The Salt Cured Basil Experiment

[Cassandra]

I decided I had to give it a try after reading about it.

John says this picture makes our kitchen look way nicer than in real life!

Layer of salt on the bottom of the bowl. Alternate single layers of leaves with more salt.

John thought the bowl was huge and wondered what I was doing with palm fronds in the kitchen.

I ran out of salt with a little of the top layer of basil still peeking through. We will see how it goes.

John couldn't believe I wrote on the lid!

I froze the rest of it in these containers. I didn't chop it up very well, but it was starting to bore me, real bad! I figure it will be easier to plunk the whole cube in a blender and chop it up when it is frozen. LOL

John says our kitchen looks like a showroom when you shrink the pix down very small.

Hey, can someone remind me to check on this in a couple of months?!

Cassandra

 

[herbsherbsflowers]

I'm curious to see how the salt drying works. Keep us updated. If I don't hear about in a while I'll come looking for this post. Your pictures are very nice. Who's John?

 

[Cassandra]

John's my husband. He pokes good natures fun at my "honey homemaker" antics, but he appreciates it.

I forgot to add that you are supposed to store the basil in the refrigerator. That is where mine is. Way back on a far shelf where I will forget about it. It is supposed to keep for months that way.


Cassandra

 

[Texas Fluffy Feet]

That is interesting! I will be waiting to see how the salt works. I will try to remind you to peek on it too!

I dry basil in the microwave on a paper plate. Wash and dry the leaves, lay in a single layer on the plate and let it go a few seconds, take it out and look at it, let it go a few seconds more. Sometimes I need to turn it and remove the dried pieces. Once it's all dry I usually put it in a freezer bag and freeze it. It keeps well that way, but I bet the salt dried kind looks much prettier!

 

[Tutter]

After a rough start, my basils going gangbusters. And while I like frozen for a fresher taste, I have to dry some for my homemade dry Italian spice. And while I've salt cured other things, I've never done it with basil. This will be interesting!

As for writing on the container, tell dh that food is art, and as the family Rembrandt, you must be free to express yourslef, lest the whole food prep thing in the house suffers!

When you're done, just put a line through it, then write the date next time somewhere else on the lid, maybe a little smaller. You'd be surprised how creative you can become when going down the sides and such! lol! You can find room for quite a few dates! Then retire it for leftovers!

Have fun with it, and I hope it comes out great!