Garden Cook

Eat as if your life depends on it, because it does!

noreply@blogger.com (My Garden Journal) — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 06:21:00 +0000

A healthy diet not only can boost your immune system and avoid diseases, it apparently also make you feel good, more energetic and smarter. Food is an important part of our lives. When you think about it, food has two distinct and related functions. First food keeps us from being hungry. Secondly, our bodies use the food we eat to power the many functions that keep us alive, and to break down the food we eat to fund the growth and rebuilding of cells in our bodies. It is from the second perspective that we MUST eat quality food, food that the body needs. This process is very much like the computing world, GIGO (Garbage In Garbage Out). If the food you eat does not provide the nutrients your body needs, something will go haywire. You won't see it after one big mac, but you will feel it after a while. So eat healthy foods, eat fruit and vegetables, eat organic food as much as you can, eat healthy fat. Your body will thank you!
http://newdimensionseed.com/

Fine Caramel (Pine nuts Caramel)

noreply@blogger.com (My Garden Journal) — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 01:51:00 +0000

Making your own candy allows you to add special flavors that you do not normally get. This recipe uses a traditional caramel recipe, incorporates with nuts of your choice. The key to make caramel is the temperature control. An infrared thermometer with digital display comes in handy for this application.

Caramel is basically made with sugar, cream and butter. The key to make the caramel with the right consistency is to control the temperatures. There are two key temperatures for this process: (1) When melting the sugar, allow the sugar to melt completely, and then continue to heat it until it reaches 310 F. (2) After adding cream, the temperature should drop to around 210 F. Let the moisture to bubbles out, and continue to cook until it reaches 340-345 F., this is the soft candy stage.

Ingredients:

2 cups of cane sugar;

1 cup of light corn syrup;

1.5 cups of heavy cream;

1 teaspoon of vanilla extract;

1/2 cup of butter, cut into small cubes;

1/4 teaspoon of salt;

1 cup roasted pine nuts, or other nuts of your choice.

Method:

Step1: Combine sugar and syrup, cook on medium heat until sugar melt. This process can take over 10 minutes. Check the temperature frequently with the digital infrared thermometer until it registers 310F. Reduce the heat to low.

[Did you know? The temperature of the mixture will not rise until all the sugar crystal is melted. This is because the sugar is going through a phase change-from solid to liquid. This process takes heat, therefore the heat inputted will go to melting the sugar crystals instead of raising the temperature of the mixture.]

Step2: Heat the cream with vanilla extract in the microwave until hot (not boiling), gradually add the cream to the molten syrup. Stir (careful keeping the bubbling down, remove from heat if necessary). This will reduce the temperature to around 210F. Keep cooking the mixture until most moisture is boiled out. Once that happens, the temperature will tart to rise again. Keep cooking until the temperature reaches 240-245F.

Step3: Remove the mixture from the heat. Add the butter cubes, salt and nuts, stir to distribute them evenly in the mixture. Pour the mixture in a flat baking sheet. Allow to cool, then cut into small pieces. Wrap with wax paper. Enjoy!

http://newdimensionseed.com/cooking/desserts_bacon-caramel.html

Just Don't Know When to Quit!

noreply@blogger.com (My Garden Journal) — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 00:05:00 +0000

At the end of August, I pulled all my cucumber vines out of the garden, cleared the spot. The beans and corns are still going strong, weather was still decent. Staring at the bare spot, I thought to myself: if I leave it like it is, weeds are going to take over. I still have some Sweetbell Turnip left from the spring, what could I loose? I scattered the seeds in the newly cleared spot, without adding any fertilizers to the soil. Since I have never done this before, I sowed the turnips densely, thinking, the weather here in the Pacific Northwest could turn any time, the extra seeds would give me some wiggle room in case not all of them will make it. One week later, I spotted densely packed turnip seedlings everywhere. The turnips were not big enough to eat, and they grew way too close together. So I started thinning by eating the "micro greens" (they were delicious in salads). By October, I got golf ball sized turnips, I pickled, made roasted turnips, turnip au gratin, gave them away, looked for all sorts of ways to dispose of them.... This continued until Thanksgiving. After Thanksgiving, the weather was getting cooled and cooler. The night time temperature was going toward freezing.

I picked as big of a batch of turnips as I could. Washed and removed the greens, bagged the turnips. I was ready to give up the rest of it. December rolled along, we had several days with night time temperature down to the 20th. I did not go check the turnips for several days, I was certain they were goners. Well, well, well, what do I know?! I went to check my turnip patch today, they are still going strong!!!! Looks like the outer leaves may have been frozen and thawed, but the turnips were as sweet as ever! I am now convinced there must be anti-freeze in the turnips! That may well be the case, the starch in the turnips could be keeping them from freezing. Whatever the case, I am going to have to do this every year. The lesson is: Plant Silverbell Sweet Turnip in the fall, you will be richly rewarded!

Barred Rocks: One of my favorite breed

noreply@blogger.com (My Garden Journal) — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 21:44:00 +0000

Barred rocks are full of characters. They are inquisitive, friendly and easy to manage. They are somewhat early maturing, start laying after about 6 month. They are not very big in size making them ideal for backyard flock.

Leghorn-The egg laying machine

noreply@blogger.com (My Garden Journal) — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 21:30:00 +0000

At 4 lb. full grown Leghorns may not be as good looking as some of the other hens, but don't under estimate their egg laying abilities. Leghorns are bread for their egg laying abilities, most white eggs produced commercially are produced by leghorns. Our leghorns lay one egg a day for almost two years. They are not broody, and do not molt as frequent as the other hens. Since they are small in size, they do not consume a lot of feed, giving you excellent feed to egg conversion ratio.

Ameraucana Laying Hens

noreply@blogger.com (My Garden Journal) — Fri, 25 Nov 2011 07:47:00 +0000

Ameraucana hens are fine laying hens, they are calm, non-aggressive and easy to manage. They love to graze, eating weeds and grass clippings or any vegetable scraps. They lay dark yellow yolked eggs. They lay eggs about every other day during their production period.

Sweet and Sour Eggplant

noreply@blogger.com (My Garden Journal) — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 23:48:00 +0000

Learn to make the sweet and sour eggplant is well worth the efforts. The basic recipe for a sweet and sour sauce is: 3:2:1, that is 3 Tablespoons of sugar to 2 Tablespoons of vinegar to 1 Tablespoon of light soy sauce. Use a little cornstarch to thicken the sauce. You can add other stuff to suit your taste, I have added sesame seed oil, chopped scallion and crushed garlic to flavor the eggplant.

Ingredients:

1 large Eggplant
A pinch of hot pepper flakes
1 thin slice of ginger
Oil for frying

Light and Crunchy Batter:
3 T. rice flour (use all-purpose flour if unavailable)
2 T. cornstarch
1 egg yoke
3 T. rice wine vinegar or dry sherry wine

Easy Sweet and Sour Sauce:
3 T. sugar
2 T. Balsamic vinegar
1 T. light soy sauce
1 t. sesame seed oil
1 t. cornstarch
2 T. water
2 cloves of garlic, crushed
1 scallion, white part, chopped

Slice the eggplant into 1-1/2" x 1/4" slices. Sprinkle salt and toss. Let the eggplant set for 15 minutes. Squeeze to remove the moisture from the eggplant. Place the eggplant pieces in the batter. Toss to coat. Heat a large frying pan with 2" oil until hot. Fry the eggplant slices until golden, 2-3 minutes. Removed the fried eggplant and place them in a paper towel to drain.

Heat 1 T. oil in the frying pan, add hot pepper flakes and ginger. Cook until fragrance begin to come out. Add the sweet and sour sauce. Stir, cook until thickened. Add the fried eggplant, toss to coat. Slice the green portion of the scallion and sprinkle on top. Serve with rice.

A Good Problem to Have

noreply@blogger.com (My Garden Journal) — Sun, 13 Nov 2011 18:26:00 +0000

When the Stallion White Cucumbers were done producing in late August, I removed the vines and cleaned the garden, turned over the soil left it for the winter. I happened to have some Silverbell Sweet Turnip seeds on hand, so I casually scattered the seeds in the spot where the cucumbers were growing. To my surprise, they all germinated and were thriving. It turned out, the cool weather in September is exactly what the turnip needed to grow. Since I sowed the seeds quite intensively, early on I used a lot of turnip greens to thin them out. They were tender and mild, and I just used it as I would spinach. 30 days later, I started to get golf ball sized turnips, they were the BEST turnips ever, even better than ones I planted intentionally before. Now it is mid November, I am harvesting more turnips than I could ever use, and there is no signs of it slowing down! Turnips must have some sort of antifreeze in them, because the frosty mornings did nothing to damage them. This is one problem I do not mind having. Another benefit of this "ooops" was the turnip crowded out the weeds. This will reduced the weeds pressure in the garden next year. What more can I ask for?!

How to grow heirloom tomatoes

noreply@blogger.com (My Garden Journal) — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 01:25:00 +0000

New seed page is updated with "how to grow".

Baklava

noreply@blogger.com (My Garden Journal) — Sat, 05 Nov 2011 04:21:00 +0000

Holidays are fast approaching, baklava, a decadent Greek dessert is easy to make is an instant hit in any party. You can make two different types of baklava with different nuts filling and shape them differently. It is made by layering nut filling and butter on sheets of phyllo dough, roll the phyllo dough up, bake the baklava in the oven and pour a hot syrup on top as soon as it is removed from the oven.

Ingredients:
1 pk. phyllo dough;
1 C. butter, room temperature;
Nut mixtures;
Syrup.

Making the Nut Fillings: Mix together: 1 lb. of finely chopped nuts (walnuts, almonds or pistachios or a mix of the three), 1/2 C. sugar, 1 t. cinnamon, 1/4 t. ground cloves. If making two types of baklava, make the fillings separately.

Making the Syrup: Add 1 C. honey, 1 C. water, 1/4 C. fresh lemon juice. 2 cinnamon sticks, 5 cloves in a sauce pan, bring it to a boil and continue boiling for 10 minutes to thicken the syrup. Set aside.

Method: Grease a 9x13 pan. Place 2-3 sheets of the phyllo dough and brush the top with butter, covering the entire sheet. Sprinkle a layer of the nut mixture. Alternating with phyllo dough and nut mixture until the pan is filled up. Put 3 extra sheets of phyllo dough on top and brush with butter. Lightly pat down the unbaked baklava, cut with a sharp knife into small squares, 1-2 inches in size. Bake in the oven for 25-30 minutes until golden brown. Check to make sure they do not burn. Pour the syrup on the hot baklava. Let cool. Place cut pieces of baklava into mini muffin liners for serving.

For the Baklava Rolls: Use different nut mixtures for different types of the baklava, here baklava are made into rolls with another nut mixture. To make rolled up Baklava pieces, spread out 2-3 sheets of phyllo dough, brush with butter, sprinkle with the nut mixture, place another sheet of phyllo dough on top, brush with butter. Using a piece of wooden dowel 1/2 inch in diameter, slowly roll up the prepared phyllo nut stack. Place the rolled up phyllo dough in a baking pan. Cut the roll into 3 in pieces. Repeat until all is done. Bake and top with syrup same way as above.

Kitchen How To's: Safe Hamburgers

noreply@blogger.com (My Garden Journal) — Sat, 29 Oct 2011 04:53:00 +0000

A few years ago after hearing about how hamburgers are massively produced in factories, and all the food born illness resulted from this practice, I decided to grind my own. I investigated different meat grinders, and settled on a 1800 Watt, 2.4HP meat grinder, and I am quite happy with it. Turns out, not only I can make great quality lean burgers (it's comforting to know my burgers come from one cow, not thousands), it also cost a lot less. Hamburgers at the super market can cost from $2.99 and all the way up to $5.99 per pound. To make my own burgers, I purchase beef from restaurant supply stores for around $2.00 per pound (round/chuck). It also gives me the flexibility of making some other cuts for stew or other recipes.

I usually cut up the beef, save some for stew or stir-fries, and then grind the rest up for burgers. For the hamburgers, I cut the beef into 2" chunks, run them through the meat grinder twice, this way I found, gives the beef better texture. After running through the grinder the second time, I shape the burgers into patties with two saucer plates, placing a sheet of butcher paper under each patty. Then I place them in ziplock bags and then paper boxes, and freeze them for later use.

The meat grinder is also great for making your own pork sausage, that will be the topic for the next post....

Red Chicken Curry

noreply@blogger.com (My Garden Journal) — Tue, 11 Oct 2011 06:21:00 +0000

Red Chicken Curry

It is the end of September, I have harvested a dozen Green Chestnut winter squash from my garden. I invited my good friend Nellie to come and have a cooking party. Nellie is from Thailand, she said she has a good Thai dish which will really showcase the winter squash. She made this red curry with chicken, winter squash, eggplants and asparagus beans. As a principle, Nellie explained, you can put just about any meat or vegetable in a curry. Here's how she made the red chicken curry:

Ingredients:

1 can (28oz) coconut milk;

1 lb. chicken breast, cut into 1/2 inch pieces;

1 small winter squash, cutup into 1" irregular pieces (~4-5 cups);

2 Black Dragon eggplants, cut into 2" pieces;

5 red Thai peppers, seeded and sliced into 1/4 in. strips;

1/2 lb. asparagus beans, cut into 1" sections;

1 t. fish sauce;

5 cloves of garlic;

2-3 T. red curry paste (depending how hot you'd like it);

a few Thai basil leaves

2 kaffir leaves, thinly sliced

Method:

Remove the lid of the coconut milk, spoon the solid into a saute pan, cook until it begins to sizzle. Add 1 T. curry paste, mix until incorporated, add some coconut milk, and more curry paste. Continue until all 3 T. curry paste is incorporated with the coconut milk. Reserve 1/2 C. of coconut milk and add the rest in the saute pan. Add 2 C. water. Bring it to the boil. Add chicken pieces. Cook for 10 minutes until chickens are tender. Add squash, cook for 5 minutes, add eggplants, asparagus beans. Simmer, covered for 15 minutes. Add the Thai basil, stir in the last 1/2 C. coconut milk, add the kaffir leaves just before serving. Serve with Jasmine rice and a bottle of red wine...

After dinner note:

The winter squash is amazing in this dish. It is creamy, sweet and great to soak up the delicious curry sauce. The eggplants provided additional texture and body to the dish, and the asparagus beans provided a little crunchiness and a nice flavor. The chicken is tender and delicious. Nellie says the chicken can be substituent with beef, fish or shrimp.

I can see how other vegetables can be easily incorporated into this dish, such as green peppers, tomatoes or even zucchinis. It is a very gardener friendly dish. This will sure become of dish that will frequent my dinner table. Good friends, good food... what more can I ask for?

Old Beans? Make Soup!

noreply@blogger.com (My Garden Journal) — Sat, 08 Oct 2011 03:38:00 +0000

It is fall but you still got beans hanging on the vines, and inevitably, you'll have some that are too old for fresh eating. No worries, there are a number of ways to use the shelled beans. They happen to make the best soup. Try add them to your minestrone soups, or boil them and add chopped herbs, garlic and butter. If you still have more than you can use up, try dry them. They keep quite well after being dried. Shown in the picture below is the Purple Cardinal Pole Beans from New Dimension Seed. It produces long, slender purple beans throughout the summer and make great shelling beans in the fall...

Homemade Yum Pockets

noreply@blogger.com (My Garden Journal) — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 22:46:00 +0000

"Hot pocket" seemed forever association with comedian Jim Gaffigan's joke-it embodies everything junkie and unhealthy life style. But, it doesn't have to be that way. You can make them at home and fill them with whatever fillings you like, from ham-n-cheese pockets to pizza pockets to chicken cordon blue pockets. And the best of all, they are very inexpensive to make. They can be individually wrapped and frozen. It will make a quick meal anytime.

1. Making the Dough:
3/4 C. lukewarm water;
2 C. all purpose flour;
1 t. sugar;
1/2 t. salt.
1 T. dry yeast powder
2 T. olive oil
In a large bowl, mix together yeast, water and sugar. Allow the yeast to bubble (5-10 minutes). Add the rest ingredients, knead to make a smooth ball. Cover and let stand in a warm place for approximately 40 minutes.

2. Making the Fillings:
Use whatever you have available on hand. The following combinations work well together:
(1) Ham + cheese + mustard: Cut ham in thin strips, shred the cheddar cheese, add mustard
(2) Pizza filling: Anything that can go on a pizza: pepperoni, sausage, cooked onions, cooked green pepper etc. etc.. Add tomato sauce to bind all ingredients together and mozzarella cheese. This is the classical calzone.
(3) Chicken + Swiss Cheese + Ranch Dressing: This is a great combination. Add cooked onions, green peppers if you like.

3. Wrapping and Baking:
(1) Divide dough into 2" size dough balls, roll the dough balls out, fill with selected fillings and pinch the edges together. Arrange the pockets on a cookie sheet;
(2) Brush the top with some oil, then sprinkle salt, pepper and cheese on top if you like;
(3) Bake in a pre-heated 375 F oven for 20 minutes until the tops are lightly brown.

Garden Cook: Life Lessons I learned by Gardening

noreply@blogger.com (My Garden Journal) — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 17:37:00 +0000

Garden Cook: Life Lessons I learned by Gardening
http://newdimensionseed.com/index.html

Easy Ceviche

noreply@blogger.com (My Garden Journal) — Sun, 02 Oct 2011 05:37:00 +0000

Marinade:
Juice of 1 lemon and 1 lime each;
1/2 C. diced red onion;
2 diced jalapeno peppers;
1/3 C. chopped cilantro;
Seasoning: 1 t. sugar, 1 t salt and 1/2 t. pepper;
A dash of tabasco sauce;
Method: Mix above ingredients together, set aside.

Other Ingredients:
1 C. diced heirloom tomatoes;
1 small avocade, pealed and diced
1/2 lb cooked shrimps and/or crab meat.
Method: Mix all ingredients together and pour into the marinade. Toss to coat. Chill at least 1/2 hour before serving.

Blueberry Pancakes from Scratch

noreply@blogger.com (My Garden Journal) — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 23:41:00 +0000

Ingredients:1 C. butter milk2 whole eggs2/3 C. flour1 t. baking soda1/2 t. salt2 T. sugar1 C. blueberries, fresh or frozen

Method: (1) Beat eggs in butter milk(2) Mix together the dry ingredients (3) Add the dry ingredients to the butter milk mixture, then add the blueberries (4) Cook pancakes on a grease a cast iron pan until done (5) Dust with powdered sugar and serve

Heirloom Tomato Salad

noreply@blogger.com (My Garden Journal) — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 05:34:00 +0000

Here's what's for lunch... Heirloom Tomato Salad made with day old Pumper Nickle Bread.
Assortment of tomatoes includes: Sungold, Sunsugar, Isis Candy, Green Zebra and Red Pear. Dressing: red wine vinegar, olive oil, minced garlic, finely chopped basil, salt and pepper. Topped with: feta cheese. SWEET!

Easy Salmon_Blackened Salmon

noreply@blogger.com (My Garden Journal) — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 17:53:00 +0000

Salmon is one of the healthiest fish you can find. This easy salmon recipe is one of my favorites. It uses very few ingredients to achieve big flavor, and is delicious and heart healthy. Here’s how:

Ingredients:
2 pieces of fresh salmon
Fresh squeezed lemon Juice
Steak Seasoning
Butter and olive oil for frying

Method:
(1) Preheat oven to 400F. .
(2) Drizzle lemon juice on the cut side of the salmon, sprinkle with steak seasoning. Allow the fish to rest for a while.
(3) Cover the bottom of a pan with ½ olive oil and ½ butter; heat it to melt the butter. When the pan gets hot, place salmon pieces in it, skin side up. Cook until a nice crust has formed.
(4) Place the fish in the oven and cook for 10-15 minutes until desired doneness.
(5) Serve with micro-green salad, couscous and fingerling potatoes.

Spicy Green Olive

noreply@blogger.com (My Garden Journal) — Mon, 26 Sep 2011 23:59:00 +0000

Ingredients:

4 C. of green olives
1/2 C. good quality extra virgin olive oil
3 cloves of garlic, crushed
1 t. Italian seasoning
A pinch of hot pepper flakes (or more if you like)
Zest and juice from 1 large lemon

Method:

Freezing Beans

noreply@blogger.com (My Garden Journal) — Tue, 13 Sep 2011 17:16:00 +0000

You waited and waited, and finally your beans start to produce tender sweet beans. First you’re content at picking fresh beans for supper everyday, and pretty soon you're overwhelmed with all the beans coming out of the garden... That’s when you need to spring into action, freeze the extras you can’t use in the summer and savor them for the down time of the garden. I’ve found adding some herbs when you blanching the beans adds extra flavor to the beans. I like to use savory herb, either summer savory or winter savory.

Method:

(1) Wash and trim green beans to remove the ends, cut into sections if desired.

(2) Bring a large pot of water to a boil with a few sprigs of savory herb in it (use approx. 1 gallon of water per lb. of beans).

(3) Add beans to the boiling water; leave heat on high, cook for 3 minutes.

(4) Plunge beans in cold water immediately to cool.

(5) Pack beans in plastic bags in cooking portions, then place bags in a larger freezer bag, freeze.

Oh, My Shawarma!

noreply@blogger.com (My Garden Journal) — Mon, 12 Sep 2011 16:19:00 +0000

My shawarma:

Basic shawarma seasoning:
1 part cumin,
1 part salt,
2 parts curry power (you can use an assortment of red, yellow or green),
Mix together and store in your cupboard until needed.

Meat: Beef, chicken or lamb

Cucumber Sauce: Grate cucumbers, sprinkle with salt. Wait a while and then squeeze out the water. Add grated garlic, grated onion, lemon juice and Greek yogurt.

Mix together the following and marinade for 1/2 hour before cooking:
cut up meat, basic shawarma seasoning, lemon juice, grated onion, grated garlic and olive oil.

Grill until done. Serve with rice, pitta bread (I will show you how to make this easy bread in another blog). Easy and delicious dinner.

Lentil Brown Rice Salad-Heart Healthy and Delicious

noreply@blogger.com (My Garden Journal) — Sun, 04 Sep 2011 23:19:00 +0000

Lentil+Brown Rice Salad

Lentil Salad

Anytime you can mention heart healthy and delicious in the same sentence, I am all for it. This lentil salad I made fits the bill. Not only it is packed with nutrients and fiber, it is so delicious that you will want to eat it over and over again. As to your standard fare the macaroni salad, you might as well toss it together with the cotton candy. Rather than a set recipe, this is more of a cooking method. So go at it, use whatever pleases your palette, and enjoy!

(1) Soak lentils in cold water overnight in the fridge. Drain the soaking water, add fresh water and cook the lentils in boiling water until tender, half an hour also.
(2) If using brown rice, add cooked brown rice
(3) Add chopped nuts. You can use hazelnuts (my fav), almonds or pecans.
(4) Mix in chopped dried fruit. You can use cranberries, resins, apricot, currents, blueberries or cherries.
(5) Add chopped onion, minced garlic, olive oil, lemon juice, freshly chopped parsley and a sweetener, such as honey, maple syrup or agave syrup. And salt and pepper to taste.

Can You Handle More Zucchini? Oh Yea!

noreply@blogger.com (My Garden Journal) — Sat, 03 Sep 2011 19:30:00 +0000

It is at the height of summer, your zucchini plants are pumping out zukes like there is no tomorrow. What to do? I have discovered a great way to use them up. ZUCCHINI KIMCHI! Oh my gosh, it is so good, I will never have zucchini troubles ever again!

Cut zucchinis into 2" long by 1/2" strips. Soak them in salt water for at least 4 hours or overnight. Add grated gingers, minced garlic, fish sauce (Available in Asian stores), a little sugar and hot pepper flakes. Slice some green apples into the mixture. Bag them in a ziplock bag, leave it out for one day, then refrigerate afterwards. Keep in the fridge for up to a week. Great with rice, Raman noodles or whatever. Enjoy!

Tomato Basil Butter

noreply@blogger.com (My Garden Journal) — Sun, 28 Aug 2011 19:25:00 +0000

Years ago I had the opportunity to work with a German dentist on a research project. One day his wife Monika brought in some soft pretzels and a wonderful dip that I've never tasted before couldn't quite figure out what was in it. I am usually pretty good with figuring out what goes in a dish by tasting it, this one stumbled me. I asked her what the recipe was. She told me it was her late mother-in-law's family recipe, and very simple to make. There are five ingredients in it: fresh basil, garlic, butter, tomato paste and salt. Upon hearing that, I said "Of course! All familiar ingredients, I just never thought of putting them together this way." This has become one of my all time favorite recipe, especially in summer time when basil is in abundance in my garden. Here's my version of it (This recipe is also on the basil seed packet from New Dimension Seed):

2 C. loosely packed basil leaves, finely chopped, 3 large cloves of garlic, minced, 1 cube of butter (room temp), 1 small can (6 oz.) of tomato paste, salt to taste. Mix all ingredients together until well blended. Use for sandwich spread, serve soft pretzels or fresh baked bread. YUM!!!