Fun With Basil
After prepping for Irene, the last thing I did as it started to rain (after calling the kids home from the neighbors' house) was clip a few stems of basil to bring into the house. We popped then into a glass of water to keep them fresh, which should last a few days — certainly longer than the hurricane. The dishes that follow aren't exactly the world's most creative uses for basil, but there's no need to get super-fancy with a great fresh ingredient. Besides, we were expecting a hurricane, not hosting a dinner party. Anyway, here's what we did with the basil this weekend:
Friday: Tarted Up Frozen Pizza
I hate grocery shopping on a good day, so Friday's trip to Market Basket was extra-special horrible, packed as it was with slightly panicked hurricane shoppers. After that, I wasn't about to actually cook dinner too, as that is another task I am iffy about (in case you haven't picked up on it from previous posts, Kirk is the chef of the family). Instead, I opted for some Newman's Own:
Ah, but look how that actually looks kinda good. I just ripped up some fresh basil from the garden and put it on top before it went in the oven. Easy, and it made a definite upgrade to the meal.
Saturday: Real Pizza
Normally we don't have pizza two nights in a row, but we figured we'd make the pizza on Saturday night before Hurricane Irene rolled in and knocked the power out. I don't have a photo of this because we ate it too fast. This pizza is much better than frozen, because Kirk makes the dough and sauce from scratch. My favorite is usually pepperoni with green pepper, but the margherita (tomato sauce, mozzarella, basil) was really excellent with fresh herbs.
A good trick here is to use the giant leaves near the bottom of the plant. These can sometimes be tough as the summer wears on, but they shrink up and soften when you cook them in a 500 degree oven, so this is a good use for those leaves. Also, it works well to have the basil leaves mixed in evenly with the mozzarella--some under, some over the cheese.
Sunday: Caprese Salad
The original idea was to save this until the power went out, but it never did. So we ate some of this for lunch anyway:
This is Kirk's variation of a caprese salad. Slice the tomato and large mozzarella ball into rounds and layer. Drizzle balsamic vinegar and olive oil over it, and top with basil chiffonade. When it's a side dish that's usually it, but this day we had it on slices of French bread to make it a heartier meal.
When I make this as a lunch to-go, I'll use cherry tomatoes and small mozzarella balls instead, and just rip basil leaves in half and mix it all up. Because the tomatoes aren't cut, it travels better, and you can pre-dress it with olive oil, salt, and pepper. I throw all that in one tupperware container, and a few slices of French bread in another. When it's time to eat it at work, I'll quick tear the bread into chunks and mix it into the rest of the salad for a rustic version of caprese in one dish.
Whatever the variation, this is pretty much my all-time favorite summertime food.
Friday: Tarted Up Frozen Pizza
I hate grocery shopping on a good day, so Friday's trip to Market Basket was extra-special horrible, packed as it was with slightly panicked hurricane shoppers. After that, I wasn't about to actually cook dinner too, as that is another task I am iffy about (in case you haven't picked up on it from previous posts, Kirk is the chef of the family). Instead, I opted for some Newman's Own:
Ah, but look how that actually looks kinda good. I just ripped up some fresh basil from the garden and put it on top before it went in the oven. Easy, and it made a definite upgrade to the meal.
Saturday: Real Pizza
Normally we don't have pizza two nights in a row, but we figured we'd make the pizza on Saturday night before Hurricane Irene rolled in and knocked the power out. I don't have a photo of this because we ate it too fast. This pizza is much better than frozen, because Kirk makes the dough and sauce from scratch. My favorite is usually pepperoni with green pepper, but the margherita (tomato sauce, mozzarella, basil) was really excellent with fresh herbs.
A good trick here is to use the giant leaves near the bottom of the plant. These can sometimes be tough as the summer wears on, but they shrink up and soften when you cook them in a 500 degree oven, so this is a good use for those leaves. Also, it works well to have the basil leaves mixed in evenly with the mozzarella--some under, some over the cheese.
Sunday: Caprese Salad
The original idea was to save this until the power went out, but it never did. So we ate some of this for lunch anyway:
This is Kirk's variation of a caprese salad. Slice the tomato and large mozzarella ball into rounds and layer. Drizzle balsamic vinegar and olive oil over it, and top with basil chiffonade. When it's a side dish that's usually it, but this day we had it on slices of French bread to make it a heartier meal.
When I make this as a lunch to-go, I'll use cherry tomatoes and small mozzarella balls instead, and just rip basil leaves in half and mix it all up. Because the tomatoes aren't cut, it travels better, and you can pre-dress it with olive oil, salt, and pepper. I throw all that in one tupperware container, and a few slices of French bread in another. When it's time to eat it at work, I'll quick tear the bread into chunks and mix it into the rest of the salad for a rustic version of caprese in one dish.
Whatever the variation, this is pretty much my all-time favorite summertime food.
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