All Hail The King of (Legal) Herbs

I had noticed that Carrie hadn't been eating all her dinner lately. There were significant portions of duck left on the plate, the duck onion soup was eaten but the pork belly pieces went untouched and when she saw me working the duck fat into the mashed potatoes, they received barely a nibble. I tried to see past my rage and realized that Carrie is getting married in January. I remembered my own frugal nibbling prior to my wedding, back when I was a vegetarian. People like to look good when they get married and that trumps any desire for duck fat. It's only after you get married that the duck fat tastes good again. By the way, Carrie looks awesome.

Out of deference to Carrie's feelings, appetite and the sanctity of prenuptial dietary restrictions, I decided we all could use a break from the cream laden, duck fat paved road I'd been driving the family gastric jalopy down lately. We generally have one or two fish nights a week and a vegetarian night as well just to keep our feet on the ground.

Some online tips lead you astray. Tis the truth I'm afraid. I was interested in saving the bumper crop of basil that I had grown over the summer and researched freezing herbs on line. I read that if you freeze the leaves of basil separately on a cookie sheet in the freezer and then place them neatly in a freezer zip lock bag, stacking them like a deck of cards, then you will be able to tap them all winter.

Seemed like a great idea. But alas, the leaves that I have pulled out of the freezer are kind of chewy and papery and while they are edible and retain some flavor, I am not satisfied that they are anything close to the wonder of fresh basil.

Basil, to me, is the king of all herbs. The steak of the herb family. I am always amazed every time I make a pesto that something so flavorful so filling and delicious could really just be a leaf.

Last winter I took all the basil and made a huge batch of pesto that I then put in ice cube trays and transferred in cube form to zip lock bags. Next year I'll do that again. You can just drop a cube to perk up any sauce, cream, tomato or otherwise or use four or five cubes as a pesto proper. Very effective. I have used the papery frozen leaves as final pizza toppings, but am loathe to try them as an actual pesto, perhaps by February I'll give it a go. I suppose I have to try. Maybe the food processor will eliminate the papery quality and we'll be left only with flavor..... Maybe.

I headed to the Super Fine Fare and picked up some whole wheat thin spaghetti. I am always a little less than satisfied with whole wheat pasta with tomato or cream sauces, but I think the nuttiness of the wheat works very well with Pesto. The boxes of pasta now are no longer 16 oz. but 13.25 oz at the same price. Very clever those pasta people. Made me wonder if I should buy two boxes or decrease portion size. In the spirit of the evening I opted for smaller portions.

I have learned the interpretive tap dance of our local supermarkets well enough to not be surprised by the fact that I can pick up banana leaves at the Super Fine Fare, but have to travel to the Eden Gourmet if I want something as exotic as fresh Basil.

Before I left for the super market I took the remaining shrimp from the fajita night out of the freezer and put them in a bowl with the remaining lime juice. When I got home they had already thawed and I gave them a little toss.

I truly don't know how I lived before the food processor, but I do remember being awfully frustrated when I would scan through a recipe and the phrase, i"n the processor combine blah and blah" would pop up. Now, not unlike my cell phone, I can't really conceive of life without the processor.

Again, in homage to basil, it's kind of wonderful how just processing the basil has the same effect as heating olive oil, garlic and onion on a kitchen. The fragrance that whets appetites throughout the olfactory contact zone.

Carrie was delighted by the menu when she came home from school and finished every bite. And we all felt a little self satisfied and more than a little self righteous for having pleased our palates and filled ourselves to the near brim without harming a single duck in the preparation of our herby feast.

 BASIL SPAGHETTI PESTO WITH GRILLED LIME SHRIMP

12 lb. of medium shrimp peeled and de-veined with tails on.
1/2 cup lime juice

4 cloves garlic
Two bunches basil leaves
1 Tbs. Kosher salt
1/2 cup toasted pine nuts
couple of handfuls of grated pecorino romano
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

Toss shrimp with lime juice in a bowl and let set for a couple of hours.

Pulse basil and garlic in processor until roughly chopped. Add salt, pine nuts and pecorino romano. Turn and processor and slowly dribble in oil. Process until pretty darn smooth.

Fill pasta pot with salted water cook whole wheat spaghetti to al dente and drain.
Toss with pesto.

While water is heating up, fire up the charcoal grill for direct high heat. Remove shrimp from the marinade and put shrimp on skewers. Season with kosher salt and pepper. Grill over direct heat for three minutes each side or until you just know....

Put pasta in large pasta bowl and shrimp over top. Pass more pecorino romano around the table.