Didn't this dish photograph beautifully. I wish it tasted as scrumptious as it looks.
Every curious cook does it: improvisation. We take liberties with someone else's recipe for our own creative appetite. In this case, I didn't have all of the listed ingredients for the Royal Potato Salad in Yotam Ottolenghi's book, Plenty, one of my favorite cookbooks. I've included the recipe link above rather than print it here.
The impulse to make it arose when my husband returned home from work with a container of pickled quail eggs and a dozen fresh. A customer at work raises quail and shared them with him. Apparently these folks sell their eggs out of a parking lot across from Kapaa's Wednesday farmer's market.
I found Ottolenghi's recipe which included quail eggs, but didn't have plain basil for the pesto. What I did have was lemon basil and since the recipe called for sorrel, and sorrel has a lemony flavor, I thought lemon basil would substitute. It didn't. Both my husband and I agree the potatoes taste perfumed.
As if that wasn't enough to change, I also used walnuts in place of pinenuts and roasted garlic in place of raw. Stop shaking your head. I was running amuck in the kitchen. Sometimes three lefts lead to one "right" or so that's my justification for wrong turns.
Then there was the egg boiling debacle.
Ottolenghi suggests boiling them 30 seconds to 2 minutes, depending on how raw you like the yolk. I went with 2 minutes and it was too long. A softer yolk would have been much prettier, even if it wouldn't have rescued the dish.
I hadn't intended to post kitchen failures, but then realized I don't know how to use lemon basil. I could Google it, but it'd be more fun if you shared your use of this herb. Thanks for considering.
2 comments:
Who knew lemon basil would taste like perfume? I so GET the urge to substitute ingredients...it is a creative act, and often (more often than not) it is a brilliant move. Carry on and do keep experimenting.
Hi Pam,
So sorry to hear that this recipe failed but you are in good company as it happens to all of us, and thanks for the warning about lemon basil's perfumy powers.
Best use of lemon basil that I've tried is in homemade lemonade: blend juice from organic lemons, water and maple syrup to taste. Slice lemon basil leaves and leave them in the pitcher to steep. Delicious! Full disclosure: it was my sweetheart Lincoln's idea to add the basil to the lemonade. The man's a genius!
Post a Comment