Tomato Almond Pesto/Pesto alla Trapanese

I really can't take any credit for this one, other than having the smarts to "like" Cook's Illustrated  on Facebook. It appealed to me because I had extra blanched almonds from horchata, as well as a container of cherry tomatoes in my fridge that were coming close to requiring life support. I probably would have made it even if I didn't have these two things handy. Cherry tomatoes are flavorful and abundant right now, and with pinenuts selling for more per pound than filet mignon, an economical pesto with almonds sounded pretty good.

   I followed the recipe pretty closely with this one, I annotate what I've modified slightly.

Pesto alla Trapanese (makes about 3 C pesto, 4-6 servings pasta)

• 2 1/2 C cherry tomatoes (the recipe doesn't specify 2 1/2 C whole tomatoes, or chopped. I used 2 1/2 C halved cherry tomatoes)
• 1/4 C skinless almonds (I used a 1/3 C)
• 1/2 C packed basil leaves
• 1 clove garlic (I used 2)
• 1 pepperoncini, stemmed
•  salt
• pepper (my add)
• 1/2 tsp sugar (my add)
• generous amount crushed red pepper
• 1/3 C extra virgin olive oil (I used 1/4 C)
• 1 lb pasta, linguini or fettucine (I used sun-dried tomato fettucine, see note below)
• 1/2 C grated parmesan (I omitted)

1. Place the almonds in a dry skillet over medium heat, shaking the skillet frequently. Cook until fragrant and slightly browned. Allow to cool, slightly.
2. In a food processor, combine the tomatoes, basil, almonds, garlic, pepperoncini until smooth. Add salt, pepper and crushed red pepper to taste. If slightly bitter, or not flavorful enough, add the sugar.
3. With the motor on, slowly add the olive oil. Because I knew this would cause pesto to erupt out of the food processor, I slowly pulsed in the olive oil instead, and it emulsified just fine.
4. Heat water for the pasta and cook. Reserve 1/2 C pasta cooking liquid and add to the pesto. Toss together pasta, pesto and parmesan and enjoy.

Kitchen Notes: The texture of this is not as a typically basil pesto, it's more comparable to a runny salsa.The original recipe calls for completely cooling the almonds to room temperature. Mine were still quite warm when I added them, and this didn't appear to change the flavor. I found the sugar was necessary because the pesto had a flavor that was sweet, but unpleasantly bitter, and the sugar resolved this. I used a sun-dried tomato dried pasta. Typically, I think that flavored pastas underperform, but here it works well.  A lot of the flavor is usually lost in the cooking water, but since the cooking water is incorporated into the sauce, the flavor is retained. I used Pasta Alley brand which I buy at my farmer's market. It takes a bit longer to cook than commercial pastas, and it has a fantastic chewy texture. I used a combination of red and purple cherry tomatoes. This is note is probably unimportant, but it gives me an excuse to post a picture of the tomatoes:

And here's the pasta:

Verdict? Pretty tasty. Avoid if you don't like your pastas a bit sweet. If you like the sweetness of a pumpkin ravioli, than you'll probably enjoy this. If pumpkin ravioli is too sweet for your tastes, better skip this one. I enjoyed it garnished with almonds, but I also think that 1 of the following would be good: mozzarella (in lieu of parmesan) for a caprese style pesto, a few fresh greens, or kalamata olives used very sparingly.

Tzatziki for Katie

My friend Katie has a rather awesome garden where cucumbers proliferate and grow to mutant proportions. Being the generous soul she is, my fridge is well-stocked with free cukes. However, since Katie is a shrewd business woman, the cucumber transaction required that I reveal my secrets to consistently good tasting tzatziki. So, Katie, this recipe is for you! It was challenging for me to put this recipe into standard measurements, but here I go:
                                          
                                          Katie's Cukes are covered with little spines. Ouch!

Tzatziki (Cucumber Dip) (makes ~3 1/2 Cups)

• 2 large cukes
• 2 1/2 C Greek yogurt (Don't use fat free. Seriously.)
• 2-3 cloves garlic, minced
• juice of 1/2-1 lemon
• small handful of dill, chopped (I have the hands of a 10 year old, so keep this in mind)
• Salt
• Freshly ground pepper (some prefer white pepper, for aesthetics. I simply prefer the flavor of black pepper)

1. Peel the cukes and remove seeds. I find that a grapefruit spoon works well to scoop out the seeds. 
2. Grate the cukes. I find once they're seeded, they're flimsy, and it's difficult to grate the entire thing without putting your knuckles in "grate" danger. Nobody wants blood in their tzatziki, so before grating becomes hazardous, keep the odd bits of cukes and set aside. Once done grating, cut into small, small pieces and just say that your tzatziki is "rustic style".
3. Set the cucumbers in a colander in the sink. Generously sprinkle with salt. Let the cukes drain for 30 mins or so. Go do something else.
4. Rinse the cucumbers. Grab several clean, lint free tea towels, cheesecloths, or cloth napkins. Place a handful of the cukes in the cloth, wring out the cloth to remove as much of the liquid as possible from the cukes. The grated cukes will feel vaguely sticky, without much moisture. Put the wrung out cukes in a bowl. 
5. Mix together the cukes and yogurt with a fork. Stir in the dill, lemon, garlic, salt and pepper. Adjust seasoning as needed. Tzatziki develops its best flavor over the next couple hours and stays fresh for a week. 

        Cukes, seeds removed 

Not much cuke remains, but the flavor will be very concentrated

Packed in a deli container, en route to Katie's 

Footnotes: 1) If you don't want to waste all of the pulp & seeds from the cukes, toss them into a pitcher of water. They make the water very refreshing in this hot weather, just strain before you use it. 2) The amount of lemon, dill, salt, and pepper are a matter of personal preference, but what's going to make or break this dip is the quality of the yogurt--fat free will be too runny, the texture will be far off, and whether or not the cukes are adequately drained of their liquid and shredded/chopped into fine enough pieces. 

Verdict? This is GOOD tzatziki, if I do say so myself. It's great on gyros, falafel, and on pita chips. It makes an interesting substitute for mayo on a BLT. However, my favorite thing to do with tzatziki is to make this recipe for Greek 7 layer dip.

Now, Katie, which recipe will you make me disclose next?

Crepes with Blueberry Sauce

Couple weeks ago, we went to Pontius Farm to pick blueberries. (Hurry! Their final season of U-Pick is coming tragically close to an end) I am embarrassed to say the blueberries languished in our fridge in for almost 2 weeks. When I took them out, they were as perfect, fresh and sweet-tart as the day we plucked them.
    
                                                      
                                                        2 lbs berries for $4? Criminal, right?


My husband pleaded for crepes, so I made crepes with blueberry sauce and vanilla ice cream. Because the berries were delightful, I wanted to avoid a complex recipe, let the berries showcase themselves. I found this recipe on Joy of Baking , recipe by Stephanie Jaworski with modifications by me:

Blueberry Sauce:

• 3/4 C sugar (I used turbinado--it's what I had. I also used 1/2 of the sugar recommended in the recipe)
• Scant Tbs cornstarch
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 1 1/2 C water
• 2 lbs blueberries
• 1/8 tsp vanilla extract
• zest of 1 lemon
• juice of 1 lemon

1. Place sugar, conrstarch, salt, & water in a saucepan; stir with a fork until smooth;
2. Add the blueberries & cook over medium heat. Stir frequently--sauce will thicken and some berries will burst. Be careful--berries may spill over and make a sticky mess, decrease the heat if needed.
3. Add vanilla, lemon, lemon zest. Without burning your tongue (hardest part of the recipe) sample and add additional sugar, lemon, zest or vanilla if needed.



Sauce can be used immediately or refrigerated. Sauce will continue to thicken, more so if refrigerated. 

                                       A cauldron of blueberries...Amazed at the color change




Crepes
This recipe comes from Marion Cunningham's The Fannie Farmer Cookbook. I do not have a crepe pan, I use a Le Creuset cast-iron skillet. I struggle to get my crepes to be nice and circular--let me know your secrets to round crepes!

• 2 eggs
• 1 C milk (I use whole--let's not kid ourselves)
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1C flour
• 2 Tbs melted butter

1. Beat the eggs well, then add milk, salt, flour  & butter. Let stand 30 mins. Don't worry if the batter is a bit lumpy--the lumps will smooth out when you cook the crepes.
2. Melt some additional butter in the crepe pan on medium-high heat. When butter is foamy, but not browned, add a small ladle of batter or 2 and swirl around in a pan. 
3. Cook for a minute or 2, so the underside is a bit browned--top should still look raw--and flip over. Cook for another minute or 2. 


Repeat til the batter is gone. If you don't feel like making all the crepes at once, the batter stays fresh for 2-3 days in the fridge. Usually, with me the 1st crepe is a loss--make your dog happy with that one. Frequently, I need the lower the heat partway through the cooking process. As your working, keep crepes in a low temp oven or warming drawer before serving. 


Spoon some of the blueberry sauce in the crepe, fold over. Add additional sauce, a sprinkle of powdered sugar, and a small scoop of ice cream. 

                                                   
   You can tell I'm new at this blog thing, especially with photography--the crepe looks green and you can see the chip on the plate. Oops.


Verdict? The blueberry sauce caused the fresh blueberries to loose their impact. The sauce, while tasty, imparted a vague vegetable flavor. If I make the sauce again, I think I'd make a ginger-blueberry flavor, mixed berry, or replace the lemon/lemon zest with orange. I've got a lot of leftover sauce, so I'll keep brainstorming what to do with the remainder.