Take THAT, basil bushes!A fun equation for you: 9 tightly packed cups of basil+12 cloves of garlic+a few handfuls of walnuts+3 cups of olive oil = 4 ice cube trays of pesto.
Round one of Pesto Cubing complete. The basil bushes are even now preparing to explode for round two. But I'm not scared: I have a food processor this year. Whee!
See, in previous years, I've been forced to make my pesto in the blender. This works okay for small batches, but making multiple double batches is a pain in the ass in the blender. Because the leaves get all stuck in the bottom, leaving whole nuts and basil in the top layer and liquid in the bottom layer. But not with the fancy 14-cup Cuisinart the MiL gave me last year!
I will admit that I'm still a wee bit afraid of the wicked sharp blades on the thing, and there is no doubt it is a bitch to wash by hand (as we must wash all of our dishes, due to a lack of mechanical dishwasher). But pesto? No problem! Shredding five gallons of cabbage to make sauerkraut? Bring it on! The Cuisinart feels no fear!
I think the vegetable prep season this year is going to be a whole lot easier, and a whole lot less cramp-inducing to my hands. You and me, Cuisinart. Together, we shall conquer the vegetable harvests.
I'll be doing pesto in the Ninja in another day or so. Should be much better than the tiny little thing I used last time.
ReplyDeleteWord verification: haete -- intense dislike, two syllables of hate
I'll be waiting by my mailbox for my pesto shipment.
ReplyDeleteGoodness, your basil is already gianormous. When did you plant it? Wowee. I am surely doing something wrong with mine. Beth
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a poker playing dino
Beth: That harvest represents most of the foliage from 6 plants. According to my archives (thank God for this blog, or I would never remember anything), I planted the basil on May 22nd. Those were plants I bought though, not seeds, and so they were already probably about six inches high when I put them in the ground. And we've had a LOT of hot weather. And I've been fairly diligent about pinching off the emerging little leaves at the top, to make them bigger and bushier. So maybe that's why they're so big.
ReplyDeleteHell, I don't know. I'm lucky anything is growing at all this year, who cares why.
My basil isn't that big yet - but it'll get there! My cuisinart is waiting!
ReplyDeleteI am familiar with this feeling of Cuisinart-induced joy.
ReplyDeleteThis weekend I made 6 pints of hamburger dills (aka pickle chips) and I don't think it took the 14 cup Cuisinart but 2 minutes to reduce all those cukes down to chips.
2 minutes MAX.
Love that thing.
Nice going on the pesto, too! That's a friggen haul of basil!
http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/fresh_basil_pesto/
ReplyDeleteAt this house, we looooove this pesto.