Basil is an aromatic herb originally from India. Common sweet basil is green, with large, soft leaves. It is the star ingredient in Italian pesto, and iconic Italian dishes such as the caprese salad. It is also commonly used in Provençal dishes like soupe au pistou.
Thai basil is an herb that can refer to three different types of basil used in Thai cooking -- Queen of Siam, Holy Basil or Horapa, which is the most commonly used Thai basil in the United States. It has purple stems, small greenish purple leaves, and a licorice taste that is distinct from Italian sweet basil.
Thai basil adds a subtle anise flavor and perfume when plunged into hot soups (including Vietnamese Phở), stir-fried dishes or curries just before serving. Or it can be eaten fresh in salads, wrapped in a lettuce leaf with mint, or fried in spring rolls.
You can leave basil leaves whole and add them to salads and hot dishes toward the end of cooking, tear them into pieces for more capricious basil flavor, or thinly slice them. To avoid bruising the basil, slide a sharp knife down and across the basil with a deliberate, smooth stroke. A clean cut will darken the leaves less than a pounding cut.
To slice basil, first stack the leaves together.
You can either roll them up like a cigar and slice through them to make a chiffonade, or just slice away at them as they are.
Empanadas are named after the Spanish verb empanar, which means to coat or wrap in bread.
Baked or fried turnovers that are made with pastry dough and stuffed with endless combinations of meat and/or vegetables or fruit, empanadas are usually shaped like half-moons and range in size from bite-sized to family-sized.
Many countries around the world claim the empanada as one of their own, including Mexico, Argentina, Portugal, the Caribbean, the Philippines and Spain, where empanadas are thought to have been born in Galicia. Indian samosas are one example of similar preparations found elsewhere in the world.
Meaning "fresh water" in Spanish, agua fresca is a water-based drink infused with fruit, seeds or flowers that is from Mexico but is also popular in Central America and the Caribbean.
The fruit is mixed in a food processor or food mill until smooth. It is then strained through a wide wire mesh and combined with simple syrup, water and often citrus juice.
Agua fresca is flavored with a number of natural ingredients, including papaya, cucumbers, hibiscus flowers, tamarind pods or barley seeds. We love simple agua frescas of fruit and fresh herbs. Watermelon and basil or mint make a refreshing combination.
Recipe: Watermelon Basil Agua Fresca (Coconut & Lime)
Recipe: Strawberry Watermelon Agua Fresca (Simply Recipes)
(Image courtesy of Coconut & Lime.)
What exactly is a baby watermelon?
What exactly is a baby watermelon?
A Sugar Baby watermelon is a variety of so-called "ice-box melon" that's smaller than your average watermelon.
Round, super-sweet and only about 8 inches in diameter, the Sugar Baby has a dark rind and red, yellow or orange flesh. It grows fast and is just the right size for picnics.
Related: Root Source: Watermelon
A simple syrup is truly simple -- just sugar dissolved in boiling water. The water-sugar ratio varies, but the standard is two parts water to one part sugar.
Simple syrup is a bartender's staple; it's easier to swirl in a liquid than it is to add sugar directly, because the granules don't need to dissolve. Simple syrup is also handy to have on hand to sweeten iced tea or coffee. The syrup will keep almost indefinitely if stored in a tightly sealed bottle in the fridge.
Simple syrups are used to soak cakes, poach fruit, sweeten frostings and make candy. You can flavor the syrup by adding any number of other ingredients -- ginger, orange or lemon zest, mint, basil, rosemary, lavender. Just put them in once the water boils right before adding the sugar, and strain them out before bottling.
