8/11/08 The Return of the Pesto

Got a whole basil plant in the veggie box, yes, roots, dirt and all (but not in a pot). So much basil, the only thing to do is to make pesto. I was fairly well known for my pesto at one time, but that was eons ago. Can’t really remember why I stopped, but I seem to recall something about making pesto for a friend who had the stomach flu and he spent the whole night spewing pesto-flavored puke. Anything associated with GI evacuation is a complete negative reinforcement, but technically, it wasn’t caused by MY pesto…. Regardless, I think it’s been more than ten years since the last batch of pesto. I had to go digging through my notes to figure out how to even get started. Basil, check. Garlic and parmesan, check. Olive oil and salt, check. The key ingredient: pine nuts. I’ve used walnuts before, but it doesn’t come out as delicate as the pine nuts. Puree everything in the food processor and drip in the oil. Keep tasting during the process, and just remember that it will be better the next day. I made gemelli with pesto that first night. It came out pretty good, but the flavors hadn’t melded yet. Then, a few days later, I made a vinaigrette with the leftover pesto and used it for orzo with peas and mint. That came out surprisingly good. Very pleasant for a light summer dinner.

My brother drove down for a weekend. He hadn’t been down in 3 or 4 months. He brought a bottle of cab with him – 16 year old. The cork disintegrated with the slightest manipulation. Got about half of it out, and had to push the rest down into the bottle. Used a strainer in an attempt to filter out the cork, but that didn’t work. It looked like a layer of algae on top of the wine in the decanter. The 3 of us stood there brainstorming on how to separate the solid from the liquid. The brilliant idea came from the artist.
“Call me crazy, but how ‘bout if we use the gravy separator?”
Phil and I looked at the each other, and gave each other the Vulcan brow lift.
“He’s crazy but I think it’ll work.”
I went digging for it after the nod from Phil.
It wasn’t pretty, but it worked beautifully with minimal wine loss.

In the veggie box:
Avocado
Basil plant
Yellow beans
Beets (no greens)
Green leaf lettuce (3)
Bok choy
Leeks
Oranges
Heirloom tomatoes
Slicing tomatoes
Zucchini