It's easy to grow in full sun. Keep the flowers pinched off for more leaf production. Keeping the plants pruned (every two or three weeks) will keep the plant nice and bushy. As far as I'm concerned, an herb garden isn't complete without basil.

Best grown in well-drained, rich soil. A good place to put compost.

I pick fresh basil (as well as other herbs) and chop it fine and mix it with unsalted butter. Roll the herb butter into a log, using plastic wrap, freeze, then vacuum seal it for long freezer storage. You can also chill the herb butter and slice it into coins/cubes (I use a piece of fine dental floss for this.) and then freeze the cut pieces. Lots of uses in cooking for herb-flavored butter.

You can also freeze pesto. Omit the garlic until you're ready to use it because the garlic can become bitter in the freezer - especially the longer it's frozen.

An easy method to dry basil is to line your oven rack with paper towel and place the basil in a single layer and dry using only the warmth from the oven light.

I can make a meal of fresh tomato slices, a drizzle of olive oil, fresh cracked pepper and basil. YUMMM!

-Grainlady

Boo, I have a row of basil growing in my garden, right next to the tomatoes. They are perfect together and I find basil extremely easy to grow.

I also freeze pesto, and I chop basil with a bit of olive oil and freeze in ice cube trays, then I can just pop a cube of it into soup or whatever. I think it loses much of its flavor when dried.

It's nice to have fresh basil for Ensalata Caprese, that tomato/mozzarella salad with basil, olive oil and a bit of balsamic. I saw a nice skewer recently too, a small ball of mozzarella and a cherry tomato, with a leaf of basil skewered in between.

I like some chopped for soups and sauces, and I don't grow a lot of herbs, just dill, basil and cilantro, all out in the garden with the rest of the vegetables.

Annie

not stepping on my toes at all Boo! I'm glad you moved us along to our next herb/spice :)

I'm looking forward to the parade o' pesto's!

I'm enjoying these "spice threads". Annie, I like caprese salad also, we had a lot of that when we were in Naples. Grainlady, that basil butter would last 5 seconds in my house with a fresh loaf of hot, crusty bread. What a delicious and simple idea!

Here's a recipe I make all the time, sometimes I put crumbled feta cheese on it:

Mediterranean Chickpea Salad with Basil

1 15 oz can chickpeas (garbanzo beans) drained and rinsed
1/2 t dried oregano
1 T extra virgin olive oil
1-2 T strained fresh lemon juice (I use 2 - we LOVE lemon)
1 1/2 C finely diced cucumber
1 red, yellow or orange bell pepper, diced
8 ripe plum tomatoes, diced
1/3 C chopped red onion (I've subbed scallions too)
3 T shredded fresh basil
salt and fresh ground pepper to taste
dash of cayenne pepper to taste
************************************************
Mix chickpeas with oregano, oil and 1 T lemon juice in a bowl. Add cucumber, bell pepper, tomatoes, onion and basil. Season with salt, pepper and cayenne. Add remaining lemon juice if desired. Serve cold, or at room temp.

One thing I remember about basil is that you should add it at the end of whatever you're cooking, since it loses it's flavor when exposed to long cooking.

Last winter, I grew lemon basil and it was phenomenal! Unfortunately, the minute it got warm here in Central Florida, the lemon basil was not heat hardy at all, and it just wilted. I intend to try growing it again when it cools off.
DONNA

This is not a herb which has any place on my Spice Rack. IMO, it loses its flavour completely when dried, and instead tastes more like hay!

It does, however, take pride of place outside in my garden, where in my subtropical climate it can get quite large, and where the flowers attract bees - very helpful for pollination of other plants.

Basil is best frozen if you have to store it. Some people find that the leaves turn black when frozen. I've never had this problem, but it can be prevented by blanching, then patting dry, before freezing.

There are something like 40-50 varieties of basil, with more coming all the time. Lemon Basil, Lime Basil, Anise Basil, Cinnamon Basil, Bush Basil, assorted Purple Basils, Thai Basil, you name it. There's even a mint which tastes like Basil. There's Camphor Basil (which tastes awful), and there's Holy or Sacred Basil. They're all edible, but IMO nothing beats the Common or Sweet Basil.

Basil goes well in/with: Italian, Mediterranean and Thai cuisines, especially pasta, meats, tomatoes, poultry, soups, eggs. Use with mackerel or shellfish, add chopped leaves of several varieties to salads.

Add some Cinnamon Basil to your apple sauce for a flavour change to go with pork or ham.

The large-leafed Sweet Basil is the variety commonly used for Pesto and in Mediterranean dishes, however Purple Basil, Spicy Globe Basil, Greek Basil or Bush Basil do just as well. Try Lemon or Lime Basil for a flavour change. Camphor Basil is seldom used for culinary purposes, though liked by some. Holy or Sacred Basil is largely used in Asian cookery. The flowers of basil are also edible, having the taste of the particular variety. Serve with vegetables, chicken, fish, fruits and desserts.

Cut small zucchini in thin slices and toss in a little olive oil over medium heat until just tender but still crisp. Remove from heat and stir in grated parmesan cheese, salt and pepper to taste and scatter with torn purple basil leaves. Serve with grilled red meat.

Here's a good list of various basils:

http://www.plantnames.unimelb.edu.au/Sorting/Ocimum.html

I selected this recipe as a little outside the square:

Basil and Vanilla Ice Cream
1 1/4 cups full-cream milk
3 split vanilla beans
4 egg yolks
1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon castor (superfine) sugar
2/3 cup chilled heavy cream or creme fraiche
1 tablespoon very finely snipped basil
black pepper (optional)
small strawberries to serve

Put milk in a pan with the vanilla beans. Bring to boiling point over low heat. The moment the milk bubbles, turn down the heat and simmer for several minutes. Remove from heat and keep the milk warm. Whisk together the egg yolks and sugar until light and frothy. Remove the vanilla beans from milk and pour the hot milk, a little at a time, over the egg yolk and sugar mixture, stirring vigorously. Pour the mixture into the saucepan and return to very low heat. Bring almost to boiling point but not quite, stirring constantly with a large wooden spoon. Do not allow the mixture to boil and lift off the heat a few times during cooking. Strain through a fine strainer and stir frequently while it cools. Whisk the cream until firm peaks form, then fold it into the cold custard. Stir in the basil and, if desired, a small amount of black pepper. Pour the mixture into an ice-cream maker and churn. Or pour it into a suitable container and freeze for 2-3 hours. If not using an ice-cream maker, after about 45 minutes, remove the container from the freezer, whiz in the food processor for a few seconds and return to the freezer. After about 45 minutes repeat the process again. Leave the ice cream in the freezer until completely frozen. Remove the container from the freezer about 10 minutes serving. Decorate with small sprigs of basil. Serve with strawberries.

And if you pop over to the Herbs Forum, there are countless threads on basil there, including recipes, but mainly on how to grow it. In short, basil needs to be grown fast in full sun with as much heat as it can get. (Heat and sun help it to produce more of the essential oils which give it flavour and aroma.) It's a greedy plant which needs regular fertilising, plenty of water, excellent drainage, and room to spread as far as it wants.

Some people say the flavour of the leaves diminishes when the plant is allowed to flower. In my experience, it is impossible to stop the plant from flowering - it will flower even as a small cutting. I have never noticed any change in flavour, but then my climate suits it. I do, however, give basils a regular pruning (I have so much of it that I use the prunings as mulch!) - this is because when in full flower, the plant can become top-heavy and lift itself out of the soil, especially in wind or rain. Pruning definitely helps to keep the plant more bushy and encourage more leaf growth.

If you try to grow basil on your kitchen window sill, you're doing neither you nor the plant any favours. Think of a full-grown basil (which should reach your chest and be twice as wide as the average person) sitting on your window sill!

Just by way of interest, taken from a book on herbs I've put together:

Basil is a welcome gift to a new home, as it brings good fortune. Basil protects from evil and negativity and aids in attracting and keeping love. It is used for purification baths and in wealth and prosperity rituals. Carrying a basil leaf in your pocket brings wealth. A wife can supposedly stop her husband being unfaithful by dusting her upper body with powdered basil and if powdered basil is sprinked over your mate while they sleep, it is supposed to eliminate infidelity from your marriage. Basil is considered a sacred herb in parts of the East. In Western Europe it was used as a protection from witchcraft and in Italy, a sprig of basil is an emblem of love and fidelity. In Crete, it was seen as a symbol of tragic love, a plant of bad omens and under the influence of the devil. In Egypt, basil is strewn on the graves of the dead and in ancient times was used in embalming and is seen as a funerary herb in Iran and Malaysia, where it is often planted on graves. In Moldavia, there is a custom which says a young man will love a girl from whom he accepts a sprig of basil. In Romania, if a young lady offers a young man a sprig of basil and he accepts, they are officially engaged. In Mexico, it was carried to attract money and to return a lover's roving eye. In Haiti, basil is considered a protective herb. In the West Indies, basil infusion is sprinkled around new shops to attract customers. In Italy, basil is regarded as a surefire love token, so young boys in Sicily wear a sprig of it behind their ear to indicate that they are of marriageable age and romantically inclined. It was once believed that basil bred scorpions. According to one recipe, 'three crushed leaves are put under a clay pot. After a few days a tiny scorpion will be born'. With the help of basil, one could also summon scorpions. At one time, young girls would place some on their windowsill to indicate they were looking for a suitor. In Tudor times, small pots of basil were given by farmers' wives to visitors as parting gifts. Basil grows best if planted by the person in the household with the greater vocabulary of curses. The scent of basil causes sympathy between two people and so is worn to avoid major clashes. The scent brings happiness to the home and will protect you in crowds. Traditionally, a woman would put a pot of basil on the balcony outside her room when she was ready to receive her suitor.

Medicinal Uses: Infused leaves are antidepressant, antiseptic, stimulating, soothing, prevent vomiting, carminative, and promote clarity of thought. The aroma, inhaled, can allay mental fatigue. A cold infusion of the leaves taken before travelling will ease travel sickness.

Warning: Medicinal doses are best avoided when pregnant.

wow, the miracle herb ...

my favorite is simple. Chop up a big, really ripe tomato, mince a clove of garlic, add a liberal amount of basil chiffonade-- whatever kind floats your boat -- add a sprinkle of Kosher salt and let it sit there while the pasta cooks -- i usually use mini-linguini -- drain the pasta and toss with tomatoes.

Oh yeah -- you must have a big loaf of sourdough bread to sop up the juices.

And that is my miracle high summer supper!!!

Basil is my #1 herb and I put it in almost everything I cook. We love it! And it is very easy to grow, even in a pot, just water regularly. Pick off the white flowers so that the growth goes to the leaves.

Michelle

One of my favorite ways to use fresh basil:

Bruschetta with Chopped Tomato Salad

2 ripe tomatoes, diced
1 yellow or orange bell pepper, diced
1 purple onion, finely diced
2 t. capers, drained
3 TB fresh basil, chopped fine
1 TB balsamic vinegar
2 t. lemon juice
1 clove garlic, minced
1 t. dried oregano

sliced French baguette or sturdy Italian bread, toast, and rub with the cut side of another garlic clove.

Mix all the ingredients listed for the salad. Toss well, refrigerate.

Serve salad mounded on lettuce on a platter surrounded by the toasted bread. To eat, pile some salad on a piece of toast and scarf it down. Repeat. Mmmmmmmm...... (and it's low cal too!)

Source: In the Kitchen with Rosie

i love basil and grow quite an assortment, but my favorite will remain genovese. can't beat the taste with fresh picked tomatoes and a little OO and cracked pepper, not to mention gravy and chicken and pasta and.....

as for preserving it, although i will make oil throughout the summer months while the plants are abundant; i preserve it in salt.

have a tight fitting container, layer it with kosher salt, then add a few leaves of basil but don't stack or overlap them, then a layer of salt, then basil and so on. make sure the container has a tight lid. you can store it in the frig and use as you need and although the leaves don't have that same texture right off the plant, the flavor is not compromised at all. the salt doesn't seem to take on the flavor, so i just use it as i go along in my cooking.

i don't believe it has any taste dried, so i never bother with that method.

i recently pulled a recipe off the internet for a basil jelly which i hope to can before the end of the season, when i normally harvest the abundance of mint and do the same. and i am very tempted to experiment with a basil ice cream recipe.

maryanne

Wow, great info! I do agree though that fresh basil is amazing and aromatic and far more noticeable in a recipe than dried by far. Reason #7623 for Sands to plant her own herb garden (as opposed to mooching my next-door neighbors goodies, thanks Marion)

have a tight fitting container, layer it with kosher salt, then add a few leaves of basil but don't stack or overlap them, then a layer of salt, then basil and so on. make sure the container has a tight lid. you can store it in the frig and use as you need and although the leaves don't have that same texture right off the plant, the flavor is not compromised at all. the salt doesn't seem to take on the flavor, so i just use it as i go along in my cooking.

What a great idea, Maryanne! I have never seen the salt method for herbs before and I am for sure going to try this! Thanks!!

Michelle

I grow two or three varieties of basil every year in my herb garden, too. Always the basic sweet green basil and alwaysa purple variety, either Rubin or Purple Ruffles, whichever I can find.

I dry a lot of it and as long as it is not kept for a long time I think the flavor is just fine. Not as nice as fresh, by any means, but still just fine. I have found that drying in the microwave keeps it more flavorful and also more colorful.

Besides pesto, I use it in many pasta sauces, soups and vegetable dishes. Here is a really good one that I make often.

Corn With Basil

2 10oz packages frozen corn
1/2c chopped onion
1/2c celery, thinly sliced
1 clove garlic, minced
2T butter
1/4tsp dried basil
1/2tsp salt
1 2oz jar diced pimientos, drained (I use chopped red pepper)

Combine corn, onion, celery, garlic and butter in saucepan, cook and stir
over medium heat until onion is tender. Stir in remaining ingredients,
reduce heat. Cover and cook until heated through, about 3-5 minutes.

Linda

I Love this spice thread!!!

No pesto recipes yet! Ok, here ya' go!

(Basil Basil) Pesto

This recipe comes from Favorite Recipes with Herbs by Dawn J. Ranck and Phyllis Pellman Good. This makes 1 cup.

Ingredients

2 cups basil leaves, fresh
2 garlic cloves
½ cup parmesan cheese, grated
¼ cup pine nuts or walnuts
½ cup olive oil
Black pepper to taste

Place basil in a food processor or blender to chop. Add garlic, cheese and nuts. Process to mix. Add olive oil and pepper and process once more.

if anyone is interested..........I have brought one or 2 basils in the house over winter.......... they will usually last till March .........the trick is to have a big enough pot....they are heavy feeders............ I love basil rosmary tarragon and tymne .the only one i have trouble in the house with is tarragon.doesn't seem to make a difference if it isw in the greenhouse room or anywhere else........any ideas

charlp, With the tarragon try heavy prunning in August. The prunning should encourage new growth before you bring it in for the winter. And remember that all plants do have a resting period. If you over water during dormancy, you can cause damage, usually rot, to the roots. Most of the plants I bring inside for wintering, I just dampen the soil 1-3 times a month and keep them in an unheated attic area with large windows for light.

Also, plants do have lifespans and some are rather short. I am not sure about Tarragon but it could be that it has a short span and bringing it inside to just too much of a shock.

I let my plants go through a few light frosts before bringing them inside. This kills many bugs and promotes dormancy.

Michelle

One easy way to preserve basil is: wash and dry all leaves. To two full cups of leaves, add 1/2 c olive oil. Place all in food processor. Put contents of processor in freezer bags. Flatten basil well in bags, and freeze flat. When one needs a piece of basil, it breaks off easily.