Category Archives: Appetizer

pesto, pesto, pesto…. :) and food art featuring fresh-picked garlic

I am blessed to have a space in a “borrowed/cooperative” garden in which I have enough basil plants that I can pick enough basil at one time to equal 3 packed cups. Time for pesto, of course!

An added bonus was freshly picked garlic from Farmer Dave of Dracut Mass who is at the Wakefield Farmer’s Market each Saturday. I had some walnuts in my freezer (just toasted them up a bit and they were fine) and parsley from same garden as the basil source, good olive oil… It was heavenly!

Here is the recipe I used as a guide – from Cook’s Illustrated – followed by my notes and pics:

Makes 3/4 cup, enough for 1 pound of pasta. Published July 1, 1996.

Pounding the basil releases its flavorful oils into the pesto more readily. Basil usually darkens in homemade pesto, but you can boost the green color a little by adding the optional parsley. For sharper flavor, substitute one tablespoon finely grated pecorino Romano cheese for one tablespoon of the Parmesan. The pesto can be kept in an airtight container, covered with a thin layer of oil (1 to 2 tablespoons), and refrigerated for up to four days or frozen for up to one month.
Ingredients
1/4    cup pine nuts , toasted (or substitute almonds or walnuts)
3    medium cloves garlic , unpeeled
2    cups packed fresh basil leaves
2    tablespoons fresh parsley leaves (optional)
7    tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
Salt
1/4    cup finely grated Parmesan cheese or Pecorino Romano
Ground black pepper
Instructions

1. Toast the nuts in a small, heavy skillet over medium heat, stirring frequently, until just golden and fragrant, about 5 minutes; set aside. Add the garlic to the empty skillet and toast over medium heat, shaking the pan occasionally, until fragrant and the color of the cloves deepens slightly, about 7 minutes. Let the garlic cool slightly, then peel, and chop.

2. Place the basil and parsley (if using) in a heavy-duty 1-gallon zipper-lock plastic bag. Pound the bag with the flat side of a meat pounder or rolling pin until all the leaves are bruised.

3. Process the nuts, garlic, herbs, oil, and 1⁄2 teaspoon salt in a food processor until smooth, stopping as necessary to scrape down the sides of the bowl, about 1 minute. Stir in the Parmesan and season with salt and pepper to taste.

First – I was wondering, just HOW packed should the cups of basil leaves be? So, I packed them pretty much to the max a few times and weighed the results each time. 1.5 ounces per cup is what I got consistently.

1 cup packed basil equals 1.5 oz. That's a one cup measure to the left.

I had 3 cups/4.5 oz of basil leaves, to I increased amounts accordingly, although I lost concentration early on and toasted 3 times the amount of walnuts instead of 1 and 1/2 times, and also added .2 oz of leftover pine nuts I found in the fridge – but the pesto didn’t suffer from it!

Here is a shot of the freshly picked garlic from the Farmer’s Market that I used:

garlic knife basil

By the way, the knife you see in my pics was given to me by my Mom about 20 years ago. It is a great knife. And, I am lucky enough to have a live-in knife sharpening expert who keeps it and all my knives in most excellent shape!

Here is the end result:

Tomatoes picked from our backyard “whisky barrel” garden seasoned with a bit of dried oregano, freshly ground pepper, and salt, and then drizzled with olive oil,

The above-described pesto, and

Totally amazing “aged 3 years” cheddar cheese purchased at, yes, you guessed it, the Wakefield Farmer’s Market from Phil Hermann and MooBaaNaa Cheese. (I bought the ricotta today, also, and look forward to trying it. Phil said it is great for dessert with a touch of honey.)

But, here is our little appetizer feast:

YUM. There is nothing else to say.

I’ll never buy pre-cooked shrimp again!

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I actually never bought shrimp until I met my husband. Oh sure, I’ve eaten it at parties and when out to dinner, but I never bought it and prepared it myself. And, since 2003, I’ve been buying the pre-cooked kind when Steve gets a hankering for shimp, which is every major or minor holiday and on occasion in-between. <grin>

It is not bad, espeically with the “kicky” cocktail sauce that I make, but I have noticed that often, when other people prepare shrimp as an appetizer, it tastes better. Now I know why. You should cook it yourself, preferably with the shell still on.

I actually ended up buying raw shrimp on a whim. Steve wanted some for our July 4th party (and wouldn’t you know, I forget to put them out after cooking, peeling, and chilling them! My apologies to our guests. <wry grin>)

Both cooked and raw frozen shrimp were on sale, but the ccoked were smaller, the 41-50 per bag count size, and the raw were fewer but thus larger. I opted for the the bigger ones.

Then, while wandering around the Intenet looking for cooking ideas, I found a recipe for cooking them in a quick to prepare veggie/lemon stock. Here is the recipe I used:

No-Fail Boiled Shrimp
Joy of Cooking: All About Party Foods & Drinks, by Irma S. Rombauer, Marion Rombauer Becker, and Ethan Becker.
www.ochef.com/r157.htm

If you are grilling, broiling, or boiling shrimp, consider cooking them in their shells, for it protects the meat from drying out and helps them retain maximum flavor. If you wish, prepare the shrimp in plain water.
In a large saucepan, combine:
10 cups water
2 celery stalks, cut into 2-inch lengths
1 medium onion, cut into eighths
1 small lemon, quartered
1/2 bunch fresh parsley
8 black peppercorns
2 bay leaves
1 tablespoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground red pepper
Bring to a boil, reduce the heat, and simmer, uncovered, for 10 minutes. Strain the liquid and return it to the pan.
Add: 2 pounds shrimp, any size, fresh or frozen, preferably in their shells for best flavor
Return the liquid to a boil, reduce the heat, and simmer, uncovered, for 2 minutes exactly. Drain the shrimp, remove to a platter, and let cool. Set out one or more of the following for dipping: Cocktail Sauce, Sauce Remoulade, Tartar Sauce.

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The shrimp were super. it takes some extra time to make the stock and then peel the shrimp afterwards (they were “EZ Peel” so not to hard to do) but I think it was worth the effort.

I always make my own cocktail sauce – pretty basic, although I use freeze squeezed lemon juice when I have a lemon around. And, I just bought some Boars Head brand prepared horseradish to try next time. JUST grated horseradish and vinegar, with no preservatives, etc. I like that in a condiment. Anyway – my cocktail sauce recipe – just mix up ketchup, lemon juice, horseradish, Worcestershire sauce, and tabasco or other hot pepper sauce – amounts to taste.

Finally – Ultimate Hummus!!!

1 Reply

I love Middle Eastern food, and have been making hummus for years – and doing a pretty darn good job it too, I might add. 🙂 However, being prone to experimenting, combining recipes, and just plain guessing on measurements, sometimes the texture or flavor would be just “okay” and, a few times, I added too much liquid and couldn’t fix it, having run out of garbanzo beans. Making hummus thicker with more tahini doesn’t work too well because the flavor and texture of the tahini become too overwhelming.

BUT – I believe I have it down, now. First, the basic recipe, than I’ll give a tip or two for an extra flavor boost.

This makes about [have to go measure the container it filled to tell you! I’ll update if I end up posting before I get this. My guess is 3 or so cups.]

Hummus with Roasted Red Pepper

1 15 oz can of garbanzo beans (chick peas) drained and rinsed
2 cloves of garlic, minced (I use big cloves)
1/3 chopped parsley – not firmly, but not lightly (mediumly?) packed when measuring
1 medium carrot, grated
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/8 cup olive oil
1/3 cup of tahini (sesame pasted from lightly toasted sesame seeds)
1 roasted red pepper (medium/smallish – measuring about 3×3 when flattened)

I always prep everything, first, and wash up any dirty dishes or utensils, then start filling the
food processor: [NOTE – remember to use a spatula to scape down the ingredients from the side of the bowl as you go along.]

I put the garbanzo beans in, and then added the next three ingredients, minced garlic, chopped parsley, and grated carrot, distributing each somewhat evenly in the food processing bowl.

Then I ran the processor, pulsing a bit, to get them mixed up and the garbanzos to a coarse texture.

Then I added the lemon juice, and pulsed a bit, then the olive oil, and let that run for a bit.

Next, I added the tahini and ran the processor for another bit, sometimes stopping to scrape down the sides, until well-mixed.

Last to go in was the roasted red pepper. Just toss it in whole, and don’t bother patting it dry, first. It will blend in nicely.

And, that’s it! So easy! So delicious!!!! And healthy!!! Can you tell I am excited about this? Colorful, too.

NOTE – many hummus recipes call for a little water. DON’T use water unless, at the very end, the hummus seems too dry. I used water previously, not considering the water content of the added veggies, especially the roasted red pepper, and it came out a tad soupy.

I doubt you’ll need any water with this recipe. However, factors can vary – maybe the tahini is dry, or the chickpeas have a lower water content for some reason. But, wait until the end before considering adding the H2O.

Now, for the flavor boosters. First, this hummus is great when using store-bought tahini and bottled lemon juice. And, obviously, it uses canned garbanzos. I also use store-bought, jarred roasted red pepper. I bet roasting a fresh red pepper and cooking up one’s own batch of dried garbanzos would give a boost, as well as reduce the sodium content of the hummus from these prepared items.

But, I can tell you for sure that squeezing the lemon juice fresh and making your own tahini really adds a punch!

Fresh squeezed lemon juice is easy – I have a little hand juicer (plastic and thus not as stable as I would like) that works fine. After cutting the medium-sized lemon in half, I had more than the 1/4 of juice I needed.

Making tahini isn’t difficult, but it is more time consuming than squeezing a lemon. But the flavor is well worth it. I am sure I’ll keep a jar from the market on hand, but I am also going to make sure that I always have sesame seeds around, as well!

To be honest, while I almost always have fresh lemons on hand and use bottled lemon juice in a pinch, I don’t think I had ever made my own tahini. Today I did because, part-way into prepping to whip up a quick batch of hummus, I realized that I had finished off my last jar… Luckily, I had a bag of sesame seeds in the fridge. Whew!

Now, tahini can be made from either toasted or raw sesame seeds. My understanding is that Asian tahini is made from raw sesame seeds and Middle Eastern tahini is from toasted sesame seeds. So, how to toast?

Many recipes say to spread the seeds on a baking sheet and put in the oven, but I prefer the quick, easy, and more energy efficient method of dry-roasting in a frying pan. Just make sure it is a heavy frying pan. I prefer to use a cast iron pan for dry-roasting nuts, seeds, and grains, but a sturdy stainless steel pan should work, too.

To make just a tad more tahini than you needs for this recipe, put 3/4 cup raw sesame seeds in a 10 inch or larger skillet/fry pan, that has been preheated on medium. Just stir them around as they heat up, start popping here and there, get a bit darker, and release a wonderful aroma. Lightly toasted with do the trick.

Then, put them in a wide bottom bowl or other container so they will cool off a bit, then put them in the blender. Run the blender on “grind” for a bit until they start looking ground up. Then, (and this is where I didn’t measure but think I “eyeballed it” okay) add maybe 1 1/2 tablespoons of oil (I used canola) and see how it looks. Use a spatula to scrape down the sides and mix things up a bit before continuing. Then add a tad more oil, grind some more, see how it looks. I think I used 3 tablespoons of oil.

WOW – REALLY good!!!! I’ve always enjoyed tahini from the store, but it rocks when you make it yourself. Also, the store-bought kind always separates, and that can cause problems as to getting the right texture in foods in which tahini is an ingredient.

So, the recipe is great even without doing the “from scratch” ingredient thing. But, I highly recommend 1) fresh squeezed lemon juice and 2) homemade tahini.

Now I am going to have to try roasting red peppers. Although, I doubt I’d do that just for hummus…seems like a waste of heating fuel. But, my curiosity may get the better of me… However, if I have time, I might cook up a batch of garbanzos if I am making hummus for a big crowd or plan to use them in other recipes, too.

Anyway – that’s the scoop.