Basil panna cotta バジルパンナコッタ

This is one of my wife’s panna cotta projects. Actually this is the second try making this basil panna cotta to use the basil forest growing on our kitchen window sill. The first time she made it, she followed a recipe she found on the internet. There was way too much gelatin. The panna cotta came out solid and rubbery—like a rubber ball.  It would have bounced if dropped. We declared it a failure. So this is her second try. This time she used the tried and trusted ratio of 2 cups of liquid to 1 tsp of gelatin and it was a resounding success. It has a subtle but distinctive basil flavor and the texture was just right and melted in your mouth.

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Ingredients:
1/2 cup cream
1/4 cup fresh basil crushed (or more to taste)
1/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 cup milk
1 tsp gelatin

Directions:
Put the cream, basil and sugar in a sauce pan. Bring to a boil then remove from the heat, cover, and let steep for 30 minutes. Pour through a fine mesh sieve to remove the solids. Press the solids to release as much flavor and liquid as possible. Bloom the gelatin over 1/2 cup of the milk. Put the bloomed gelatin in the top of a double boiler. Heat until it fully melts. Stir in the still warm basil/cream. Then the rest of the milk. Distribute it into the containers that are going to be used to chill the mixture. We used mini milk jars. Refrigerate until set.

What a major improvement over the previous attempt. The sweet, creamy, basil taste was a bit of a pleasant surprise. The texture was perfect. It was firm but very smooth and melted in the mouth. Overall this was a rather sophisticated desert just the right size to finish a dinner.

Basil cake bread バジルブレッド

My wife came up this as a variation on Mint cake. We have a forest of basil on the kitchen window sill and we are hard pressed to keep up with its production. After making a batch of mint cake my wife looked at the basil forest and thought, ‘if we can make a cake using mint how ‘bout a cake made with basil?’ This is how Basil cake came to be. 

The basil cake as shown below (sans icing) tastes very good and we were quite satisfied to eat most if it this way. 

Then my wife came up with the idea of making an icing of goat and cream cheese. This is very good too. (The icing is optional). 

Ingredients:
one 5.5 oz package of baby spinach cooked (about 1 cup when cooked and moisture drained off)
1 1/2 to 2 cups raw basil (packed)
3 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
3/4 cup olive oil
2 cups flour
1 1/2 cups sugar
3 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt


Icing (Optional)
4 oz of cream cheese
4 oz of goat cheese

Directions:
Sift together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in a bowl and then set aside. Put the spinach, basil, eggs, and vanilla, in a blender and puree. Then with the blender on a slow speed add the olive oil to make an emulsion. Add the vanilla and mix in. Add the spinach/mint mixture to the flour. Put into a greased 6" x 10" inch baking pan that has been lined with parchment paper (to made it easier to get the cake out of the pan when it is done.) Bake at 350 degrees for 25 to 30 minutes or until a tooth pick comes out clean.

For the icing. Put the two cheeses in a stand mixer bowel. Using a paddle, cream the two cheeses together. Split a piece of the basil cake in half and spread on the cheese blend

This was a very good innovative cake/bread. It has a nice moist texture. The main thing, however, is the rich robust flavor the basil brings to the show. It “sings” a note of almost meat-like umami savoriness which contrasts well with the overall slight sweetness of the cake. (I wondered if this is because when I taste basil it is generally in association with a meat rather than a sweet dish?) 

The cake tastes very good just “as-is” and after contentedly eating half of it that way my wife came up with the idea of making an icing out of cream cheese and goat cheese whipped together. A sweet icing such as the one used for mint cake would not have gone well with the robust flavor of the basil but this alternative really works because it is some what savory. Whatever, this is a great and surprising way to gain some constructive control over the basil forest. 

Puff pastry cheese swirls

My wife decided she had to use up some old frozen puff pastry which passed “best-by date” by a year. She found a recipe for broccoli based cheese swirls on the back of the puff pastry box and decided to make them. In addition, she found some pesto we had made and frozen sometime ago and decided to use the pesto to make a pesto based cheese swirl. Sort of killing two birds with one stone approach. 

As usual, I ask my wife to provide how-to.

Ingredients:
two sheets of frozen puff pastry

For the Broccoli based cheese swirl
The amounts of all the ingredients are arbitrary and are generally enough to cover the sheets.
Cooked broccoli finely chopped (spinach could also be used)
Scallion finely chopped
Various cheeses grated your choice (I used smoked gouda, mozzarella, and Parmesan.)

For the pesto based cheese swirl
Pesto to cover the sheet of puff pastry
Various cheeses grated. (I used Monterey Jack, Cheddar and Parmesan

Directions:
Thaw the sheets of puff pastry. Spread the ingredients to cover the sheets (#1 & 2 for the pesto) and (#3 for the broccoli) based. Roll up the sheets and slice into 1 inch thick pieces. Cook in a 400 F degree oven for 15 to 20 minutes until the swirls are golden brown.

These make a wonderful alternative to the traditional cheese tray. The pastry was light and crunchy. The cheese was nicely melted and toasted. The scallion flavor came through and really made the broccoli based rounds. While both cheese swirls were very good, in a contest of pesto versus broccoli I am completely biased in favor of pesto. (Actually it may not even be a contest). 

Potato salad with tuna and pesto ペストとツナのポテトサラダ

We made pesto and froze it when we had a bumper crop of basil sometime ago. My wife found two small plastic containers in the freezer recently and tasked me to use it. I made two kinds of garlic mozzarella bread, one with original garlic scallion butter and another with the pesto. The one with pesto was quite good. That left me with the 2-3 tbs of pesto. From the depth of my memory I remembered a recipe for potato salad with tuna and pesto from the “Frugal Gourmet*" cookbook. I sort of remembered how this was made but I decided I needed to find the recipe. After going through a number of his cookbooks which we have in our collection, I found the recipe in "Frugal Gourmet cooks with wine". It was called "tuna and potato salad" which was introduced as an "American Italian" dish. In any case, I made this salad and finished up the pesto. It was definitely very distinctive and very good; quite different from my usual potato salad.

*When his show was popular on PBS in1980s, it was our routine to watch it on the weekend and we bought most of his cookbooks. Looking back, however, we think our cooking has advanced since then but at the time his recipes were quite inspirational. 

I made a few modifications as usual.  

Ingredients:

2 medium russet potatoes, boiled with skin on and then skin removed, cut (crumbed) into bite size chunks (original recipe calls for 6 small red potatoes).

One can of tuna in water, drained.

Blanched green beans, arbitrary amount (I prepared from fresh green beans, the original recipe calls for a 10 oz. package of frozen green beans, thawed, cooked and drained).

2 tbs pesto

3 tbs mayonnaise and 3 tbs Greek (strained) yogurt* (The original recipe calls for 1 cup mayo)

3 flat anchovies mashed (optional). I did not used them.

Salt and pepper to taste

3 tbs chopped parsley (I skipped this since I did not have fresh parsley)

* My wife prepared this from Dannon yogurt.

Directions:

I seasoned the potatoes with salt, pepper and sushi vinegar while they were hot and I them cool in a bowl (my addition)

Cut the green beans in half inch length and add to the potato.

Add the pesto and tuna.

Add the mayo and Greek yogurt and mix.

Taste and season it with salt and pepper if needed.

This is a good salad to have. We really liked it.

Basil and pine nuts quick bread バジルと松の実の速成パン

 My wife made this quick bread as an effort to use more of the basil we are growing in our windowsill herb garden. In addition to the basil, it has pine nuts and parmesan cheese. So it is a kind-of disaggregated “pesto” bread.  This is a savory quick bread which is good for breakfast or even as an hors d’oeuvre with wine.

The cut surface shows basil and pine nuts.

Ingredients: (three small loaves)

2 cups AP flour

1 1/2 tsp baking powder<

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

1 cup buttermilk

1 large egg

1/4 cup olive oil

1/2 cup pine nuts, toasted

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

3 tbs minced fresh basil (or more to taste)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350F.

Butter the three small loaf pans (5x3 inch).

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Stir in the cheese and minced basil.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the butter milk, egg and olive oil.

Pour the liquid ingredients to the dry ingredients, stir together until just combined.

Fold in the pine nuts.

Bake 30-35 minutes at 350F

Let it cool down for 15 minutes and remove the loaves

This bread is very flavorful. It is really good lightly toasted with melted butter. Since it is late in the season, the basil taste was a bit muted but still present. 

Lemon basil shortbread cookie レモンバジルクッキー

This is a continuation of my wife’s attempt to use more of the basil we are growing in our window sill herb garden. This is a savory cookie/shortbread which goes very well with red wine. My wife found the original recipe on line somewhere.

We had this with DAOU Vineyards Pessimist Red Blend 2018 which is Petit syrah based. Our recent favorite/house wine.

Ingredients: (18 cookies)
1 cup AP flour
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup unsalted butter, cold, cut into pieces
2 tbs sliced basil (or more to taste)
grated zest from one lemon

1 tbs lemon juice (or more to taste)
1/4 tsp kosher salt

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375F
Line cookie sheet with parchment paper
Add all ingredients to the food processor and mix (#1)
Using a small ice cream scoop, portion out the dough (#2)

Using the palm (or the lightly floured bottom of a glass) , press the ball into flat disks (#3)
Bake 7-8 minutes at 375F (#4)
Let cool on a cooling rack

The lemon flavors come through strongly contrasts nicely with the sweetness and is pleasantly refreshing. After one day in the refrigerator, the basil flavor began to surface more strongly. Somehow this cookie went well with the red wine we were having. My wife has made quite a good variety of savory cookies. This is another good one.

No knead pizza dough 捏ねないピザ生地

Since we are into "no knead" breads, when my wife found a recipe for "No knead pizza dough", I had to try it. Using this dough, I made my usual version of Pizza Margherita.

The pizza shown below was my wife's suggestion including several cheeses (mozzarella,  Monterey jack and smoked gouda) with baby artichoke herts, black and green olives (Devina brand).

No knead pizza dough recipe came from King Arthur flour web site.

Ingredients: (this makes two pizzas like above)
250gram AP flour
1/8 tsp instant yeast
1/2 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt
185gram lukewarm water

Directions: (only making dough part was quoted here)
1. Stir all of the ingredients together. Cover the rough, sticky dough and let it rise at room temperature for 24 hours. After this first rise, you may choose to refrigerate the dough for up to 6 days, which will help develop its flavor.
2. Divide the dough in half. Shape each piece into a ball. Place each ball seam-side down into a floured bowl.
3. Cover the bowl and allow the dough to proof (rise) for 45 minutes to an hour, while your oven preheats.
4. Scoop the dough onto a well-floured work surface and dust the top with flour. Using your fingertips, gently depress the dough, being careful not to touch the outer edge of the crust; you want it to remain thick.
5. Lift up the pizza and use your knuckles to gently stretch the dough into a circle about 10" to 12" in diameter. Move it to a well-floured pizza peel (I use yellow corn meal).

The topping and baking parts I followed my usual way. Although I cooked the pizza the usual 5 minutes, because of the high water content of the dough, retrospectively, I would have cooked the pizza longer maybe 7-8 minutes.

This pizza crust was a bit more flavorful but not that much different from my usual crust. Handling the dough was much more tricky since it was so wet. I may try it again with a longer cooking time.