Infused Olive Oil -- Basil & Sun Dried Tomato

Remember This ? The Basil in my Herb Pot.

Well every year I throw together herbs in a pot and grow them. I grow them because I love the thought of growing my own herbs. But do I do anything with them ? Ummm, ummm...gulp, gulp. Well... I use all of the coriander and the garlic chives which are very scraggy in my pot and are not much but the rest is left to flourish and grow and look green and pretty.

No one will believe me when I say this, I think it is blasphemous to even utter this, but I never really cared to use the pretty, fragrant basil or oregano(yes someone said it is oregano) the last two years. But all that changed yesterday and I started plucking basil like crazy.

This basil had a very lemony scent to it and this is NOT lemon basil. I am growing lemon basil from a friend in a separate pot but this one was supposed to be the regular basil. But it was not the lemony scent that inspired me. It was the book, "Under the Tuscan Sun" which I have just started reading. The book is so very charming that it will make you do things like that.

Once plucked I wanted to make an infused Olive Oil. The husband said that my attempt might kill everyone with "botulism".

I did not listen. I listened to Martha Stewart.

I blanched a few basil leaves,
patted them dry,
coarsely pounded them with a mortal-pestle
and then I remembered Happy Cook putting sun dried tomatoes in olive oil.

So I took a washed and dried jar. This one is the Bru Coffee jar if you are curious.

Put some Sun dried tomatoes, put the pounded basil, poured in the extra virgin olive oil and am keeping it in the refrigerator for a week.

At room temperature or more than a week is not advisable.

We will see how I use it. For now I will just spread it on slices of baguette and take a bite with my tea.

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By now everyone I know must have read Joel Stein's article in The Times. Maybe his intention was humor, but the piece seemed to me much more rude than funny, kind of in bad taste. It also mattered that he was not saying it to a closed audience in his living room but on a media with a far more outreach.
It is these incidents which spark a fire of hatred somewhere, puts doubt in young minds and makes them justify their action. It is such hatred that leads them towards bigger crime. My condolences to Dr. Divyendu Sinha's family who lost his life in a tragic incident last week.

I am sorry but I have not been able to reply to comments or visit and comment on your blogs. I am hoping I will be up to it in a week

Off to the Garden

"Two years ago, I was saying as I planted seeds in the garden, "I must believe in these seeds, that they fall into the earth and grow into flowers and radishes and beans." It is a miracle to me because I do not understand it. The very fact that they use glib technical phrases does not make it any less a miracle, and a miracle we all accept. Then why not accept God's miracles?"

-Dorothy Day (1897-1980), From Union Square to Rome, 1938

This has been a very difficult week for us. A tragic incident close to home shook our belief in mankind, in humanity, in mortals.

I do not know how to vent my anger, my frustration. I do not know how to reinstate my faith. I do not understand why people do not understand parenting is a serious task and if a parent does not do his/her job well, they can raise humans who destroy society.

The greens in my garden consoles me. And though this year I can take no credit for them, I look to them to believe God is still there to work out miracles.

My Dad did everything for the garden this year from planting to taking care. He planted tomatoes, zucchini, carrots and beans. The tomatoes are growing happily. Zucchini flowers are in plenty. The bunnies ate the beans. The carrots are still growing.

He also planted hot peppers and I threw together all kinds of herbs in a herb pot.

Growing Mint is easy. I did not know that. My neighbors have loads of mint plants. On their suggestion I dug one stem of mint into the soil and it flourished.

The herb pot with herbs I can't even recognize

What are those ? Any idea ?

The Hot Peppers

Zucchini, all flowers and leaves. No fruit yet.

Tomatoes

Tara Tari Paanch Mishali -- Five Vegetable Medley

Eating healthy does not necessarily mean eating a salad.

Think of something your Mom used to make and you would turn up your nose at. Go ahead, quick. Do you see yellow, orange, green ? Yeah ? Well those were the nutrient laden, healthy dishes from your own cuisine.

Cook them. Make your new age changes to them. Use EVOO.

Talk like Rachel Ray.Ask yourself "Why do people like Rachel Ray?". They don't.

So you are in safe company, go ahead and make your very own Five Vegetable dish in under 30 minutes or maybe more.Depends on how fast you chop or don't.

Eat a bowlful of that. Tastes better than a salad and has all the goodness of it.

Paanch Mishali Tarkari or Five Mixed Vegetables is a very popular Bengali dish. Chop five different vegetables, not any vegetable, there has to be a rhyme and rhythm to them. Something sweet like pumpkin, something sharp like radish, something velvety like ridge gourd or eggplant or in my case zucchini, something orange and crunchy like carrots, something generous like potatoes to bring everything together.

You don't have to strictly follow this rule. I don't. I will toss in some other stuff, like this time I added bitter gourd and ignored potatoes.

I had 1/2 cup each of chopped pumpkin, radish, carrots, zucchini and 1/4 cup of bitter gourd. I cooked them in the microwave with little water, 1/2 tsp of Garam masala(totally optional not used in traditional Paanch Mishali), 3 green chillis and 1 tsp of ginger julienne. It is not necessary that you pre-cook the veggies but I do it, to make the process faster.

I think it took me 10 mins in the MW and I used that time to convince D that going to the beach is actually an outdoor activity while watching Football is well just watching TV. You see I am not a fan anymore, I don't root for a favorite team, I don't cry or get frustrated or jubilant.

Heat 2 tsp of EVOO. Ideally you should use Mustard Oil which is the new EVOO. But I used Olive Oil, my wish. Temper the oil with 1 & 1/2 tsp of Paanch Phoron, the mother of all spices and father of none.Add 2-3 Dry Red chili and a pinch of Hing/Asafoetida. Watch the spices sputter and pop. Feel the power.

I felt the power, the sharpness of chili up my nose. I felt that D might just sway and switch off the TV.

Add the vegetables. Reserve the water, the vegetable stock. We will add that later. Add about 1/4-1/2 tsp of Turmeric Powder. Saute the vegetables for couple of minutes.

Add the water, the stock, add salt to taste, cover and cook. This is too much water, use much less water to begin with.

I continued my convincing process. My methods are not right. No one gets convinced around here.

The veggies are done now. Remove the cover. Add 1 tsp of Mustard paste. I added 1 tsp of Kasundi, the spicy Bengali Mustard sauce. If you have your Mustard Powder or your homemade mustard paste, add that. I have never used Dijon Mustard, how bad can it get ?

Brazil won the game. Of course they would.

Stir everything together. Check that veggies are done. Taste and make any adjustments. If needed sprinkle 1 tsp of roasted Cumin Powder. Cook till water has almost dried up.

Everyone looks happy. The world is a fair place. D wants to go to the beach. But it is too hot. I really don't want to.


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Charchari