Fresh basil in large-ish quantities?

I'm feeling the urge to make a vat of pesto tomorrow, mostly for the freezer, and the one little pot of basil that is growing on the porch ain't going to do the trick. Where has everyone seen fresh basil recently in large quantities at not-insane prices? Stanley's has usually been a good bet, but I'm open to suggestions, preferably on the North or NW side (I'm in Albany Park). The pot of minestrone currently simmering on the stove thanks you as well! Bonus if it's somewhere where I can buy some more pine nuts; I have some, but probably not enough.

If you don't mind the flavor of Thai basil in your pesto (I've grown to prefer it) head to your nearest Asian produce store; they usually carry it cheaply in bulk. H-Mart in Niles has always been a good source for me.

Fresh Farms Niles had some large-ish bundles the last time I was there, but I don't remember if they were reasonably priced.

Hi- I was at the Evanston farmer's market this morning, and Green Acres had fresh basil for $1 a bunch. It was lousy weather this morning, and they wanted to go home. I picked up 4 bunches to make pesto. I also picked up 2 bunches from Henry for $2 a bunch. The basil from Henry was not as good, and the bunches were not as large. I bought those before I discovered all the basil at Green Acres. Both of the growers told me that this was it for their basil for the year. Basil does not even like it when it is close to freezing, and they both decided to pick the rest of their basil, before it was too late. Henry expects to have frost tonight. You might be able to find some fresh basil at one of the Sunday markets. I know they have a Sunday market in Skokie, and they have one on Glenwood in Rogers Park. I was just at the Glenwood market last Sunday, and it is much smaller than the Evanston market, although they do have some organic growers there. THe Glenwood market also has Oriana, the Asian pear lady. The only organic grower that Skokie has is River Valley Ranch. There is also a Sunday farmer's market at the Chicago Botanic Gardens, which I have never been to, and a Sunday market in Logan Square

If you have not bought pine nuts this year, you are going to be in for a shock. The pine nut crop this year is small. You can find pine nuts, if you do not mind paying big bucks. All summer pine nuts have been $29.95 a pound at Whole Foods, and somebody mentioned that they are $26 a pound at Lincolnwood Produce. I've been using walnuts in my pesto this summer instead. I can get walnuts for $6.95 a pound at Whole Foods. Hope this helps, Nancy

NFriday wrote:If you have not bought pine nuts this year, you are going to be in for a shock. The pine nut crop this year is small. You can find pine nuts, if you do not mind paying big bucks. All summer pine nuts have been $29.95 a pound at Whole Foods, and somebody mentioned that they are $26 a pound at Lincolnwood Produce. I've been using walnuts in my pesto this summer instead. I can get walnuts for $6.95 a pound at Whole Foods. Hope this helps, Nancy

Man, you weren't kidding! I forgot to look for pine nuts when I was at Costco and Fresh Farms Niles yesterday (when Costco has them, they are cheaper than anywhere else). I ended up at Stanley's for the basil this afternoon ($0.99 for a smallish bunch on a small styrofoam tray - I bought 5), and they didn't have any pine nuts, although the cashier says they used to carry them regularly. So I went over to the Trader Joe's in Clybourn Corridor and found some, but a) they looked kind of sad and b) they were around $1/oz.

After being stuck in traffic all the way home, I decided to go to Devon Ave.. for some Indian food, and afterwards, on a co-worker's suggestion, tried City Fresh Market. The only pine nuts they had were in a teeny bottle, maybe 2 oz., for $6. No way in Hell!

I guess I'll use up the small stash in the freezer, and when that's gone, move on to walnuts or almonds or hazelnuts, all of which I have in the house. Thoughts? I was thinking almonds or hazelnuts might be closer to pine nuts than walnuts are, and pecans would be downright odd.

Walnuts are common in pesto; I just used them for an artichoke pesto, myself. I think they work just fine.

I used both walnuts and almonds at different times this summer. I think I prefer the walnuts, as they seem to be a bit sweeter.
I've got a small bag of pine nuts (and a huge amount of basil--it was a *very* good year) that I'm saving until I can get some premium Parmesan, probably from F&O tomorrow. The rest of the harvest will probably be made with walnuts.

We use walnuts pretty regularly in pesto.

My bulk basil spots are Hyde Park Produce and Tony's in North Riverside, both very reasonable and good fresh product; probably too far to make sense.

A closer idea - though it's seasonal - is Da Riv (Riviera, 3220 N. Harlem, also has plenty of pinenuts), where they sold veritable basil bushes for about $4 per plant this summer, along the front window and in the back lot, and it's really special stuff. If they don't have any left, just keep going south to Caputo's, which also has reasonable pinenuts.

FWIW, any place that packages basil in house (most veggie markets) they will sell you the bag of bulk basil (about a pound) for a ton less then buying the little styro packages.... you just need to ask for the produce manager and get a price. Caputo & Sons in Palatine has done this for me a couple of times.

Any Thai or Viet market will have large plastic sacks of basil at a very good price.

Another interesting variant is to use roasted sunflower seeds as the 'nut' in pesto. Lovely flavor.

Geo

Come out and pick raspberries and I'll give you some!

Hi- Henry Brockman is supposed to have a ton of basil at the Evanston market tomorrow, and I might buy a bunch or two. He got only a tenth of an inch of rain this week, and so he is picking a lot of basil this week, because it does not do well in drought conditions.

Are pine nuts still very expensive? When I was at Whole Foods last Saturday, the price of pine nuts has gone down a little, but it was still $19 for an eight ounce bag, which is more than I am willing to pay. Can I get pine nuts cheaper anywhere else? Their walnuts in the bulk section were marked at $7.99 a pound, and I ended up getting a quarter of a pound to make zucchini bread, but when I got to the checkout, they charged me $8.99 a pound for conventional walnuts. The store was getting ready to close, and so I did not go to customer service to take care of the overcharge. It was only a quarter, but Evanston has an ordinance where the store has to give it too you for free if they overcharge you. This ordinance only applies to one item. if you get overcharged for 5 cartons of yogurt, the store is only obligated to give you the first carton for free, and the other four, they have to give you back what ever you got overcharged.

I am looking for a cheap source for pine nuts or walnuts in the Evanston area. I have used walnuts in my pesto the last couple of years, because pine nuts have been close to $30 a pound, and it works out just fine. I wonder if walnuts are not more expensive this year though because of the drought. Aldi's does not carry them right now. Does Marketplace on Oakton have walnuts for a reasonable price? I do get to that neighborhood at least once a week. Thanks, Nancy

Nancy,

I've used Costco pine nuts since forever: it's a pound, and the price is good. AND: no weird tastes (so far! knock on wood!).

Geo

Hi- Unfortunately I don't belong to Costco. I do belong to Sam's Club, and I might see how much the pine nuts are there. Last summer I could not find any pine nuts at Sam's Club. I know there is not a lot of love on this board for Sam's Club, but has anybody seen pine nuts there this summer? Thanks, Nancy

Call Trader Joe's. They have a lot of nuts and their prices are good.

Hi- Are Trader Joe's pine nuts safe to eat?

NFriday wrote:Hi- Are Trader Joe's pine nuts safe to eat?

If you aren't comfortable using their pine nuts, try their walnuts.

Last I bought Pine Nuts was at the Lincolnwood Produce Market, but that was at least 6 months ago. Still, might be worth a call.


Lincolnwood Produce
7175 N Lincoln Ave
Lincolnwood, IL 60712
(847) 329-0600

TJ's pine nuts are from China, so beware. I think there is a whole thread on it somewhere.

nicinchic wrote:TJ's pine nuts are from China, so beware. I think there is a whole thread on it somewhere.

I'd be willing to bet that virtually all your lower cost pine nuts, and most of the higher priced ones too are from China, unless they explicitly say otherwise. it's not only TJ's that sources from there. I know you can buy via mail order nuts specifically sourced from the Mediterranean, but they are very expensive.

In fact, if you go to places like Chowhound, people complain about problems with the Costco Kirkland brand from China.

nicinchic wrote:TJ's pine nuts are from China, so beware. I think there is a whole thread on it somewhere.

Here's that thread.

Hi- Whole Foods carries an eight ounce bag of pine nuts from China for $10. That is the only kind of pine nuts they carry now. Last year you could buy Mediterranean pine nuts in the bulk section, but they were at least $30 a pound, which is more than I am willing to spend. From what I understand, walnuts are going up in price too, although they are still cheaper than pine nuts. I have been told on another forum, that even the walnuts at Aldi's right now are $6.99 for a one pound bag, when last year they were $3.99 there. I don't know if it is because of the drought or not, because I thought most walnuts were grown in California, where everything has to be irrigated.

I bought some walnuts recently at Whole Foods to make zucchini bread, which never got made. I might have enough to make two batches of pesto tonight. I thought $8.99 a pound was way too much money for walnuts, but apparently not. Even Whole Food's organic walnuts are only $9.99 a pound. Thanks, Nancy

Got a huge bunch of basil today at the Federal Plaza market. It's from one of the vendors located closest to Dearborn St. They also had very nice Michigan grown tomatoes as well as corn, 3 for a dollar.

Just saw pine nuts at Bari for $15.99 a pound.

I have been told on another forum, that even the walnuts at Aldi's right now are $6.99 for a one pound bag, when last year they were $3.99 there. I don't know if it is because of the drought or not, because I thought most walnuts were grown in California, where everything has to be irrigated.

I was at TJ's lst week and was surprised at how expensive the walnuts were. Googling around, it seems like there has been a huge increase in demand from China, so prices are going up despite record size crops last year.

Hi- I ended up getting a pound of walnuts at Aldi's yesterday for $6.49. I decided that I could not get them any cheaper anywhere else this year. Hopefully that is more than enough for pesto season. I was at Produce World in Skokie on Thursday, and walnuts were $6.99 a pound, and pine nuts were $18.99 a pound. It did not list country of origin for the pine nuts. The pine nuts were right by the register to discourage shop lifting. I never saw the pine nuts that Aldi's supposedly carries right now as a special buy. I am sure they are from China anyway.

Has anybody tried almonds in their pesto? One of the pesto recipes I have, says that they can be used, and they appear to be cheaper right now than walnuts.

Thanks, Nancy

NFriday wrote:Has anybody tried almonds in their pesto? One of the pesto recipes I have, says that they can be used, and they appear to be cheaper right now than walnuts.

Thanks, Nancy

I've used both almonds and walnuts in separate pestos (pesti?). While not bad, they convinced me that there is no real substitute for pine nuts. I've been making less pesto in the past couple of years--cut back on my basil planting--because of the pine nut situation.

I use toasted sunflower seeds, which make a surprisingly robust alternative to pine nuts.

Geo

Pistachios work very well, too.

Also, I occasionally make an Asianesque pesto (inspired by an old Caprial Pence recipe, now evidently lost forever in the Interwebs) that uses Thai basil, cilantro, peanut oil with a dash of roasted sesame oil, garlic, Thai chiles - and honey-roasted peanuts. A dollop tossed with hot noodles is very nice, indeed.