Basil Ice Cubes: RIP Basil Plant #2

AFTERNOON ALL :(. I woke up this morning to a brightly shinning sun, the sound of birds chirping (actually, it was probably the sound of sirens since it's Baltimore =_=) and A DYING BASIL PLANT.

While I love the taste of fresh basil, I am at my wits ends with dying plants. It's really difficult to grow fresh basil, or oregano/rosemary for that matter, in an apartment when your unit doesn't face the sun. This idea has been done to death on multiple food blogs, but I figured that you lovely people wouldn't mind if I show you how I made my own basil ice cubes :) Also, mine are in the shape of stars so that makes them special, right?

You can freeze your basil in either olive oil or water. I've decided not to use olive oil for this particular batch because I want to be able to use these cubes in desserts and smoothies. A mouth full of olive oil in my strawberry smoothie? No thanks. On to the ice cubes!

STEP #1: WASH IT

Self explanatory. Thoroughly wash/rinse your basil to get rid of any remaining dirt. Also make sure to pull off any dried out/wilted portions before blending.

STEP #2: BLEND IT

I used about 1 cup of basil and 1/2 cup of water. You can either use a blender or food processor to blend your basil-water mixture. Alternatively, you can chop the basil into fine pieces by hand. Blend your mixture for about 4-6 seconds until the pieces are evenly chopped and are about the size of rice grains. Don't worry about using too much water, it will evaporate when you cook the basil :) 

STEP #3: POUR IT

My particularly awesome ice cube tray holds about 1 tablespoon of liquid in each section. Make sure to keep track of how much each basil-water cube holds when you finally cook it. Personally, I don't think that there can ever be enough basil in a dish - it's delicious!


STEP #4: FREEZE IT

Allow your basil-water mixture to set in your freezer for about 2-3 hours. DO NOT leave it sitting in the ice cube tray for too long or it won't stay fresh. Pop out the cubes and prepare to bag them.

STEP #5: BAG IT!

Place your cubes in a freezer bag and label it with the date that you created the mixture. The cubes should stay fresh for up to 6 months. You can use this process for oregano, rosemary, and other herbs. Try experimenting with freezing your herbs in olive oil too!

**If you're a 1L student living in on or off campus housing near one of the law schools in Baltimore, the chances of you having a car are slim. I know that I didn't and neither did the vast majority of my friends last year. Freezing your basil or other herbs can be a wonderful idea if you seldom find chances to get to a grocery store.

Thanks for reading and I'll see you all next week!


**UPDATE** This post was featured in People Magazine's online article 12 Flavored Ice Cube Recipes That Make A Splash!

Recipes & Spotlight Entires

Hello All! I just wanted to let you kiddies know that once the school year starts (yay 2L!) in September, I will be updating this blog with recipes every week on Fridays or Saturdays. Assuming that I won't be crush by the weight of thousand page cases, I will try to post spotlight entries on nutrition/spices & herbs/fun kitchen ideas on Tuesdays or Wednesdays. Thanks for readings and here's to blog consistency! 

Vanilla Soaked Apple-Cinnamon-Oat Muffins

GREETINGS!

I hope that you're all having a FANTASTIC weekend with beautiful weather, light traffic, and rewarding naps. If you're in Baltimore this weekend, then you know that the annual anime convention, Otakon is in town wreaking havoc on cross-walks and sidewalks near Inner Harbor! I had the pleasure of witnessing some kind of battle between characters in a parking deck. Pretty sure that I heard someone scream "LET THIS BE OUR FINAL BATTLE!" - or maybe I made that part up.. who knows. 

Onward to the muffins! This recipe was inspired by apple picking season! I've never been apple picking before, but I'm sure that it's a cathartic experience that changes lives for the better. For popular orchards near Washington DC that have great quality apples ready for picking, follow this link. 

WHAT YOU NEED:

A. 1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

B. 2 medium-sized apples

C. 1-1/2 cups quick-cooking oats

D. 1-1/4 cups all-purpose flour

E. 1/2 cup packed brown sugar

F. 1 teaspoon baking powder

G. 3/4 teaspoon baking soda

H. 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

I. 1/2 teaspoon salt

J. 1 cup unsweetened applesauce

K. 1/2 cup Almond Milk (Original)

L. 3 tablespoons canola oil (or olive oil-canola blend)

M. 1 egg white

Topping:

1/4 cup quick-cooking oats

1 tablespoon brown sugar

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

First things first...

Use a vegetable peeler to skin the apples. Cut as much of the apple off of the core as possible. Toss out the cores and dice the apple pieces evenly. However, if you don't dice them evenly, honestly, no one will notice- this ain't Top Chef. Put the diced apples into a small bowl and pour the vanilla over them. In order to make sure that the vanilla spreads to all of the apple pieces, use a spoon to stir the mixture. Let this mixture sit as you prepare the batter.

Tip: Use honey crisp or green apples if possible. They taste delicious in this mixture.

In a large bowl, mix ingredients C through I together.

In a separate bowl, take the vanilla soaked apples and mix them with ingredients J through M. Assuming that you're looking forward to some more mixing, stir the wet, apple mixture into the dry mixture. 

YOU'RE ALMOST DONE!

Fill the muffin cups coated with cooking spray (I use canola cooking spray) three-fourths full. Combine the topping ingredients and sprinkle the mixture over the batter in each muffin cup. Bake at 400° for 17-19 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Side note: Depending on the size of the muffin cups on your particular pan, your "muffin yield" (GREAT word) may be less than or greater than mine - 10 muffins. 

DRUM ROLL PLEASE...

DELICIOUS!! With the vanilla soaked apples, these muffins come out very moist. I've made these muffins before without the apples and I found them to be very thick - probably because of the oats. Also, the vanilla soaked baked apples inside add a welcomed, bright bite of fruit and a rich/warm vanilla flavor.

HOW TO PREVENT STALE MUFFINS

When I bake muffins, I like to make enough for the school week as a quick breakfast option. However, I've found that they become stale before Friday if I leave them on the counter in foil or plastic wrap. I suggest refrigerating them in a large plastic bag. If you make more than you can finish in a week, you may want to freeze the others in a freezer bag and warm them in the oven once you're ready to eat them. 

Thanks for reading, stay safe (anime characters walking around with cardboard swords near Otakon and whatnot), and enjoy the rest of your weekend!

Up and Running!

Hello and welcome! I will start posting my food-ventures in and out of the kitchen in a few short days. I guess that the 30 minutes that I took designing my blog layout could have been used to actually write a real blog post. Well, what's done is done. No looking back at time wasted! I hope you'll come back to visit this weekend and until then.. my blog page is pretty, riiiight? :)