While many scents (sunscreen, chlorine, charcoal) remind us of summer, few foodies will dispute fresh basil's ability to capture the essence of the season. Looking at this picture of the sun shining through the stems of The Sweet Kitchen's homegrown basil, one can almost smell its sweet, pungent leaves.
Luckily, the joy doesn't have to end when summer does. Due to the rainy spring many of us witnessed, gargantuan basil plants lurk all over North America. Clever gardeners like The Sweet Kitchen have preserved Mother Nature's summer fragrance with homemade jarred pesto. That way despite the winter blues inevitably kicking in, a bite of sunshine, captured perfectly in this photo, will remain.
Bluefish with Fava Beans, Corn, Tomatoes and Fresh Herbs. Photo: Rebecca Flint Marx
Let's face it: ever since Hannibal Lecter sung their praises in "The Silence of the Lambs," fava beans haven't enjoyed the greatest associations -- particularly where Chianti and liver are involved.
And that's a shame, because they're some of the most flavorful and versatile treats that summer has to offer. In season for a few precious weeks, favas -- which have been enjoyed throughout the world for about 5,000 years and are packed with so much protein they've been called "the meat of the poor" -- can be used in everything from salads and purées to soups and pasta dishes.
When the flat, wide beans are shelled and blanched, they adopt a vibrant grassy hue and buttery texture that enriches any meal, and their rapid cooking time makes it easy to incorporate them into a quick weeknight dinner -- or into lunch the following day. While stringing and shucking the beans (which, unshelled, are about five inches long) is a bit labor-intensive, it's one of those activities that's all but made for summer, particularly if you have a porch, some time on your hands and a glass of something cold by your side.
Does food symbolism bear any truth? If, so then Italian sweet basil can trigger romance. In Italian culture, basil symbolizes love. When a woman puts out a pot of basil, it means she is ready to receive her suitor. Interestingly, in Ancient Greece, it represented anger. Since basil is one of my favorite herbs, I prefer to believe it's a sign of love. The sweet pungent taste of Genovese basil with hints of anise brings me back to a past trip to Cinque Terre.
While basil is a summer herb, I recently tried a delicious basil tea that reminded me of how much I love it and yearn for summer produce. While it originated in India, Africa, and Asia, it's now grown worldwide. Genovese Basil might be one of the best varieties out of the 150, because it yields about 8 cuttings and makes the best pesto.
While in Cinque Terre, I visited a small pesto factory outside the village of Riomaggiore. I'll never forget the gorgeous cliffs covered in bright green basil and the beautiful enchanting aroma of basil emanating from a red bucket in the pesto factory. If indeed basil activates romance, then this Valentine's Day, find a way to incorporate it into your meal.
It's inevitable- a recipe calls for an herb you know you have in your pantry, or at least you thought so. Next time you're in a pickle, check out this herb substitution chart.
You worked so hard to keep that luscious herb garden at its finest this summer; don't stop now! Don't know what to do with all your leftover herbs and afraid the first frost is going to destroy them, try freezing them!
Grocery store bins are still overflowing with fresh sweet corn, its silky hair littering the tile floors like pine needles, so you might as well get as much as you can, while you can. The New York Times has a good story on stretching late summer corn, with an especially awesome-looking recipe for corn, basil and tomato chowder. This thick soup packs in the trifecta of summer flavors, made hearty with potatoes and a dollop of crème fraîche. And, best of all, soup's great for freezing, which means you can thaw a container-full any time during the winter for a burst of early September's golden goodness.
Forget AA, and all of the other addiction services out there. Forget chastity belts. There's a million different techniques for battling the different manifestations of addiction and inclination, but I've seen none that work for foodie excitement.
Do you have it? I'm talking about getting overwhelmed and buy-crazy over tasty food. It's best to keep me out of a gourmet store, and I go totally nuts when faced with a swarm of cheap, nice-looking produce.
To the right, you can see the latest addition to my apartment -- a basil bouquet. Originally, it was supposed to be just enough to make some salads and some tasty pesto. Soon though, it became so much more. I ended up buying more than I needed, and then I got one more huge clump with my weekly organic delivery. Like always, I'm struggling to use it all up before it goes painfully limp.
That being said, it would be hard for me to refuse more if I walked by a nice bunch at a good price... How do you curb your excited, foodie whims?
You know you're set when you're loved by Susur Lee. Two Ossington noodle destinations, The Golden Turtle and Pho Tien Thanh offer superior meals and get patronized by the famous chef.
It's basil time! The plant is booming and it's the perfect time to pick up some green and purple leaves from Ted Thorpes 10,000 plants. The basil is available at farmers markets like Riverdale, Brickworks, and Dufferin Grove, which I'm definitely heading to tomorrow for a pesto fix.
Some tasty wines from around the world: Rodney Strong 2006 Chardonnay, Cathedral Cellar 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon, Bouchard Finlayson 2007 Sauvignon Blanc, Altos Las Hormigas 2006 Malbec, and Fielding 2007 Pinot Gris.
It's still not Spring here in Philadelphia. In fact, it's currently about 50 and rainy, but I've been pretending that Spring is here by planning my imaginary herb garden. Yes, my herb garden is sadly imaginary since I'm moving this year, but as a result, it's actually much greener, fragrant and exciting than any live herb garden I've ever grown for real (my thumb is not the greenest one out there). I mean, I love rosemary and mint as much as the next person, but I'm ready for a little more excitement! Here's what I'm thinking:
Chocolate Mint - I tasted this for the first time recently at a Farmer's Market, and it was delicious. The chocolate taste is slight, but definitely there, and I'll definitely be using it for imaginary iced tea, or even in cupcakes and baked goods.
Lemon Thyme - How easy it will be to make a roast chicken or even lemon-thyme frosting with these two ingredients already combined into one! Just kidding -- you apparently can't really count on it for a full lemon flavor, but it still works great for roasting anything, and for great fish and meat dishes as well.
Cuban Basil - The belle of my garden. After seeing/smelling how delightful these leaves are, I couldn't resist buying some for my mom for mother's day. Not so much into it? Check out this long list of interesting basil varieties here.
Lavender - Maybe this would be in my grandmother's garden too, but I just love the scent so much that it's going in my imaginary one as well.
Looking for more exciting herbs like juniper or fenugreek? Check out this list and these hints and tips. And if anyone has suggestions for additions to my imaginary garden, please share! It's imaginary, so no there are no limits!
Whenever I use the word "recalled" in these posts, I always think that it sounds like people are remembering the food and not that it has been recalled for health reasons. "Basil? Yeah, I remember basil, what about it?" Or maybe someone is thinking about Basil Rathbone.
Sorry, I'm a bit loopy today.
5500 pounds of basil grown in Mexico has been recalled for salmonella fears. Top Line Specialty Produce imported the basil and distributed it to stores and restaurants in Texas, Illinois, and Southern California. The brand is Green Paradise, and the recall affects one pound boxes (sold in sets of 12) with the lot # 1219.
I stumbled across a fantastic food tip recently while surfing the food blogosphere. Marc over at Mental Masala (the very same Marc who was responsible for the solar cooker I posted about a couple of weeks ago) offers a terrific way to keep fresh basil perky and lush for weeks (if you happen not to use it up before that). When you bring it home from the grocery store/farmers market/backyard, clip the ends off and stand the basil stems in a glass/yogurt container/old jelly jar that has a few inches of water at the bottom. Then take a plastic bag and cut some holes into it. If you have a plastic bag that was precut, all the better. Then put the bag over the glass full of basil and place it someplace that gets light but is not in direct sunlight.
I've been astounded how well this works. I've never been able to keep basil fresh more than a few days and the basil you see in the picture above has been going strong for over 10 days. I used it last night and there was no absence of flavor. The secret is the plastic bag, because I've certainly tried to keep basil sitting in a container of water for a few days, but within a few hours it is limp and sad. Thanks for the tip, Marc!
Despite the fact that is summer, and the temperatures are going to climb back into the 90's by the middle of the week (at least here in Philadelphia), I have soup on the brain. Since I'm also obsessed with the summer crop of Jersey tomatoes that are rolling into the stores and farmers' markets around here, I thought I would share my very favorite Roasted Tomato Basil soup recipe.
Sadly, I have absolutely no claim on this one, it belongs to the Barefoot Contessa. I tend to have difficulties with many of her recipes (I can't handle the idea of putting a large pat of butter on the inside of a hamburger patty), but this one is foolproof and bowl-lickingly good.
Until 3:30 pm yesterday, I had had a colander of yellow string beans sitting on my counter since Tuesday evening. Every time I walked into the kitchen, I'd look at them and send them a little unspoken promise that soon I'd turn them into something wonderful. Yesterday afternoon, I decided that they'd been patient long enough. I fired up a pot of water and gave them a quick blanch. I ran them under cool water to stop the cooking and returned them to their colander home, but this time only long enough to run to my local Trader Joe's in order to pick up a few things for the salad I was imagining.
At TJ's, I grabbed a container of perlini (the tiny ones) mozzarella balls, some fresh basil and a couple of ears of corn. I brought it all home, pulled out a few ingredients I already had, did a little chopping and threw everything together. When it was all done, it tasted like I had captured summer.
Last night, a friend introduced me to a fun appetizer idea that makes a terrific edible centerpiece. When I pushed for the inspiration, she admitted that it was a concept borrowed from another friend, who always serves it at parties. It is simply white and green tortellini (the secret is to only cook it for half the time the package directs, or it will be too soft to stay on the skewer), a grape tomato and a small ball of fresh mozzarella wrapped in a basil leaf.
As you can see from the picture, she arranged them in a vase, so that they look almost like a flower arrangement. It made the table gorgeous and they were absolutely delicious to boot.
Grocery store bins are still overflowing with fresh sweet corn, its silky hair littering the tile floors like pine needles, so you might as well get as much as you can, while you can. The New York Times has a good story on stretching late summer corn, with an especially awesome-looking recipe for 
Forget AA, and all of the other addiction services out there. Forget chastity belts. There's a million different techniques for battling the different manifestations of addiction and inclination, but I've seen none that work for foodie excitement.
Whenever I use the word "recalled" in these posts, I always think that it sounds like people are remembering the food and not that it has been recalled for health reasons. "Basil? Yeah, I remember basil, what about it?" Or maybe someone is thinking about Basil Rathbone.
Last night, a friend introduced me to a fun appetizer idea that makes a terrific edible centerpiece. When I pushed for the inspiration, she admitted that it was a concept borrowed from another friend, who always serves it at parties. It is simply white and green tortellini (the secret is to only cook it for half the time the package directs, or it will be too soft to stay on the skewer), a grape tomato and a small ball of fresh mozzarella wrapped in a basil leaf. 
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