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11 Wednesday Sep 2013
Posted in Canning & Preserving
Tags
The last of the basil came in this week, yet I refuse to admit that summer may be over.
If you haven’t tried preserving basil in olive oil cubes yet, you are missing out. Do it. You’ll thank me in the middle of winter when it’s dark by 4:30 p.m., and you’re freezing your ass off. That little taste of summer just might get you through January. You’re welcome.
07 Friday Sep 2012
Posted in Canning & Preserving
This post should really be titled, “Preserving the Last of the Summer.” I know the summer is over when it’s time for the last of the basil to be harvested. Sigh.
Last summer, I chopped it up and froze it in ice cubes. This is actually pretty awesome because during the winter, whenever I made soup or spaghetti sauce, I’d just toss a couple basil cubes in and it was like a burst of summer flavour. This summer, I’m freezing some of it in olive oil (I saw it on Pinterest). I figure it can still be used in soups and sauces, but also in stir fries and such. We’ll see. They sure look pretty anyway.
27 Monday Aug 2012
Posted in Canning & Preserving, Gardening
Tags
Basil, Cooking, Home, Olive oil, Parmigiano-Reggiano, Pesto, Pine nut, preserving
It’s that time of year – the basil is ready! It was a good basil year. I ended up with enough to make four batches, and there’s still some left in the garden (to use with spaghetti sauce when the tomatoes are ready). My friend Anita came over to help. I find it’s important to use quality ingredients, even if they are expensive. One year, I cheaped out and used walnuts and fake Parmesan, and it was awful. What a waste of delicious basil! Now I only use the best (even if that means spending $22 on a bag of pine nuts – yowza).
(I was ridiculously excited when Anita pulled an apron out of her bag. I wanted to wear mine, too – it has chickens and roosters on it.)
Pesto making day is the best – the house smells like fresh basil for hours after. Yum.
