Scentzilla!

GAH! Between writing the last review, and reading all your comments, I was damn near a nervous cilantro breakdown. Snacky-snacky! Alas, there was no workable cilantro to be found, it all looked so lifeless. In fact, you might even say it appeared to be in a vegetative state. Oh that was terrible. And yet I typed it anyhow. Sigh. Please note that this entire post is composed by a sleep-deprived mind. Both the husband and one of the twins has a dual ear infection slash strep throat infection, and administering to their care has rendered me so tired that I can’t sleep. (PS. Why does a full grown adult husband require more attentiveness than a seven year old? That makes no sense!) Soon the giggles phase will kick in. That’s how it goes. Some people get so tired they just pass out. Me? I get the freaking giggles. But first there is the stupor of not sleeping for more than a couple hours in a row.

Anyhow.

Instead of buying cilantro, I picked up some fresh delicious basil. The basil was calling to me, like a siren song. There’s no use in trying to satisfy a basil craving with the dried stuff. Dried basil loses all of the charm. Basil is a member of the large mint family, and indeed, fresh basil smells reminscent of mint with a hint of black pepper.

Dolce & Gabanna’s D&G Masculine is the first fragrance that came to mind when I culled my mental database for basil inflected scents. I interpret D&G Masculine as a kitchen scent. Tenacious lemon and bergamot predominate much of its life. However, as it enters its middle phase, a distinct fresh basil note begins to spread out into the citrus. Like the fresh herb, the basil conjured up here is slightly reminiscent of mint, and certainly a little peppery. The drydown reveals nice oak and teak base notes, which seem to wrap inside my head as the scent of wood cabinets and cutting boards. I think one element that may be off-putting to people is the muskiness of the scent. It’s a muskiness that causes one to immediately think of body odor. And by one, I mean me. But it’s not the B.O. of stale unwashed-ass. It’s a fresh, in the middle of doing yard work odor. I found D&G Masculine to be a suprisingly fine choice for summer. In fact, the fresh body odor musk seems to have a “fight fire with fire” effect in the heat. D&G Masculine does not seem to get particularly favorable reviews via the largely male community at Basenotes, so I wonder if perhaps this is one of those scents that fare better on feminine skin. There seems to be little appreciation for the basil note, which to my nose and on my skin is so wonderfully noticeable. I find it delectable. I can’t represent this fragarance as groundbreaking, but dude, I just like it.

I’m feeling a basil kick at the moment now, so here’s what I did with my basil. With the help of one of my seven year olds, the one who was well, we made Bruschetta al Pomodoro. This is an item that readily lends itself to help from kids in the kitchen.

Here’s how we made it:

First, I poured some slightly sweet balsamic vinegar into a bowl, and my son slowly poured olive oil into it while I was vigorously whisking. To this I added a bit of sea salt and black pepper to create a vinegarette. I chopped 4 or 5 (can’t remember) tomatoes (roma or medium-sized hot house preferred) and placed them in a mixing bowl. Next, the vinegarette got poured and mixed into the tomatoes. My son and I tore off the leaves from the basil I bought, ripping into pieces and mixing those into the tomato mixture.

You then add shredded cheese, if desired, to the tomato mix. We used mozzarella. Provalone tastes awfully good for bruschetta, as well. As you can see from the picture, my son was in charge of the cheese, which he added with gusto.

I bought a loaf of sourdough because it was on sale: that’s just how we hang at Cocina de Katie. You can use any bread that lends itself well to toasty crustiness. I toasted slices in the oven, though one can do so nicely on a grill as well. After toasting the bread, rub the slices down with peeled fresh garlic cloves.

Drain the tomato mixture of too much excess liquid, so that your bruschetta doesn’t go all soggy on you. Then dollop the tomatoey deliciousness onto the toasted bread as desired.

That’s it. You’re done. Time to eat.

For balsamic vinegar, I do recommend choosing one that has been aged. Balsamic vinegar thickens the longer it is aged before bottling, and a vinegar that is slightly viscous will taste better than one that is unaged and thin. I’d specifically cite O Balsamic Vinegar as a tasty and affordable choice.

The beauty of this simple dish is that the beauty of tomatoes and basil shine through without distractions. Shoot, now I ‘m hungry again…