Cooking and Cinema

Short Stories, Film Reviews, and Recipes

Month: May 2020

Basil’s Recipe 9

May 17, 2020 /

Green Tomato Salsa

Ingredients

2 cups Diced green tomatoes
1 cup Diced Roma tomatoes
1 cup Corn
¼ cup Diced fresh jalapeno
1 tsp Cracked black pepper
2 Limes juiced
1 tsp Lime zest
1 tsp Salt
1 Tbsp Lemon juice
2 Tbsp Fresh Garlic
1 Tbsp Fresh Cilantro

Instructions

Mix all ingredients and refrigerate for 1 hour before eating.
Serve with tortilla chips or toasted pita.

Besides making fried green tomatoes, this is my favorite recipe to use green tomatoes. I made it for Basil’s in 2011, and I make it every summer when I grow tomatoes.

Unfortunately, cilantro doesn’t grow well in Eastern NC. After a month in the summer heat, the cilantro bolts and begins transforming into coriander.

Homegrown tomatoes and jalapenos work best, but it will probably take a month before most of you have fresh tomatoes or peppers.

Grocery store tomatoes are almost inedible now, but a farmer’s market (if you can find one) might be the best place to find tomatoes.

Basil’s Recipe 8

May 17, 2020 /

Beer and Cheddar Bread

Ingredients

3 cups Flour
1 Tbsp Baking powder
1 tsp Salt
1 tsp Garlic powder
2 Tbsp Sugar
12 oz Beer (lager or amber)
2 ¼ cups Cheddar cheese

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350° F.
Mix all ingredients in a metal bowl except beer and cheddar.
Stir in beer and fold in the cheddar.
Form the dough into a log.
Place on a greased cookie sheet.
Bake for 50-55 minutes.
Insert a toothpick. If it’s dry, the bread is done.
Let cool ten minutes before slicing.

This is a quick bread recipe that uses baking powder rather than yeast. As far as I know, there isn’t a baking powder shortage in grocery stores.

There’s a yeast shortage, but I’ve taken care of that by growing my own yeast in a large number of sanitary fish tanks. I should have enough yeast to fill a thimble in three months. Just Kidding.

I made this bread nine years ago at Basil’s to compliment a chili recipe developed by Kenneth Fields. It’s perfect with chili but also goes well with creamy soups like potato and cajun stews like gumbo.

Try to use a lager or amber for the beer. A dark stout, gose, or light beer will not work well with this bread. Also, avoid heavily spiced or flavored beers.

Something like pumpkin spice pilsner or artichoke ale should be set aside for your friends who lost their taste buds from a tragic Pop rocks and Pepsi incident.

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