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Posted Thu Jun 12, 2008 4:17 pm...
Explore the Bountiful World of Basil
By KRIS WETHERBEE
Whenever Im uncertain about what to prepare for dinner, I head for the basils in my herb garden. Before long, one of them asserts itself and I know just what to cook. Sometimes, the licorice and fennel scents of Siam Queen stand out, inspiring me to harvest its leaves for a fresh vegetable stir-fry. Other times, the spicy notes of Cinnamon basil put me in the mood for cinnamon basil scones. Or Genovese basils mint, clove and thyme aromas might call to me, turning my thoughts to an extraordinary chicken, spinach and basil quiche.
With more than 50 varieties available in a range of colors, flavors, textures and forms, basil (Ocimum basilicum) offers rich possibilities for adventurous gardeners and cooks. Imagine the striking contrast you can create in your garden or on a dinner plate by pairing the purple-bronze leaves of Red Rubin basil with sunny Lemon Gem marigolds, for instance, or by mixing purple-streaked African Blue basil with the green leaves and purple flowers of Siam Queen basil.
Finding room to grow a bunch of basils wont be difficult either. A member of the mint family, this exuberant annual will thrive in the kitchen garden, ornamental border, herb bed, pots and planters. Heres all you need to know to begin your exploration of the bountiful world of basil.
Getting Started
In the garden, this classic summertime herb responds to sunlight and warmth. For a bountiful crop with full-flavored leaves, choose a site that receives at least six hours of direct sun each day.
Unlike many culinary herbs, basil needs fairly rich soil. Before you plant, work a generous amount of compost or well-aged manure into the soil. This not only will provide nutrients for the plants, but also will improve drainage in clay soil and increase moisture retention in sandy soil.
Sow basil seeds directly in the ground, or set out transplants, only when nighttime temperatures remain above 50 degrees. Basil seedlings are very sensitive to frost. Plant the tiny seeds just beneath the surface, or scatter them on the soil, then cover with a thin layer (1/8 to 1/4 inch) of compost or vermiculite. Be sure to keep the soil evenly moist, because the seedlings can take up to 30 days to germinate.
Basil seeds also can be started indoors about four to six weeks before you intend to plant the seedlings in the garden. Basil is easy to transplant at most any size, but 2- to 6-inch tall seedlings work best. The exception is Lemon basil, which should be directly seeded where it will grow, as it does not adjust well when transplanted.
Thin or transplant the seedlings to stand 6 to 12 inches apart in the garden, depending on the variety. Compact varieties even can be spaced a bit tighter to form a miniature hedge.
Growing On
For those big, lush leaves we all love, see that your basil receives plenty of moistureabout the same amount needed for spinach or lettuce. Ideally, the soil will be consistently moist; basil plants can suffer if the soil remains dry for extended periods. To help keep soil evenly moist, mulch plants as soon as summer warmth settles in.
For a bountiful harvest right up until frost, give your basil a midsummer boost by side-dressing the plants with compost or a nitrogen-rich organic fertilizer.
Harvest Hints
Youll harvest more basil from a lush, bushy plant than you will from a tall, lanky one. To help your basil attain its more productive form, pinch off the top cluster of leaves when the plant reaches 6 inches tall. Always pinch above a leaf node (the joint in the stem where the leaves grow). That way, new branches will form and grow where the nodes remain.
When the plant has several branches and is 12 to 18 inches tall, cut it back by two-thirds. (You can use that first big harvest to make several batches of pesto or other basil delights.) The remaining plant will re-grow and be ready to harvest in another two to four weeks, allowing you to harvest continually throughout the summer and the more you harvest, the bushier and more productive your plant will become.
Basil tastes best before it blooms; after the plant flowers, its essential oils (and flavor) diminish. If your plant gets ahead of your harvest and it flowers anyway, dont despair. You still can use the leaves in cooking until the flowers form seed. Simply strip off the flowers and toss them into salads or sandwiches. And the entire plantleaves, stems and flowersalso can be used to make tasty basil vinegar.
Preservation Perfected
The flavor of basil is always best fresh. To keep basil fresh-tasting and close at hand after harvest, put it in a glass of water on your kitchen counterjust as you would a floral bouquet. (Dont refrigerate basil; it will darken and last only a few days at best.) Submerge the lower stems in water to just below the bottommost leaves. By changing the water daily, your basil bouquet will maintain its fresh flavor for up to 10 days.
For longer-term storage, chop or tear the leaves, then cover them with olive oil and keep in a refrigerator for up to several months.
You also can freeze chopped basil either as a homemade pesto or in ice cube trays filled with water or stock. After the cubes have frozen solid, pop them out of the tray and store them in plastic freezer bags. Remove one or more cubes as needed to flavor soups and stews, or to bring a touch of summertime flavor to winter stir-fries and sauts.
Here are two of my favorite ways (Pesto with a Twist and Pesto Pizza with Tomato and Eggplant) to enjoy basil at the height of its culinary powersfresh from the garden in high summer.
A frequent contributor to The Herb Companion, Kris Wetherbee gardens, cooks and writes in the hills of western Oregon.
10 Basils You'll Love
African Blue Dramatic purple-streaked leaves, pink to purple flowers and a warm camphor scent make this tall variety a stand out in the garden and in bouquets.
Cinnamon Attractive landscape plant with purple stems and flowers and a distinctive cinnamon taste and scent. Best in fruit salads, herbal teas and Mediterranean dishes.
Genovese Classic large-leaf Italian type with highly aromatic leaves and spicy flavor. Excellent for fresh or frozen use and one of the best for pesto.
Holy Basil Also known as Sacred basil or tulsi (O. sanctum). Stunning in the landscape and very aromatic, with clove-scented leaves. Best used as a salad garnish or in herbal teas.
Italian Large Leaf Excellent Italian type is extremely productive; large green leaves are slightly sweeter than those of other basils. A favorite for cooking.
Lemon Compact plant has smaller leaves than other types and a strong lemony scent. The strains Mrs. Burns and Sweet Dani have slightly larger leaves better suited to cooking. Great for fish, chicken, vegetable and fruit dishes, or use to accent soups, salads and desserts. Makes a tasty, lemony pesto.
Mammoth Extra-large, slightly puckered leaves can be used in cooking to wrap other ingredients, or like lettuce in sandwiches; also great in salads and pesto.
Red Rubin An improved form of Dark Opal with the largest leaves of purple basils. Very ornamental in the garden; fragrant and flavorful. Purple-bronze leaves make a unique-colored pesto and a pretty vinegar.
Siam Queen The best of the Thai-type basils; licorice aroma and flavor are especially good in fish and beef dishes. Wonderful in curries and Thai cuisine.
Spicy Globe Ideal for pots, window boxes or a miniature basil hedge. Compact plants grow just 10 inches tall with small leaves and a rounded form.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Pesto Pizza with Tomato and Eggplant
Makes one 12-inch pizza
1 (10-ounce) prepared pizza dough or crust
3/4 cup prepared pesto sauce
1 cup shredded smoked Swiss or smoked
cheddar cheese (a Swiss-heavy mix is great)
1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1 1/2 to 2 cups sliced firm tomatoes (about 5 Roma-style tomatoes)
1 cup finely chopped Japanese eggplant
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 sweet red pepper, chopped (about 3/4 cup)
1/3 to 1/3 cup pitted and chopped kalamata olives
Preheat oven to 475 degrees.
Spread pesto evenly over prepared dough, leaving a -inch border.
Sprinkle with both cheeses. Arrange tomato slices over entire pizza.
Toss eggplant with olive oil. Top pizza with eggplant, red pepper and olives.
Bake 15 to 18 minutes or until crust is golden crisp and cheese is bubbly.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Pesto with a Twist
This pesto combines classic basil flavor with a touch of lemony sage. For best results when freezing any pesto, omit the cheese and add it laterafter the pesto has thawed and is ready to use.
1 cup fresh Italian-type basil leaves, lightly packed
1 cup fresh Lemon basil leaves, lightly packed
1/4 cup fresh sage leaves, lightly packed
1/3 cup chopped walnuts
2 to 3 large garlic cloves, peeled
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano or Pecorino cheese
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
Combine basils, sage, walnuts, garlic and cheese in a food processor and pulse until coarsely chopped.
With the machine running, slowly add olive oil and continue to process to a fine paste.
Season with salt and pepper and serve immediately
By KRIS WETHERBEE
Whenever Im uncertain about what to prepare for dinner, I head for the basils in my herb garden. Before long, one of them asserts itself and I know just what to cook. Sometimes, the licorice and fennel scents of Siam Queen stand out, inspiring me to harvest its leaves for a fresh vegetable stir-fry. Other times, the spicy notes of Cinnamon basil put me in the mood for cinnamon basil scones. Or Genovese basils mint, clove and thyme aromas might call to me, turning my thoughts to an extraordinary chicken, spinach and basil quiche.
With more than 50 varieties available in a range of colors, flavors, textures and forms, basil (Ocimum basilicum) offers rich possibilities for adventurous gardeners and cooks. Imagine the striking contrast you can create in your garden or on a dinner plate by pairing the purple-bronze leaves of Red Rubin basil with sunny Lemon Gem marigolds, for instance, or by mixing purple-streaked African Blue basil with the green leaves and purple flowers of Siam Queen basil.
Finding room to grow a bunch of basils wont be difficult either. A member of the mint family, this exuberant annual will thrive in the kitchen garden, ornamental border, herb bed, pots and planters. Heres all you need to know to begin your exploration of the bountiful world of basil.
Getting Started
In the garden, this classic summertime herb responds to sunlight and warmth. For a bountiful crop with full-flavored leaves, choose a site that receives at least six hours of direct sun each day.
Unlike many culinary herbs, basil needs fairly rich soil. Before you plant, work a generous amount of compost or well-aged manure into the soil. This not only will provide nutrients for the plants, but also will improve drainage in clay soil and increase moisture retention in sandy soil.
Sow basil seeds directly in the ground, or set out transplants, only when nighttime temperatures remain above 50 degrees. Basil seedlings are very sensitive to frost. Plant the tiny seeds just beneath the surface, or scatter them on the soil, then cover with a thin layer (1/8 to 1/4 inch) of compost or vermiculite. Be sure to keep the soil evenly moist, because the seedlings can take up to 30 days to germinate.
Basil seeds also can be started indoors about four to six weeks before you intend to plant the seedlings in the garden. Basil is easy to transplant at most any size, but 2- to 6-inch tall seedlings work best. The exception is Lemon basil, which should be directly seeded where it will grow, as it does not adjust well when transplanted.
Thin or transplant the seedlings to stand 6 to 12 inches apart in the garden, depending on the variety. Compact varieties even can be spaced a bit tighter to form a miniature hedge.
Growing On
For those big, lush leaves we all love, see that your basil receives plenty of moistureabout the same amount needed for spinach or lettuce. Ideally, the soil will be consistently moist; basil plants can suffer if the soil remains dry for extended periods. To help keep soil evenly moist, mulch plants as soon as summer warmth settles in.
For a bountiful harvest right up until frost, give your basil a midsummer boost by side-dressing the plants with compost or a nitrogen-rich organic fertilizer.
Harvest Hints
Youll harvest more basil from a lush, bushy plant than you will from a tall, lanky one. To help your basil attain its more productive form, pinch off the top cluster of leaves when the plant reaches 6 inches tall. Always pinch above a leaf node (the joint in the stem where the leaves grow). That way, new branches will form and grow where the nodes remain.
When the plant has several branches and is 12 to 18 inches tall, cut it back by two-thirds. (You can use that first big harvest to make several batches of pesto or other basil delights.) The remaining plant will re-grow and be ready to harvest in another two to four weeks, allowing you to harvest continually throughout the summer and the more you harvest, the bushier and more productive your plant will become.
Basil tastes best before it blooms; after the plant flowers, its essential oils (and flavor) diminish. If your plant gets ahead of your harvest and it flowers anyway, dont despair. You still can use the leaves in cooking until the flowers form seed. Simply strip off the flowers and toss them into salads or sandwiches. And the entire plantleaves, stems and flowersalso can be used to make tasty basil vinegar.
Preservation Perfected
The flavor of basil is always best fresh. To keep basil fresh-tasting and close at hand after harvest, put it in a glass of water on your kitchen counterjust as you would a floral bouquet. (Dont refrigerate basil; it will darken and last only a few days at best.) Submerge the lower stems in water to just below the bottommost leaves. By changing the water daily, your basil bouquet will maintain its fresh flavor for up to 10 days.
For longer-term storage, chop or tear the leaves, then cover them with olive oil and keep in a refrigerator for up to several months.
You also can freeze chopped basil either as a homemade pesto or in ice cube trays filled with water or stock. After the cubes have frozen solid, pop them out of the tray and store them in plastic freezer bags. Remove one or more cubes as needed to flavor soups and stews, or to bring a touch of summertime flavor to winter stir-fries and sauts.
Here are two of my favorite ways (Pesto with a Twist and Pesto Pizza with Tomato and Eggplant) to enjoy basil at the height of its culinary powersfresh from the garden in high summer.
A frequent contributor to The Herb Companion, Kris Wetherbee gardens, cooks and writes in the hills of western Oregon.
10 Basils You'll Love
African Blue Dramatic purple-streaked leaves, pink to purple flowers and a warm camphor scent make this tall variety a stand out in the garden and in bouquets.
Cinnamon Attractive landscape plant with purple stems and flowers and a distinctive cinnamon taste and scent. Best in fruit salads, herbal teas and Mediterranean dishes.
Genovese Classic large-leaf Italian type with highly aromatic leaves and spicy flavor. Excellent for fresh or frozen use and one of the best for pesto.
Holy Basil Also known as Sacred basil or tulsi (O. sanctum). Stunning in the landscape and very aromatic, with clove-scented leaves. Best used as a salad garnish or in herbal teas.
Italian Large Leaf Excellent Italian type is extremely productive; large green leaves are slightly sweeter than those of other basils. A favorite for cooking.
Lemon Compact plant has smaller leaves than other types and a strong lemony scent. The strains Mrs. Burns and Sweet Dani have slightly larger leaves better suited to cooking. Great for fish, chicken, vegetable and fruit dishes, or use to accent soups, salads and desserts. Makes a tasty, lemony pesto.
Mammoth Extra-large, slightly puckered leaves can be used in cooking to wrap other ingredients, or like lettuce in sandwiches; also great in salads and pesto.
Red Rubin An improved form of Dark Opal with the largest leaves of purple basils. Very ornamental in the garden; fragrant and flavorful. Purple-bronze leaves make a unique-colored pesto and a pretty vinegar.
Siam Queen The best of the Thai-type basils; licorice aroma and flavor are especially good in fish and beef dishes. Wonderful in curries and Thai cuisine.
Spicy Globe Ideal for pots, window boxes or a miniature basil hedge. Compact plants grow just 10 inches tall with small leaves and a rounded form.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Pesto Pizza with Tomato and Eggplant
Makes one 12-inch pizza
1 (10-ounce) prepared pizza dough or crust
3/4 cup prepared pesto sauce
1 cup shredded smoked Swiss or smoked
cheddar cheese (a Swiss-heavy mix is great)
1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1 1/2 to 2 cups sliced firm tomatoes (about 5 Roma-style tomatoes)
1 cup finely chopped Japanese eggplant
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 sweet red pepper, chopped (about 3/4 cup)
1/3 to 1/3 cup pitted and chopped kalamata olives
Preheat oven to 475 degrees.
Spread pesto evenly over prepared dough, leaving a -inch border.
Sprinkle with both cheeses. Arrange tomato slices over entire pizza.
Toss eggplant with olive oil. Top pizza with eggplant, red pepper and olives.
Bake 15 to 18 minutes or until crust is golden crisp and cheese is bubbly.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Pesto with a Twist
This pesto combines classic basil flavor with a touch of lemony sage. For best results when freezing any pesto, omit the cheese and add it laterafter the pesto has thawed and is ready to use.
1 cup fresh Italian-type basil leaves, lightly packed
1 cup fresh Lemon basil leaves, lightly packed
1/4 cup fresh sage leaves, lightly packed
1/3 cup chopped walnuts
2 to 3 large garlic cloves, peeled
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano or Pecorino cheese
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
Combine basils, sage, walnuts, garlic and cheese in a food processor and pulse until coarsely chopped.
With the machine running, slowly add olive oil and continue to process to a fine paste.
Season with salt and pepper and serve immediately
If you cant explain it simply, you dont understand it well enough.-- Albert Einstein
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