Basil, Basil!!

The basil from the CSA has been amazing this year. Today we got two huge bunches and we aren't going to have any time to use them until Sunday. Here are some tips for keeping basil fresh.

Remove the bottom leaves and cut a quarter inch from the stems and set in a glass of water, just like you would fresh flowers. They will stay fresh for days, even a week. Be sure never to put the basil in the fridge, or the leaves will turn black.

My favorite way to use up lots of basil is to make pesto. You can make a huge batch and freeze it for another time. There is nothing better then pulling out some frozen pesto from the freezer in Winter and getting a taste of Summer. You can freeze a whole batch in one container or freeze cubes in an ice cube tray. Once frozen you can put the cubes in a freezer bag and pull out a cube to add to eggs, soup, or spread on bread.

Basil Pesto

2 cups fresh basil
4 garlic cloves chopped
1 cup walnuts or pine nuts
1 cup olive oil
1 cup parmesan grated
1/4 cup romano grated

Use a food processor or blender and blend all ingredients well. This recipe is meant to be used with 2 lbs of pasta.

We've also been getting super fragrant lemon basil and made a tasty stir fry with it. We haven't tried it yet, but think lemon basil would also taste amazing with fish.

Beef stir fry with lemon basil

1 1b eye of round steak sliced thinly
2 Tbs brown sugar
2 Tbs fish sauce
6 thai chilis
5 cloves garlic
1 Tbs chopped shallot
3 Tbs lemon basil
3 Tbs lemon juice

Pound chilis, garlic and shallots with a mortar and pestle or blend in food processor. Add brown sugar and fish sauce. Mix with beef slices and marinade for one hour. Stir fry the beef until cooked through, toss in the lemon basil leaves. Turn off heat and add lemon juice. Serve with rice.

We served this with a separate stir fry of squash and cabbage. The meat we used came from Mount Vernon Farm.

Check out the Washington Post article from today about the Local Buyers Club. They deliver meat from Mount Vernon Farm and have other products from several farms.

Anyone have any other recipes for basil?