Tag Archives: basil

Is it pesto?

Wow, it’s 3:35 pm as I sit down to type this up. That was fast

Now all I have to do is figure out what to serve it on. Bill’s mother, Rosa, once made us salmon with pesto on top, and some amazing onion side. I haven’t figured out her pesto, or that onion side, but it might be a nice way to do it again. Possibly tonight, as I have some salmon in the house.

The side, though? It will probably be cream of broccoli soup, following “this recipe.”:http://www.metacookbook.com/archives/202-103-Cream-of-Leek-Soup.html Only I don’t have heavy cream on hand, so I’ll use half & half.

So, what was today’s pesto?

h2. Ingredients

Note: All these measurements, except the cheese, are utterly wild guesses. Proceed at your own risk.… Continue reading →

Confession time

I only like basil in small quantities. A pesto lover, I am not.

“But, Natasha,” I hear you say. “You have at least two basil plants in “your garden”:http://www.metacookbook.com/archives/247-My-garden.html!”

Yup. It’s because I would like to like basil more. And because Bill would probably be a basil fish if he could figure out the anatomy. A pesto lover does not even begin to describe Bill.

I’ve only had one pesto I’ve ever enjoyed. Angelique’s husband, Marty, made it. Then he emailed me the recipe, when I said I liked it. I made it in my home later that year. To be honest? I don’t recall how I felt about it when I made it. Weird, isn’t it?

Anyway, since basil is on the list of foods I’d like to like (more), I’m trying something new today.… Continue reading →

[55] Stuffed Shitake Mushrooms (Actually Portabellas)

Cover of Simply Organic, by Jesse Ziff Cool

As you are all aware at this point, Bill had a birthday recently. This was one of the many (okay, four) recipes concocted that day, and one of only two I’d planned to make earlier than the day before.

Actually, it’s kind of funny. I’ve mentioned a couple of times on this blog that try to plan out our menu about a week in advance, coinciding with our CSA delivery, and trying to take advantage of what I’ve seen at the farmers’ markets and expect to still be able to get my hands on. This meal plan started as just a day to have these mushrooms and the onions. Then we had to move it a couple of times.

Then I forgot it was Bill’s birthday.… Continue reading →

[38] Butter and Tomato Sauce

Cover of The Complete Book of Italian Cooking, edited by Anne Hildyard

Confession time: I picked this recipe after the tomatoes were already peeled and seeded.

I had been trying to find a recipe for a tomato sauce that used fresh tomatoes, preferably one that could easily be frozen or canned. Mostly, though, I’d been trying via a new website I’m a member of called “Eat Your Books”:http://www.eatyourbooks.com/ and not having any real luck.

Eat Your Books is pretty awesome in a lot of ways, but most of my cookbooks are not yet indexed on the site. So when I do a search, I end up with a lot of suggestions for recipes out of the two Bittman books I have. Of course, I love my two Bittman books, but I already look to them fairly often if I don’t know what to do.… Continue reading →