Nutty Parsley Pesto

Don’t get hung up on the word pesto. While it traditionally made with basil and pine nuts the word can refer to any “sauce” made from a similar blending or pounding process. Words evolve, just as we now make pesto in a food processor instead of a mortar and pestle.

The original recipe called for a cup of walnuts. We have a friend who is allergic to black walnuts so we don’t risk it even though supermarket walnuts rarely contain black walnuts. A mix of nuts works perfectly well, just give them a nice toasting before you add them to the food processor.

Saturday night – 09/26/2015

Fall has definitely landed and, with clear if cool weather forecast, I wanted to get at least one more use of the grill in before packing it up for the winter. This was a tasty meal.

Menu
Grilled Chicken Thighs with Nutty Parsley Pesto
Rice Pilaf with Preserved Lemon and Candied Tangerine Peel
Braised Baby Kale with Caramelized Onions
Roasted Eggplant, Zucchini and Onions
Ted Bread

Brown Sugar Cookies

Saturday night – 09/19/2015

This week we enjoyed a menu that we partake of from time to time; pierogies, succotash, paired with some form of pork. In this case it was in celebration of J’s birthday thus the cake.

Menu
Baked Kielbasa and Linguiça
Pierogies with Caramelized Onions and sour cream
Succotash
Roasted Beets

Freshly baked rolls

Apple Upside Down Cake

Giant Purple Cookie

I think Ted came home from work with the suggestion for this recipe from a co-worker. In original form it is called “Crustless Cranberry Pie”. A web search turned up a numerous variations on the recipe so we picked one that seemed reasonable. We’ve made it a dozen plus times and love the result. We usually call it ‘giant cranberry cookie’.

Tonight I had no cranberries. Blueberries seemed a fair substitute. The color is definitely eye catching before baking.

Giant Purple Cookie
Servings: 6-8
Prep time: 15 minutes
Total time: 55 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 2 cups frozen blueberries
• 1/2 cup roughly chopped walnuts
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, melted and cooled slightly
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract

Directions:

1. Arrange an oven rack in the center of the oven. Preheat to 350°F. Grease a 9″ glass pie pan and set it aside.
2. Mix together the flour, sugar and salt in a bowl. Add the blueberries and walnuts, stir gently to coat.
3. Combine the melted butter, eggs and vanilla in a separate bowl. Use a fork to combine the ingredients and then pour into the dry ingredient bowl. Stir to combine. The batter will turn purple.
4. Transfer the batter to the greased pie pan and distribute evenly. Bake for 40 minutes, rotating the dish 180° halfway through baking.
5. Remove from the oven and allow to rest for 15 minutes on cooling rack before serving.

Saturday night – 09/05/2015

Our vacation was lovely and yet one of the things we missed the most was being able to cook our own meals. So it felt great to be back in our kitchen to cook a meal for our friends. We missed a birthday while we were away so I went for a fairly simple menu this week.

Menu
Baked Ham
Roasted Potatoes
Glazed Carrots
Braised Baby Kale with Shallot
Ted’s Bread

Browned Butter Brownies with Oreos