Free Range Friday Freed

Today at the veggie stand, I was standing around kind of doing nothing in that 'what else do I have to do?' heat dazed list making head mode.  I'd gotten a big two things done, and the next was coming up the road. Two banana quits were flitting and chirping right over our heads and we realized they were boldly making a nest, right there, practically over the cash register. Ok, not true. There is no cash register.

I wanted to get back to Free Range Friday, I really did. I've been making and using pesto a lot lately, motivated by working at Susie's and making it there (usually Ramon makes it, but I pinch hit sometimes). I forgot how absolutely simple it is to make! I wanted to share it. With you!

I like my pesto thick and to make it, I use what I have in my garden. Purple basil, green basil, racao...and of course what is not in my garden right now, garlic cloves and parmesan cheese. The following recipe is a pretty generic, safe pesto recipe that anyone can make. I don't used a food processor, though you can. A blender works fine and so does a mortar and pestle, if you must be a traditionalist (and have the time and energy). Truly, it's simple and delicious!

Fresh Basil Pesto Recipe

• 2 cups fresh basil leaves, packed
• 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan-Reggiano or Romano cheese
• 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1/3 cup pine nuts or walnuts
• 3 medium sized garlic cloves, minced
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

1 Combine the basil in with the pine nuts, pulse a few times in a food processor. (If you are using walnuts instead of pine nuts and they are not already chopped, pulse them a few times first, before adding the basil.) Add the garlic, pulse a few times more.
2 Slowly add the olive oil in a constant stream while the food processor is on. Stop to scrape down the sides of the food processor with a rubber spatula. Add the grated cheese and pulse again until blended. Add a pinch of salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste.
Makes 1 cup.

Well, yes...it is simple, until you improvise the ingredients, like I always do. It's still simple...except for when you want to photograph it and the green color, offset by the purple basil no doubt, resembles nothing you want publish a photo of, trying, in that picture says 1000 words thing to say, HEY! THIS TASTES YUMMY! Really! because no one would believe you and someone might even get sick. 

So a cup of pesto (which is about what I got, minus the pine nuts, some people use walnuts, they are cheaper and really good in pesto as well) is a lot of pesto for a person eating solo. And why bother making a tiny bit? Which is why I hadn't bothered until I was jonesing for it at home and realized I had FRESH basil and racao...and then, after I still had a lot of pesto left over, it hit me. I didn't have horseradish to put on my sandwich - and I've gotten into sandwiches a lot lately; hot weather food = sandwiches - but I could use that pesto! It's green, it's garlicky, it mixes really well with a schmear of mayo. Oh my!!! But wait, there's more

So, remember the chicken eggs? Well, there they've been, adding up in the fridge and after having turkey ham and salami and tomato and cheese sandwiches, I thought egg salad would be good and fun to photograph for Free Range Friday (remember? that's what I'm yammering on about).

Remember those really almost orange yolks? Well, they are still orange. And when mushed (oh and in case you don't already know this? The very best way in the world to chop eggs for egg salad with with a potato masher...try it, you will thank me. I thank Frank). So...imagine, if you must, a very orangey egg salad - hard boiled eggs, salt and pepper, dashes of hot paprika and cumin - whatever floats your egg salad boat, just don't drown it in mayo!!! "Juicy" egg salad is unpleasant for everyone, trust me - and poop green pesto spread on rye toast.

I not only imagined it, I did it...for YOU, my faithful readers. And because I want to keep you faithful...I couldn't subject you to the photographic combo. It was late, maybe that was it but try as I might, I couldn't quite deal with the consequences of, oh say, a sample reader who reads my blog every morning, first thing, sitting down with coffee and toast opened to...that. It was REAL food porn, graphic as a bad LSD trip...I think I could be having a flashback just thinking about it.

However, I am not a faint of heart sort of person and I knew how damn good the egg salad was, as well as the pesto, so I slapped those poop green covered pieces of bread, one side layered in egg salad, blood red tomatoes, pale pink shallots and hell, why not, a piece of provelone! along with the rumble of a leaf of romaine and baby, I ate it all gone. Dagwood was cheering me on. That sick dude who eats weird food on TV was jealous. I trashed the photos, trashed the post and instead...here is what you get!

Ok, you can open your eyes now. We're back, back in the land of lovely! Have a frippery Friday! Do something just plain fun.

This post is dedicated to Gail, who left us a year ago today. There aren't many days I don't think about her, and today was no different...just a little more. I'm pretty sure that at certain moments, I can still hear her laughing, as usual. 'Hey, am I right?!' poke There will be a Gailtogether May 1, Tamarindo, 10:00. Mark it.