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Try The Asian Pesto, For Crying Out Loud

Photo by JADEN HAIR

A demo tape featuring Asian pesto sent to a television producer could be a recipe for success.

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By JADEN HAIR

The Tampa Tribune

Published: September 23, 2008

Updated: 09/23/2008 05:45 pm

I let Nathan play hooky from day care a couple of weeks ago, and we hung out in town doing fun stuff such as getting cappuccino at Starbucks, shopping for a new fry pan at Williams-Sonoma and lunching on chicken confit at Derek's Culinary Creations in Sarasota. OK, I admit the fun was for me - but, hey, he felt lucky already that I didn't make him do the laundry in exchange for ditching day care.

On the way home, I got an e-mail on my cell phone; the subject line was the name of a certain major television network. I got a quick glance at the first sentence, "Hi, I work for the programming department at the station ..." But the light turned green and I had to put the phone down. Yes, concerned citizens, I am a responsible driver and was already brushing on mascara, drinking hot tea and scribbling my grocery list at that time. Holding the phone would have left me driving with my forehead, which is incredibly dangerous and not recommended.

But, darn. I didn't make it two blocks before my eyes welled up with tears the size of a martini glass; I couldn't see past my windshield, and I had to pull over. Oh. My. God. My friends would always hear me talk about my dreams, and those conversations started with, "One day, when a big television producer contacts me ..."

And BOOM. Here was that e-mail staring right at me.

This rush of emotions just charged throughout every nerve in my body and then gushed right out so fast that by the time I dialed my husband's number all I sounded like was, "BOJFNETWAAKEMAAAILLLWAA ... waaaahhhhh!"

He was like, "What did our kids do and what's the damage?" and I tried to explain to him about the wonderful e-mail, but I just couldn't form any coherent words without having the monster tears drown out every other syllable.

Finally, I was able to tell him the first sentence of the message and he said, "So what did the rest of the e-mail say?"

"I don't know. I'm too scared to read the rest of it."

Poor little Nathan in the back seat of the car watched me pull over, call Daddy and cry uncontrollably. "Mommy, don't cry!," he said. "I promise not to lie about sneaking chocolate. I promise to pick up all my toys."

I didn't know how to explain to a 3-year-old that sometimes people cry when they are happy.

So, we drove to the neighborhood toy store, and I let him play with the trains while I had a moment to myself to gather the courage to read the rest of that e-mail. They like me. They want to see more. Send in a demo tape?

Oh, yeah!

Three phone calls, eight text messages, two Twitter tweets, an online plane ticket purchase and I was off to Los Angeles to produce a six-minute demo tape. Wonderful friends Todd and Diane of www.whiteonricecouple.com generously helped me pull it all together. I crossed my fingers, kissed the DVD and sent it off to the producers.

For the demo tape, I made a bright, light Asian pesto with a combination of Thai basil, cilantro, mint and peanuts. If you can't find Thai basil, sweet Italian basil works just fine. And if you don't like cilantro, just leave it out and include a little more mint.

ASIAN PESTO NOODLES

1 pound dried pasta or Asian noodles

3 garlic cloves, peeled

1 chili pepper, roughly chopped (serrano, Thai bird or jalapeno, or substitute with 1 teaspoon dried red pepper flakes)

1/4 cup shelled, roasted peanuts (if using salted roasted peanuts, cut the measurement of salt below to 1 teaspoon)

1/4 cup cilantro leaves

1/2 cup Thai basil (or regular basil)

1/2 cup mint leaves

2 tablespoons fresh-squeezed lime juice

1 teaspoon sugar

1 to 2 teaspoons kosher or sea salt

3/4 cup grape seed, canola, peanut or vegetable oil, divided

Cook the noodles according to the package instructions; drain.

In food processor or blender, combine garlic, chili and peanuts. Pulse until finely chopped. Add cilantro, basil, mint, lime juice, sugar, salt and just 3 tablespoons of the oil. Process until mixture becomes a rough paste. Remove and stir in remaining oil.

Toss with noodles.

Jaden Hair is a cooking instructor and author of the blog Jaden's Steamy Kitchen at steamykitchen.com.

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