Humor will not be tolerated!! -Portia

Marduk wrote:I can't help you with defrosting, but I DO have several suggestions on what to use basil for...

Speak up, please. I want to use fresh herbs more (especially now that spring is swiftly approaching and I plan on planting fresh herbs) but never know how to just… use them. I tend to just follow recipes. And when I just make stuff up, I don't know what herbs go good with what. The only time I just use whatever fresh herbs is if I'm making a spaghetti sauce, then I just throw in basil, parsley and oregano. Whatever looks good.

Probably the quickest and maybe tastiest way to use basil is in a caprese salad. It is a simple salad composed of tomato slices, salted, peppered, and drizzled with extra virgin olive oil, with a basil leaf on it and a slice of fresh mozzarella (note: not just mozzarella, FRESH mozzarella. There is a difference.) Basil compliments tomato flavor very well, and can go very well in a tomato coulis or other tomato based sauces and soups (like a tomato-basil bisque.) Outside of this, it goes in pestos or can be used to garnish pastas that are done with garlic-olive oil dressings. Just make sure you are using sweet basil for this, not any of the other varieties. This is the kind we use in the west; other kinds are used in eastern cooking (Thai for example uses a lot of basils of different varieties) and I really can't help you with that.

One last note: when using fresh herbs, make sure to add them at the end or near the end of the cooking process. Cooking fresh herbs too long will destroy their flavor.

DL's ice cube suggestion is a good one.

The other way to freeze basil would be to simply... freeze it. As is. I mean, wash and dry the leaves and then just... freeze them. Place the leaves flat on a pan so they don't touch. After they are completely frozen, tuck them into a ziplock or tupperware and keep 'em in the freezer until you need them.