basil, basil, basil

I have high hopes for garden basil. In the past, planting it in the main veggie bed, it's the first to be devoured, it's tender leaves perforated nearly overnight. I'm hoping that isolating into a tall planter will keep it from falling prey to the cut worms and slugs that are inevitable in the main bed, and let these tender babies flourish!

I planted three species: lovely genovese sweet basil for caprese salad, delicate yet spicy thai for soups, and a new-to-me flavor: purple basil. Apparently it's fabulous in pesto, so if it takes off, I'll give that a try!

Now: fingers crossed!

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chicken stuffed with (garden) sage, over roasted (garden) fennel

1. stuffedchicken, 2. breadedchicken, 3. chickenfennel

I'm in love with fennel. I oughta marry it.

I'm also currently in love with the two kinds of sage that are going like gangbusters in my gardens - one is long and willowy, with light silvery green leaves, and the other is squat, with rounder, darker and more textured leaves. I'm slipping the thin leaves under a lot of chicken skin prior to roasting (yummilicious) and dicing up more of the rounder leaves for sauteing into risotto, soup, etc.

This time I diced up the round leaf sage with shallots, garlic and s&p and stuffed the mix into skinless chicken thighs, pinned together with toothpicks. Breaded and roasted over quartered fennel, leeks and sage, this was a PUUUURFECT summer al fresco meal on the back deck!

(I didn't think of it at the time, but I should have served it with this)

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