Pesto: Magical Green Goop of the Gods

As per the request of my lovely friend Beth, I am sharing my well-loved Italian pesto recipe. This is a recipe I started making in high school with the help of a cookbook, but as following recipes isn't really my style, I soon started to make it up as I went along. At this point, I've probably made this pesto two dozen times, and it's a little different every time. There's definitely a lot of room to play with this recipe, so just take it and run with it.

When your pesto is all ready to go, spread it on some crustini or serve with warm pasta and parmesan cheese. It's a huge hit with everyone, and good for parties.

This picture here isn't my pesto, but this is what it ends up looking like. So yummy!

So here it is, just for Beth, Italian Basil Pesto:
(Please note, all these measures are approximations, since I never measure anything out with this recipe. Just have plenty of everything on hand and go from there)

Ingredients:
3 cups fresh basil
1 cup fresh flat leaf parsley
6 cloves minced garlic
1/2 cup olive oil
3/4 cup pine nuts
3 tbsp butter, cut into small pieces
3/4 cup shredded parmesan cheese

Equipment:
1 pie or cake pan
A food processor (with the blade attachment in it)

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Pour the pine nuts into a pie or cake pan and toast in the oven for 5-7 minutes, or until golden brown. I usually try to take them out and give them a little shake around the halfway point.
2. Wash and dry the basil and parsley, and pulse in the food processor to roughly chop.
3. Add the other ingredients to the herbs, pulsing the food processor as you go. Salt and pepper to taste.
4. The pesto should become a smooth, bright green paste. If it seems too dry or too salty, add a little more olive oil.
5. Be sure to taste throughout, adding a little of each ingredient until it tastes right. Of course, only you can be the judge of when it tastes "right." If there is too much of one thing, add a little more of all the other ingredients to even it out. Pesto is a balancing act.
6. It will keep in the fridge for a few days in tightly sealed container. When you are ready to eat, take it out and zap it in the microwave for 30 seconds or so, stir, and add a little more olive oil to loosen it up again so that it will spread easily/mix well with pasta. 

So that's it! One of my absolute favorite sauces. It goes great on just about any carbohydrate--which is probably why I love it so much!

Enjoy, Bethy!

Ratatouille (The Food, Not the Movie)

That said, Pixar's Ratatouille is one of my favorite animated movies of all time. I just loved Chef Gusteau's mantra: "Anyone can cook!" Hey, a little cheesy, but I believe it.

Anyway, getting to the point: ratatouille (pronounced ra-ta-too-ee in English and rah-tah-toy-yuh in French). One of my favorite meals. I really developed a taste for it in (guess where) Provence, when I was there last summer. It's a vegetable stew, but the great thing about it is that you can pretty much make it anything you want. So if you like some of the veggies but not others, you can add or take out whatever you like. It's really up to you. However, I tend to stick by the same recipe every time, with some slight changes now and then.

This is a dish I love to make up at school, because you can make a big batch of it and eat it throughout the week. As busy as I am, I find this very convenient. The nice thing about ratatouille is that you get a delicious, healthy meal that you can make in advance--it's a stew, so the longer it sits, the better it tastes. Within reason, of course. Also, the colors are fantastic!

So here it is, my favorite ratatouille recipe...

Ingredients:
1 eggplant
1 zucchini
3 bell peppers (whatever colors you like)
1 onion
1 cup of pasta sauce
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
fresh basil
dried herbs (I use herbes de Provence)
olive oil
several cloves-worth of minced garlic

Equipment:
2 cookie sheets
1 cutting board
1 medium skillet
1 large stew pot

Prep Time: about 45 minutes

1. Start by chopping the zucchini, eggplant, and peppers into chunks. This is a rustic sort of dish, so big pieces are okay, as long as everything is the same size. As a metric to follow, start with the zucchini: slice it lengthwise into fourths, then chop into pieces about a half inch thick. As long as all the veggies end up about that size, you're ready to rock and roll.
2. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
3. Spread out your peppers onto one cookie sheet, and the zucchini and eggplant on another, so nobody gets crowded. Coat generously in olive oil, salt and pepper. Use your hands to give a gentle toss to coat the veggies evenly. If you like, you can also line your cookie sheets with heavy duty foil first--anyone who knows me will tell you I hate doing dishes and will avoid them if possible!
4. Pop the cookie sheets in the oven. The veggies will need about half an hour to roast. Be sure to check them halfway, turning over with a spatula if necessary. You will know they are ready when they are fork-tender, or when the skin of the peppers begins to pucker.
5. While your other veggies are doing their thing, heat some olive oil in the skillet and chop up your onion. Place the onions in the skillet, season with salt and pepper, and let them saute on medium heat for a couple minutes, then add as much minced garlic as you like. I like a lot.
6. Continue cooking the onions and garlic on medium heat until the onions are translucent and golden in color. You will know they are done when the kitchen is smelling heavenly, and when they look like this:

7. Once all the veggies are ready to go, mix them all together in your stew pot. Add the tomato sauce and balsamic vinegar, then a handful of chopped fresh basil and about a tablespoon of herbs. Salt and pepper to taste.
8. If there's time, let the whole thing simmer on low heat for 20 minutes or so. If not, it will still taste awesome!

I like to eat ratatouille either on its own, over mashed Yukon gold potatoes, or over whole grain pasta. Any option is hearty and delicious.

Well, that's my recipe for ratatouille. Eat up and bon appetit!

Pear Tart

So back in the spring, my parents came up to school for a visit. They brought with them, as per usual, many delightful goodies. These included two Asian pears, which I didn't have a lot of experience with. They are a lot bigger and more spherical than regular pears, and have more of an apple-like taste and texture, with an almost-vanilla aftertaste.

The thing about them is that they really are quite large, so I knew I would never be able to consume both these massive pears on my own before they went bad. So from this necessity to use up the pears came a wonderful idea: why not make a pear tart?

In the interest of full disclosure, let me tell you that I have never made a tart of any kind, let alone from scratch. I knew nothing about it except what I wanted it to look like. So I turned, as always, to the internet. I quickly learned that there were 4 basic things needed to make a good tart: a crust, a filling, a fruit, and a glaze. I discovered three different recipes that I liked, each for a different component. I pretty much altered all of them to my own liking/what was in the refrigerator, except of course the dough for the crust--you can't really mess around with baking.

It turned out really well. I had the idea to make it sort of late in the day, so I ended up baking into the night, finishing up right around 11pm, just in time to go out. But my roommates definitely remember this sucker, pictured below in all its glory:

(The crust doesn't look quite done in the picture, but I think that was the glare in the kitchen. Trust me, it was yummy.)

So below you will find all the components of a good fruit tart. I would suggest using this for pears, whether regular or Asian, or apples. Other fruits might work as well, but the brown sugar/cinnamon based filling goes better with apples and pears.

Ingredients:
For the crust: follow this recipe for pate brisee, a French pastry dough. Super simple and super delicious. http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/all_butter_crust_for_sweet_and_savory_pies_pate_brisee/

For the filling:
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 tbsp cinnamon

For the glaze:
3 tbsp honey
1 tbsp water
dash more cinnamon

For the fruit:
1 Asian pear
(if you want to use apples or regular pears, get at least 2)

Directions:
1. Make the pate brisee dough about an hour and a half in advance before you want to start baking.
2. Once the dough has been made, chilled in the fridge for at least an hour, and taken out to come to room temperature, take out a medium mixing bowl and combine the brown sugar, egg, cinnamon, and vanilla.
3. Slice your fruit of choice very thin, trying to keep them an equal size and thickness. This can be tricky, so you may want to invest in a little extra of whatever fruit you are using--you can always eat them later!
4. Take your dough and form it into a ball. Place the ball on a cookie sheet (rectangular or round, doesn't matter), and roll and stretch it out until it is the desired size--you might have to dust your hands and the rolling pin with a little flour. Make a small crust by folding the edges over and pressing down. You can make a nice edge pattern with a fork or with you fingers, if you like.
5. Spread your filling into the crust, keeping the layer even.
6. Arrange your fruit slices in a circular pattern, allowing them to overlap a little bit. Use your creativity here to make it pretty!
7. Bake in a 375 degree oven for about half an hour, or until the crust is golden and the fruit has taken on some color.
8. While the tart is baking, combine the honey, water, and cinnamon in a saucepan over low heat. Add more honey if it seems too thin, and more water if it seems too thick.
9. When the tart comes out of the oven, drizzle the warm glaze over it. Let the tart cool and then dig in!

And for an added bonus...add some fresh whipped cream! All you need is to take 4 parts heavy whipping cream and one part sugar, and mix it with a hand mixer on high for 3-4 minutes, or until it forms peaks and valleys, or until when you scoop some up with a spatula, it takes a couple shakes until it falls off. Throw some of this deliciousness on your pear tart and you're ready to go!

La Nostalgie: Missing Provence

As the weather gets warmer, my mind starts to flood with memories of Provence. I spent a month and a half last summer studying in the city of Avignon, and I am really missing the food, the weather, the atmosphere, the culture...everything.

When I go through an Avignon withdrawal period, I find it best to make some of the dishes that I used to eat when I was over there. It relieves some of the homesick feeling. Oftentimes my lunches over there consisted of baguette, brie or chevre cheese, and lots of fresh fruits and veggies. If you have never had a white nectarine at its seasonal peak, you are missing out, my friend! Also, since I've been back in the states I have made ridiculous amounts of ratatouille, the French vegetable stew. I eat it all the time!

But what I'm really in the mood for today, because of the summer heat, is a good salad. My host mom, Corine, used to have us make this same salad every night to go with our dinner. It's so simple, but so yummy, and the first time I had it, it kind of challenged my concept of "salad." You'll see.

So I present to you "Salad a la Corine":
Prep time: 10 minutes

Ingredients:
Lettuce (romaine or red leaf, doesn't matter)
Canned corn
Tomatoes
Cucumber
French's French fried onions (the kind you use to top green bean casserole, etc.)
Herbes de Provence (or any herb blend you like)
Your favorite French cheese (brie is a great choice here)
Olive oil
Soy sauce

Equipment:
As many small salad bowls as you have people
A cutting board
A small Tupperware container
A small bowl and fork to mix the dressing

Note: This isn't a big tossed salad like we're used to in the States. Each bowl of salad is composed separately in its own little bowl (in French, a "saladier"), and each ingredient forms a new layer, almost like a parfait. The result is very pretty, especially if you use clear bowls.

1. Wash and dry all your produce thoroughly...don't want any bugs in your lettuce!
2. Open the canned corn and drain out the excess water.
3. One bowl at a time, shred the lettuce into bite-sized pieces directly into the bowl.
4. Chop your cucumber and tomato. The cucumber will be the next layer, then the corn, then the tomato.
5. Next, cut up your cheese and scatter it over the top of the vegetables.
6. Now for my favorite part: the topping. Take the small Tupperware container and pour in some of the French fried onions, then add a few pinches of your herbs. Put the lid on and give it a good shake to coat the onions in the herbs. Then sprinkle these over the top of your salad.
7. To make the dressing, take your small mixing bowl and add one part olive oil to one part soy sauce to one part water, and give it a good mixing with your fork to incorporate. Drizzle this over your salad, garnish with a little fresh basil if you have it, and you're ready to eat!

Bon appetit!

For more French stuff: http://asummerinprovence.blogspot.com/

Panko Parm Chicken

So one of my favorite recipes is panko and parmesan crusted chicken breasts. This is always a hit when I make it for my family and friends, and my mom has tried to replicate it many times, with varied success. Sometimes she tries it using regular breadcrumbs instead of panko (Japanese breadcrumbs), and the crunch just isn't quite there. I think it's really the combination of panko and parm (and of course, a healthy amount of butter) that makes this chicken so yummy.

I am sharing this recipe with you today in honor of my friend Emily, who recently asked me for the recipe so she could make it for her family. I was surprised and delighted when she did, because Emily is just beginning to learn to cook. She did not have the luxury, as I did, of growing up in a family of people who loved to cook. Her parents cook occasionally, but she was feeling like she needed to learn more than what they could teach her. So she reached out to me, and last night she pulled off an absolutely beautiful meal--this chicken recipe plus alfredo sauce and some herb garnishes. She even sent me a picture! It looked gorgeous, and I am so proud. I mean, this is girl who learned how to boil water in the 10th grade. You've come a long way, baby!

So without further ado, here is Natalie's Panko Parm Chicken:

Cook Time: about 20 minutes
Feeds 6

Ingredients
6 Amish chicken breasts
1.5 cups panko
1 cup shredded parmesan cheese
2 eggs or EggBeaters, if you have some
1 cup flour
canola/veggie oil
butter

Equipment
3 circular pie or cake pans
1 skillet
1 cutting board
1 kitchen mallet (for pounding the chicken thin)

Sauce Options
I recommend using an alfredo or bechamel type white sauce, as a reduction or glaze is nearly impossible with breaded meat. For a lighter option, I like to just serve some lemons with it to squeeze over.

Directions
1. Start by getting your breading "assembly line" ready: line up your 3 pie pans on the counter, and fill the first one with the flour, the second with the eggs (quickly scrambled with a fork), and the third with the combined panko and parm.
2. Take your chicken breasts to the cutting board and use the mallet to pound them thin--as thin as you like, but not too thin. Bring them over to the "assembly line" to start breading--it can get messy so an apron would be a good idea!
3. Take the first chicken breast and coat it in flour, then the egg, then the panko/parm mixture. Repeat with each breast, making sure that all are evenly coated with breading (this can be done in advance by a few hours: just put it on a plate, cover it, and stick it in the fridge).
4. Heat 2 tablespoons of oil and a knob of butter (you can be the judge of how much butter you want) in your skillet on medium heat. When the butter starts to bubble a little, it's ready for the chicken.
5. Put 2-3 breasts in the skillet at a time, so as not to overcrowd them. Cook until they are a deep golden color, adding more oil or butter as necessary to keep the skillet well-lubricated. If the panko is met with a dry skillet, it gets brown instead of golden.
6. Plate 'em up with your sauce or some lemon wedges and enjoy!

Side note: in the past I've also served this chicken with a light cream sauce, topped with melted circles of Italian mozzerella, tomato slices, and fresh basil for a "caprese" twist.

So there it is, my absolute favorite way to do chicken. I hope you can enjoy it too!

Feel free to post questions and comments, if you have them. I'd love to hear from you!

Let's Begin at the Beginning

I have been cooking since I was a little kid, maybe six or so. I think my first dish was scrambled eggs with cheddar cheese. Pasta, crabcakes, and buckeyes soon followed. My passion for cooking took off in high school and has continued through college. I have always been the type of cook who likes to undertake challenging projects in the kitchen, from authentic Austrian goulash to French croissants. Virtually no culinary challenge is too big.

My most recent project is bread. I have tried to make it in the past, but a lot of times it just hasn't come out right. I bought Peter Reinhart's book, The Breadbaker's Apprentice, to serve as my formal bread education. I read it in 3 days, and have begun working my way through the recipes. I started this past weekend with French baguettes, which have been among my failings in the past. For those of you who have enjoyed a baguette now and then, or really any rustic bread, you will remember that the bread (the inside part, the crumb) has holes in it. This was my shortcoming with my early attempts at baguettes: they came out dense and moist, not airy and light.

This past weekend finally brought success in the form of 6 near-perfect
pain a l'ancienne baguettes. They used a pretty modern technique, despite the old-fashioned implications of their name. Basically you make the dough and pop it in the fridge overnight. This allows the bread to undergo a unique cold fermentation process, which gives it more flavor. The next day, you take it out, let it rise, shape it and bake it! Sounds deceptively simple, but alas, this is not the case. The first thing I've learned about bread is that it is a lot more scientific than anything. Also, to make it right is a very labor intensive process. But at the end of the day you get to enjoy fresh delicious bread!

So Chapter One of my bread adventure has come to a rewarding end. This weekend, I don't know what bread experiment I will try. Maybe one of the Italian breads like foccaccia or ciabatta, or maybe some loaves with fancy designs. We shall see.

Stay tuned for more goodies!