parsley mint chimichurri + more mint things
if mint grows like a weed, then you can just call me a weed-lover
I had always planned on writing this issue about parsley mint chimichurri.
It’s the exact right time of year for making this sauce, and in bulk if possible. And oh boy, did one of my musician colleagues make it possible. (Shoutout to Dan for giving me more mint than I could have ever imagined.)
This picture does not do it justice, but I was given a bushel of mint. That’s what I get for saying “give me as much as you’re willing to part with” — an absolute unit. Mint does not keep very long after cutting, especially if you can’t store it properly in the refrigerator. So with that much mint on my hands, I was working fast.
Obviously, we started with mint juleps. Delightful. The next day, mojitos. Perfection. But you’d have to drink a lot of cocktails, or throw a mint party to bust through all of that mint in drinks alone.
What else did I think to make in a short period of time with limited active cooking time on my hands? (We’re on summer break from school, so we’ve reverted back to full-time parenting for the past week and a half, and taking turns with the stomach flu at that 🫠)
Mint ice cream. I found this recipe over on Larder Love and was intrigued to see how it would fare without the traditional addition of egg yolks to balance the fats to make a custard base. Also, being short on dedicated and focused cooking time, I liked the aspect of not having to tend to the custard on and off throughout the unpredictable schedule of a 3-year-old. All I had to do was a quick 15 minutes of heating and simmering the dairy, sugar, and mint on the stove, then cool it completely before dumping it in my ice cream machine.
My impression of this recipe? It wasn’t great, but it wasn’t terrible. The flavor was incredible — fresh mint is the way to go. The mouthfeel was horrendous, like the worst part of eating many cereals of my childhood, namely Cap’n Crunch. It was that film that coats the roof of your mouth after eating a bowl of that abomination of a cereal, but like 50 times worse. I think that this was mostly my fault for using non-homogenized milk AND non-homogenized heavy cream (where the cream rises to the top), as a sort of experiment to see how these products fared in an ice cream recipe. The base had to cool overnight, so all of that gorgeous milk fat made a thick layer on the top, which made it a giant pain in the ass to pull the mint leaves out of and force it to melt enough to make sure that the complete fat content got into the final product. I wish I had had enough time and fridge/freezer space to test this recipe with homogenized dairy products, but alas, the fresh mint was losing its luster by the time I could use it for that half of the experiment. (But I guess I know where I can get another bushel of mint 😂)
Does anyone have any experience, ideas, or thoughts on ice cream recipes without egg yolks? Share it, leave it all on the table for me, by clicking the button below! I want to know!
And where was (almost) the rest of the mint going? To the parsley mint chimichurri of my dreams. I’ve loved this sauce since I happened upon it a couple of years ago, when I made it from the top of my head in a moment of my life when I had (what I thought was) “too much” mint and parsley. I laugh at my naïveté now. Of course, I found out later that I certainly did not invent this variation on chimichurri, but I did have an original thought to mix them together with the other ingredients of a basic chimichurri (garlic, red wine vinegar, salt, chili) instead of relying on Google to run my life. All instincts, babyyy.
If you’re one of those who are #blessed with a lot of mint in your life, I am telling you, no, I am begging you to make this chimichurri. It goes on everything. Steak. Eggs. Steak and eggs. Meatballs. Chicken. Salmon. Beans. Shrimp. Potatoes. Pizza. Tacos. Cue the Oscars playoff music, get me off the stage.
VARIATIONS ON A PARSLEY MINT CHIMICHURRI
Variation No. 1 — June 2 2025
1 cup parsley, loosely packed
1 cup mint, loosely packed
½ cup EVOO
¼ cup red wine vinegar
3 cloves garlic, chopped
½ tsp kosher salt
¼ tsp silk chili
makes 8 oz
Variation No. 2 — June 3 2025
1 ½ cup parsley, tightly packed
1 ½ cup mint, tightly packed
1 ¼ cup EVOO
¾ cup red wine vinegar
8-10 cloves garlic (¼ cup), chopped
1 ¼ tsp kosher salt
1 tsp silk chili
makes ~22oz
Variation No. 3 — June 4 2025
1 ¼ cup mint, tightly packed
1 ¼ cup carrot top leaves, tightly packed
1 ¼ cup fennel fronds, tightly packed
1 ¼ cup EVOO
½ cup red wine vinegar
8-10 cloves garlic (¼ cup), chopped
1 tsp kosher salt
1 ½ tsp silk chili
makes ~24 oz
Directions: add all ingredients to food processor, blend until you reach your desired consistency (I like a range from a small coarse chop to smooth)
Note:
silk chili was my replacement for the fresh chili element that is normally used in a traditional chimichurri, and it also qualifies as one of those things that can go on everything.
carrot tops have a very similar flavor to parsley, so when I ran out of parsley, in went the carrot tops, and some fennel fronds because why not (it’s delicious)
SARAH’S SATURDAY FARMERS MARKET HAUL
June 7
I asked my Amish asparagus guy how much longer I could expect to see it at the market, and he said that this was probably the last week for it. This guy has never steered me wrong, so I stocked up and bought 2 more bunches that will hopefully last use through the end of June. Asparagus keeps for a surprisingly long time when you cut off the ends and stand them up in a jar with water to just enough to submerge the bottom inch or so.
Beets and broccolini have finally made it to the market, and I’m thrilled. Late spring / early summer beets are a real treat. I tried to grow them in our raised bed a few years ago, without much success. The beets were pitifully small, but the young greens were amazing to cut and add to a mixed green salad. *chef’s kiss* And broccoli was also difficult to grow in our raised bed — again, the greens were very useful, as I could cut them into small shreds and add them to a slaw-type dish. They would go great in that collard-kale salad that I wrote about a couple of months ago.
produce: 2 bunches asparagus, 1 quart strawberries ($25.75); 2 bunches broccolini, 2 boxes of sugar snap peas, 1 bunch red beets, 1 bunch fennel, 1 bunch rainbow chard ($34.32); 1 bunch golden beets ($6)
protein: 1 pound italian sausage, 2 pounds chicken livers, 3 pounds ground beef, 4 pounds chorizo ($104)
miscellaneous: 8 oz chèvre ($10.99)
total spent = $181.06
other ingredients on hand, from last week or in freezer:
tuscan kale
whole cut-up chicken
strawberries
blueberries
carrots
garden herbs: parsley, oregano, mint, rosemary
potential recipes, off the top of my dome:
sides / quick veg ideas:
roasted beets w/goat cheese and garden rosemary
roasted carrots with cumin + sumac and honeyed goat cheese
beet green + fennel frond pesto
grilling:
greek lemon chicken
smash burgers
mains:
mexican beans and greens
chorizo + chicken liver tacos (recipe coming at you NEXT WEEK)
combine the above mains for some BOMB burritos
desserts:
strawberry + blueberry frozen yogurt bark
From the bottom of my heart, thank you for being here.
❤️ Sarah
The easiest recipe that I have made for great ice cream that isn’t custard based would be the Maple Ice cream recipe on Taste. So good, so easy!
https://tastecooking.com/recipes/alana-chernila-maple-ice-cream/
Further to the Maple ice cream, I use a dark amber syrup, which I got last time from Costco- they have both a lighter flavoured one and the dark. Gives it more flavour but it’s good with whatever you have.