We (and Whole Foods) agreed that it was time for a contest theme based on an herb. So this week, we're looking for your best basil-centric recipes. Oh, and if your dish doesn't include pesto, it will be more likely to catch our eye -- we've been inundated with pesto recipes lately!
These are not your usual contests. We have a slightly nutty system but it works. Together, the Food52 community has created two cookbooks this way -- there’s no stopping us now. Read about it
Read about it »
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Only four ingredients are needed: peaches, sugar, white wine and basil.
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Amanda energetically separates basil leaves from their stems. This part is optional -- she was just in the mood for precision.
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It was so humid that the sugar clumped together in iceberg-like chunks. Here, it's being added to water and white wine (a Gruner Veltliner, Riesling or something else floral is especially nice).
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Lovely local peaches.
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Not so lovely when you try to separate the halves.
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Clingstone, no less!
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As we struggle with the peaches, the syrup simmers happily away.
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Back on the battlefield...
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The aftermath. It's not pretty.
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Luckily, we found that most of the butchered peach halves looked just fine once we turned them over!
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The basil goes into the syrup to infuse.
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Followed by the peaches, pretty side up!
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Cooking time will depend on the ripeness of your peaches. This batch took nearly 15 minutes to soften and release their skins, but our first one only took about 6.
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Still waiting on those peaches.
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When the skins are ready to come off, they pucker and wrinkle. Amanda noted that they start to look like the skin of an elephant.
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The rest of the basil goes in, and the syrup (now pink from the peaches) gets reduced so the flavors become concentrated.
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Our skins were still a little resistant, but we managed to peel them off eventually!
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Tuesday was a rainy day in Brooklyn, but we loved the moody natural light.
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Blackberries, gooseberries, black currants and raspberries, all from Amanda's local Greenmarket.
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Say hello to Anabelle (who hails from Colorado) and Lily, our talented summer interns.
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You add sugar to the berries before simmering them to break them down.
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A little mashing helps -- Merrill used a potato masher.
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Meanwhile, Amanda obsessively checks email.
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The berries, blended and mashed and simmered to a sauce-like consistency.
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Then the (not-so) fun part: pressing through a sieve. Don't worry -- takes just a minute but it's important to get out those seeds!
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Sour cream on the left, and gelatin and milk "blooming."
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Infusing the cream with basil.
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Blending in the berry puree. See how you leave the basil in there?
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Cooling in an ice bath.
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Merrill whips cream while Amanda fishes out the basil.
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In goes the sour cream!
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Time for folding.
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Try your best not to eat it all now.
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There goes Merrill!
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To unmold the panna cotta, set it in a bowl of hot (not boiling) water, and run a thin knife around the edge.
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Amanda's strange unmolding technique.
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