Basil for the single person :-)

On Sat, 05 Mar 2011 11:18:04 -0500, James Silverton
wrote:


If buying fresh basil as needed is too pricy for you and you're
unwilling to grow your own (indoors or outdoors) then you're SOL.

If you're going to cook fresh basil into recipes simply make extra and
freeze. If you want fresh basil for salads you might look into
similarly flavored herbs as substitutes; fennel works well. I think
fennel works better with tomato sauce and sausage anyway, I think
basil is way over rated... fennel works very well in salads. And
unlike basil fennel likes cold so keeps much longer in the fridge.
Btw, if dried basil is rehydrated in cold water prior to using it in
recipes it will taste exactly like fresh or better. All dried herbs
should be rehydrated prior to cooking, especially with acetic foods...
dried basil should never be added directly to tomato sauce, it will
just add bitterness, no sweet basil flavor at all. There is nothing
bad about dehydrated foods, you just need to learn how to cook...
drying is the oldest form of food preserving, most dried foods taste
better than when fresh. If all dehydrated foods were removed from the
market shelves there'd be pittifully little to eat, not even a slice
of bread.
 
James Silverton wrote:


This little hydroponics setup solves the low light and maintenance
problems-
http://www.amazon.com/Prepara-Grow-...6?ie=UTF8&s=home-garden&qid=1299354956&sr=8-6

It is about $80 & you have to look at it as a decorating expense that
happens to have fresh herbs sticking out of it. I keep forgetting
to hook up the meter to it to see how much electricity it uses daily.
Mine has been going for a couple months-- and I could probably snip a
couple tbls each of parsley, basil and savory at this point.

I give it some water every 2 weeks-

More economical and remarkably effective was the "Herb Savor" that
came with it. I got 6 weeks out of some parsley in the door of the
refrigerator. I've seen them for $20-30, so you might as well get
the little garden too.

Jim
 
On Sat, 05 Mar 2011 12:58:47 -0500, James Silverton
wrote:


Not on the counter, but in the refrigerator. A small glass, like a
jelly jar. It keeps for well over a week that way. at which point you
can chuck the water, remove the leaves from the stems, and spread the
leaves in a small dish(like a 4 0z. prep dish) on the counter to dry,
which will take about another two weeks.

During those two weeks, you can use them as you would fresh for
cooking. So you basically have fresh basil for over three weeks, and
the remainer in a jar as dried. Makes your $2.50 go a lot farther.

We almost always have prep dishes of basil, parsley, rosemary, and
oregano on the counter by the knife block. They only require a total
area six inches square.

My wife, the gardner, tries to sneak in summer savory and others, as
if I knew what to do with them...

-- Larry
 
On Sat, 5 Mar 2011 12:51:24 -0500, "jmcquown"
wrote:


Yes, freeze the leftovers. I always chop basil in olive oil (mini
food processor) and freeze it that way, because that's the way it's
going to be used anyway.

--

Today's mighty oak is just yesterday's nut that held its ground.
 
In article ,
James Silverton wrote:


Ask the produce guy if you can buy half a bunch. He just might give you
three stems foc.

--
Barb, Mother Superior, HOSSSPoJ
Holy Order of the Sacred Sisters of St. Pectina of Jella
"Always in a jam, never in a stew; sometimes in a pickle."
Pepparkakor particulars posted 11-29-2010;
http://web.me.com/barbschaller
 
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