Culture’s Menu

August Recipes

Kudos to Bubba for his assistance

Forget all those fall fashion commercials popping up on TV:  Summer isn’t over yet, meaning you still have time to try these delicious, temperature-chilling recipes loaded with plenty of your favorite herb.  This month, CULTURE delves into some new twists on that most traditional of August traditions – the summer barbecue.  As always, we don’t recommend consuming all five of these “enhanced” menu items as once.  Adding just one or two to your standard outdoor spread will be enough to increase your fun in the sun.

Menu Options:
Ganjamole, Hasta Ya Pasta Pesto Salad, ?Cannamelon, 3B Chicken Breasts, Buddha S’mores.

Ganjamole
3 ripe avocados
½ cup chopped onions
½ cup chopped fresh cannabis bud
2 teaspoons chili powder
1 teaspoons garlic powder

3 tablespoons white wine vinegar??Tortilla chips for serving ?Mix the vinegar, bud, chili powder and garlic powder together and let sit for at least one hour.  Add avocados and onions and mash together.  This can be used as a dip or with burgers, tacos or burritos.

Hasta Ya Pasta Pesto Salad
½ cup cannabis bud
1 cup extra-virgin olive oil
2 cups shredded fresh basil
2 cloves garlic
¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 pinch sea salt
4 cups cooked spiral pasta
12 ounces fresh cherry tomatoes, halved
1 cup frozen peas
¼ cup pine nuts
2 tablespoons chopped green olives
Salt and pepper to taste

For the cannabis pesto (prepare beforehand):
Combine the olive oil and bud in a double-boiler on the lowest setting for 6-8 hours.  Should olive oil evaporate too soon, add teaspoons of water as needed.  Stir.  Allow the oil to cool, then strain through cheesecloth and set the liquid aside.  Crush garlic and sea salt into a paste, then blend the paste and the shredded basil in a food processor. Put the resulting mixture in a medium-sized bowl.   Stir the cheese thoroughly into the mixture.  Stir in the cannabis-infused oil, a little at a time, until completely blended.  Tightly seal the cannabis pesto in a plastic container and refrigerate for 5 days.  You’ll need one cup of cannabis pesto for the pasta recipe – enjoy the rest at your leisure.

For the pasta salad:
Mix cooked pasta, 1 cup of cannabis pesto,  olives and pine nuts in a large bowl.  Gently mix in the cherry tomatoes, peas and salt and pepper.  Chill or serve at room temperature.  Serves six to eight.

Cannamelon
1 large watermelon
*½ ounce buds, ground to a fine powder
½ liter vodka (quality really isn’t important)

Add the cannabis to a bottle of vodka and cover the bottle with cheesecloth strapped to the bottleneck with a rubber band. Cut a 2-inch-diameter hole into the top of the watermelon shell.  Insert the bottle bottom-up in the hole, place it in a refrigerator and let it sit overnight.  The vodka will slowly be absorbed into the watermelon.  You can slice up the watermelon the next day and enjoy, or leave it in the refrigerator until needed.  Eat/drink responsibly.??*For best results, grind very dry buds in a coffee or cannabis grinder.  Using fresher herbs may result in a chunky paste instead of powder.  Both will work, but the powder works better.

Buddha S’mores
5 ounces chocolate, containing at least 50 percent cocoa
**3 grams very finely ground cannabis bud
Graham crackers, broken in half

Marshmallows??For the chocolate (prepare beforehand): ?Melt the chocolate in a double-boiler (if using a chocolate bar, break into small pieces and melt a piece at a time).  Do not microwave.  Add the ground bud and stir until evenly distributed.  Remove from heat and let chocolate cool to the consistency of thick frosting.  Carefully scrape the chocolate into a large brownie pan, allow to cool another 30 minutes, and then freeze for at least 3 hours.  Remove from freezer, break the chocolate into 4-inch by 4-inch bars, and wrap pieces in aluminum foil for storing. ??For the S’mores:?Remove chocolate bar from foil wrapping and place on halved graham cracker.  Toast marshmallows over the grill,  then place marshmallow on chocolate bar.  Place another graham cracker half on top and voila.?**Always avoid using skunky, pungent strains when making cannabis desserts.

3B (baked, boned & barbequed)??Chicken Breasts
• 2 tablespoons ?marijuana butter
1 large onion, chopped
2 cups ketchup
½ cup apple cider vinegar
¼ cup brown sugar
½ teaspoon smoke flavoring
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
2 teaspoons chili powder
½ teaspoon Tabasco sauce
6 skinned/boneless chicken breasts

Gently melt butter in a saucepan. Add chopped onion and cook until tender and translucent, stirring often. Add all other ingredients except the chicken. Heat over low heat 30 minutes, frequently stirring.  Grill chicken breasts until tender. Brush barbecue sauce on during last 3 to 5 minutes of cooking. This sauce can be used for any barbecue recipe.

*Marijuana Butter
2 sticks unsalted butter ?1 ounce low- to medium-quality leaf marijuana ?3 cups water
Bring water and butter to boil in a small pot. Place marijuana leaves in a separate sauce pan and cover with the butter/water mixture. Boil gently for about 1 hour. Mash and stir frequently to make sure all THC is extracted from the leaves into the butter. Strain butter from leaves using a cheese cloth. Boil a cup of water and use it to rinse out every last drop of butter from the leaves. Be sure to squeeze the leaves well to get all the butter out. Put liquid in the refrigerator to cool. When the butter has solidified (usually after 45 minutes to 1 hour), pour off water. Keep butter refrigerated until needed.

Legal Disclaimer?Publishers of this publication are not making any representations with respect to the safety or legality of the use of medical marijuana. The recipes listed here are for general entertainment purposes only, and are intended for use only where medical marijuana is not a violation of state law. Edibles can vary in potency while a consumers’ weight, metabolism and eating habits may affect effectiveness and safety. Ingredient management is important when cooking with cannabis for proper dosage. Please consume responsibly and check with your doctor before consumption to make sure that it is safe to do so.