TO KEEP PARSLEY

Fresh parsley (or other herb, see Comment)
Butter

Gather fresh sprigs, and after washing them, chop them fine, and work them into as much butter as will be needed for boiled poultry, lamb, and fish, before the next summer. Put the butter into a stone jar, and cover it with a brine made with nice salt.

The Young Housekeeper's Friend by Mrs. [M. H.] Cornelius, Boston, 1863

Comment: This same technique will work perfectly well for just about any herb, and the resulting butters can provide a vivid enhancement to any recipe in which they are used. If stone jars are in short supply the butters can be sealed tightly in plastic wrap (to keep out air and competing aromas, which is the function served by the salt water Mrs. Cornelius recommends) and refrigerated or frozen.

Return to Recipe Index