Thai Basil Pesto

What do you do when you want to make pesto, but only your Thai basil is doing well, while your other basils are barely hanging on for dear life?

Well, you could make normal pesto using Thai basil, but that would be just too weird.  Thai basil is its own thing.  It really isn't a substitute for other basils.

So, embrace the Thai-ness of it.  Make Thai basil pesto.  I know that sounds weird, but it's weird in a good way. Whereas normal pesto using Thai basil would be weird in a bad way.

So, what might that look like?  Going ingredient by ingredient....

Garlic: Keep.  Thai food and garlic are friends.

Pine nuts: Nope. No way. Sesame seeds would be good, but using only sesame seeds would be kind of... seedy.   Almonds would be tasty, but they're too hard. Cashews have a good texture. Sesame seeds and cashews. Definitely!

Olive oil: Absolutely not! Toasted sesame oil is lovely, but a bit strong.  Using part untoasted sesame oil would be lovely, but I don't have any. So, maybe walnut oil along with the toasted sesame.

Pecorino romano: Cheese? Yuck! Not for Thai pesto. Just leave it out. Or increase the nuts.

Salt:  Yes. And black pepper.

So, more or less using my favorite pesto recipe, I just madke the substitutions above.  Except, I've been making pesto so long, I don't use a recipe and have no idea how much of each ingredient I use. I just do everything to taste. Here are some rough guidelines:

Ingredients (quantities are very approximate):

1-2 Tbsp toasted sesame oil
2-3 Tbsp walnut oil
2 cloves crushed garlic, or 2 garlic ice cubes, plus a dash of dry roasted garlic
1 fist full of cashews
2-3 Tbsp sesame seeds
2 cups loosely packed Thai basil leaves
Sea salt & freshly ground black pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Pulse everything except basil, salt, & pepper until minced. 
2. Pulse in basil leaves, being careful not to over process. 
3. Add salt & pepper to taste.
4. Store in refrigerator.

Serving suggestions:

• Toss some with poached chicken and cooked rice noodles.
• Plop some on cooked vegies to give them a little excitement.

Hot Fried Corn: The Taste of Summer

Summer in Modesto in the late '70's.  Cornstalks tall and tasseled in platinum silk, tomatoes rich and tangy: Hot fried corn season.  Breakfast of champions -- or at least those of us lucky enough to have Kentucky mothers.

Cathy brought us a couple of ears of her neighbor's fresh corn. A bounty of Jared's tomatoes at hand. Creole garlic from the RSD Farmer's Market.  The only thing missing was a fresh jalapeno.  But this is a hot fried corn emergency.  Freeze dried in a jar will have to do.

Ingredients:
1/2 Tbsp butter
2 small cloves creole garlic - or one large clove of regular
1 small jalapeno, chopped -- or about a tsp of freeze dried
2 ears of fresh corn
3/4 to 1 cup largely chopped fresh organic tomato
Salt & pepper
Dash of cayenne (optional)

Directions:

1. Shuck the corn and rinse off the silk
2. Use a sharp, flat butcher knife to cut the corn off the cob. Reserve the cobs.
3. Heat the butter in a skillet
4. Add the crushed garlic and the jalapeno & give it a stir.
5. Add the corn and tomatoes & give it all another stir.
6. Use the knife to scrape the rest of the goodness off the corn cobs into the skillet.
7. Stir in a little freshly ground salt & pepper.
8. Add about 1/4 to 1/2 cup water.
9. Stir and cover, then cook for another minute or two until the corn is barely done.
10. Taste and add a dash of cayenne if needed.

Options:
Hot fried corn is amazing all by itself.  For a killer breakfast, crack an egg or two into the corn as it's cooking and cook until the egg is poached to perfection.  Alternatively, sprinkle some shredded raw jack or crumble some goat cheese on top of the hot fried corn and let it melt a bit before you eat it.

Squash Chili

As my adventure in mushy food continues, my biggest question is, "Do variations in Vegetable Slop count as new recipes?"

OK, my real biggest questions are, "Will this ever end?" and "Am I going to be alright?"

But, those questions make for boring blog posts.  Even more boring than blenderized vegetables.

So... today's gustatory delight (said with tongue in cheek, aforementioned tongue partially poking through the hole where the tooth used to be because I'm typing this as I eat, and I'm supposed to eat with my flipper out, and isn't that way more than you wanted to know?) is Yellow Crookneck Squash Chili.  And, yes, it could be made with Zucchini.

Sorry, no pics -- partly because I just didn't have time, and partly because this stuff looks almost exactly like any other Vegetable Slop.  Maybe a little more red-orange than  the greenish brown slop made with tomatoes and green beans. But, except for color, it's all be the same.

Yellow Crookneck Squash Chili

Ingredients:

• 2 small yellow crookneck squash
• 2 small heirloom tomatoes
• About 3/4 cup water
• Big pinches and dashes of Chili powder, garlic powder, onion powder, oregano, salt, pepper.
• 1 TBSP guacamole

Directions:

1. Put everything except the guac in a pan and cook.
2. Blenderize with your handy stick blender.
3. Taste and add more seasonings if needed.
4. Pour into a bowl and top with the guac.

Yumm. Sort of.

Vegetable Slop - er, I mean, Soup

I'm not sure how humans survived oral surgery before the advent of the stick blender.  I'm sure I'll wear mine out before this is all over.

One of my biggest challenges has been vegies.  I eat LOTS of vegies.  A day without broccoli is like a day without sunshine. Only worse.

But, pureed broccoli? Not so much.

And, even though I can now chew well-done vegies, it can be very tedious trying to eat a whole bowl full.

Right now I'm kind of craving the vegie soup from Marie Callendar's.  But, without all the salt and who-knows-what one gets in restaurant soups.

So, here it is: Vegetable Slop - er, Soup.  I'm not saying it's all that pretty.  But it is tasty, and it requires no chewing.

The recipe makes 2 small servings or 1 large.

Ingredients:

About 6 ounces organic frozen green beans
About 1/2 cup organic canned tomatoes
About 1/4 cup frozen peas
A slice or two of onion, or a generous sprinkling of onion powder
Dash of garlic powder
Pinch of oregano
3/4 cup or so of organic vegie broth or water
Salt & pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Throw everything in a pan and cook til done.
2. Blenderize with your stick blender.
3. Serve in a pretty mug.

Variations:
Add a pinch of capers, a couple of olives, or some fresh savory.  Throw in a little spinach or any other vegies you have on hand.