basil float

i'm not cooking today. but check out this float! basil gelato from this week's pizza party (- there is some leftover! come and get it!) a basil syrup and some soda water.

basil syrup: drop the basil leaves real quick in boiling water. get them right into ice water and then squeeze out the water. put leaves and simple syrup (equal parts sugar and water, dissolved) in the chopper. put it in your lemonade!

basil gelato: 2 c. milk and 2 c. half & half and 1 c. sugar and 1 vanilla bean, scraped. heated and tempered into 8 egg yolks. i used tons of basil. blanched and chopped it too, and mixed it into the ice cream mix. i strained out the basil right before churning, but there was still a hint of green and some specks. i would like to shoot for more color next time, maybe blanching the leaves in the milk?

the gelato has a nice vanilla taste up front, then you get that herbal fresh basil green part at the swallow. as a float, it is all sweet basil and creamy. yum.

and i am really thinking so much about the article from yesterday, you all should read it for sure. i like the way michael pollan writes and i really like that it is about women and food and entertainment and health and the different ways that food/cooking/eating plays out in our lives.

two of my favorite parts (am i allowed to put these on here?) are about how julia child is flipping a potato pancake and she says that it is about your convictions. and that the only way to learn to flip something is to flip it... love that. reminds me of getting omelettes drilled into me on my first sunday brunch shift. and love how its about courage and just going for it..

and then the part about how the cooking shows (and life) stress the quick results of cooking and not the pleasure of enjoying the process or the eating.. i am under the impression that julia was able to show both on her show that happened in real time. i like thinking about her. that she was 6'2". ha. i can't wait to see the movie, as i loved the book about her life. i listened to it on tape on my way home across country and was so taken with everything about her.