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Ocimum basilicum This is the
basil for Italian cuisine and pesto Detailed Growing Instructions: When plants are established, pinch out the top. This encourages a bushier plant. Continuous picking will prolong the life of the plant. Basil also does well in containers. Keep the purple type basil in full sun to retain their vibrant colors. Be sure to pinch out the flowers until you are ready to harvest the leaves as it will have the strongest and best flavor at the time they are about to flower. To hold back flowering as long as possible, simply snip off all developing flower buds as soon as you see them. In basil they are easy to recognize by their stacked, nearly leafless structure. ~ Sweet Basil ~ Basil is also called "sweet basil" and is native to India but it is in the Mediterranean cuisines that it has reached its current high popularity. It's a member of the mint family and has that same sort of highly aromatic quality. Uses for Basil • To one stick of room-temperature butter, add from 1 to 3 teaspoons finely chopped basil for spreading on breads or crackers. • In scrambled eggs or any chopped egg salad, add between one and three teaspoons minced basil. Or sprinkle over poached eggs. • Coarsely chop leaves and add to the cooking water for green beans, broccoli or any other green vegetable. The cooked leaves will surrender some of their flavor to the liquid and themselves have a light spinach taste. • Finely chop the leaves and toss with flour for coating poultry, chops and vegetables. A good ratio is a tablespoon per cup of flour. Add up to two tablespoons chopped fresh basil per cup of batter. • Basil is often called "the tomato herb" and with good reason. The flavors seem made for each other. Here are some ways to wed them: For baked tomatoes, finely chop basil, add shredded cheese, a pinch of pepper and bread crumbs in equal quantities and cover the cut surface of the tomato. Bake at 350 for about 15 minutes. For tomato soup, add a teaspoon of finely chopped basil 5 minutes before service for each portion of soup. For tomato sauce for pasta or pizza, coarsely chop the leaves (1/4 cup for each two cups of tomatoes) and simmer for the last 15 minutes before use. For an interesting beverage, warm tomato juice and add some very finely minced basil leaves. Chill and serve. • Mince a few large leaves and mix with softened butter and a little stock to baste poultry while roasting. • Make a slurry in a blender with 5 or 6 large basil leaves, a couple tablespoons of butter at room temperature and an ounce or two of dry white wine. Brush it on fish or chicken before baking. •
Basil and garlic are very compatible flavors. Run 5 cloves of garlic, a couple
ounces of broth or stock and about a dozen good-sized basil leaves in a processor
until it's a thin, chunky paste. Brush that on lamb, poultry, split zucchini,
eggplant and fish filets before roasting. Baste during cooking. Basil Pesto Ingredients:
~ Purple Basil ~ Purple Basil is somewhat more intensely flavored than sweet basil and also has that wonderful color. The flavor intensity asks that you use a bit less of the purple than the green for any dishes you currently include basil in. Steeping purple basil in distilled or white wine vinegar will color the vinegar a rich reddish-purple. A member of the mint family, native to India. Uses for Purple Basil • Add chopped purple basil leaves to salads with yellow tomatoes for a rich color contrast and sympathetic flavors. • Drop some chopped purple basil leaves into the cooking water for cauliflower to tint it a slightly pink color and add good basil flavor. • Steep purple basil leaves in white wine vinegar to extract both color and flavor - put leaves in a bottle, fill with the vinegar, seal and hold in a dark place for a few weeks. • Add a few finely chopped purple basil leaves to mayonnaise or sour cream to serve with other foods. Hold overnight to get the richest color. • Substitute purple basil for the green basil in pesto and use it as a pasta dressing or spread on grilled bread slices • Garnish richly-flavored chilled soups like gazpacho or avocado soup with purple basil • Add chopped purple basil leaves to marinades for poultry or pork to flavor and color the meats •
Add coarsely chopped purple basil leaves to tomato soup and sauces immediately
before service as a colorful garnish and flavor intensifier. Purple Pesto Penne 4
large handfuls purple basil Boil some salted water in a saucepan and put some pasta on to cook. Put the basil, garlic, and pine nuts into a pestle and mortar, (or food processor), along with a large pinch of the coarse salt- gives flavor, but is also abrasive, so helps grind up the ingredients. Grind everything to a paste. Don't worry about getting it really smooth, a few lumps add texture. Add olive oil gradually to loosen it to the consistency of your preference. Add the parmesan, again adjust the consistency with oil if you want to. Drain your pasta once ready return it to the pan (off the heat) and mix in your sauce
Herb Information:
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