Heeding a forecast of freezing temperatures for the coming week, the decision was made to harvest the basil. My favorite sous chef was called in and the pesto processing began. The recipe below was loosely followed.
1 or 2 plump cloves of garlic
salt
3 TBS pine nuts or walnuts
3 cups loosely packed basil leaves, stems removed, washed and dried
1/2 cup freshly grated parmesan
3 TBS freshly grated romano
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil (eyeball it)
Process garlic, salt and pine nuts until chopped, then add basil. Process while adding the olive oil. When smooth, add the cheeses and process just to combine.
Three batches of garlicy goodness were completed. The pesto was put into cute little containers about the size of an ice-cube and frozen for future use. Ice-cube trays have been used in the past but these new containers make it easier to pass some of this delicious sauce along to friends and family.
Sometimes good things can come from a cold snap here in Florida.
Woooh! Makes me wish I had planted some basil myself, so I could run out and harvest it. You are making good use of this day, unlike *some other Floridians* who are worrying it away. ; )
ReplyDeleteYour sous chef is so sweet and beautiful. (What great memories you are making!) Those little containers are perfect. One of these days, I'll get myself together....like you.
What an adorable sous chef you have. I hate to hear about the impending forecast, but I fear we won't slip by this time. I'm definitely not looking forward to seeing the garden tomorrow morning. :-(
ReplyDeleteLove that sous chef helper... what a cutie. Your basil harvest is beautiful and with this 'push' from the north winds you've made the most of it. It will be yummy far into the winter. I can almost smell its lucsious scent.
ReplyDeleteYummy.
luscious. :-)
ReplyDeleteWish I had thought of harvesting the basil yesterday! Your sous chef is adorable! Enjoy the pesto!
ReplyDeleteNanaK: You sous chef is so cute and lovely! The pesto sounds delicious. Best wish to you and your garden in this short freeze. Hope all your plants pull through this unexpected early freeze just fine. I am on a business trip, all I did is taking all my orchids indoors, and dug three clumps of different color ground orchids out and put them in the garage. The rest of them are not even covered. Hope they will be fine without gardener's attention.
ReplyDeleteFloridagirl - Ha,ha,ha...you are so funny. I'm certainly not "together." Though my little basil endeavor did go "together" pretty well. And my photo only shows my granddaughter BEFORE she got totally bored with the whole process.
ReplyDeleteSusan - I'm hoping that I have enough cold-hardy plants to keep me happy for the rest of this season. I know I have enough hard-scape projects to keep me busy. The idea being that I won't have time to stew about what I can't control.
Meems - I love making pesto anything. My only basil success seems to be in the cooler months so for the last 3 or so years I make the most of the basil harvest around this time of year. I'm trying to stay busy so I can't obsess about the cold sensitive plants.
My husband laughs at my "homegrown" pesto because the only thing from my garden is the basil. The nuts, oil, cheese, and even garlic have to be bought and some of those items are quite pricey.
Daisy - Glad to have you stop by. Thanks for the compliment to my helper. I will pass it on. Maybe you can still harvest your basil. It will just be already freeze-dried;)
Ami - Sorry for the timing of your business trip, but you were able to protect those orchids at least. And really, I think we Florida gardeners just have to get used to letting things come back in the spring. Our cycle of warm winters seems to be over for now. Do I sound convincing? I'm trying:)
Your sous chef is darling! I never thought to harvest our basil,yesterday.Oh well....and we love pesto!
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