daidoji_gisei (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
daidoji_gisei) wrote2006-04-28 06:30 pm
daidoji_gisei) wrote2006-04-28 06:30 pm
Entry tags:
Holy Basil, or: How I Cook
Wednesday evening, on my way home from work, I stopped at my favorite Asian grocery and discovered that they had a fresh--I mean really fresh--holy basil. Holy basil, for those of you not lucky enough to have encountered it before, is like regular basil with a strong overtone of cloves. I love cloves. I had planned to scrape together a quick dinner of lunch meat and bread so I could get some laundry done, but--holy basil, Batman!--how could I pass that up?
So I bought the holy basil and walked home, trying to think about what to do with it. I have no recipes calling for it, but I tend to regard recipes as something that happens to other people. I follow them scrupulously at work, or when I'm feeding a guest at home, but when I'm cooking for myself I tend to just...cook something. It's almost always edible, and it's frequently tasty, and that's usually all I ask for after a day of baking.
After inspecting my larder I came up with a clove of garlic, a quarter-head of cabbage, some leftover whole wheat penne (left over from Monday's attempt to re-create my mom's macaroni goulash with tofu), and a couple of eggs. After chopping the garlic and the basil, shredding the cabbage and beating the eggs I was ready to go. I sauteed the garlic in a little oil in my biggest non-stick skillet, added the cabbage and stirred it up a bit, then added the penne. I didn't think the penne would heat up properly from just being sauteed (the skillet was a little crowded), so I added a little water and dropped a lid on it to let it steam a little. After that I made a little room in the center of the skillet and poured in the eggs, gently stirring them a little to get them to cook into curds. When they were mostly cooked I added the basil and stirred it around a little until the Force told me it was done. Then I poured some wonderful sweet-and-spicy chili sauce that I get at the same grocery I got the holy basil from and decided that it was done. Oh, and I added a few pinches of salt at some point.
It was very good--I should have saved some back for the next day's lunch but ate it all up anyway. I'll probably make something similar in the future, and when I do I'll probably use more holy basil because while a quarter-cup was good I'm sure half a cup would be better.
The skillet, btw, was a gift from my best friend Karin and her husband. After dinner I took the remaining holy basil, chopped it up, and put it to soak with some vodka. After it's steeped long enough I'll strain it, add some simple syrup, and put it aside to age. The next time they come to visit I'll be able to serve them holy basil liquor.
So I bought the holy basil and walked home, trying to think about what to do with it. I have no recipes calling for it, but I tend to regard recipes as something that happens to other people. I follow them scrupulously at work, or when I'm feeding a guest at home, but when I'm cooking for myself I tend to just...cook something. It's almost always edible, and it's frequently tasty, and that's usually all I ask for after a day of baking.
After inspecting my larder I came up with a clove of garlic, a quarter-head of cabbage, some leftover whole wheat penne (left over from Monday's attempt to re-create my mom's macaroni goulash with tofu), and a couple of eggs. After chopping the garlic and the basil, shredding the cabbage and beating the eggs I was ready to go. I sauteed the garlic in a little oil in my biggest non-stick skillet, added the cabbage and stirred it up a bit, then added the penne. I didn't think the penne would heat up properly from just being sauteed (the skillet was a little crowded), so I added a little water and dropped a lid on it to let it steam a little. After that I made a little room in the center of the skillet and poured in the eggs, gently stirring them a little to get them to cook into curds. When they were mostly cooked I added the basil and stirred it around a little until the Force told me it was done. Then I poured some wonderful sweet-and-spicy chili sauce that I get at the same grocery I got the holy basil from and decided that it was done. Oh, and I added a few pinches of salt at some point.
It was very good--I should have saved some back for the next day's lunch but ate it all up anyway. I'll probably make something similar in the future, and when I do I'll probably use more holy basil because while a quarter-cup was good I'm sure half a cup would be better.
The skillet, btw, was a gift from my best friend Karin and her husband. After dinner I took the remaining holy basil, chopped it up, and put it to soak with some vodka. After it's steeped long enough I'll strain it, add some simple syrup, and put it aside to age. The next time they come to visit I'll be able to serve them holy basil liquor.
no subject
I'm thinking of you today, because my brain managed to dream an L5R fanfic last night. It featured Daidoji Gisei and Asahina Sekawa, and was coherent and logical... despite including the pivotal line: "Oh my sweet Kami, the man is wearing a squid on his head!"
Hmmmmmmmmmmmm........
no subject
I've never heard of it repelling vampires, but it is sacred to one of the Hindu gods (I'd have to check my herbals to remember which one) so you never know. The Hindu name is tulsi, or something like that. (If you really need the exact spelling I can look that up too.)
If you want to go looking for it, the leaves are somewhat narrower and a darker green than standard basil, the stem and flower spike have a definite purple cast. Very strong clove/basil fragrance.
Out of morbid curiosity, did Gisei or Sekawa utter the squid line?
no subject
Out of morbid curiosity, did Gisei or Sekawa utter the squid line?
Neither. Gisei overheard aforementioned comment from the other side of a screen, and had to do some swift fan-work in order to avoid losing mondo face by visibly cracking up laughing in court at an inappropriate moment.
Sekawa had the squid on his head. *grin*
I'll give you one guess as to who the unseen commentator on the other side of the screen was. No, wait, make that zero guesses...