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Featured Ingredient - Basil
Rate it! Votes (0) | Comments (0) By Cheri Sicard Photos: Mitch Mandell Posted August 6th, 2007 FabulousFoods.com Recommends: The Spice and Herb Bible, by Ian Hemphill, (2006, Robert Rose)	The Spice and Herb Bible

I picked fresh basil as a featured ingredient because I am constantly amazed at how many people don't regularly use this incredible herb. Please, don't even think of using dried basil in the following recipes, there is no comparison. It's almost not even the same food.

You can get fresh basil in the grocery store, but it's also easy to grow, either in your garden or in a window sill herb box. Once it has been picked, basil can be somewhat fragile as it can quickly wilt. Cut or tear fresh basil just before you intend to use it, as it also tends to discolor (tearing rather than cutting will help minimize discoloration).

If your fresh basil is starting to wilt or discolor, I recommend freezing for use in such things as soups, stews sauces or casseroles. Frozen basil won't look all that great, but it will still retain much more flavor than dried.

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