Tales of Gardens & Basil Pesto

The rather unseasonal rainfall in the usually dry-by-now Autumn Highveld of South Africa has had a lovely effect on the garden. Rare bits of sunshine and a proliferation of public holidays have added to the garden magic which has transpired.

A previously unused corner of the garden was transformed into a circular winter vegetable patch, with radish and turnip seeds germinating in a record four days from planting.

Our roses are looking ever-so-pretty.

As are the azaleas.

The basil plants, grown from seed last summer, have blossomed into deliciously useful plants, regularly culled for salads and pastas. Knowing, however, that the frost is approaching and with a few regular snail visitors (that I am loathe to kill) leaving their mark, I decided that the time had come to harvest the lot and enjoy the benefits of homemade pesto (of which I am a committed fan - think Adam Sandler as Zohan with his hummus...'nuff said).

Ingredients:

• a colander full of basil
• 100g raw cashews
• 1 very, very large tub of grated parmesan
• about 500ml of olive oil (not too peppery)
• salt and pepper
• lemon juice to cut the oiliness

Method:

1. Strip the leaves off the basil and add to a food processor or blender. Take a moment to lament the fact that fresh basil season is now over, and that a whole lot of basil + hard work is about to = a few tiny containers of pesto.
2. Add the raw cashews, and enough oil to get the "zhoeshing" started. A fruity olive oil is, in my opinion, going to serve you better than one with a peppery bite which clings to the back of your throat.
3. Pour more oil in a thin stream through the lid of the blender/food processor while it's running till the desired consistency is reached.
4. Stir through the parmesan and seasoning with a spatula, and then add sufficient lemon juice to supply the necessary "Nya!" factor...you know, the point that the tongue hits the top of your palate as your cheeks suck-in and your salivary glands do their thing...that's when it's ready.
5. Glass jars or stainless steel tubs work well as storage containers so that plastic doesn't become permanently infused with pesto green.
6. Proudly stand back and enjoy the fact that all the basil didn't go to waste by being frosted to death, or eaten by greedy snails, and then promptly make some pasta to eat your new stash with.

P.S. I've added a small write-up on Tina Fey's Bossypants to the Bookshelf tab if you're interested in buying the book.

P.P.S. Thank you for the comments I've been getting. I thoroughly enjoy reading them. Please don't hesitate, as every one is appreciated :-)

Tea infsuion for a sore throat and cough

This worked incredibly well for me,

lessening the painful symptoms of a sore and swollen throat
by three-quarters within two hours of drinking it.

Using my intuition (or perhaps Divine guidance),
I gathered up fresh herbs from the garden
combined with what I had in my pantry to create a herbal tea infusion.
It was only after it worked to soothe my throat and ease my cough
that I researched the individual properties of each ingredient
and discovered why it had, indeed, worked so well.

I consider this to be a small miracle!

Directions:

• Add a jasmine green and peppermint tea bag to a tea pot.
• Infuse the tea with a large slice of ginger, 2 green cardamom pods (crushed slightly), a sprig of lavender, a few fresh basil/rosemary/oregano leaves and cinnamon (I didn't have sticks, so I used ground cinnamon).
• When at drinking temperature, add a teaspoon of manuka honey.

Other tips:

• Chew and swallow fresh ginger for an added throat soother (beware the burn).
• Take turmeric root capsules and l-glutamine to support your immune system. Solgar's is both gluten and corn-free.
• Two drops of lavender essential oil diluted in 1 teaspoon of coconut oil is useful for soothing itchy, sore ears.
  

Why does this work?

• Green tea: said to be a good antioxidant, as well as a stimulant (due to it's caffeine content).
• Peppermint tea: menthol content is useful in warding off the common cold, while the minty taste soothes a burning throat.
• Fresh ginger: considered an effective cure for coughing, congestion and colds. Also helpful for nausea.
• Green cardamom: used to treat and prevent throat troubles.
• Lavender: when used topically or taken internally, it has antiseptic and anti-inflammatory properties.
• Fresh basil: antiviral, antioxidant and antimicrobial properties. Useful in the treatment of asthma.
• Fresh rosemary: antioxidant. Contains camphor which acts as a cough suppressant.
• Fresh oregano: antiseptic and antimicrobial, said to be palliative for sore throats.
• Manuka honey: antibacterial.
• Turmeric root powder: antiseptic and antibacterial. Used as a blood cleanser (I take this daily in order to keep painful underarm hidradenitis suppurativa in remission).
• L-glutamine: aids recovery from illness and keeps the white blood cells functioning happily.
  

Basiliciousness part two!

This recipe isn't really much of a recipe at all. It's just an amalgamation of two intense flavours tempered with little "toasties" :-)

To make:

• Zoesh about 8 tomatoes in a food processor and then simmer them on the stove for ten minutes with some salt.
• Garnish with fresh basil (in fact, just after this photo was taken, I threw in a whole handful of basil leaves and it was sublime!)
• Top with a mini gluten-free "toastie" (recipe below), which are just slices of day-old homemade potato flour scones drizzled with olive oil and grilled till crispy in the oven. (Crumbled cream crackers, croutons or melba toast would make a great substitution if you're blessed enough to be able to eat gluten).
  

Scones
(gluten-free)

Makes 12

This recipe comes from a TV show which used to air on South African TV when I was little called "Kideo", presented by the lovely Natasha Sutherland (the ex-wife of that philandering, ridiculously corny singer, Steve Hofmeyr) and a talking donkey puppet called Mr Chinwag!

You cannot ask for a simpler, more reliable recipe, which makes soft, delicious scones when baked with cake flour. Obviously, having to de-glutenise the recipe changes things a little.

Yes, the recipe is still reliable. Yes, the scones are still mouthwateringly soft WHEN EATEN STRAIGHT OUT THE OVEN AND STILL WARM! As soon as these reach room temp and you've only used potato flour, they get rigid. BUT that's what makes them perfect for slicing and grilling into "toasties", so it's a win-win situation :-)

Ingredients:

• 2 cups flour
• (if you're using normal cake flour made from wheat OR a gluten-free cake flour mix which you can substitute cup-for-cup, follow recipe as is. However, if you are using only potato flour, you will need to allow for about 1 cup of milk or just over).
  
• 1/2 tsp bicarb + 1 tsp creme of tartar
• 3/4 cup milk
• 1/2 cup oil
• 1 egg
• 1/4 tsp salt

Method:

1. Beat egg & mix all ingredients together with a spoon.
2. Bake in a buttered cup-cake pan for 12 - 15 minutes (or till golden) at 175 to 180 degrees Celsius.
   

Basilicious!

My twenties have brought with them a taste for fresh basil that my teens did not harbour. I am an avid balcony gardener, and proudly nursed a fledgling basil plant to glorious and riotous bloom right through the highveld Winter of 2009 (a miracle in itself, apparently, when even Keith Kirsten says to rip 'em out and start fresh in Summer), only to have a garden critter who likes the taste almost as much as hubs and I decimate it a month before Spring. The joys of pesticide-free gardening, right?

So the fresh basil for today and tomorrow's recipes comes courtesy of a friend and colleague of mine, Carolina, who gifted me with a large ziploc bag full of beautiful basil before Winter gets its claws in.

Cheesy Sweet Potato with Leafy Greens

1. Scrub sweet potatoes and bake, wrapped in tinfoil, in an oven at 180 degrees Celsius for about 60 minutes.
2. Once soft, slice open about three-quarters of the way through, sprinkle with a pinch of salt and insert a slice of Gouda cheese. Pop the potato back in the still-warm oven for about 5 minutes till the cheese is melted.
   
3. Serve on a bed of salad greens (I used sweet iceberg lettuce, fresh basil and cucumber slices).
4. Born-up-a-gluten-free-tree!