I have to harvest and do something with it. Any good recipes or creative ideas?
Here is a great dressing for a chop salad.
1 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon garlic
1 T parmesan
10-12 basil levels
Juice of one lemon
Blend the above
Ice Cream.
Need a recipe?
Basil mojitos. Seriously.
One of the few gadgets I do not have is an ice cream maker. If I try to bring one into the apartment, my girlfriend might not let me back in.
Recipe?
Loads of recipes online, some tart it us with lemon or strawberries. I’ve made 'em just like a regular mojito, but subbing the basil for mint.
Usually I omit the sugar as I find that the rum can be sweet enough for me without it.
Sounds great. Just added buttermilk to my shopping list - thanks!
Since it doesn’t use much buttermilk, I always make pancakes a few days after I make this dressing.
Tomorrow will be blueberry pancakes
Don’t forget mashed potatos if your trying to use up buttermilk.
in the summer it gets mixed with parsley chopped and sprinkled on top of pretty much every protein i cook. on eggs for breakfast. on pasta. etc.
Pesto, basil chimichurri, second on that mojito…sounds awesome. Have some purple basil in the garden; that should make for an interesting visual in a drink.
Clean and chop. Mix with olive oil and freeze in portions for adding to sauces or making pesto in the winter
Fresh basil & tomato salad.
Fresh basil in tomato bruschetta topping.
Rice with fresh basil, add chopped basil within 5-10 minutes of of rice finishing cooking.
Simple prosciutto sandwiches with provolone & fresh basil drizzled with olive oil and balsamic vinegar.
Just about every manner of pizza topped with basil.
Balsamic salad dressing with fresh basil:
- mince a whole lot of super fresh basil
- put in measuring cup with freshly ground salt and pepper, more than you’d think to use
- combine with 1 part balsamic to 2 parts olive oil
- whisk/briskly stir in 1/2 a teaspoon or more of coarse ground mustard until emulsified
- let sit for 30 minutes or more before using
- top on fresh salad with veggies of choice and more basil
- yum
1/2 a teaspoon is usually good for 1 1/2 to 2 cups of salad dressing, go to a full teaspoon for 3-4 or more. This dressing also tastes great on the prosciutto sandwich.
Grilled shrimp with citrus and fresh basil – marinate shrimp for 15-25 minutes in about 1 part olive oil, 1 part fresh squeezed citrus, salt & pepper and tons of fresh basil (might sound weird…but I really like this with lime and grapefruit as the citrus). Totally great if the basil sticks on the shrimp for grilling after draining the marinade. Great as a companion with basil rice.
I love fresh basil.
I made a pizza yesterday where the base was garlic, basil and olive oil ground in a mortar and pestle then I added cocoa nibs. Then to top the pizza I tossed yellow cauliflower in miso and a bit more olive oil. Finished with red pepper flakes. Turned out well.
The two best things you can do with basil are first, bruschetta, where you leave everything whole. Chopped up bruschetta mixes are an abomination. And any bruschetta prep that involves putting it in the oven is a worse one.
A slice of tomato, a couple leaves of basil, a thin shave of Parm Regg, placed atop garlic rubbed toasted ciabatta. A turn of a pepper mill. Anoint with olive oil. Might be the best bite of food widely available to humans.
And despite it being obvious, pesto. But get the proportions right. 2 cups PACKED basil leaves. 1/2 cup oil. 2 cloves garlic, 2-3 tablespoons of pine nuts, 1/2 cup parm regg, 1/4 cup romano. Chop the garlic by hand before cuisinart. Grate the cheese and mix those in by hand at the end.
Cherry-Basil Soda
•1 quart pitted, stemmed cherries
•1/4 cup granulated sugar
•1/8 teaspoon sea salt
•1/4 cup chopped fresh basil leaves
•1 teaspoon lemon juice
Cook then puree the above, chill, add seltzer or carbonate
Basil, pine nuts, olive oil into Cuisinart.
Chop to your favored consistency.
May be frozen (for long periods) and will still make for fresh tasting pesto.
I little olive oil tossed with basil leaves. Bake at 350 for just a few minutes, until crispy, then mash them into a jar and you have a milder basil sprinkle.
Infuse into some Everclear and you will have a wildly potent basil extract to add a drop or two to dishes.
make pesto with goat cheese.
2 small cloves of garlic or one large
2tbl good pine nuts (no trader joes)
1 large bunch basil leaves
1/3-1/2c good olive oil
in a food processor
Process garlic and pine nuts. add basil and oil and process until a paste. scrape into a serving bowl and add about 3" of a narrow goat cheese log and mash and combine with a fork. salt and pepper.
toss pasta with that mixture adding 1/3-1/2c pasta water to thin it down.
That is just begging for some vodka.
JD