All about 1 dish meal

[MintyMin]

Funz:

Yah, putting the scored tomatoes in boiling water is just to remove the skin. You can choose to cook the soup with the skin on but then you will get chunky tomato soup as the skin will not 'dissolve' no matter how long you boil the tomatoes.

You can get the dried basil leaves from the spice rack at the supermarts. I use to get the brand Masterfood or Mc Cormick. I normally see fresh sweet basil or thai basil but so far, have not seen any lemon basil.

Thanks Funz once again..

Oh.. u use those dried ones ah.. I haf those, i bot the mixed herbs from the Masterfood brand as well.. Becoz i was thinking of getting those plants itself.. so tat i can do basil pasta as well.. doing it using fresh basil leaves will be nice.. but dun noe whh variety to take..

[Funz]

MintyMin:

Thanks Funz once again..

Oh.. u use those dried ones ah.. I haf those, i bot the mixed herbs from the Masterfood brand as well.. Becoz i was thinking of getting those plants itself.. so tat i can do basil pasta as well.. doing it using fresh basil leaves will be nice.. but dun noe whh variety to take..

Of course fresh ones will still be better but sometimes cannot find any fresh basil in supermarts so these dried herbs are pretty handy.

I have a couple of basil plants growing in my garden so I just snip off what I need. If buying, I will normally go for sweet basil. Think you can find it more easily in cold storage then in NTUC.

[sssdarlings]

I used to get fresh herbs regularly from a greengrocer in Ghim Moh Market. Big amount for v reasonable price. The thing is I may not use them up in time. I then dry (a la dehydrate style) in my oven and grind them. I then have my own dried herbs, for a fraction of the supermarket price, which lasts for a long while.

[MintyMin]

Funz:

Of course fresh ones will still be better but sometimes cannot find any fresh basil in supermarts so these dried herbs are pretty handy.

I have a couple of basil plants growing in my garden so I just snip off what I need. If buying, I will normally go for sweet basil. Think you can find it more easily in cold storage then in NTUC.

Ur basil plants is sweet basil plant? I noe Bukit Timah NTUC Finest does sell the plant itself.. was looking at it and quite tempted to buy one hm.. but duno whh to buy.. :evil:

[MintyMin]

Another ting… when cooking pasta tomato base… do all of u use those Prego brand sauce or do it ur own using tomatoes?

[sall]

sssdarlings:

I used to get fresh herbs regularly from a greengrocer in Ghim Moh Market. Big amount for v reasonable price. The thing is I may not use them up in time. I then dry (a la dehydrate style) in my oven and grind them. I then have my own dried herbs, for a fraction of the supermarket price, which lasts for a long while.

I suppose you'll have to keep a close watch as the leaves burn easily.

[Funz]

MintyMin:

Funz:

Of course fresh ones will still be better but sometimes cannot find any fresh basil in supermarts so these dried herbs are pretty handy.

I have a couple of basil plants growing in my garden so I just snip off what I need. If buying, I will normally go for sweet basil. Think you can find it more easily in cold storage then in NTUC.

Ur basil plants is sweet basil plant? I noe Bukit Timah NTUC Finest does sell the plant itself.. was looking at it and quite tempted to buy one hm.. but duno whh to buy.. :evil:

My sweet basil plant mati liao. Dunno why, cannot grow well. Now I have, I dunno what basil, but quite commonly grown in Singapore, so I call it local basil. The leaves are sharp in shape and darker in colour compared the sweet basil. Works just as well. I find local basil's smell sharper so will not use as much.

Yah I bought a pot of the sweet basil from cold storage. That's the one that did not survive. Maybe I use it too much, no time to regenerate. Haha.

[MintyMin]

Funz:

MintyMin:

Ur basil plants is sweet basil plant? I noe Bukit Timah NTUC Finest does sell the plant itself.. was looking at it and quite tempted to buy one hm.. but duno whh to buy.. :evil:

My sweet basil plant mati liao. Dunno why, cannot grow well. Now I have, I dunno what basil, but quite commonly grown in Singapore, so I call it local basil. The leaves are sharp in shape and darker in colour compared the sweet basil. Works just as well. I find local basil's smell sharper so will not use as much.

Yah I bought a pot of the sweet basil from cold storage. That's the one that did not survive. Maybe I use it too much, no time to regenerate. Haha.

Hmm.. Local basil. ok.. muz go find out liao..
N mayb i'll try to buy the sweet basil too.. :evil:

[sssdarlings]

MintyMin:

Funz:

Of course fresh ones will still be better but sometimes cannot find any fresh basil in supermarts so these dried herbs are pretty handy.

I have a couple of basil plants growing in my garden so I just snip off what I need. If buying, I will normally go for sweet basil. Think you can find it more easily in cold storage then in NTUC.

Ur basil plants is sweet basil plant? I noe Bukit Timah NTUC Finest does sell the plant itself.. was looking at it and quite tempted to buy one hm.. but duno whh to buy.. :evil:

Yes, Finest has almost all the herbs. Cold Storage is another place to get fresh herbs.

Thyme, rosemary (best for beef and chicken dishes) are my part of my usual shopping. Mint is great to make cold lemonades for hot days or just about any tea.

http://www.yankeeharvest.com/spice_mill/yhspgloss.html#top
- useful list of herbs and culinary uses

http://www.theperfectpantry.com/2009/06/spice-list-the-perfect-pantry-turns-3.html
- personal fave (I learnt to make 'sun' (oven) dried' tomatoes from here as there are accompanying recipes. But not exhaustive list of herbs

Besides cooking, herbs are my must-have for remedies. Thyme for cough and sage for sort throats.

http://www.herbreference.com/
- more for medicinal use

hth

[MintyMin]

sssdarlings:

Yes, Finest has almost all the herbs. Cold Storage is another place to get fresh herbs.

Thyme, rosemary (best for beef and chicken dishes) are my part of my usual shopping. Mint is great to make cold lemonades for hot days or just about any tea.

http://www.yankeeharvest.com/spice_mill/yhspgloss.html#top
- useful list of herbs and culinary uses

http://www.theperfectpantry.com/2009/06/spice-list-the-perfect-pantry-turns-3.html
- personal fave (I learnt to make 'sun' (oven) dried' tomatoes from here as there are accompanying recipes. But not exhaustive list of herbs

Besides cooking, herbs are my must-have for remedies. Thyme for cough and sage for sort throats.

http://www.herbreference.com/
- more for medicinal use

hth

Thanks for giving us such detailed information abt herbs.. will definitely bookmarked tis down..