February 10, 2005
Berry Vinegar
BERRY VINEGAR
2 cups wine vinegar (red or white)
1 pound berries (cranberries, blueberries, strawberry or raspberries)
1 bunch herbs - your choice (optional), cut up or chopped
BASIC PROCEDURE
Put the vinegar into a medium, nonreactive saucepan and warm over low heat just until it begins to give off vapor (do not bring to a boil). Stir in cranberries, blueberries, raspberries or strawberries and cook for 1 minute.
Pour the mixture into a 1 quart mason jar and allow to cool to room temperature, about 10-15 minutes. Add the herbs at this point if you wish. Store the jar out of direct sunlight and away from heat for about a week, shake it every now and then while the mixture steeps. The vinegar will absorb most of the pigment from the fruit.
Strain the contents through a fine sieve into a 4-cup glass measuring cup. Mash the fruit with a potato masher before straining it. Discard the fruit residue and rinse the sieve. Rinse the Mason jar and return the strained vinegar to the jar. Dampen a flat-bottom coffee filter and fit it into the sieve. Rinse the measuring cup, place the sieve on top, and pour in the vinegar a bit at a time, allowing it to drip into the measuring cup. Transfer the vinegar to flasks, bottles, or cruets. The vinegar should be ready to use immediately, with a shelf life of at least 1 year.
YIELD: 2 cups
CRANBERRIES: Cook the cranberries (a 12 oz bag is fine) in about 1/4 cup of water until the cranberries start to pop. Mix with the vinegar.
My wee wifey's personal favorite combinations:
blueberry-basil with red wine vinegar(an absolutely gorgeous deep claret color) cranberry-tarragon with red wine vinegar
raspberry with white wine vinegar (a beautiful red color)
strawberry-cilantro with red or white wine vinegar (not as intense a color as the raspberry if using white wine vinegar).
Use as you would just about any vinegar in a recipe.
Basic Vinaigrette:
1 cup fruit vinegar, 1 cup olive oil 1 TBSP crushed Italian herbs/seasoning.
It is OK to use frozen fruit , just don't use the ones which have sugar added.
Fancy stoppered bottles and cruets are commonly available at thrift stores. See any homebrewing text or website for advice on how to clean them before use.
Update:
I just took a look at the lovely bottle of rasberry vinegar on our kitchen table, and noticed that it has gained in clarity by virtue of a bit of precipitate at the bottom. I therefore recommend that if you are making this for gifting or entertaining that you filter it into a storage jar and let stand a week before transferring into the fancy container, and filter again at that time.
Posted by triticale at February 10, 2005 06:15 PM