Preserving Garden Goodness: Basilcicles

My garden adventure this year is turning out so well that I can't keep up with the bounty. One of the things I heard at our Demarle at Home Convention last week was the idea of freezing fresh basil. Freezing even small portions is a breeze with Demarle's nonstick trays, so I was eager to try this.

How do you know when it's time to harvest your basil and freeze it? When the plant starts going to seed, cut the entire plant off at the roots (or uproot) it, spritz it well with 1:1 vinegar/water, trim all the leaves off into a colander, eliminating the stems, and soak wash them to remove all debris, just as you would wash berries. I use a cold water-bath in a stainless bowl that fits the colander. Submerge the colander, and the debis will float to the top where it can be washed over the sides. Basil leaves are very light, so this is a bit tricky, but not unmanageable.

The steps of the process:

Wash basil leaves and trim away stems and any bad parts of the leaves.

Dry basil leaves in a salad spinner and/or pat dry. The Silpat® works well as a base for this.

Fill a food processor with fresh leaves, and add just enough good-quality olive oil to coat leaves. This keeps the basil from turning black.

Pulse until all leaves are uniformly chopped. Add oil as needed to make a very coarse paste.

Put the flexi-tray of choice on the medium PBS. I used the mini tartlet tray (1/2 oz). The petit four tray (3/8 oz) makes more, but smaller, portions at one time. You could also use the mini muffin tray and not fill wells completely.

Scrape the basil mixture out out of the food processor with a spatula; fill the wells with the paste, and press down to compact the paste.

Put in the freezer until solid.

Remove tray from freezer, unmold individual "basilcicles," and store in a freezer bag. Mine fit nicely into a quart bag. This will stack easily on my produce freezer shelf.

Look forward to taking out a "basilcicle" to season pasta dishes, soups, and more with fresh-frozen basil this winter!

Delicious Appetizers from the Garden

You may have noticed that restaurants are offering fried zucchini in season as an appetizer. Demarle products offer a healthier way to achieve the same taste with an added bonus of easy cleanup.

With fresh zucchini and yellow squash from the garden on the kitchen counter and company on the way, I decided to bake appetizers. I adapted the recipe for Zucchini Frippe from the DAH A Fresh Approach to Beginnings & Endings Cookbook to make it gluten free and less allergenic for me (egg whites only). And, since I was planning to serve them with dips, I did not add any seasoning.

3 yellow squash and 1 zucchini were cut on the diagonal in 1/4" slices. The slices were dipped in a whisked mixture of 2 egg whites and 1 T oil and then coated with a 1:1 mixture of shredded Parmesan cheese and GF bread crumbs. These were laid out on the large Silpat®/PBS and baked for 15 minutes at 375°.

I served them piping hot out of the oven with ranch dressing and sweet chili sauce for dipping. They were such a hit I did not get a picture of them before they disappeared! This tray of appetizers was devoured in no time by 5 adults, You may be thinking that anything coated with Parmesan cheese and dipped in sauce would taste good, but the yellow squash got even more compliments than the zucchini.  

This is a recipe worth passing on to you. So tasty and healthy! Thanks, Lavelle, for adapting a seasonal treat to the Demarle style of cooking!

Zucchini Fritte

Serves 6-8

By Lavelle Wallace

From the DAH A Fresh Approach to Beginnings & Endings Cookbook

Ingredients

1 8-10”Zucchini sliced on the oval ¼” thick

1-2 t chopped fresh herbs of choice (basil, oregano) optional

1 C Panko breadcrumbs

1C shredded Parmesan cheese

1 t sea salt

1 egg

1 t olive oil

Fritte is Italian for fried, but these have the same great taste without frying. My mother used to make the pan-fried version of these (without the Parmesan cheese) every summer when the squash was ripe. It was a family favorite. These are a great healthy beginning to any meal or an additional vegetable. They’re so easy to make because they are all cooked at the same time.

Directions

Place oven rack in enter position and preheat oven to 375°.

Place the Silpat® on the PBS and set aside. 

Prepare zucchini and herbs as listed above. 

In a mixing bowl, combine bread crumbs, parmesan cheese, sea salt and herbs. 

In a small bowl, whisk egg and olive oil. 

Dip zucchini slices into egg mixture and then into bread crumb mixture.

Place zucchini slices on the Silpat®. 

Bake for 12-16 minutes until golden brown. 

Remove from Silpat® and place on a serving plate. 

Serve hot or at room temperature.

Berry Good

Luscious berries are one of the perks of this time of year. While enjoying fresh fruit in season is amazing, nothing brings back the taste of summer as much as freezer-fresh berry desserts in the middle of winter. Berries frozen within hours of picking capture peek flavor for later enjoyment.

Freezing berries is as easy as pie with the non-stick Demarle Silpat®.  

5/6 of the half flat of raspberries easily fit stem-side down on the large Silpat®/PBS (which was perfect because I wanted to eat the rest!) 

Two trays of strawberries, in turn, and my project was almost complete. 

Once frozen, the berries easily roll up in the Silpat® and can then be funneled into freezer bags.

Filling the freezer bags is easier than it looks in the picture.  Doing it with one hand while holding a camera in the other guarantees spills, at least for me!


I also hand-picked berries of similar size off the Silpat® to package for strawberry pies.



This is the easiest process for freezing berries I've ever done. Try it; you'll like it!

Meals for One

Among my favorite skillet meals is a combo of fresh vegetables sauteed with precooked meat. Today I sauteed fresh yellow squash and zucchini from my garden along with Walla Walla sweet onion and a bit of garlic in grape seed oil.  Then I added some precooked ham for protein. Season with salt and pepper to taste for an easy, healthy meal.

 

Heat 1 T oil (I used grape seed) on med heat in DD 8" Sauté pan.

Add 1 clove crushed or minced garlic.

Slice 1 small yellow squash and 1 small zucchini.

Cut up about 1/4 Walla Walla sweet onion (to taste).

Add to saute pan and reduce heat a bit.

Cut up 4-6 oz precooked meat (I used ham); add when onions begin to clear.

Cook until veggies are just tender.

Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Serve hot.

Bon Appétit!!