I have been admiring my dill plants for quite some time and today I was determined to make use of such a beautiful herb. Looking around while I snipped, I regretted that I had not planted more. Dill is a fantastic companion plant. It pairs well with cucumbers, beans, lettuce and carrots, among others. The leaves add a feathery texture and the flowers shoot high above lower plantings. The blooms are like fireworks exploding 3-4 feet off the ground. If you clip one, you will see another exploding bloom in days.
Not only is it beautiful, dill is dead useful and taste great with almost everything. Add dill to bread dough or in a sauce for eggs or fish. Store excess dill by drying it, making a flavored oil, a compound butter or steeping it in vinegar.
To make dill vinegar you will need:
- A pretty jar with a wide mouth
- Enough vinegar to fill a pretty jar (i use rice vinegar)
- Herb mix to fill a jar
Use only dill or feel free to add a clove of garlic, peppercorn, tarragon, mustard seed…
Heat the vinegar to at least 105 degrees. Loosely fill the jar with herbs. Pour the warm vinegar leaving a half-inch head room. Allow vinegar to cure at room temperature overnight before storing in the fridge for up to 2 weeks. Strain herbs from the vinegar and rebottle for use. Add a dill flower to the new bottle for easy identification. Store vinegar in the fridge.
Nancy Warner 