Cooking with Basil

Recently  we were lucky enough to have Lenore from Mommy Wait. do a Guest Post on the joys of Basil Pesto.

This of course prompted a lively discussion on Twitter (follow me @flconcretegrdnr to get involved) on some of the other culinary uses of Basil. Some people for example told me they use it as a natural remedy to sooth headaches, others pair it with stews, soups and especially spaghetti sauce and of course you can't Basil's natural benefits as it has been shown to help lower blood pressure, cholesterol and blood sugar.





With all of that being said, I wanted to take some time and share two recipes that we use at home. One using fresh Basil and another using Dried Basil.

1. Basil wrapped Tilapia

This is perhaps one of my favorite recipes at the moment and works well with almost any light fish.

Take a Baking sheet and lay down Parchment paper. Place freshly washed Basil leaves on the Parchment paper to form a base for the fillet(s). Place the fillet(s) on top of the leaves and lightly season (my preference is some lemon juice and a small amount of pepper). Finally cover the top of the fillet(s) with more leaves and place in a pre-heated oven set at 375 degrees. Cook for the required time and then remove and let the fillet (s) rest for a couple of minutes before servicing the fish complete with Basil leaves.

2. Dried Basil Omelet
After washing and drying the leaves, place similar sized leaves between a Paper Towel. You can also use a Dish Cloth in which case only use half of the Dish Cloth so that you can fold the other half over.

Place the Basil laden Towels/Dish Cloth in the Microwave and depending on the size and power of the Microwave run for one to two minutes on a low setting. When the time is up, check the leaves to see if they are dry and crispy. You want the leaves to crumble under slight pressure in your hand. If they are not ready after two minutes, put the Basil back in the Microwave for 15 - 30 seconds and then check again. Keep repeating until they reach the correct consistency.

Important Note: It is important that you do not leave the Microwave unattended at any time while it is running. Heat the Leaves for short periods when almost dry. If there is no moisture left in the leaves, you leave the Microwave is left running and the Towels/Dish Cloth are dry, there is a risk you could burn or even set fire to your Towels/Dish Cloth. 

When the Basil is dry, either crumble into a jar or add directly to a mixing cup. I always Microwave more than I need, so I started a dried Basil Jar.

 

Add the dried Basil, Onion Chives and a small amount of pepper to the Omelet mix. You can salt to taste, but I find the distinct, flavorful tangy flavor of the Basil and Onion Chives eliminates the need for Salt. Make sure you stir thoroughly before putting in the pan. Try and avoid strong fillings so you can appreciate the taste of the Omelet.

Do you have a recipe to share? A use for Basil that I've not covered? Feel free to send me a tweet or e-mail.

Garden Update

With all of my focus on my Basil Mini Series, it feels like its been a while since I gave an update on the rest of the items in the Concrete Garden Bed. With the wave of harvesting that took place over the last month now over, the majority of the garden has settled down into growing mode or is resting ahead of the fall season. The obvious exceptions being the Herbs which have been doing so well that I'm considering adding a small separate Concrete Plot next year just for them. I've moved into a maintenance mode at the moment for those plants we do still have. It's important to keep the plants healthy through the blazing hot days and the almost daily afternoon/evening rainstorms.

 

Here is a great overhead shot of the main garden. 

Firstly we have the previously mentioned herbs consisting of the Basil, Tarragon (below the Basil) and Onion Chives (to the right of the Basil). All of the Herbs are being gently harvested as we need them in the kitchen. 

Then the rest of the garden has a few other plants at various growing stages. At the far bottom we have some freshly transplanted Pumpkin Seedlings which I'm going to try growing for the next month before deciding whether to keep them. On the far left we have two Soy Bean plants that I have growing in the mini garden squares that I have running around the main bed. They did well in these squares as you will recall when they were next to the Cucumbers and I've had them growing there for three weeks. I'm hoping to start seeing some seed pods growing soon. 

Finally in the background we have the Cucumber plants. Here are a couple of close up photos.

 On the left we have a great shot of the plants with a Marigold plant hiding on the far right. There are actually two Marigold plants, one on either side of the plants. I brought them in to help me combat the Aphid invasion that I have been constantly battling for several weeks. I'm glad to say that I'm finally seeing these efforts paying off. I've been using a combination of organic sprays, helpful insects, water jets and aggressive leave removal. The plants have been almost Aphid free for a week or so now and the plants are putting forth new leaves and plenty of female flowers. I've also included a close up of a growing cucumber that I spotted this morning and I'm hoping it will be ready by next weekend. 

Talking of  a crop that I'm hoping will start producing soon, here's a shot of one side of my Argo Tower and the carrots I've been trying to grow in it.

The carrots have proved to be a larger pain to grow that I foresaw. The seeds have been taking a long time to germinate and it seems that wherever I have planted them the weeds have followed. Its been very labor intensive to keep the growing areas weed free, which is important as weeds choke young carrots very easily. The first wave was planted around six weeks ago, so I'm looking at harvesting in the next week or two. 

So all in all,I'm pleased with the progress of the garden and eagerly looking forward to Tomato Season. Talking of which, time to go look at some seeds.

Basil Legacy: Update

It's hard to believe that just last week, I was putting on a brave face as I blogged on the state of the Basil. So it's nice to be able to start this entry with something more positive to talk about.

As you will recall, I was planning on using some supports to prop up the Basil so that I could get the branches off the ground. The original supports I had planned to use worked after a fashion, but I found that they still left the plant leaning precariously. In the end I was able to recycle an old tomato support system which consists of a flexible metal ring connected to three adjustable and movable support. I put the metal ring around the plant and adjusted the three supports to take the weight of the heaviest branches which in turn allowed me to prop up the entire plant. As an added benefit, the ring and it's supports are a pleasant shade of green which helps them blend in with the Basil. I also made sure to remove the few damaged branches and harvest the leaves around the metal ring to ensure that the support it provides is study and not likely to slip. All in all, I'm happy with my quick fix solution.

Also now that I'm paying more attention to the Basil on a daily basis, I've noticed another benefit from being able to keep the plant upright and in its current location. We have four or five bees that are visiting, feeding and pollinating the white flowers that are blooming at the top of the Basil. Normally I would pinch these flowers off to encourage the plant to keep growing, but the benefits that the bee's are bringing to the garden are making it worthwhile allowing the Basil to follow its natural cycle. I hope to be able to harvest and preserve some of the seeds that will be produced by the bee's pollinating the flowers to supplement my Basil Cuttings.

Talking of Basil Cuttings, here is a picture I took this morning.

As you can see, this cutting is developing a healthy root system and should be ready to transplant into a pot in the next day or two.

When you are getting ready to transplant any plant, it's important to consider the current conditions of the plant you are moving. In my case, the cuttings I am going to be moving are used to growing in a water only environment, so it's going to be important that I soak the soil and take great care when putting the plant into the pot. I'll want to made sure I dig out the hole first and then gently place the soil back in the hole once the cutting is in place.


Of course I'm not growing all of this Basil for the look of it, we're busy using the leaves for all sorts of recipes such as our Pesto. I'll talk more about that in another post.

Guest Post: Basil Pesto

If you're a regular follower of this blog, then you'll know that we've been harvesting Basil from our Concrete Garden for over a  month now. In fact the rate the Basil is growing I don't see forsee any shortage of Basil occurring in the near future. Now you might be asking yourselves "What are they doing with all of that Basil?"

Well my readers, I'll happily admit that cooking is not my strong point, but luckily I'm blessed with an amazing cook for a wife, so to answer that question I'm going to turn you over to todays Guest Poster.

Lenore from

Mommy, Wait!. 

For more information on this and other recipes (Can you say Homemade Pesto Pizza!!!), you can follow Lenore on Twitter @LenoreWait

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When Chris asked me to guest post for him with a recipe using the abundant basil he’s grown in his concrete garden, I really couldn’t afford to say no. I have to live with him; he’s my husband, after all. So, I figured I’d start by sharing a recipe for one of the most basic and versatile things that you can make with basil: pesto. Its versatility is really the thing that I love most about basil aside from its intense herbaceous flavor; you can change up the ingredients based on either what you have on hand or on the flavor profile that you want to convey, plus you can use the pesto itself in hundreds of ways, both simple and complex.

 Stirred into some hot pasta with a little bit of the starchy pasta water added is probably the simplest way to serve pesto. If you add some grilled chicken and some freshly grated parmesan cheese, you have a perfect meal right there! Or, you can mix in some extra olive oil to make it a drizzle over a fresh mozzarella pizza (you can find my simple version of that pizza here), add it to grilled vegetables, or drizzle it over a tomato and basil salad as an easy party appetizer.

Anyway, without further ado, here is the recipe:

Basil Pesto

Ingredients:

3 cups basil leaves, washed
1-3 cloves garlic, depending on your preference (or, if you don’t have fresh garlic on hand, you can use ½ tbsp. garlic powder)
½ cup grated parmesan cheese
1/3 cup slivered almonds (toasted pine nuts are traditional for pesto, but frankly, they are really expensive, so I substitute the almonds and really love the flavor)
1/3-1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

Directions:

1.       Roughly chop the garlic cloves

2.       Put the basil leaves, chopped garlic (or garlic powder), parmesan cheese, and slivered almonds into the bowl of a food processor.

3.       With the power on medium speed, slowly stream the olive oil through the top of the food processor, letting the oil combine with the rest of the ingredients.

4.       Add the oil until the pesto reaches your desired consistency, pulsing towards the end to make sure you don’t add too much.

5.       Serve as you wish or freeze!

As you can see, the directions for making pesto are incredibly simple with a food processor. Plus, the ingredients list is truly just a guideline. You can mix it up in a million ways, including changing up the herbs (try flat leaf parsley or cilantro!) and the nuts (peanuts maybe? Walnuts!) to get all sorts of unique flavors. Plus, pesto freezes beautifully. I usually freeze mine in a single container, but I know an awesome trick is to freeze it in ice cube trays, then pop out the cubes and store them in a large freezer bag. Whenever you want to use pesto, just pop out a couple of cubes, defrost, and you are good to go!

What are your favorite dishes to make using pesto? I’d love to hear about them here or over on my blog, Mommy, Wait! in Orlando, where I’ll be sharing more recipes using our garden’s produce over the next few weeks!



Basil Legacy

If you are a regular follower of me on Twitter (@flconcretegrdnr), you'll remember that on Friday I was tweeting all day about the rain that was due to be rolling through Central Florida this weekend. I can't help myself sometimes, like a lot of natives from England I have a particular passion for discussing the weather. The habit can be traced back to the early 1800's when England was a sea faring nation and the weather was an important topic at any breakfast table. I'm not quite at the borderline obsession point that some of my fellow Brits have reached, but the thought of a good shower rolling through and soaking my plants always makes me a happy gardener.

Yesterday afternoon however turned out to be a weather day I would rather forget. We had a couple of early storms roll through in the afternoon and one of them brought steady torrential rain which lasted for about thirty minutes. The soil in my Concrete Garden got soaked and that appears to have contributed to this happening.

I'll confess, I've been a little worried about the Basil for a few weeks now. It's been growing so well that its been taking over and over shadowing some of the other Herbs. I've been countering that by removing branches from the sides and discouraging further upwards growth . Sadly it looks like my efforts have been in vain and the plant has become too top heavy. The weight was just too much to cope with when the rain loosened up the soil yesterday and over fell a large portion of the plant. 

The news isn't all that bad however. The main branch didn't snap, so the Basil shouldn't die anytime soon and I have some supports I can use to prop it up in the meantime. This means I should still be able to farm the leaves and see if I can help the plant recover once the soil drys a bit. I've also been proactively preparing for the day that the Basil's time is done. I intend to turn the garden into a vast tomato making factory in a month or so when the daytime heat starts to slowly cool and the Basil would have had to have moved on to facilitate that plan anyway.

So in preparation, I've been taking cuttings from the Basil over the last week and starting new plants in a little area I have set aside for seedlings.

Basil is one of the easiest plants to grow from a cutting. Find a side shoot coming off one of the main branches and use a sharp pair of scissors to cleanly separate the two. It is best if you choose a portion of the plant that hasn't already flowered, this will help encourage growth. Strip any leaves from the lower half of the cutting and then place the cutting carefully in a container with rain water (or unfiltered tap water). Place the container somewhere where the cutting will receive indirect sunlight so that it doesn't overheat. Replace the water every couple of days until roots develop and then move carefully over to soil.

As you can see, I have three cuttings, one of which I have already moved to soil and two which I placed in water today. In a couple of weeks if all goes well I will be able to move my cuttings to a large, sturdy pot I have available and then I hope to be able to continue the wonderful legacy that my first Basil plant has started.