Basil - description
Basil is a very fragrant annual plant with leaves of juicy green or purple color, as well as a variety of their shades. There are quite a few varieties of basil, which differ not only in color but also in taste. Therefore, if this plant tastes like a lemon to you, and your girlfriend claims to be cloves or cinnamon, you are both right. Just tried the leaves of different varieties.
More than a hundred species of this spice are cultivated in different countries - North Africa, Central Asia, Crimea, and Mediterranean countries. Culture varieties vary in taste. Each type has a particular climate of the place of growth, which affects their aroma, appearance, size, color. Basil is also widely found in the wild-growing form - in China, Iran, India, in Africa, in the Caucasus.
It reproduces by seeds. Seeds are sown in the ground, or seedlings are planted. The plant loves moisture and heat very much. Mass flowering occurs in July, then they make the first collection. In one season, they manage to take two “crops”. Since young shoots have time to grow on the place where stems break to frosts. Basil is able to repel mosquitoes, so in the summer its branches can be hung next to open windows, but is itself a favorite treat for snails and slugs.
Basil - properties
These emerald-purple leaflets are a source of calcium, iron, rutin and such vitamins as A, K and PP. Basil has a soothing property, stimulates digestion, raises the general tone, stimulates the appetite. His tea is drunk as tea with flatulence, diseases of the bladder, stomach, rheumatism, arthritis, headache, and vomiting. It is easy to drink, because has a pleasant taste and aroma. As an aphrodisiac, basil is prescribed to increase potency and sexual desire. Basil juice has bactericidal properties, it is smeared with cuts and wounds, warts are removed with essential oil. Unfortunately, basil has contraindications. It is not recommended for pregnancy, heart disease, post-infarction conditions, thrombophlebitis, thrombosis. You must be careful when ingesting large doses of oil and juice balm, it can lead to poisoning. And be sure, before the planned long-term reception, you should consult with the doctor.
Basil - use in cooking
Such a spicy and aromatic plant as basil, simply could not use in cooking. He got to Europe quite late, in the 16th century, but thanks to his fragrant aroma, he quickly gained great popularity. Added to the dish, basil begins to play with taste. At the very beginning gives it a spicy bitterness, then a light sweetish taste appears. Dried basil is also used in cooking, but fresh is the most valuable and popular. It is added to vegetable salads, sauces, soups, pizza, meat, fish, egg dishes. It goes well with vegetables, especially tomatoes, cheese, butter, seafood. Dried spice is used in the production of sausages, pies, ketchups, pepper mixture.
Recipe Examples with Basil
Recipe 1: Chicken Breasts with Vegetables and Basil
A pumpkin can turn not only into a carriage, but also into a dish with amazing taste, having eaten that, I want to lick the plate, forgetting about the rules of propriety. The recipe also includes potatoes, garlic and chicken breasts. The tone of the orchestra is set by spices and basil. Instead of foil, you can use the sleeve for baking, and instead of the breasts take the hips.
Ingredients: chicken breasts - 0.5 kg, 4 potatoes, pumpkin - 0.5 kg, hard cheese - 30 g, seasoning for chicken, salt, black pepper and allspice, 4 cloves of garlic, half a lemon (for juice) , vegetable oil - 3 table.lozh., dried basil, foil.
Method of preparation
Breast cut into four parts. Grate them with salt, pepper, seasoning and juice, squeezed out of half a lemon. Leave to pickle, and at this time do the preparation of vegetables. Peel the potatoes and pumpkins and cut them into large pieces, at least two centimeters, otherwise the smaller pieces of pumpkin will turn into porridge. Pepper and salt cubes of vegetables, sprinkle with basil, pour with oil and mix.
Now it's time to assemble the dish. It is necessary to prepare 4 pieces of foil, it must be calculated in such a size that the meat with a side dish will fit in it and free ends will remain to wrap the envelope. For strength, it can be folded in two layers.
Put the pumpkin and potatoes on the foil, chopped garlic cloves with plates, and put a piece of meat on the whole vegetable pillow. It is necessary to wrap the edges like an envelope for a letter and bake for 40-45 minutes in the oven (190C). For seven or ten minutes before the end of roasting, open the foil, put a thin slice of cheese on the meat and send it back to the oven until the cheese melts and forms a crust.
Recipe 2: Snacks on Tomato, Cheese and Basil Skewers
This dish will decorate any table. White mozzarella contrasts favorably with the juicy colors of red tomatoes and green basil. You can mix the ingredients in a bowl and get an elegant salad, but it is more refined to present them as a snack, strung on skewers or regular toothpicks. The dish will require fresh basil leaves, mozzarella cheese (you can substitute cheese or other pickled cheese) and cherry tomatoes. This is if you make a snack, because Because of its small size, it is easier to string the cherry on skewers. In the same salad, you can crumble tomatoes of normal size.
Ingredients: cherry tomatoes - 15-20 pcs., Mozzarella - 150g, vegetable oil, vinegar (6%) - 1 table. bed., salt, basil bunch.
Method of preparation
Tomatoes-baby cut in half. Cheese cut into slices, the size of half a tomato. Leaves basil at its discretion to leave whole or chop by hand.
On a skewer strung alternately: half a tomato, a couple of basil leaves, cheese, basil leaves and again half a tomato. Snack put on a plate, salt, sprinkle with vinegar and vegetable oil. As an option, basil is not strung on a toothpick, but sprinkled with a snack on top, right on the plate.
Recipe 3: Squid Salad with Basil
Very simple and healthy salad for lovers of seafood, in particular squid. When serving, a hill of lettuce is decorated with slices of fresh tomato and decorated with whole basil leaves.
Ingredients: squid - 0.5 kg, salt, 1 tomato, ground pepper, a spoon of vegetable oil, bay leaves, a small bunch of basil.
Method of preparation
Boil squid in the usual way. This means adding salt, bay leaf (optional) to boiling water and putting squid carcasses. As the water boils again, cook for no more than three minutes, otherwise the squid meat will become tough. Cool and chop noodles. Pepper, sprinkle with oil, sprinkle with chopped basil and mix. They cut it like this: they put several leaves in a pile, twist it into a tube and cut it across thin rings, which, straightening, turn into straws.
Basil - useful tips from experienced chefs
- So that fresh basil does not lose its magical aroma during heat treatment, it is added to the dish at the very end of cooking so that essential oils do not evaporate, and dried - 15 minutes before the end of cooking.
- If it is necessary to chop the basil, it is better to tear the leaves by hand, and not to cut it with a knife.
- If you put a couple of fresh leaves in a bottle of vinegar, it will acquire a spicy fragrance. This vinegar is recommended to add to sauces and vegetable salads.
- Salted basil preserves its aroma, all useful properties and substances of fresh.
