Homemade Pesto & Linguini

Sitting here in the quiet of darkening night, I can still smell the fresh basil, garlic, pine nuts, Parmesan and olive oil that comprise the homemade pesto that I prepared for this evening’s linguini.  

I can also smell the delight of fresh mint and lavender, plucked from the late afternoon sun in my sister’s herb garden.  Topping it all is the fresh, bright scent of the green toppers off the sun-ripened tomatoes that I just finished sorting and washing as my final chore of the night.  It’s fresh, and sharp and sweet.  My hands smell like summer and so does my kitchen.

It's been a long week and I'm glad to be back at the old homestead.  For the past few weeks work has just never really stopped.  It has been one issue after another and I'm ready for people to settle the hell down already...but so be it...it is what it is, and so I come home nightly to the galley dreaming of simple, delicious, healthy food that isn't going to sit like a brick in my gut.  Honestly, we did eat take out a little this week, but that's just how that cookie crumbled.  It really made me realize, that while take out and restaurant food can definitely be tasty and I appreciate the convenience, I prefer my homemade food best, even if it's just a simple plate of scrambled eggs or a grilled cheese sandwich.

Tonight was a very pleasant evening.  The kitchen is back in order and sleeping man is upstairs and so I thought I'd take a handful of minutes to share the easy beauty that is homemade pesto...not difficult whatsoever and definitely worth whatever I had envisioned "the bother" to be in making it.

Fresh Basil Pesto

• 2 C. fresh basil leaves, packed
• 1/2 C. freshly grated Parmesan-Reggiano or Romano Cheese...I used the Kraft powder stuff...it's what I had, sorry, no snooty shredded cheese here tonight.
• 1/2 C. extra virgin olive oil
• 1/3 C. pine nuts or walnuts (surprise! who knew you could sub the walnuts???)
• 3 medium sized garlic cloves, minced
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper...or just the big tankard of black cracked pepper from Costco will do...

The basil came fresh from the sunshine of my sister's garden this afternoon on my way home from work, so I washed it and then snipped all of the good looking leaves with my kitchen friends...the scissors.  It takes a few minutes to get this done so plan accordingly.  You don't want any of the woody stems in your pesto.

Combine the basil with the pine nuts in your food processor.  If you are using walnuts instead of pine nuts and they are not already chopped, pulse them a few times first before adding the basil.  Add in the garlic and pulse a few times more.

Slowly add in the olive oil while the processor continues to pulse.  Stop occasionally to scrape down the sides with a spatula.  Add the cheese and pulse again until blended.  Add salt and pepper to taste.

I served it with linguini which I cooked while prepping the pesto.  I also prepped and served a fresh garden salad with homemade oil and vinegar vinaigrette.

TIP: My pesto browned due to oxidation, which I had no idea that it would do.  I did a quick google search and I found the explanation and how to prevent it at http://www.thekitchn.com/good-question-w-4-12832  The quote is as follows:

"To prevent oxidation, I blanch the basil leaves for a few seconds in boiling water until they turn bright green. Remove the basil from the boiling water, shock it in ice water and pat completely dry on a tea towel, then proceed with your pesto recipe. Acid of some sort can also help. Try squeezing in a bit of lemon juice."

Next time, I will definitely use a touch of lemon juice to see if that helps.  This was delicious and everyone went back for seconds.  Easy, tasty, and if you have a crazy abundance of basil in your garden...or in your neighbors, or your sisters, definitely something fast and easy to perk up a simple plate of pasta for dinner.

Happy Eating!  :)

Beef & Vegetable Soup With Cornbread

 

Tonight was a night for soup.  I've been feeling like I'm worn a little thin "like too little butter scraped over too much bread" if you will indulge a quote from a favorite movie (LOTR).  We've also been trying to be more frugal with our food dollars and I've been trying to use what we have in our pantry and food storage.

I love soup.  There is no doubt about this.  My husband does not think soup constitutes a meal and I disagree.  He thinks soup can be part of a meal but not the main show...beef in any of its forms, but preferably steak, is king.  If it were up to him we'd be eating steak several times a week, and as a result of too much red meat, limping around with gout in our toes like old English kings...but, as I'm sure all of you have seen the prices of our slaughtered and prepared bovine friends, these days it ain't comin' cheap, so be it...no red-meat-steak-induced-gout-a-la-English-kings for us anytime soon.  He and I will never see eye to eye on this and that's o.k. because we're still going to have soup for dinner periodically over the next 8000 years that we will be married...and he's gonna like it dammit...or at least eat it, preferably with a "Thank you, ma'am." and a smile...or at least a semi-contented grimace.

Generally, we eat what's on sale or what comes for free from the end-of-summer gardens that our friends and neighbors have been kind enough to ding-dong-doorbell ditch on the handle of our front door.  No such luck tonight though and so it was a rummage through the fridge and pantry to see what we had to choose from.  Tonight I had some left over ground beef that needed to get used and in the back of the lazy-Susan cupboard I knew I could drag out a bag of Marie Callendar's Cornbread mix...delicious stuff.  So I was set: Beef & Vegetable Soup and Cornbread for dinner.

Now, let's get a couple of things out of the way: yes, I know Marie's cornbread is more like cake, and yes, I do know how to make actual cornbread from cornmeal in the oven with a cast iron pan and the sizzling of the batter as it's dumped into it and all of that coarse corn goodness.  I didn't do that here tonight.  I didn't have the time or the energy for this...I had the Season 3 finale of the Sons of Anarchy to watch and people in this house were already hungry.

BTW don't judge me on the SOA.  I can neither confirm nor deny that I am hooked like a junkie on this program, that I am loading on the costume jewelry before I head out to work every day as I channel my inner Gemma Teller, biker matriarch extraordinaire, or that I've been walking around the house telling people I'm going to "green light" them if they don't do what I want and...yes...I have been calling my husband my "old man"and "baby" more frequently than usual these past few days.  I also cannot in good conscience, as an upstanding citizen and somewhat refined woman of reasonable sensibilities with a bit of baudy humor tossed in for a little sass, recommend this show to anyone so don't ask.  You're on your own for that.  It's an adult show fraught with violence and criminal activity, it is extremely well written and engaging...and you're going to need to make your own decision about that.

But, back to food.

I was on a quest for a soup or something easy to do with this hamburger that's been hanging around my neck these past few days waiting for its turn to be turned into something amazing.

Well hamburger...you have fulfilled the measure of your creation by providing this household with some damn fine soup.  This was fast, delicious, most of the stuff I had on hand, and what I didn't I didn't worry too much about.  It's the kind of soup that you can easily adjust for the palate of your family or the availability of items in your cupboard.  This is a great stand by and a fantastic way to kick off all of the autumnal soups I plan to have some fun with this year.  Here you go:

Beef & Vegetable Soup

Saute in Olive Oil

• 1-1.5 pound ground beef
• ½ lg white onion chopped
• 1-2 med green bell peppers chopped (I had frozen and so I used these)
• 1 Tbsp minced garlic

Add in:

• 2 tablespoon flour, mixing in well

Add in, and then cook for 20-25 minutes

• 1 can Rotel tomatoes and green chilies
• 1 4 oz. can of diced green chilies
• 1 7 oz. can of whole green chilies, coarsely chopped
• 1 8 oz. can tomato sauce
• 2 C. Progresso beef broth
• 2 cups of water
• 1lg russet potato, diced
• 1 can sliced green beans
• 1 teaspoon chili powder or chili powder to taste
• 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes (optional)
• 5+ slices of pickled, tamed jalapenos
• salt and pepper to taste

During the last 10 minutes, add in:

·         1 cup elbow macaroni and let cook for remaining 10 minutes.

*You can, of course adjust the seasoning to whatever suits your taste.

• Serve piping hot with cornbread or crackers.

Additions:

• 1 small bag of mixed vegetables.  I didn’t add because I didn’t have it.
• ¼ tsp. Celery Seed.  I only had Celery Salt and I didn’t add that in because I had already salted the soup.

CHICKEN TORTILLA SOUP DELICIOSO

• 3 Large Chicken Breasts, sauteed in Olive Oil
• Seasoned with: 
• Salt, to taste
• Black Cracked Pepper, to taste
• 1 Tbsp Garlic Powder
• 1 Tbsp Onion Powder
• 2-3 tsp Chili Powder
• 2 tsp Cumin
• 1 Large White Onion, chopped
• 1 lg. can of Roasted Green Chilies, chopped
• 18 oz. of Fresh Salsa (tomatoes, onions, bell peppers, jalapenos and etc...you can make your own if you like, for this round I used my local grocery store's freshly made)
• 4 c. Water

Saute the chicken in Olive Oil, adding in seasonings, followed by the remainder of the ingredients giving a quick stir.  Combine and cook in your pressure cooker according to directions.  I brought mine to a nice, heady steam and let it cook for 10 minutes.  Continue to follow the appropriate directions for cooling down and opening your pressure cooker.

Now as a quick little side note: do not fear the pressure cooker...just read the instruction booklet and do it right.  The pressure cooker is a breeze to use and provides incredible food very quickly in comparison to some other preparation methodologies.  I promise...read your booklet...open a whole new chapter in cooking for yourself.

Continuing...

While pressure cooking the chicken prep the remaining ingredients: 

• 3-4 C. additional Hot Water
• 1 Bunch of Green Onions, chopped, including some of the green tops
• 1/2 of a fresh Green Bell Pepper, finely chopped
• 1 Bunch of Cilantro, coarsely chopped
• 1 Can Cream of Chicken & Mushroom Soup
• 1 8 oz. Block of Cream Cheese, brought to room temperature
• Peel and prepare, 2-3 Avocados, chopped (depending on the size of group you are serving )
• Lime wedges
• Cholula Hot Sauce, or another hot sauce of your preference
• Sour Cream
• Shred 2-3 C. of Monterrey Jack & Cheddar Cheese
• You can also add in chopped tomatoes if you so desire

The timer has gone off and having opened your pressure cooker, gotten a fabulous whiff of exactly what delightfully awaits you inside, add in the additional volume of hot water, green onions and bell pepper, bring your soup back up to a simmer.  Proceed with a hearty pair of tongs and transfer your chicken to your bowl for shredding.  I recently received a KitchenAid as a most welcome and surprising gift and learned from my sister-in-law that for the fastest shred in the West, hook up your ceramic cookie paddle, put your bowl with your cooked chicken breasts in it in place, flip the switch and have shredded chicken in under 20 seconds...really it's more like 12-15. You can do the same thing with cooked beef, but it does take just a little longer than the chicken as it's a heartier meat.

Back to the shred...leave the pot on your heat so that it is simmering.  In a 2 C. Pyrex, add in your Cream of Chicken & Mushroom soup, add in some of your soup liquid, and whisk both together.  Once incorporated, add back into the main pot, stirring to combine.  Next, with the Chicken shredded, add carefully back into your pot and continue to simmer for another 10 minutes or so.  When your time is up, place your cream cheese in your mixing bowl, add in some of the hot soup, keeping it mostly liquid and very little chicken, and thoroughly combine together.  Once combined, turn your heat down and add your cream cheese-soup mixture into the main pot, again, stirring to combine.  Let it cook a few minutes longer, adding in two healthy handfuls of cilantro.

To serve: 

Crush tortilla chips in the bottom of each bowl, ladle in your soup, sprinkle to taste with cheese, then hot sauce, dollop in the sour cream, add the avocados and top with the cilantro. Serve with a lime wedge.  Done.  Don't burn your mouth.  :)

**********
ADDENDUM FOR THOSE WITHOUT PRESSURE COOKERS: 

You can poach or roast the chicken until tender instead.

For poaching: 

Bring the water to a simmer (not a rollicking boil, or else it will make your chicken tough and eliminate a lot of the flavor), and make it 6-7 cups of water instead of 4. Season as directed, or as preferred. Add the salsa and green chilies about 2/3 of the way through the chicken prep process so it doesn't bleed out all of the flavor. Check the chicken after about 15 minutes to see how it is coming along.  Continue cooking until chicken is tender, which can be upwards of 20-30 minutes depending on how big the chicken pieces are.  Once done, use this broth-liquid mixture for your soup (do not add additional water/broth/stock unless you have ascertained that you have lost enough liquid during the cooking process that you need more), shred the chicken and continue with the remainder of the recipe.

If you are roasting the chicken:  

Prep the casserole or roasting pan with olive oil, place the chicken pieces in, season them including the onions, salsa, green chilies and etc. Add in 3-4 C. of the water and cover with foil. Bake at 350 until the chicken is tender. Check periodically to make sure that your water doesn't cook away. Add additional water as needed. When it's done, add the liquid to a stove top pot and shred the chicken, and then proceed with the rest of the recipe on the stove top. 

Happy cooking! :)

...and think about investing in a nice, medium-grade pressure cooker.  Don't fear the pressure, embrace it.  You'll find it a fantastic kitchen tool.  :)

Welcome to the Tempting Table!

Nothing like a tasty treat, a bowl full of deliciousness, a warm, hot meal, a party or a feast!

Food is an integral part of life.  We need it to survive, and if we are lucky it becomes something more than just that, something that can bring comfort, memories, conversation and shared times with friends and family.  Cooking can also be full of experimentation, learning, investigating, success and failure, a good time and a joy.  On the flip side, cooking can also be a hassle, a trial, something that we don't feel like doing, or something we don't have time for...it just depends on the attitude we mix along with it.

In our home I've had my ups and downs in my love affair with cooking.  Mostly I really enjoy it, and often I love it.  Other times I'm happy to let someone else do the work.  Sometimes I would rather be hungry than even think of picking up the proverbial wooden spoon and its accompanying pot or pan.  But no matter the mood or the desire the loved ones need to sup and dine, so on the apron goes and forward I march...even if it's only to the phone to order the occasional pizza.

Right now in our kitchen, or the galley as I like to affectionately call it, I'm working on menu planning, mastering and reviving old favorites, experimenting with new favorites and anything else that peaks my fancy.  I have over 200 cookbooks, though I'm also an avid Pinner, and I love searching the internet for multiple versions of the same recipe so I can mix and match what I think will fit our palates best.  Additionally I'm working diligently on making our food as healthy as it can be, paying attention to portions, and working from fresh and from scratch or as close to it as I can as often as possible.

I also like to tell stories and I have a broad repertoire of music I like to shimmy and shake to while stirring the pot.  You'll get some of that here too.

So there you have it in a little nutshell.  Welcome to the ride...I hope you enjoy the show...and maybe feel inclined to add a little sass into your sauce.