Class three was all about basil.
Basil ice cream
Purple basil lemonade
Basil quinoa
Basil corn polenta
Basil pineapple chicken with salsa
No reason to get carried away with basil, so we made some non basil side dishes
Roasted agave carrots with agave coated pumpkin seeds
Butter lettuce salad with beets, and radishes
Green beans with ricotta, which actually we didn’t make, but we were gonna make, so here they are. And there was leftover ricotta from week 2.
Basil ice cream*
Basil (or cilantro) ice cream, totally yummy. And a conversation starter. If you are going to bother making ice cream, make something you can’t buy at pavilions. And please don’t ever make lavender ice cream. That’s awful, but more importantly, so 1998. This recipe can be adapted and other ingredients of your choice, such as fresh berries can be added.
1 bunch fresh lemon basil (or regular basil is also ok), or 1 bunch of cilantro
2 cups sugar, or less
zest from one lemon (lime zest if using cilantro)
1 tablespoon lemon juice (lime juice if using cilantro)
1 pack cream cheese
1.5 cup whole regular yogurt
1 cup heavy cream, whipped
berries, optional, to serve with or add to
In a food processor, whirl sugar with basil (or cilantro) until incorporated, add cream cheese, yogurt, lemon (or lime) zest and juice. Blend until properly mixed, but don’t get carried away. Stir in the whipped cream. If you are so inclined you can stir in some raspberries or other berries.
My ice cream maker is $19.99 crap one, so i pre chill the mixture in the freezer for about 1 hour, stir occasionally so that is as cold as possible, but not so hard it will not churn in an ice cream maker. Then I pour the chilled mixture into the cheapo ice cream maker and churn until done. At this point, the ice cream is still on the too soft side, so I now return it to the freezer for a few hours or over night. If you have an ice cream maker that works well, proceed according to the instructions.
* This recipe has been adapted from a recipe by Sarah Raven.
1 cup sugar
1 cup basil, purple, lemon or regular
water to taste
lemon juice to taste
Make a simple syrup by combining the sugar with 1 cup water, heat until sugar dissolves. Cool slightly, and stir in basil. Let sit for 30 minutes. Pour into a blender, and pulse for a few seconds. Don’t get dramatic, or your basil will get too finely ground up, which is unpleasant. You just want to bruise the lemon and season and color the simple syrup. Purple basil, produces the best looking lemonade. Green basil, taste great, but after adding the lemon it takes on a slightly unpleasant color. Drain out the large basil chunks and pour the basil syrup into a pitcher. Add lemon juice, 1/2 cup and 3-4 cups of water at first. Don’t fill the pitcher (or bottle) to the top with water, before stopping to sample it. Once too much water has been added there’s no turning back. If desired add whole basil leaves for garnish.
2 cups quinoa
1 tablespoon olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
squeeze of lemon (cause everything tastes better with lemon)
1/2 cup pesto
3 tablespoons pine nuts, toasted
3 tablespoons basil, Julienne
Wash quinoa in three changes of water, massaging the little beads between your fingers. Poorly or unwashed quinoa tastes bitter, which is an unpleasant surprise. Wash, baby wash. Or you can always buy pre washed quinoa…..Cover with water and boil according to package directions about 10-15 minutes. Drain, and put into servings bowl. Drizzle with olive oil, and squeeze of lemon juice, season lightly with salt and pepper and stir in the pesto, pine nuts and additional basil. Serve at room temp.
Is my favorite. Toss cooked quinoa with marinated and cubed beets, masses of dill. Season, with salt, pepper and…..?……lemon!
4 cups water
1 cup polenta, or cornmeal
1 stick butter (calm down)
1 cup heavy cream (no reason to freak out)
1/2 cup parmesan cheese
salt and pepper to taste
2 cups fresh or frozen corn
1/2 cup basil Julienne
Eat or don’t eat. Cook or don’t cook. If I am eating polenta, I am eating super creamy yummy goodness type polenta.
It is never what you eat that makes a difference in your life. It’s what you don’t eat. I don’t eat crap. Ever. If you eat nothing but greatness, you can eat all the butter and the cream you want. Just have a side of raw chard to go with it.
In a baking/servings dish, place 4 cups of water, 1 cup of polenta, some salt, 2 tablespoons of the butter. Place in a 375 degree oven. Go clean the barn, collect the eggs, make the kids do some homework. 45 minutes later, take it out of the oven, stir and check how it is doing. Put back in the oven for 10-15 more minutes. Take it out again, stir in parmesan cheese and season with salt and pepper. If you are so inclined, pour onto a sheet pan, chill, then cut into squares, circles, hearts, whatever you like with a knife or cookie cutter. Then either grill, or saute. Serve as is, or with pesto, or tomato sauce.
I don’t personally care for the grilled polenta square. Instead, I will stir in the rest of the butter, loads of heavy cream, the fresh corn and the basil. If the cream is really freaking you out, you can do half water and half cream to thin to desired consistency, which for me, is super soft and super creamy. Scatter some additional parmesan on top. Yum yum.
Basil pineapple chicken and salsa
Skin less and boneless chicken breast
1 cup pineapple juice
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 clove garlic, grated
small bunch basil, Julienne
salt and pepper to taste
Pour all ingredients over the chicken breast except salt and pepper. Let marinade for up to 4 hr. Season with salt and pepper. Grill until done. Right before serving, drizzle some additional juice, and olive oil over chicken.
1 cup canned or fresh pineapple
jalapeno chili to taste
2 tablespoons basil
1 teaspoon agave
squeeze of lemon or lime juice
Into the blender we go. Whirl, whirl, done. Taste for flavor. Add a splash of salt if needed.
Side dishes
1 bunch carrots, washed
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon agave
salt and pepper
squeeze of lemon (cause everything…….)
1 tablespoon chopped herb (basil, chives, parsley)
agave pepitas, recipe below
Cut carrots in half length wise. Drizzle with oil, bake in preheated 450 degree oven until just beginning to brown. Drizzle with agave and salt and pepper. Back into oven until caramelized, nice and brown. Squeeze of lemon, garnish with herb of choice and agave pepitas.
1/2 cup raw pepitas
olive oil
agave
salt and pepper
Cover pepitas in water and boil for 3 minutes or so. Drain. Drain well. Dry on paper towel. Dryness is key or they will not be crispy, so throw into the oven, say 375 on a dry sheet pan for 5 minutes or until you are certain they are dry, dry, dry. Now drizzle with olive oil and agave, just a nice light coating, maybe 1 tablespoon of each. Stir to evenly cover. Bake until golden brown, about ten minutes. Season with salt and pepper, move to plate to dry. These go great with pretty much everything. Excellent for beets, and salads. Will keep, for a solid week at room temp.
Butter lettuce salad, with beets, and radishes
1 head butter lettuce
3 sliced radishes, thin
1 large beet, cooked, marinated and cubed
herbs of choice
2 tablespoons mustard
4 tablespoons red vine vinegar
1 tablespoon shallots (optional)
oil, olive or vegetable or combo thereof
salt and pepper
Week one, we made our dressing with balsamic, lemon, mustard and garlic, week two, we went with a sweet balsamic maple dressing, and now we did a basic, classic, super simple, mustard and red wine vinegar.
Whisk red wine vinegar into the mustard, season with salt and pepper and slowly whisk in oil of choice until slightly emulsified. I personally don’t care for my dressing too thick. or too oily. I usually do about half of what standard measurements for oil/vinegar. If using, add shallot, and herbs, if using, a squeeze of lemon never hurts (cause everything……)
Toss a little sea salt and pepper directly on the lettuce, toss with the dressing, which can be made in advance, garnish with radish and beets, or just agave pepitas or, or, or the choices are endless.
Green beans with ricotta cheese
We didn’t actually make the green beans, because I am trying to cook less, so they (the participants) can learn more…which is a challenge, as I always like to make masses of dishes.
Green beans, the thinnest you can find
ricotta cheese, cause you just made some (or goat cheese)
olive oil
garlic
salt and pepper
splash of balsamic vinegar
zest of one lemon
herb of choice
sunflower seeds, optional, saute in olive oil for a few min, season salt and pepper
Quickly boil thin green beans in salted water for just a few minutes. Crispy. Please. If you want, drop in some ice water to stop the cooking process. A bean should be fresh enough, thin enough, delish enough to eat raw, if it is not good enough to eat raw, feed it to the goats. Casey and Quincy aren’t so picky.
Place on platter. In a small amount of olive oil, cook some thinly sliced garlic (1 clove will do), until it just begins to brown. Pour the oil and the sliced garlic over the green beans, season with sea salt and pepper. Sprinkle some balsamic, garnish with lemon zest, herbs, add ricotta and finish off with a mountain of sunflower seed.
Bon appetite.