Every Sunday at the farmer's market, all the beautiful produce and general yuppie euphoria go to my head and I fall into an overly optimistic shopping pattern. Before I know it, I have assumed the persona of this lady, a plump housewife in Provence, doing her daily market trip for the sumptuous seasonal lunch she will prepare for her husband, eighteen children, and the vineyard workers to eat al fresco.I imagine myself leisurely spending hours on a fresh tomato and gruyere tart, maybe making some lavender madelines, and-- what the hell-- some lamb to go with this thyme. Or whatever crazy pastry monster this lady is making. I start buying things with no regard to the realities of my cooking, or my swiss chard threshold.
What this comes down to is a huge bag of black basil in my fridge by the end of the week. Now, I know what you're saying to your computer screen right now: "Why dont you just have a basil plant instead of buying overpriced, huge bags of it that just goes to waste?"
Well, I'll tell you why not. "Plants" and i dont get along. Maybe its the lack of water and sun, or maybe its the verbal abuse. I dont know. We just dont like each other. The only plant I have EVER had not die on me is this one, and the only explanation I can come up with is that its not, in fact, a real plant.
In any case, Ixnay on the asilbay lantpay. I will keep buying absurd amounts of basil and try to figure out how to use it in a matter of days. Yesterday I had a basil-blueberry smoothie that was spectacular, but there are only a certain number of capreses a girl can eat before she starts cursing the sicilians.
Does anyone have any other ideas for basil usage? Besides the obvious.
Its now day 4 for this bag of basil, and its starting to look sickly. Hurry!
2 comments:
I, Das Plant Killah, have a lovely basil plant on my back porch. You may have as much as you want, whenever you want. You don't even have to see me to get it, just yank it from the plant and go. Maaaybe every once in a while you can make me a pesto.
Potted plants often die because of watering from the top. A proper pot has some kind of water reservior on the bottom that you fill. If not, just make sure the pot has a hole in the bottom and place it in a dish. Plants naturally get there water from moisture that is deep in the soil and wicks it's way upward through the soil. Most people think plants get their water from the rain, but plants actually hate direct water near their roots. If you take a plant and pull it out of the ground and look closely at the roots, you will see little nitrogen crystals that look clear and squarish. The roots pull this nitrogen out of the soil and direct water will dissolve and pull the nutrients back into the soil. Most plants will die once the roots come out the bottom of the pot and rot as the water gets swampy/slimy. Then it's time for a bigger pot. Look at a pine tree, and notice that it sheds water away from the center of the plant/tree and keeps the topsoil dry. There are plants that channel water inward too but are probably that way because they are adapted to regions with little rainfall. I could be wrong. I know nothing about hyrdoponics and how growers keep the roots from rotting, but I swear that normal potted plants in dirt are much easier to keep alive with a reservoir in place. I know theres little bags of nutrients that one can add to the water in a flower vase and they will stay alive until the slimy bacteria have their way. Theoretically, if there was an additive to limit the bacteria count you could probably keep flowers alive forever and they would start growing roots in the vase. Having no roots is like having no skin or physical barrier against infection. Maybe a couple drops of root hormone and frequent water changes would help. I don't think plants have immune systems other than producing chemicals that are toxic to whatever bacteria or animal that is eating them. Maybe one could grow flowers that are fed such toxins and sold as disease resistant. Everlasting flowers, good or bad for business ? Basil-Gangleon Batman, how about making basil butter and garlic butter and whatever butter and repackaging it as "Bella's Butters", Gourmet cooking butter. --- Like flowers, basil is a very aromatic plant in the raw. I grow some just so I can smell them once a day. I grow tomatoe plants too just to rub my hand on the stems and then smell my hand. It's a little daily pick-me-up like the smell of coffee brewing. But um, if you consume a lot of it, like I do when I have a basil-leaf salad, you probably would be better buying it whole leaf in bags. If you cook with basil, general advise from Lynn Rosetta Casper of NPR's ' The Splendid Table ' is to add it at the very last minute because heat breaks down the flavor chemicals very quickly and in three to five minutes all that flavor will be lost.
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