Basil and Broth

Fall is upon us and final harvesting of outdoor herb plantings need to happen before a frost kills off the few culinary plants in the micro-garden.  And there are very few.  This was the last of the basil.  If any grows back after this cutting, they will be a bonus

It was time for another batch of broth too.  This stock was based on chicken bones left from feeding the boys fried chicken for lunch on Friday.  Why throw any scraps out when they can be the basis for another meal?  This was chicken soup for dinner on Sunday, then lunch for the boys on Monday.   The base is a roux, made with part oil and part chicken fat.  Flavoring with flavor is our motto.  The fat was skimmed off the stock from the bones after it sat over night, then this pot was the start for soup the next day.

Stems from the basil were added to the soup base and simmered for a couple of hours.  This was the first step before dumping it into a crockpot -- where it was mixed with a box of store-bought broth.  Mixing the two means a bigger batch with half the salt.  There is no way that soup made with just grocery store broth can taste as good as our version that starts from scratch.  Extra flavor such as the roux and the basil stems add a dimension that soup in a can can't match.

The rest of the basil was made into small cubes of pesto.  This has basil, oil, roasted pine nuts and sun-dried tomatoes.  One meal will probably just require a cube or two -- the flavor is rather strong with the dried tomatoes.  Those were added in order to finish a jar that had been in the fridge for a while.  Once they are frozen, they'll get stored in a zippy bag.

Things get busy in the micro-kitchen because very few tasks are a one-off.  The basil needed to be processed and was destined for stock, so the soup needed to be started too.  Even though Sunday is a day of rest, the micro-kitchen is open seven days a week!