor.

This recipe also works well with mint oil -- I buy ours from a family farm in Indiana. Add it to the pea/stock mixture about five minutes before the soup is done.

Minted Spinach Soup

4 Tbsp. sweet butter
2 cups finely chipped yellow onions
3 cups chicken stock
10 oz frozen chopped spinach, defrosted and squeezed dry
1/2 bunch fresh mint
1 cup heavy cream
coarse salt and freshly gr. pepper to taste
Sauté onion in butter until limp. Add spinach, stock and peas. Bring to a boil and simmer until peas are tender. Add mint and simmer 15 min. Drain, reserving liquid. Return to pan, add cream and reserved liquid to make desired consistency, heat through and serve with a dollop of sour cream.

You've inspired me to look for recipes using mint as a herb, and I don't mean mint juleps. In Kentucky, we just sell those things to unsuspecting tourists.

Robin, when we were living in Kentucky, a good Mint Julip was my dad's favorite festive drink, especially when made by my teatotalling mother. He even encouraged her to teach my Aunt Judy (his sister) how to make them. However the first time Aunt Judy tried to make one for my Grandfater, she forgot to crush the ice and ended up using ice cubes instead. Needless to say the resulting Julip was just a touch overpowering

Sadly, I have a lot of trouble growing mint here in Charleston. It just gets too hot for it to thrive without more care than I have time to give it.

This recipe also works well with mint oil -- I buy ours from a family farm in Indiana. Add it to the pea/stock mixture about five minutes before the soup is done.

Mint oil - is that actually an oil of mint on its own, or a mint infusion into some other oil?

Love mint, Jenise. Don't know where I'd be without the common old garden mint, without being able to pop outside to pick some sprigs for this, or some sprigs for that. When it did die off one time, I really missed it.

Neil made a salad the other night which was simply cubes of pink watermelon, fresh pear, cucumber and tomato - with the addition of mint. Really fresh, tasty combination, perfect for summer with a glass of spatlese riesling.

Another favourite use is making a mint sauce by infusing mint leaves in boiling water with sugar and vinegar (as for a mint sauce to serve with roast lamb), but using it as a marinade for lamb backstraps, chops or leg steaks before cooking on the barbie or roasting in the oven.

Mint Tabbouleh

Servings: 4

1/2 cup bulgur, cooked according to package directions or until tender
2/3 cup chopped mint, lightly packed
12 cherry tomatoes, halved (or 6 large, quartered)
1 small zucchini, finely diced
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Drain the cooked bulgur well and place it in a medium-size bowl. Add the mint, tomatoes and zucchini. Toss it with a fork to combine. Mix in the lemon juice and oil. Season to taste with salt and pepper. This salad keeps in the refrigerator, tightly covered, for 1 day.

For a shorter cooking time, use a whole wheat couscous instead of bulgur. Other time-savers: use a food processor to chop the mint or use canned, chopped tomatoes instead of cherry tomatoes.

Nutrition information per serving:
137 calories, 3g protein, 17g carbohydrates, 7g total fat, 1g saturated fat, 0mg cholesterol, 11mg sodium, 4g fiber

From the American Institute of Cancer Research

We have a community garden in the apartment complex we live in. I've counted 4 different strains of mint growing rampant around the place and it's just EVERYwhere. Come spring (which is way far away given it was 7deg today) we'll be in mojito heaven.

I also love tossing lots of mint in lentils when they are just about done and putting that under a piece of poached white fish.

We love mint too. Here's one of our regulars:

LAMBBURGERS:
1 lb Ground lamb
1 Egg
1 tbl Fresh mint
1 tbl Fresh parsley
2 tbl Pine nuts
1/2 tsp Lawry salt
1/4 tsp White pepper
1 Small onion
1 tbl Olive oil

Grate onion. Chop parsley and mint finely. Chop nuts. Mix all together. Make two or three large oval shaped patties (meat mixture will be very loose), and refrigerate for two hours. Grill over high heat/coals, broil, or saute’ for fifteen minutes, turning once (very carefully).

Spiced Beef Stew With Carrots And Mint

Serves 2
Published in: Bon Appétit
Publish Date: March 2007 (How timely!)


2 tbsp olive oil -- divided
12 oz beef tenderloin -- cut in 1-inch cubes
1 cup (about 3 large) sliced shallots
8 oz peeled baby carrots
2 tsp ground cumin
1 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tbsp all-purpose flour
2 1/2 cup beef broth
1/3 cup chopped fresh mint -- divided


Heat 1 tablespoon oil in large nonstick skillet over high heat.
Sprinkle beef with salt and pepper. Add beef to skillet and sauté
until cooked to desired doneness, about 2 minutes for medium-rare.
Using slotted spoon, transfer beef to bowl; set aside.

Add remaining 1 tablespoon oil to skillet. Add shallots and carrots
and sauté until golden, about 3 minutes. Add all spices; stir 30
seconds. Sprinkle flour over; stir 30 seconds. Stir in broth and
bring to boil. Reduce heat to medium; simmer until carrots are just
tender, about 8 minutes.

Return beef to skillet; cook until sauce thickens slightly, about 1
minute. Season stew to taste with salt and pepper. Stir in 1/4 cup
chopped mint. Transfer stew to bowls.

Sprinkle with remaining chopped mint and serve.

Notes:
This North African-inspired stew is good over couscous with a little
lemon juice and chopped mint. Because it's made with beef tenderloin,
it's ready in minutes instead of hours.

After cutting away the broccoli florets for another use, I take the broccoli stalks and peel them with a potato peeler until the dark green exterior is removed. Slice the stalks into 1/2 inch disks, drizzle with EVOO and chopped mint. Chill and serve on green leaf lettace or by itself. This recipe originated in Sicily where, like me, they hate throwing food away!

[Jenise]

Robert my dear friend, it's good to see your name here again. Welcome.

And what a great suggestion. I agree about throwing stuff away, but what's more if I were going to throw any part of the broccoli away it would be the florets that go--the sweet stalk is IMO the best part. Love this suggestion. But to clarify, you're using the stalks raw, correct, not blanching them or anything?

My dear Jenise! Yes, I forgot to mention that the broccoli is uncooked and chilled.

I'm with you, Carl. I love me a GOOD mint julep. And I lived in KY. Although, of course, I was a yankee who moved there, so maybe loving mint juleps was wrong...tough.

I like 'em and made them on Derby Day my first year away from KY--and will make them again this year.

b

[David M. Bueker]

Robert! Glad to see you. Plus thanks for the broc idea. My wife hates the stalks (but I like them), so it's good to see an innovative use for them.

[Robin Garr]

After cutting away the broccoli florets for another use, I take the broccoli stalks and peel them with a potato peeler until the dark green exterior is removed. Slice the stalks into 1/2 inch disks, drizzle with EVOO and chopped mint. Chill and serve on green leaf lettace or by itself. This recipe originated in Sicily where, like me, they hate throwing food away!

Robert, let me add another warm welcome back. It's very good to see you!

We do recycle broc stems here, but mostly simply by steaming them, then buzzing them into a thick broccoli soup, maybe with a little garlic and a dab of goat cheese. Your approach sounds like a real winner.

Well, so far I've not come up with anything more than a nice mojito and some mint ice cream. I picked up some very pungent peppermint yesterday, though, so I'm hoping to get a little more creative today.

And Robert - good to see you here. I can't believe you're listed as having only 2 posts. Doesn't seem like it's been that long since I saw your name on the FLDG. As the others said, welcome back!


Mike

Mojito. Yeah, that's what I need. I've been coughing, hacking, and hocking for two days now and I could use the anesthesia. Thanks for the reminder.

I'll try not to post drunk.

Mojito. Yeah, that's what I need. I've been coughing, hacking, and hocking for two days now and I could use the anesthesia. Thanks for the reminder.

I'll try not to post drunk.

Well if you're still feeling poorly today, I think you need to take it to the next level and down a good 4-oz shot of Fernet Branca. That'll scare the viruses right out of you (and kill any that remain).



Mike

That qualifies as chemotherapy. Fernet Branca, urggggggggghhhhhhh.....

Well I'm not sure what a Mojito is off hand, but you could try an old fashioned hot toddy (you know, hot tea with lemon, honey, and a shot or two of whiskey. Add mint while the tea's steaping and it even qualifies as an item of the month!). It might not cure you but it'll cut the crap in your throat that's making you cough, plus two or three of them quickly and you won't even care if you're sick or not.

Does mint have terroir?

I ask because a local chi-chi food shop has recently offered candies made from Black Mitcham grown in England: http://summerdownmint.com/. The box claims that the mint, a cultivar originally discovered there, tastes better when it is grown there. Certainly, that's marketing hype but is there any truth to it?

Looking into the botany, it turns out that peppermint is, ahem, rather cut and dried. From a scholarly piece:

"The plant we call "typical" peppermint exists in two forms, white peppermint (M. x piperita var. officinalis) and black peppermint (M. x piperita var. piperita). 'Mitcham' is the leading cultivar of the latter and the one usually encountered in the herb trade, whether it be called "chocolate mint", "blue balsam mint", or whatever (we have also encounterred white peppermint offered as "chocolate peppermint"). Because of extensive propagation since black peppermint was first cultivate din 1750 near Mitcham, England, some very slight variability has occurred, and 'Mitcham' is not a clone. This is not unusual; slight variability is often encountered under identical cultivar names for many plants. However, none of this variation is significant enough to deserve a separate cultivar name (actually the term grex, a collective epithet from the Latin for swarm or flock, would be appropriate here). The A.M. Todd Co. has selected Verticillium wilt-resistant clones of 'Mitcham' ('Todd Mitcham' and 'Murray Mitcham') by gamma-irradiation for commercial production, but these oils are similar to the original 'Mitcham' cultivar."

However, other documents suggest that the exact amounts of the various 'smellies' (e.g., menthol, menthone) in the leaves will vary from place to place. That sounds like a possible mechanism for terroir in mint.

So... anyone know anything more about mint? (Or am I doomed to the twilight world of Googled info?)