In the summer when I’ve grown a lot of basil, I use it to make pesto and freeze it. I read in one of Anna del Conte’s splendid cookery books that you should freeze it without the garlic and parmesan, so I did, but I did find it quite a nuisance to have to add it at the last when the point was to have a convenience food. So I tried it again, complete, and it seemed fine. But more recently, I’ve read that frozen garlic develops a mouldy taste. Does anyone else find this? I don’t. I’m asking because I’ve just taken a pot of pesto out of the freezer to use in tonight’s dinner (sans garlic, as it happens) and it reminded me to ask you. I presume they mean raw garlic or every casserole would have a potential problem.
I quite often find myself feeding seven cats nowadays, apart from Eloise cat herself. Mother cat, whom LT calls Mehitabel (he and I are both devotees of Don Marquis’s books) seems to have returned home for the winter. She doesn’t seem to like her kittens much, unfortunately, and swipes at them with her paw when they get in her way, though she’s as affectionate with me as ever. The four kittens – who are no such thing now, of course, being over a year and a half old – are usually all present and quite often RasPutin, who I’ve had to forgive and be nice to, because he seems to be getting old and wants me to befriend him, comes too. And so does Rose’s cat Rummy. He has to be fed separately because everyone but Ras is afraid of him.
Anyway, the other thing on my mind has been that the recent Ofsted inspection at my school – former school but not quite, as I’m still a member of the academy trust – went very well and now the report has been published. So there’s a bit less anxiety for a while. Not much less, of course, because that’s how it works nowadays.
I purée the basil in olive oil and then freeze individual portions on an ice cube tray (taking them out of the tray when frozen and putting all of the basil oil cubes in a large Ziploc bag and back they go in the freezer. Then you have the option of making pesto or just as basil and olive oil with pasta and and lots of parm.
It’s the convenience of having pesto ready-made and not relying on having the pine nuts and parmesan that I like (pasta and pesto is the middle-class child’s go-to and Zerlina and Gus love my home-made pesto), but if basil freezes well that way then it’s a useful idea too, thank you Kippy.
“” I’ve read that frozen garlic develops a mouldy taste. “
I’ve never found that in dishes (ccoked or raw eg pates and dips which I make in big batches and then freeze in reused cream cheese containers).
I wouldn’t dream of freezing garlic whole… no need – it keeps for months if stored correctly!
We’ve found that mother cats always end up hating their grown up offspring, and hissing or swiping as you describe, in an ‘outdoor cat’ situation.
That’s a good OFSTED report. And… small world… I know one of your inspectors. I think one can tell that you have been stepping back/down though!
I bought 50 takeaway-style plastic tubs. A fellow blogger at this year’s party recommended them and they’re brilliant for all sorts of things. In fact, we bought another 50, they’re very cheap. Glad you’ve found garlic is no problem either, we wondered if our tastebuds weren’t sensitive enough – and no, never need to freeze whole garlic.
I’m still sent notifications for the governors’ website but I don’t feel the need to read minutes etc. I really have retired except for the Trustee thing and, when they find someone suitable to replace me, I’ll stand down from that too. It is now recommended that academy boards have a member who isn’t a governor so it’s a simple way of ticking that box.
I must have green fingers, as they say, because i can grow Basil, wild Parsley and Chives all year. I use a large propagator in my spare room (which doubles as a shed, for manly things!). The heater and the light in the propagator are controlled by a programmer to simulate the day/night cycle. It was expensive, I bought it years ago for the purpose of starting of bonsai trees from seed, but thats another story. So I have no need to freeze the herbs.
Garlic, I did attempt to freeze it once, but when it thawed it was soft and didn’t taste very nice. I now buy fresh from: https://www.facebook.com/TheGarlicFarm/ when I need some (Jumbo Elephant Garlic), you should try try it. Takes the skin off the roof of your mouth!
I do tend to have pots on the kitchen window sill, but the quantities needed for pesto are rather beyond me in the winter.