I decided to make the wonderful tarragon dressing which is served at the House Without A Key restaurant. I checked three supermarkets and couldn't find the ready made Tarragon vinegar so the next option was to make the vinegar from scratch. I google-d "how to make tarragon vinegar" and this is what came up. I'll let you know the results.
Devoid Of Culture And Indifferent To The Arts: Gardening & Recipe: Homemade Tarragon Vinegar: "Ah me! Love can not be cured by herbs. – Ovid The star of this post (centre). Photo: apple_pathway, Flickr ccl File this under 'news yo..."
|
After shopping for fresh cut tarragon at various supermarkets and discovering that it was an outrageous price (something like $45/lb.) about $2.20 for a tiny packet, I decided to look for a plant. The recipe did not state what kind of Tarragon to buy. So I looked up a few more recipes which said to use French Tarragon but if not in season, you could sub Mexican Tarragon. The Mexican variety was the only kind I could find at Lowe's. I believe this 4" plant was only $1.40 and I have a plant leftover! |
|
I used the entire bottle of white wine vinegar which came out to be approximately 1 2/3 cup. I put it in a sauce pan and brought it almost to a boil, then turned off the heat. |
|
The recipe did not state whether one cup of tarragon was with the stem or without but when I looked at the picture, the stems seemed to be still attached so I left them on and pat them dry...sort of. It was too hard to measure out 1 cup of tarragon this way so I just eyeballed it. |
|
I placed all of the stems into the sterilized jar, bruising some with a wooden spoon before pouring in all of the heated vinegar. Then I jumped back on the computer to see if I was supposed to cover it while it was still hot or wait till it cooled down. I had to google another recipe to find my answer and it was to cover while still hot. This second recipe says to let cool for 2 hours before placing in fridge for 1 week. I think I'll do that instead of leaving it in a dark cupboard for 2 - 3 weeks as stated in this recipe. I'll let you know how it tastes before turning it into the Tarragon dressing. I can't wait. |