Basil Broth Recipes

PHO RECIPE

Steps:

• Place the bones and beef chuck in large stockpot and add water to cover. Bring to a boil and boil for 5 minutes. Drain in a colander and thoroughly clean the stockpot. This process removes any impurities/scum and will give you a much cleaner broth.
• Meanwhile, char your ginger and onions. Use tongs to hold the ginger and onions (one at a time) over an open flame, or place each directly on a gas burner. Turn until they're lightly blackened and fragrant, about 5 minutes. Rinse away all the blackened skins.
• Add water (5 quarts/4.75 L, or more/less if you've scaled the recipe up or down) to the stockpot and bring to a boil. Transfer the bones and meat back to the pot, along with the charred/cleaned ginger and onions. Add the scallions, fish sauce and sugar. Reduce the heat to low, and simmer until the beef chuck is tender, about 40 minutes. Skim the surface often to remove any foam and fat.
• Remove one piece of the chuck and transfer to a bowl of ice water to stop the cooking process. Then transfer this piece of beef to a container and refrigerate (you will slice this to serve with your pho later. If you were to leave it in the pot, it would be too dry to eat). Leave the other piece of chuck in the pot to flavor the broth.
• Now toast the spices (star anise, cloves, cinnamon stick, cardamom, fennel seeds, and coriander seeds) in a dry pan over medium low heat for about 3 minutes, until fragrant. Use kitchen string to tie up the spices in a piece of cheesecloth, and add it to the broth.
• Cover the pot and continue simmering for another 4 hours. Add the salt and continue to simmer, skimming as necessary, until you're ready to assemble the rest of the dish. Taste the broth and adjust seasoning by adding more salt, sugar, and/or fish sauce as needed.
• To serve, boil the noodles according to package instructions. Add to a bowl. Place a few slices of the beef chuck and the raw sirloin on the noodles. Bring the broth to a rolling boil and ladle it into each bowl. The hot broth will cook the beef. Garnish with your toppings, and be sure to squeeze a lot of fresh lime juice over the top!

PAVE OF TOMATO AND CABBAGE WITH BASIL BROTH

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 300 degrees. Remove the stems from the cabbage and plunge them into boiling water for 45 seconds. Drain and cool completely under cold water. Pat the leaves dry and set aside.
• Use a sharp knife to cut the tomatoes into 1/4-inch slices. Lightly oil a baking sheet; put the tomatoes on the sheet and put in the oven for 35 minutes. Remove and set aside. Increase oven to 350 degrees.
• Use the remaining oil to grease an 8-by-12-inch baking pan; line the pan with foil. Line the bottom of the pan with the cabbage leaves. Sprinkle a layer of crumbled goat cheese on top of the cabbage. Put a layer of tomatoes on the cheese, and repeat with layers of goat cheese and tomatoes until all ingredients are used. Top with additional cabbage leaves. Cover with foil and bake 40 minutes.
• Remove pan from oven. Put a pan of equal size on top of this pan, bottom side down, weigh it down with several bricks or heavy cans of food and refrigerate for several hours. Remove weights and foil and cut the pie into 3-inch diamonds. To serve, put 1 diamond in the bottom of each of 4 oven-proof serving dishes and warm in oven. Ladle in 1/2 cup of basil broth and serve immediately.

CREAM OF BASIL SOUP

Steps:

• In a saucepan, simmer broth and basil, uncovered, for 15 minutes. In another saucepan, melt butter. Stir in flour and pepper until smooth; gradually add milk. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened. Reduce heat; gradually stir in broth and sour cream (do not boil).

ORZO WITH PARMESAN AND BASIL

Steps:

• Melt butter in heavy skillet over medium-high heat. Stir in orzo and saute until lightly browned.
• Stir in chicken stock and bring to boil. Cover. Reduce heat and simmer until orzo is tender and liquid is absorbed, about 15 - 20 minutes.
• Mix in Parmesan cheese and basil. Season with salt and pepper. Transfer to shallow bowl. Garnish with basil sprigs.

SPICED CHICKEN MEATBALLS WITH NOODLES, BASIL & BROTH

Steps:

• Whizz the onion, ginger, chillies, garlic, white pepper and half of the coriander stalks, roots (if using) and leaves in a food processor until finely chopped. Mix the milk and breadcrumbs together in a large bowl. Add the onion mix and chicken into the breadcrumbs, then season. Now, really mix - I mean mix - until the whole thing becomes a paste rather than lumpy. If you have a tabletop mixer, then use that instead of your hands. Shape into small balls around the size of a 50p piece. Place a large frying pan or casserole over a medium heat, add a drizzle of oil then fry the balls until well coloured - about 10 mins. You'll need to do this in batches, adding more oil each time. Set aside.
• For the broth, put the stock into a large saucepan, bring to the boil, then simmer. Add the sesame oil, fish sauce, ginger, remaining coriander stalks and roots, star anise and peppercorns. Simmer, covered, for 20 mins. Add the spring onions, noodles and chillies, if using. Take 6 large bowls, then divide the noodles between them - tongs are the best tool. Drop in the warm meatballs then ladle in the stock. Scatter with coriander and basil leaves then tuck in.