Pesto

When we first moved to Hawaii, I was curious to see how many cuttings I could get out of my potted basil plants before they quit on me.  The answer is four severe cuttings in eight months.  I used my last cutting to make pesto for The Man.  The Man is just nuts for pesto!  I have always used the recipe from Marcella Hazan's Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking.

First, soak your basil leaves in water for a few minutes.  This will perk them up if they need perking, and all the bugs you missed will float.  Ewwwww.

Skim off any bugs, then rinse the leaves and pat dry with a towel.

For every two cups of tightly packed leaves, chop up two cloves of garlic.

and measure out three tablespoons of pine nuts. 

Place the basil, garlic, and pine nuts in the bowl of a food processor with a generous pinch of salt, then add 1/2 cup of olive oil.

Process until smooth.

Now put all the extra batches of pesto in jars and pop them in the freezer.  (When you're ready for some pesto, thaw out a jar and follow the next couple of steps.)

Grate 1/2 cup of parmesan cheese.  It's best if you also grate two tablespoons of romano, but I usually don't have any.  

Place the pesto in a bowl and add the grated cheese and three tablespoons of softened butter.  Stir until the butter is incorporated.  (Marcella says to stir in the cheese before you add the butter, but I don't always listen to Marcella.)

We like to use the pesto as a sandwich spread (try buttered bread with pesto, avocado, tomato, and bean sprouts), in a pasta salad (try processing pesto and spinach together until smooth, then adding that to pasta with spring peas and toasted pine nuts), or as a pizza topping (try pesto with mushrooms and artichoke hearts).

The Man loves me.  

I don't blame him.

Balsamic Vinaigrette

This is copied from the food network.  I'm looking for a better recipe, so if you have one, let me know!

1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
2 teaspoons dark brown sugar, optional*
1 tablespoon chopped garlic
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
3/4 cup olive oil

Beat the vinegar in a bowl with the optional sugar, garlic, salt and pepper until sugar and salt dissolves. Then beat in the oil by droplets, whisking constantly. (Or place all the ingredients in a screw-top jar and shake to combine.) Taste and adjust the seasonings.  

If not using dressing right away, cover and refrigerate, whisking or shaking again before use.

*If using a good quality balsamic vinegar you should not need the sugar, but if using a lesser quality you might want the sugar to round out the dressing.

Melon Salsa

This recipe is from 1000 Mexican Recipes by Marge Poore.

• 1/4 medium cantaloupe, peeled, seeded, and finely diced (about 3/4 cup)
• 1/4 medium honeydew, peeled, seeded, and finely diced (about 3/4 cup)
• 1/4 medium red bell pepper; seeded and finely diced
• 1/2 cup finely diced jicama
• 1 tblsp minced white onion
• 1 tblsp chopped fresh cilantro
• 1 tblsp chopped fresh mint
• 1 serrano chile, minced with seeds
• 2 tblsp fresh lime juice
• 1/2 tsp salt, or to taste

Mix all ingredients; cover and chill. 

My Goobs love eating this with chips or tortillas, but I love eating it with meat.  It is great with chicken and pork.  It doesn't matter if the meat is prepared with Mexican seasonings or just thrown on the grill - this salsa is the perfect side dish.  It gets pretty juicy as it sits; this is not a make-ahead recipe.