Masses of mint

"Mint is a herb used prolifically in cuisines across the globe so it seems fitting that it also grows promiscuously - rampaging over the poorest ground, pushing its way through cracks and crevices and elbowing other plants out of the way." Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall

Indeed it is and it's about to take over my otherwise flourishing (so far) vegetable garden. In fact one day very soon I must dig some out or it will smother the veggies I am trying to grow next door to it. But I will find it difficult to just throw it in the bin. I'm a 'waste not, want not' kind of person. So I decided to look on the net for good ideas for what to do with bulk mint.

And I wasn't very successful. There are masses and masses of ideas for what to use mint for, but that was not what I was looking for. And there were some for things like fresh mint chutney from India as a side dish for curry which did use a lot of mint, but won't keep.

"There is no herb that brings with it such freshness and spark." Nigel Slater

I did find a couple of ideas that I could follow up on, but I'm not really enthused.

The first is to freeze it in ice cubes for dropping into water jugs. But why would you do that when you have piles of fresh mint outside. I guess you might do it at the end of the season and then you would have mint for the winter. But then you are less likely to drink iced water in winter anyway. Another associated suggestion was to freeze chopped mint in ice cube trays, cover with water and then when you wanted to used it in the winter put it in a sieve and leave it to thaw. But again, why bother? In winter you can still buy mint anywhere either from a greenhouse in the supermarket or in bunches in the market. I guess we might be lucky here in Australia because Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall seemed to think that you couldn't get 'real' mint easily in the shops at any time. Not true here - but then we have a lot of Asians who use it endlessly.

So I don't think the freezing thing is going to take care of my problem.

Pesto - yes, of course you can make pesto and there are lots of recipes out there for pesto with nuts - almonds, walnuts - probably others too, or without nuts. And I do love pesto so I should try it, but pesto only keeps for a little while in the fridge even if you cover it with oil. Apparently you can freeze it too, so I could try that I guess. I suppose you could use it for many more things than pasta too. As part of a marinade for something, extra flavour in a soup, stew, paella, risotto ... In a salad dressing, to flavour plain boiled rice. Yes - a distinct possibility this one. What I found interesting though was how many of the recipes did not include nuts. I though nuts were one of the vital components of pesto - I mean it's not pesto otherwise is it?

Mint sugar - Very easy - 1/2 cup mint, 1 cup sugar in a food processor. Give it a whiz and hey presto. Package it prettily and give it as a gift. Not sure whether this goes off or not. I mean I know that sugar doesn't but mint does. Anyway you use it for sprinkling on fruit - Jamie Oliver suggests on pineapple, others suggested watermelon, but I'm sure there are other fruits that would benefit too. Dip a chilled glass in it and then fill the glass with some kind of fancy drink. Or stir it into tea? It's just an idea.

But I think the most valuable suggestion is to simply dry it. Tie it in bunches and hang it up to dry, then crumble it into jars - again for presents or simply for your pantry. Remember I had difficulty finding dried mint some time back. And dried mint is really a different thing and used in several Greek and Middle-eastern dishes. It's a pantry essential. Maybe I should try this with sage too as that has also disappeared from the supermarket.

First I need to stop it throttling my herb and veggie garden though.

"Mint has an ability that not all herbs share - to grace sweet and savoury dishes with equal charm. It is assertive enough to be noticed, mild enough to mingle." Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall