Basil Book

2007-11-14T08:01:00.001-08:00

The Backyard Herbalist has a grand assortment of recipes utilizing various herbs, including of course, basil.

Some of them, such as Basil Biscuits, Basil Butter, or Anise Basil Fruit might go particularly well with Thanksgiving.

Speaking of Thanksgiving, Perdue has a nice recipe for a Basil Rice Stuffing for one of their Oven Stuffer Roasters, but I imagine it'll go fine with any turkey.

1 PERDUE® OVEN STUFFER® Whole Roaster
2 tablespoons butter (alternate: margarine)
3 stalks celery, chopped
1/2 teaspoon salt
Ground pepper to taste
4 scallions, thinly sliced
1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley
1/3 cup chopped fresh basil
3 tablespoons pignoli nuts (pine nuts)
4 cups cooked rice

Remove giblets. Rinse roaster and pat dry.
In a large skillet over medium-low heat, heat butter or margarine. Add celery and sauté for 5 minutes. Add remaining ingredients and mix well.
Stuff roaster with 3 cups rice mixture. Place roaster, breast side up, in a shallow roasting pan in oven. Roast 2 to 2 1/2 hours or until PERFECT ROAST® Thermometer pops up and a thermometer inserted in thickest part of thigh registers 180°F.
Remove and discard PERFECT ROAST® Thermometer before carving.
Serve roaster with remaining rice mixture.

If you are interested in vegetarian and gluten-free stuffing recipes, you can check out this link

Basil Recipe of the Week - Basil Eggplant

2007-11-01T12:06:00.000-07:00

This Thai vegearian recipe was found at http://www.thaitable.com
Detailed pictures can be found a the website as well.

1	tablespoon	vegetable oil
1	bunch	Thai basil, leaves picked from the stem
1	tablespoon	sugar
2	cloves	garlic, chopped
2	tablespoons	fish sauce
2		eggplants
2		chili peppers

Slice the eggplants into irregular shapes for easy turning in the pan. When it is sliced into a small disk, it tends to stick to the bottom of the pan and makes it difficult to flip or turn.

Chop garlic and slice chili peppers. Pick the leaves from the stem of the Thai basil.

Heat a pan or wok over high or medium high. Add oil, chili peppers and garlic. Stir until the garlic turn golden brown. Add eggplant and stir. Add a cup of water and cover the pan or wok with a lid. Keep the lid close until the eggplant is cooked. It should take about 5-7 minutes before the eggplant is done. The eggplant turns from white to translucent when it is done. Almost all of the water should have been evaporated at this point. If the eggplant is still not cooked, add a little bit more water and keep lid closed until the eggplant is ready. Add fish sauce and sugar and stir. Add Thai basil and quickly stir to heat the basil, so that it retains it color. Turn off heat immediately.

Serve hot with rice.

Basil, Oh Sweet Basil...

2007-11-01T11:59:00.000-07:00

Posted October 31, 2007 by usnews.com

Discovering the Sweet in Basil
Autumn brings an end to summer herbs, food processors around the country are whirring up batches of one of fall’s most-anticipated culinary indulgences—sweet basil pesto. The ingredient at the heart of the thick, green manna—Ocimum basilicum—has been prized for millennia for being both sacred and royal.

But only recently have scientists worked out the details of the chemical pathway that makes sweet basil an aromatic and almost minty-tasting herb instead of, well, a stick.

A research team led by Joe Noel at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies in La Jolla, Calif., used x-ray crystallography to take a 3-D picture of the plant enzyme eugenol synthase in mid-reaction in the lab. With the structure of the fleeting molecule in hand, the team filled in a missing step in how the plant manufactures its rapturous properties.

According to Noel, most of the enzyme’s cousins carry out mundane house keeping tasks in plant cells. But basil eugenol synthatase, or EGS, acquired a completely new function through evolutionary selection.

Read the rest of the article

Essential Oils Combat MRSA Bacteria

2007-10-25T12:05:00.000-07:00

According to a recent press release on PR Web, "Essential oils usually used in aromatherapy have been found to kill the deadly MRSA bacteria causing increasing numbers of deaths in hospitals round the world."

The article mentions basil oil, and goes on to say: "Researchers at the University of Manchester say they have identified three essential oils that killed MRSA and E. coli as well as many other bacteria and fungi within just two minutes of contact.

Curious about the study, Young Living's director of Product Formulation did some searching and discovered that two of the oils used were Melaleuca alternifolia and geranium. (The study abstract mentions patchouli, tea tree (melaleuca), geranium, and lavender essential oils, plus grapefruit seed extract, but does not specify if patchouli or lavender is the third oil).

What are essential oils? Oils that are mentioned in the Bible such as Frankincense, Myrrh, Hyssop as well as Lavender, Basil, Clove, Thyme, Cypress, Myrtle and a host of others."

To read the complete press release, please click here.

Basil Recipe of the Week - Basil Shrimp

2007-10-23T09:01:00.000-07:00

Basil Shrimp (Recipe from Allrecipes)

SUBMITTED BY: Gail Laulette PHOTO BY: Allrecipes

INGREDIENTS

2 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 cup butter, melted
1 1/2 lemons, juiced
3 tablespoons brown mustard
1/2 cup minced fresh basil
3 cloves garlic, minced
salt to taste
white pepper
3 pounds fresh shrimp, peeled and deveined
skewers

DIRECTIONS

In a shallow, non-porous dish or bowl, mix together olive oil and melted butter. Stir in lemon juice, mustard, basil, and garlic, and season with salt and white pepper. Add shrimp, and toss to coat. Cover, and refrigerate for 1 hour.
Preheat grill to high heat. Remove shrimp from marinade, and thread onto skewers. Discard marinade.
Lightly oil grill grate, and arrange skewers on preheated grill. Cook for 4 minutes, turning once, or until opaque.