PLANTING BASIL

BASILICO

The season is here once again to start to plant fresh basil plants. My secret to a successful basil plant is to make sure that I plant my basil in large separate planters. Ifind that the basil do extremely well when they blossom in planters as opposed to in a garden. Basil plants require partial sunlight and lots of water. Basil plants that are exposed to too much sun can cause yellow discoloration in addition to drying out your basil. Watering your basil plants is very important as well as removing or trimming the basil white flower heads that protrude from the tips. Make sure you plant enough basil for all your favorite dishes, drying basil and freezing basil for the winter.

There 's nothing more pleasurable than bringing in a bouquet offresh basil before cooking your meal.

You will find that dried basil will come in very handy when you are preparing many recipes such as assorted homemade breads, marinating vegetables, seasoning fish, chicken, meats, battering, added to broths, stuffings and more. What a delight to have this wonderful herb readily available throughout the year.

(Makes about 2/3 cup)

Using 2 bunches of fresh basil, pick the basil leaves removing all stems.

Tear the basil leaves into smaller pieces.

Lay the basil leaves on a baking sheet and place in 350-degree oven

Bake until crumbly -not brown about 7-10 minutes.

Once the basil has cooled, crumble it with your hands to refine.

Next, place crumbled basil into a sieve and press through the sieve to your desired finer texture.


Preserving Basil

To store basil, rinse clean the basil leaves(remove stems), place in an air-tght
sealed plastic container and refrigerate. The basil will hold up to 5-7 days without turning black. You can also freeze the basil for future use by wrapping the leaves gently with plastic wrap and then inserting in a small freezer bag. Use as needed.

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