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Pesto from the sweet, spicy basil

Kitchen Korner
Marian Platt

Now’s the time to harvest that abundant fresh basil in your garden and to make a flavorful pesto.
If you are not growing any yourself, you can buy bunches of it at our farm markets. And it can be purchased already made in your local market.
Sweet basil is a fine herb, with a clove-like spicy tang that gives it
great popularity. I grow little clay pots of it on my windowsill all year long.
Basil has been a kitchen garden herb for centuries. It is native to India, Asia and Africa, and began its career about 5,000 years ago as a sacred herb rather than a culinary one.
It once was used for “strewing” floors to keep them sweet and clean and for chasing away witches and flies and headaches. In Italy, it is a symbol of love and fidelity. In India, Hindus buried their dead with a leaf on their chests to protect them from evil. Greeks and Romans believed the only way to get a good crop was to curse the ground while sowing the seeds.
Most of us who grow our own
basil today find much of the happiness is in making pesto. To make 1 cup, process 2 cups loosely packed fresh basil leaves with ½ cup shredded Parmesan cheese, ½ cup pine nuts, toasted, ½ cup olive oil, 3 large garlic cloves and one-eighth teaspoon salt in a food processor until smooth, stopping to scrape down sides. Store pesto in refrigerator up to five days.
To freeze pesto, put into an ice
cube tray (2 tablespoons per cube); cover with plastic wrap. Freeze overnight, then transfer cubes to a resealable plastic bag; keep up to six months. Defrost pesto at room temperature, about 20 minutes. Mash with a fork before using in recipes.
When you plan on freezing pesto, cook the basil briefly in salted water before mixing with the other ingredients; this will preserve its bright color and fresh taste. By freezing some pesto, you’ll be able to add a summer flavor to all sorts of dishes.
Basil is fragile and its leaves bruise easily so they should be torn rather than chopped when used for salads. Over-cooking spoils its flavor, so add it toward the end of a dish’s cooking time.

A favorite lunch of mine is:
BRUSCHETTA WITH GOAT CHEESE, ROASTED PEPPER
AND BASIL
Spread 4 ounces goat cheese on
four thick slices country bread, halved and toasted. Top with charred red pepper slices, place on baking sheet. Bake in 375-degree oven until warm, about
5 minutes. Top each toast with two basil leaves and serve to four.
BASIL-ARUGULA PESTO
¾ cup olive oil
3 cups (loosely packed) fresh basil leaves
1 cup (loosely packed) fresh arugula
½ cup grated Romano cheese
1/3 cup pine nuts
2 garlic cloves
½ teaspoon grated lemon peel
Place ½ cup oil and next six ingredients in processor; process to thick paste. With motor running, add remaining ¼ cup oil and 2 tablespoons warm water. Blend until smooth. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Toss this with 1½ pounds of your favorite pasta.
So many ways to add that summer flavor to foods:
PESTO SALMON
Place salmon fillets on baking sheet; spread with pesto, sprinkle with bread crumbs and bake at 400-degrees for about 20 minutes.
ROASTED BROCCOLI
WITH PESTO
Toss 2½ pounds broccoli florets with 2 tablespoons olive oil and spread in an even layer. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Roast the broccoli in a 500-degree oven for 8 minutes or until broccoli is browned and crisp-tender. Transfer broccoli to a platter, drizzle pesto on top.
GRILLED VEGETABLES
WITH PESTO
Cut two medium-size yellow squash and two medium zucchini lengthwise into ¼-inch thick slices. Cut 1 red bell pepper into ½-inch thick strips. Grill vegetables 2-3 minutes on each side.
Toss with 3 tablespoons pesto; sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste, and serve immediately.
PESTO BLTs
In a small bowl combine 2 tablespoons mayonnaise with 1 tablespoon pesto and dash pepper.
Spread evenly over one side of four slices of whole wheat bread, toasted. On two slices, layer two slices Havarti cheese, two  bacon strips, cooked and halved, two lettuce leaves and four slices tomato; top with remaining toast. Serves two.

TOMATO-BASIL SOUP
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 cups chopped onions
1 large russet potato, peeled, cut into 1-inch pieces
2 pounds plum tomatoes, cut into 1-inch pieces (about 6 cups)
3 cups water (maybe more)
1 cup (loosely packed) fresh basil leaves, plus 4 teaspoons chopped fresh basil
Heat oil in pot over medium heat; add onions and sauté until golden, about 15 minutes. Add potato and sauté until light brown, about 10 minutes.
Add tomatoes and stir until juices form, about 5 minutes. Add 3 cups water; bring to boil. Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer until potato is tender, about 25 minutes.
Working in batches, puree soup in blender until smooth. Return soup to pot. Add water to thin if necessary. Stir in 1 cup basil leaves; simmer, uncovered, 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Ladle soup into four bowls; sprinkle each with 2 teaspoons chopped basil.
Basil has so many uses. Here’s one more: To curb a woman’s appetite for food, place a sprig of basil under her plate without her knowledge.
Copyright. Marian Platt,
Sequim. 2009. Reach Marian Platt at mlplatt@olypen.com.


The ultimate athlete

In Vetrospect
Jack Thornton

Strength. Speed. Agility. Flexibility. Concentration. These are some characteristics often associated with ultimate athletic performance. But the foundation of all athletic qualities is durability. Upon endurance these attributes may come to fruition. This story is about toughness.

Late afternoon March 14, 1981, a passerby brought in a strange-looking pigeon that he picked up sitting on the edge of the Old Olympic Highway near my clinic. The bird looked alert and made no attempt to escape capture, prompting the man to describe it as seemingly “out of gas.”

Upon examination, the pigeon showed no signs of injury. Its breast musculature was modestly concave, suggesting some degree of malnutrition and/or dehydration. The bird was a brownish-tan color with an unusual purplish cere resembling no wild or domestic variety with which I was familiar.

On one leg were two bands, one silver with several numbers and the other red and white with oriental letters. I rehydrated the patient with injectable fluids and took it to a local pigeon fancier named Alice Stoican.

She housed and fed the bird and within two or three days it was flying and acting normally within its avian enclosure. She next took the information from the bands and with some research determined our foundling to be a racing pigeon released during a competition along the coast of southern Japan on March 10.

The amazed owner speculated the bird had been swept offshore by prevailing trade winds and, instead of fighting, it went with the flow to fly presumable nonstop across the Pacific Ocean.

A direct airline flight from Seattle to Tokyo, Japan, is 4,776 miles. The point of the bird’s release was about 200 miles south of Tokyo while Sequim is less than 100 miles from Seattle, as the pigeon flies. So our avian wonder flew about 4,500 miles in approximately four days. That averages more than 1,000 miles daily or about 50 mph. Since a pigeon’s top flight is roughly 30 mph, it is obvious our athlete’s performance was wind-aided.

Surprisingly, this was not the first racing pigeon recovered in our area from Japan.

About one year earlier a similar incident was documented and given considerable press in our local newspapers. So this particular pigeon did not receive the notoriety it surely deserved.

However, more than 25 years later, these remain the only two such incidents of which I’m aware. Besides being strong and durable, there may be another important aspect to any athlete’s success. A little luck never hurts. 

Dr. Jack Thornton is a semiretired veterinarian. Reach him in care of editor@sequimgazette.com.











              


















 

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Sofa Cinema

Rebecca Redshaw

The movies selected for review are the choice of the reviewer Suggestions for DVD titles are welcome. Enjoy the movies.

NEW RELEASE
Easy Virtue
(Rated: PG-13)


One should have high hopes for “Easy Virtue.” Stephen Elliot, director of “Priscilla, Queen of the Desert,” assembled a distinguished and talented cast.
Kristin Scott Thomas and Colin Firth are the unhappily married Mr. and Mrs. Whit-
taker, who are nestled in an expansive mansion in the English countryside. Their wayward son (and heir to the family estate), John (Ben Barnes) returns home with a totally unacceptable American bride in Jessica Biels.
As a platinum blond and free-spirited race car driver, Biels as Larita receives the chilliest of receptions.
There are, of course, numerous minor characters who provide the requisite moments of quirkiness for this period piece. A young butler who imbibes, a naïve daughter who dances a cancan “souvent” pantaloons and a banal ex-fiancée who leaves little wonder as to why the young Whittaker leapt at the chance to marry another.
Alas, instead of quick-witted exchanges, “Easy Virtue” is filled with stereotypical snipes and predictable outcomes.
Biels is hopelessly miscast. (Where is the next Carole Lombard?) Firth plays his one expression to a fault. And Scott Thomas’ considerable talent is wasted as a predictable woman scorned.
Based on a Noel Coward play, the fast-clipped dialogue in this 2008 release is virtually impossible to understand this side of the pond.
The trailer for “Easy Virtue” showed potential, but for all the aforementioned reasons, any hope was dashed after the opening credits rolled.

CLASSIC
*Chocolat (Rated: PG-13)

The mere utterance of the world “chocolate” sends most of us to a delicious place. With the release of director Lasse Hallström’s “Chocolat” in 2000, the word takes on an even more delicious — and at times sensuous — meaning.
Vianne (Juliette Binoche) and her young daughter wander into a charming, but considerably “uptight” village. A free spirit by nature and a chocolatier by profession, Vianne’s shop entices all manner of interesting characters to partake of her confections.
Armande (Judi Dench) rebels against the stringent lifestyle encouraged by the town’s moral leader (Alfred Molina), and a wonderful assortment of tasty characters crosses the doorstep tempted by the aura and aroma of the shop.
Larger issues loom in the village besides the caloric intake and, with the arrival of Roux (Johnny Depp) and his band of vagabonds, the villagers are challenged in how to deal with differences in beliefs.
Rachel Portman wrote the haunting and at times carefree score and the magical cinematography by Roger Platt reminds us of the true spirit of any movie that opens with the line “Once upon a time ? .”
“Chocolat” is a treat for the eyes, the ears and the heart, reminding us that a taste of something sweet on occasion helps to put all else in life in perspective. 
*A free screening of “Chocolat” will be shown at 3 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 10, at the Sequim Library.

DOCUMENTARY
Visions of Light


Attention all film buffs (and even if you’re not):
If you haven’t stumbled onto “Visions of Light,” add it to your Netflix list or check with your local DVD rental store. This is an informative compilation of film history as well as an entertaining documentary.
If you’ve ever wondered what a “DP” (Director of Photography) contributes to the filmmaking process, you’ll get a history lesson in the most enjoyable fashion. Released in 1993, many of the great cameramen from the past and current respected spokesmen and women are interviewed with accompanying examples of their work. 
What is refreshing is that the cinematographers don’t talk about technique or f-stops or camera stocks. They talk about their love of the process.
Respected cinematographer Conrad Hall has said that “? there are infinite shadings of light and shadows and colors. It’s an extraordinarily subtle language. Figuring out how to speak that language is a lifetime job.”
If you don’t recognize the names of cinematographers such as Hall and Gordon Willis, Michael Chapman, John Toland, and Sven Nykvist, you’ll surely recognize their films from the hundreds of clips woven throughout this documentary.
Technology changes quickly and lots has happened since 1993, but “Visions of Light” is a great place to learn how film — and the use of light — has evolved since the beginning of the art form.

To read more than 180 reviews under one cover, pick up your copy of “Rebecca Redshaw’s SOFA CINEMA: An Easy Guide to DVDs Vol.1” at the Sequim Gazette or Pacific Mist Books in Sequim or at Port Book & News in Port Angeles. Rebecca Redshaw can be reached at r2redshaw@hotmail.com.

Rebecca Redshaw can be reached at r2redshaw@hotmail.com.

 

Driving Mrs. Daisy crazy

Observations
Jim Follis

Getting anywhere always has seemed like a major piece of excitement.
Women of the world, in their infinite methods of sensibility, always want to plan things well in advance, consult several references, and continuously monitor their progress by stopping to ask directions at frequent intervals.
Men, on the other hand, seem to enjoy the thrill of the hunt.
“No, I didn’t Google, MapQuest or anything else; I already kind of know how to get there. Just sit back and relax or knit or something, I’ve got this under control. Don’t I always get us there?”
I love the advertisement showing a couple towing a boat out in the middle of a desert and the male driver is leaning forward peering through the windshield saying, “I know the turn is right ahead, I can just sense it. We’ll have the boat in the water in no time.”
Why is it that when men drive they get all kinds of advice from the passenger seat wives? And yet when their wives drive, they are full of all kinds of questions?
The navigator should be in charge of plotting out a course to arrive at the destination in a timely and efficient manner. The driver is in charge of guiding the vehicle in a safe and efficient manner. But somehow the lines of responsibility seem to blur and waver during the heat of battle.
There have been numerous occasions when Wife Nancy and I have arrived at our destination totally exhausted from the push-pull of just getting there. Roads weren’t where they were supposed to be. Directions over the phone had paragraphs left out. We didn’t know that the bridge was washed out, and neither did MapQuest.
A friend has labeled his female spouse as the navigator. He claims that once her behind hits the seat, she becomes the captain of their journey.
When we drive somewhere, I drive like I hike. “If it’s over there, I like to drive that way.”
No, I don’t know the name of the street, but where we are going is over that way. Normally this works pretty well for me but there have been some notable occasions where it has failed, and unfortunately the wifely mind is indelible and unforgiving.
We were on a long walk and Wife Nancy twisted her ankle and we were headed back to our motel. Naturally she wanted to get back as quickly as possible but that was our only point of agreement. I knew where we were headed and she knew how we got there and wanted to retrace that way back.
I valiantly exercised my foolproof sense of direction to convince her that we would be going backward if we followed her directions. For the first time that I can remember, she listened to me and we set off in a direct line for where I knew we should be headed.
Just like our city council, I had such great intentions and even some logical thinking involved.
However, I failed to think about the fact that we were cutting directly across a former military installation. And not unlike most military installations, we were snarled in a tangle of ingress, egress and regress. We were trapped like mice in the corner of the cage. And Wife Nancy was one mad cat.
Now, the parallel between a navigator husband-wife team attempting to get from point A to point B and the city council is a bit tangential at best.
The frustration level, the teeth gnashing, the best intentions, the lack of training, experience and resources are all in common.
I spent many years working for boards of lay people who got elected by the public to accomplish a multitude of different tasks. Part of the public wanted to keep their taxes down, others, to improve the educational system; others, to make certain that the unions could get what they wanted. But what the board had in common is that they really knew nothing about running the school system.
When Wife Nancy and I are both blindly attempting to find our way through a strange city with our limited knowledge, deciphering the GPS information, our own common sense and an occasional street sign — it isn’t a smooth journey.
When the city council stubs its toe selecting their professional leader to guide the city in their perceived proper direction, it’s certain trouble. We all lose.
Nothing seems to flow smoothly in our fair city, but then why should it? It certainly isn’t the end of the world. The council really does have good intentions.
We seem to have come out of our other previous scrapes and bumps with an assortment of other groups much further ahead. Maybe this is just how we in Sequim do business. It makes “getting there” all that much sweeter — right, Wife Nancy?
Jim Follis is a retired school administrator, has published two books and currently writes three newspaper columns. Eating, drinking and making merry are his professed hobbies. Traveling, trekking and observing people follow not far behind.



 
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