What to do with A glut of Basil?

[thecuriousone]

Hi All-

I have a glut of basil in my fredge. 17-18 bunches that are a little wilted and bruised but otherwise fine. I've dipped them in water and they have perked up a bit.

My question is what should I do with them? I would like to preserve all but 1-2 of the bunches and my thought was to blanch the leaves for 10 sec., puree with a little olive oil and freeze in tablespoon amounts to see me through the winter. Any other ideas? I also thought about Pesto, but I made a bunch of that just before the first frost. I thought about salsa verde by am not sure it uses basil.

Any other suggestions??

Thanks in advance for all the great ideas I know that I'll get.

[andiesenji]

I have several packets of frozen basil in my freezer, I vacuum seal it so it keeps longer.

this site has good advice.

[Smithy]

You just harvested basil? We've already had snow!

Much along the lines of what you do, I whirl mine up with olive oil and freeze it, both in ice cube trays (for those tablespoon amounts) and in larger containers for mid-winter pesto. Following the advice of some cookery "expert" I just do the garlic and basil for the pesto before freezing. Now I've forgotten who the "expert" was, but he or she claimed that adding the cheese and nuts before freezing would make it go bitter. (I don't know whether it's true. I routinely freeze nuts and grated parmeggiano-reggiano, and they don't seem to suffer.)

I've also mixed the basil in with other compatible herbs before whirling in the food processor, adding oil and freezing. That way you can have a cube of flavoring ready to go for sauce-making. Garlic is a given. Parsley, rosemary, thyme, mint have all made their ways into my flavor cubes.

[thecuriousone]

HI Nancy-

No, not harvesting, purchasing. The bunches were on a reduced table from the place I get veggies. They were a little wilted, and I'm sure that I embarrassed myself as I snatched them up. But where else can you find fresh basil for a nickel a bunch now?

You dont blanch your basil before you freeze it? Does it turn dark when you use it?

[Peter Green]

Pesto time.

[CaliPoutine]

How about some basil jelly?

[SheenaGreena]

basil oil! although you probably wouldn't use alot of it and it would only be used as a garnish.

unless you can use it for salad dressing, yum yum

[Smithy]

HI Nancy-

No, not harvesting, purchasing. The bunches were on a reduced table from the place I get veggies.  They were a little wilted, and I'm sure that I embarrassed myself as I snatched them up. But where else can you find fresh basil for a nickel a bunch now?

You dont blanch your basil before you freeze it?  Does it turn dark when you use it?

←

I don't blanch it. It does turn darker, but for my general uses (the sauce cubes) it doesn't matter, and even with pesto it doesn't seem to hurt the flavor. Some day I'll try blanching to see whether I think the extra step is worth the appearance for pesto.

I'd cheerfully embarrass myself to get nickel-a-bunch basil! I forgot to rescue any from the garden and start it indoors before it all froze. Enjoy your find!

[ruthcooks]

I have successfully preserved basil in my refrigerator, layering dry leaves with a non-iodized salt in a glass quart jar. I also tried olive oil, but the salted ones were better and kept for months although they did lose the bright green color.

[chromedome]

Make herbed butter. Put some of your windfall into the food processor with a stick or two of butter, and whiz it until it's well mixed. Shape into a log, and freeze. When you want to use a little, slice off a disc and have at it: melted on a piece of fish or chicken, added to an omelette, or whatever.

It's a good way to preserve most herbs.

[Miriam Kresh]

I've never blanched basil, but it occurs to me that doing so would cook off some of the aromatic essential oils. Can anyone tell us if that's so? And I wouldn't bother drying basil; it has all the flavor of straw when dried. At least, to me.

However, I do freeze pesto, without the cheese but with the pine nuts, and have not found it bitter afterwards. The cheese is omitted because I want to keep the pesto "pareve"; that is neither dairy nor meat, for adding to either kind of meal according to the laws of kashrut. I wouldn't hesitate to freeze it with cheese if it suited me.

Seems to me that freezing, either as pesto, or an ingredient in herb butter, or preserving in salt or oil, are good options. But two lovely things to make when basil is fresh and fragrant are basil mayonnaise - just add some washed, dried fresh basil leaves to a rather stiff mayo and blend it on in - and basil/orange peel vinegar.

I don't have a recipe for the vinegar, but get a clean jar, place the washed peel of one orange and a big handful of basil leaves in it, and fill it up with cider vinegar. Leave it alone for at least 2 weeks to infuse. It will last a year, and is it lovely. I like it with sweet/sour salads, and beet salad goes particularly well with this vinegar.

Miriam

[C_Ruark]

How about some basil jelly?

←

GOOD IDEA! I second that!

Would you consider making basil vinegar? It's highly versatile and adds subtle flavor to everything from the garden, even melons and berries.

I've never blanched basil, but it occurs to me that doing so would cook off some of the aromatic essential oils.

... and basil/orange peel vinegar.

Miriam

←

Read through the thread and saw Miriam mentioned the vinegar, too. Adding orange peel to my next batch.

As for the blanching process, you're just shocking the color in, and to a very small degree driving the oils. And it's brief, too much heat will start the oxidation process and things get bitter.

Tip from my Cooks Illustrated notes on getting flavor out: Before using basil in recipe processing, place the basil in a ziploc bag, evacuate as much air as possible, and using a rolling-pin with firm pressure, roll over the leaves.

Edited November 7, 2006 by C_Ruark (log)

[Catriona]

At my wedding, we had a basil infusion (think mint tea) after the meal, which was delicious and unusual.

[DTBarton]

We freeze pesto all the time when we have the basil glut. I like to freeze it without the cheese or butter for two reasons.

1. Then I can cut off chunks and use it to season marinara or other sauces.

2. When you add the cheese and butter fresh, it seems to refresh the frozen basil/garlic/olive oil/pine nut mixture and give it a brighter flavor.