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What am I gonna do with all this basil?
Invictus
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
I have just made a significant tactical error, friends.
I have just returned from my community-supported agriculture pickup, and while I was there, I got into a staring contest with the owner, with her contention being that she would give me all the basil I could want, and my contention being that I wanted all the basil she could give me.
Well, it turns out that I lost, not least because, by square footage, her basil is about half as big as my apartment, and she had to cut it down anyway to keep it growing. But before I finally admitted defeat I accumulated, uh, a lot of basil.
Like, a lot a lot. Of the big size produce thin plastic bags they give you at the supermarket, I think I have like four stuffed full of fresh basil. This is particularly a problem because I am alone in the house now, and therefore cooking for one, not two. Thus, the title of the post.
Current plans: I was gonna make an herb salad for dinner tonight with some other stuff, but it turns out she was also willing to give me lemon basil, lime basil, and Thai basil, and mint, so I took enough of all of that to make my salad tonight and then some. That doesn't help with my giant mass of normal basil. I intend to make a big vat of pesto, but srsly, I think I can make and freeze all the pesto we could want for the next 6-9 months and still have a lotta basil left. (Btw, this is my first time making pesto; I am taking all advice on that point as well.)
So what else should I do with all this basil?
I have just returned from my community-supported agriculture pickup, and while I was there, I got into a staring contest with the owner, with her contention being that she would give me all the basil I could want, and my contention being that I wanted all the basil she could give me.
Well, it turns out that I lost, not least because, by square footage, her basil is about half as big as my apartment, and she had to cut it down anyway to keep it growing. But before I finally admitted defeat I accumulated, uh, a lot of basil.
Like, a lot a lot. Of the big size produce thin plastic bags they give you at the supermarket, I think I have like four stuffed full of fresh basil. This is particularly a problem because I am alone in the house now, and therefore cooking for one, not two. Thus, the title of the post.
Current plans: I was gonna make an herb salad for dinner tonight with some other stuff, but it turns out she was also willing to give me lemon basil, lime basil, and Thai basil, and mint, so I took enough of all of that to make my salad tonight and then some. That doesn't help with my giant mass of normal basil. I intend to make a big vat of pesto, but srsly, I think I can make and freeze all the pesto we could want for the next 6-9 months and still have a lotta basil left. (Btw, this is my first time making pesto; I am taking all advice on that point as well.)
So what else should I do with all this basil?
Generalísimo de Fuerzas Armadas de la República Argentina
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Basil can also be frozen for use later in cooked dishes or dried.
Seriously I use a whole large (for bread) freezer bag of basil for one batch of pesto and it doesn't last long. (My wife really likes pesto though). I usually cut the pesto with heavy cream and toss with pasta and whatever else is around the house. Good luck!
If you are a Costco member, the sell pine nuts super cheap. Alternatively you can basically use any nut. Pistachios work ok too
For everyone.
I take this recommendation seriously. Just like a standard gin gimlet, but with muddled basil?
Yessir. Lime + gin + sugar + basil. Here's my buddy's recipe - stolen adapted from a great SF bar called Rye:
* - you can serve this up or on the rocks. I like it up in a martini glass but hard to beat an icy highball on a hot day.
Freeze a bunch of it so you can have basil later.
Herb butter is great.
You can infuse some oil with the basil (Another link).
You can blend basil (or tomato and basil, or garlic and basil, and so on) into all sorts of sauces/spreads you can make, like hummus, mayonnaise, vinaigrettes, etc.
Basil beer bread sounds really good - beer bread itself owns and basil would be great in it.
Basil + watermelon, balsamic vinegar, and feta cheese is pretty nice in the summer.
Make a shitton of tomato sauce and freeze that so you can basically make pasta with tomato sauce any time. Make pizza sauce too, freeze that, make pizza whenever you want.
but they're listening to every word I say
Seconded. These are awesome, especially in the summer.
oh my god
basil butter
yesssss
/swoon
Uncanny Magazine!
The Mad Writers Union
http://southernfood.about.com/od/chickenbreastrecipes/r/bl60110b.htm
Drying is the best bet for reducing the size though, you can use a massive amount just to fill a small jar of dried crushed basil.
Also,if you have any friends, that Thai basil goes amazing on many many soups and noodle dishes (rice stick noodles).
Even without the bread, you still got a super good Caprese salad going there.