Comments on: When Life Gives You Basil… Make Lemonade!

By: javamom

javamom — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 16:34:52 +0000

I somehow missed seeing this comment! Wow — thank you for letting me know! I’m going to have to find out more about Red Perilla now!

By: Joyce Miller

Joyce Miller — Wed, 20 Jul 2011 20:06:34 +0000

Sorry for the late comment, but I just came across your post today. You don’t have basil there, it is actually Red Perilla. Red Perilla (Perilla frutescens) is an edible herb used in Aisan cuisine. The Japanese name for prilla is shiso and is often eaten with sashimi or cut into thin strips in salads, spaghetti, and meat and fish dishes. It is an annual, but self-seeds readily. It is commonly mis-labeled as purple basil, but basil rarely re-seed as prolifically as perilla does. So when my customers tell me that they have tons of basil that comes back every year, I usually know that they really have red perilla. There is also a green variety.
From your picture, I can tell almost positively that you have perilla and not basil.

By: gracie

gracie — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 23:59:23 +0000

To De in D.C.

Lemon Balm is one of my favorite herbs. One of the many ways i like to use it is when cooking fresh fish whole, especially trout. Take whole leaves and a few pats of butter and place inside the fish, wrap in foil and cook it on the grill. I also like to make a wet rub for chicken using minced lemon balm, olive oil, sea salt and cracked black pepper.
Lemon balm is a good addition to any pasta or chicken dish flavored with lemon of any sorts. It is one of the strongest lemon essenced herbs there is, even stronger than lemon verbena.
I have even made cheesecake using only lemon balm for flavoring and a little bit of honey to make it sweet.
All you really need to do is google lemon balm and you should come up with some really good recipes.

By: javamom

javamom — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 21:00:17 +0000

: ) I’m hoping you are now starting your own basil patch with a transplant from my garden. My great-grandmother would be so pleased!

By: Loree

Loree — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 14:26:54 +0000

During the holidays, we always end up with one of those Summer Sausages. They are not my favorite and I always wonder how to serve them. I discovered something that guests rave over using basil. Slice the sausage, place on a baking pan, crisp in a 350 degree oven…basically heat until they are sizzling, serve on a plate covering each with a small dallop of sour cream and fresh basil on top. They are quite scrumptious and super simple.
I would love to try one of your plants in my garden if you are willing to spare! Please Advise. Many Thanks!

By: javamom

javamom — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 03:40:03 +0000

Marinka, I wish you lived close enough to come get some! It is amazing how much we have in the planter area — it is almost a hedge. In CA, we had a rosemary hedge — and at the time I didn’t even really cook much (hey, we were DINKS who worked all the time, who cooked?) I wish I had that rosemary hedge now!

I just discoverd that a whole bunch of it is now growing right by our garbage can area on the side of the house. By next year the house may be surrounded!

By: Marinka, The Mouthy Housewives

Marinka, The Mouthy Housewives — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 09:09:53 +0000

I love basil and use it all the time in the summer. You know, when it’s in season. I don’t love spending $2 for one wilted leaf in the off season. I’m a little jealous of your basil bounty!

By: JavaMom

JavaMom — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 02:45:04 +0000

By the way, I do not know the actual variety of basil I have — if anyone can identify it, I would love to know. It looks sort of like purple ruffles, but I don’t think it is as deeply purple or shiny.

By: JavaMom

JavaMom — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 02:44:01 +0000

Oh, you know what, I had dried some basil from last year, so I used that, and then I threw in a little bit of the fresh for good measure. I had forgotten that recipe asked for the dried. I used a food dehydrator to dry the leaves and then crushed them and stored them in a ziplock baggie at the end of the season last year.

By: molly

molly — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 02:24:09 +0000

The chicken recipe calls for dried basil — remind me of the exchange when you use fresh instead of dried? It’s either half the amount or twice the amount … I think. Thanks!