Add mint when cooking peas. Add some to a potato salad. Bake fish on a bed of mint. Use mint instead of rosemary when roasting a leg of lamb. Add mint to the gravy to serve with roast lamb. Chop mint finely and sprinkle it into a bowl of strawberries. Mint goes well with a lot of veges, including beans, zucchini, tomatoes, potatoes (try new potatoes boiled, then coated with butter and mint - to die for). Coat mint leaves with melted chocolate, and serve as an after-dinner treat, or use to decorate cakes etc. Add mint to stuffings for lamb, fish. Freeze mint leaves whole in some fruit juice, and use the ice blocks to float in a fruit punch. In stinking-hot summer weather, keep a jug of water in the fridge, in which you have placed a large sprig of mint. Very, very refreshing.
Goes well with: Meat, fish, vegetables, salads, fruit salads, stewed pears/apples. Use in lamb dishes, jellies, with cold cuts, cheese, peas, Middle Eastern dishes.
Tabouleh
3/4 cup bulghur (cracked wheat), medium or fine
3/4 cup water
2 large bunches parsley
large bunch mint
4 green onions
juice of 2 lemons
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/4 cup olive oil
2 large, ripe tomatoes
Place cracked wheat and water in a large bowl and set aside to soak for one hour. Stem off the parsley, mint and onions, wash thoroughly and chop very fine. Squeeze cracked wheat between the hands to remove excess water. Return to the bowl and add the greens. Add lemon juice, salt and olive oil, adjusting the amounts to your liking. Dice one tomato and add it to the salad. Slice the second tomato to use in decorating the dish. Serve on a bed of lettuce.
Apple Mint Jelly
1kg green apples
1.25 litres water
juice of 2 lemons,
sugar
1 bunch of mint, chopped
1 large bunch apple mint, chopped
green food colouring (optional)
Chop apples without peeling, place in a saucepan with water and lemon juice. Bring to the boil and cook until fruit is soft. Strain through muslin overnight. Next day measure juice and for each 625ml juice add 500g sugar. Add the mint and stir constantly over heat until sugar has dissolved. Bring to the boil and boil briskly until setting point is reached. Add a little green food colouring if desired. Bottle and seal.
Mint Pesto Brownies
6 tablespoons butter
60g unsweetened baking chocolate
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup flour
1/4 cup mint pesto
Preheat oven to 180°C. Lightly butter the bottom only of a 20cm square baking pan. Melt the butter and chocolate together until smooth. Stir in sugar. Beat in eggs and vanilla then lightly stir in the flour. Turn batter into prepared pan. Pipe lines of pesto going one direction and then run a knife through the lines in the opposite direction to swirl. Bake for about 25 minutes or until brownies begin to pull away from the sides of the pan. For best results, allow to cool completely before cutting.
Mint Pesto:
1/2 cup macadamia nuts
2 cups fresh mint leaves, packed
1/3 cup honey
1 tablespoon vanilla
In a food processor, briefly chop the nuts before adding the remaining ingredients. Puree until reduced to a paste. If not using right away, transfer to a glass container, lay plastic wrap over the top so it is touching thus keeping air from penetrating the pesto. Store in refrigerator for up to a month. Use as a filling for sandwich cookies or mix some into chocolate sauce for ice cream or cake.
Mint Pesto Brownies
6 tablespoons butter
60g unsweetened baking chocolate
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup flour
1/4 cup mint pesto
Preheat oven to 180°C. Lightly butter the bottom only of a 20cm square baking pan. Melt the butter and chocolate together until smooth. Stir in sugar. Beat in eggs and vanilla then lightly stir in the flour. Turn batter into prepared pan. Pipe lines of pesto going one direction and then run a knife through the lines in the opposite direction to swirl. Bake for about 25 minutes or until brownies begin to pull away from the sides of the pan. For best results, allow to cool completely before cutting.
Mint Pesto:
1/2 cup macadamia nuts
2 cups fresh mint leaves, packed
1/3 cup honey
1 tablespoon vanilla
In a food processor, briefly chop the nuts before adding the remaining ingredients. Puree until reduced to a paste. If not using right away, transfer to a glass container, lay plastic wrap over the top so it is touching thus keeping air from penetrating the pesto. Store in refrigerator for up to a month. Use as a filling for sandwich cookies or mix some into chocolate sauce for ice cream or cake.
Mint Sauce [the classic sauce to serve with roast lamb]
2 tablespoons chopped fresh mint
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon boiling water
1/2 cup vinegar
Wash and dry the mint, remove stalks, chop finely and add sugar. Pour in the boiling water. Add vinegar and stir well. Serve with roast lamb. [Note: if you combine the leaves and sugar first, it will make the leaves easier to chop, so they don't cling to the cutters or knife.]
Minted Baked Tomatoes
2 tomatoes
1 shallot, finely chopped
2 teaspoons finely chopped mint
salt and pepper to taste
pinch sugar
2 cups breadcrumbs
1-2 teaspoons butter
Cut tomatoes in halves and scoop out the centres into a bowl. Add shallot, mint, salt, pepper and sugar, stir to combine, then spoon mixture into the tomato shells. Top with breadcrumbs, then dot with butter. Bake in a greased dish at 180°C for about 20 minutes. Serve as an entrée, or with grilled meats.
Meatballs with Mint [nice with or without the sauce, and you can use other meats]
600g minced lamb
salt and pepper
1 tablespoon oil
60g finely chopped onion
3 tablespoons chopped parsley
3 tablespoons chopped mint
Put the meat into a bowl and season with salt and pepper. Heat the oil in a saucepan and saute the onion until lightly coloured. Stir the onion into the meat. Add the herbs and mix well. Form into small balls, place on a greased baking tray and bake for 25 minutes at 180°C, turning once or twice. Or the meatballs may be cooked in a frypan. Serve with Yoghurt and Mint Sauce.
Yoghurt and Mint Sauce
300ml plain yoghurt
1 cucumber, peeled and coarsely grated
1-2 cloves garlic, crushed
salt and pepper
24 mint leaves
Beat the yoghurt until smooth. Squeeze excess moisture from the cucumber between the hands. Puree the yoghurt, cucumber and garlic together in a blender with the salt, pepper and mint. Refrigerate. Quantities may be halved if desired. Serve with hot or cold roast lamb, grilled chops, over hot boiled new potatoes.
. And it seems such a waste for all that mint to be sitting there doing nothing 
. So if anyone has any ideas, 
