Back online (yes, it was a much extended holiday.........) and busy making fresh tomato sauce. Well it would be 'fresh' tomato sauce except once again we have had a mildew explosion in the garden and my tomato plants have shriveled to sad wizened shadows. I will let the picture speak for itself.........
Anyway, as so often it's tinned tomatoes to the rescue. With the addition of onion, garlic, plenty of fresh basil and a good pinch of sugar I have a very respectable sauce for my wee pizzas. My basil crop has been fantastic, which has soothed my squashed gardening ego somewhat, and produced a delicious jar of fresh pesto. I deviated from my usual mortar & pestle method of preparation and went all high tech with my food processor. I actually started using my blender, but it is so utterly useless I would have had more success rubbing the leaves between my fingers, so food processor it was. I loathe washing kitchen 'gadgets' at the best of times, but washing something that didn’t even do the job was especially irksome. The processor results in more 'chopped' leaves, which I don’t think is quite as nice as mortar crushed, but I was working with industrial quantities and I didn’t want my arm to fall off........
Pesto: Into your functioning blender, or food processor, put a good clove of garlic, copious handfuls of sweet basil, seasoning, and a palmful of pine nuts (or a mix of peanuts and pinenut, more economical and very yum) and blitz together. Then drizzle in olive oil, I use Spanish olive oil brought in two liter tins, it lasts for ages as it is protected from the light (the enemy of oil) and is more economical than smaller bottles. I have long since stopped worrying what this says about my oil consumption. I figure if I am eating oil I am not eating butter, which despite its utter deliciousness even I acknowledge I should try and consumer less than my body weight of annually.....
To prove I am not a complete failure in the garden please gaze in pleasure at my lovely fresh chilies, I have Habaneras, and cayenne peppers busy resisting mildew (bless them!) and fattening up daily I feel a Mexican momento coming on.......P.S All was not completely lost on the tomato front, I did make nine jars of Green Tomato pickle, nothing beats it on hotdogs or burgers, mmmmmmmm!
