Middle Tennessee is experiencing 30's temps at night with heavy frost...alas...the beautiful and delicious Basil...has instantly died...the death was quick and total :) But...all is not lost. I had a couple of pots left from the last plant sale and had combined those into one large potting, so there is a yummy pot of Genovese basil in my basement to get me through the withdrawal period.
Try basil leaves on sandwiches in place of or an addition to lettuce.
When you have the munchies...instead of chips or cookies or as an appetizer's for your guest...your choice of thinly sliced meat...
( I use organic turkey )
a thin layer of pepper jelly and spreadable Goat cheese on the meat-and a couple of basil leaves atop the jelly...roll up and hold with party stickers ( aka-toothpicks ) Talk about good ! ( you'll get a healthy dose of vitamins and protein without the empty calorie count )
And of course, dried basil is a must in your favorite soups, chowders, and red sauce.....and, you are in luck...the perfect place to get it is....
http://www.sagehillfarmsandvintagestore.com/
Need recipes...search through the past months of this blog or the recipe archive on the website.
Happy and deliciously good...fall season.
Try basil leaves on sandwiches in place of or an addition to lettuce.
When you have the munchies...instead of chips or cookies or as an appetizer's for your guest...your choice of thinly sliced meat...
( I use organic turkey )
And of course, dried basil is a must in your favorite soups, chowders, and red sauce.....and, you are in luck...the perfect place to get it is....
http://www.sagehillfarmsandvintagestore.com/
Need recipes...search through the past months of this blog or the recipe archive on the website.
Happy and deliciously good...fall season.
5 comments:
I mourn your loss. Mine is hanging on in a pot under the eves of the house...but even that won't protect much longer. I do miss our herbs when the winter comes.
Jane, I'm so fond of dried herbs that I really don't miss the fresh ones that much...except the basil.
I eat very close to 'seasonal' so dried is easy to intergrate into those dishes.
Don't know if you've tried this or not, but one way I like to keep basil frozen is to wash the leaves, let them dry completely so they won't stick to each other when frozen, and then pack them whole in freezer container (boxes with lids - not bags) When I need a few, I take out just what I need. They thaw instantly and crumble in your hands, so you need to hold them over whatever it is your cooking. I think the taste is almost like fresh.
A question: Someone told me a few years ago that an Italian woman said she stores her fresh basil leaves in layers of salt, and they stay intact and green. I tried this, but they just turned black. Has anyone ever heard of this?
Dottie, I've read about the salting down method, never tried it as I don't see how it could be a workable option. Salt is a drawing agent ( salt slices of eggplant and see the liquid/moisture that seeps from it.) This works when the liquid is water soluble-with basil the liquid is oil...I will give it a try and see what happens.
Thanks for sharing....
I don't see how the salting method can work either. I only heard about this second hand, so maybe the person who told me about it had the story all wrong. About salting eggplant, I learned recently that if the stem end of an eggplant is green, there is no need to salt it, and it's true. This bit of information saved me so much time when we were using our bumper crop of eggplants this summer and fall.
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