Fresh Basil and Arugula Pesto... and I am sharing the recipe!

Danielle and Jason are foodies... they subscribe to all the good food and wine magazines. Whenever I am visiting them in Connecticut, I go through their recent issues and try to snag some good recipes. Last night I made basil and arugula pesto. Jeff was a little skeptical of the combination, but I knew we would love it because we are big fans of both. Last night we had it mixed pasta, fresh tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, topped with garlic sauteed shrimp. The photo is our lunch today, we slightly warmed the leftover pasta (no shrimp - we ate it all last night) and shared a tuna sandwich, served up on our new Tom White plates that we acquired at the League of NH Craftsmen's show. The rerun was just as tasty!
Here is the recipe:

1/3 cup pine nut, or almonds (I used almonds, the pine nuts were too expensive where I was shopping)
Toast the nuts in dry skillet, until lightly browned, let cool. Pulse in a food processor until finely ground.

Add approximately 1 1/2 cups fresh basil, and 1 1/2 cups fresh arugula to the processor, along with 2-4 cloves of fresh, chopped, garlic. Add about 1/4 tsp. of kosher salt (I use Himalayan, that's just our preference).

Grate 1/2 cup of good parmesan cheese, add to the food processor and pulse to combine.

Slowly pour in 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil, pulsing to incorporate. Transfer the pesto to a bowl.
The recipe said to incorporate a 1/2 cup of ricotta cheese to the pesto. I forgot to buy the ricotta but had fresh mozzarella. I mixed the mozzarella in with pasta and fresh tomatoes before serving.

The recipe makes about a cup of pesto, use about a 1/2 cup for one pound of pasta... but if you are like me... extra pesto is always a good idea!

Bon Appetit!

When you have fresh eggs...

You make quiche!

We are fortunate that Latham's Pottery, right here in Seagrove, sells the best free range eggs at a very affordable price. Since I picked up a couple dozen yesterday, I decided we should have quiche for dinner.

My favorite recipe for quiche comes from this little cookbook that Danielle's elementary school put together back in the late 80's. The children were invited to submit their favorite family recipe and perhaps a story to go along with it.

Some of the recipes are so cute. There is one for tripe. The ingredients are 1lb of tripe and 1 apple... boil tripe for 2 hours, drain, replace with fresh water and simmer for another hour. Drain water. Feed tripe to your dog and eat the apple.

And then there's Jayma's recipe for Beans and Hot Dogs... Boil hot dogs for 5 min. Heat 1 can of baked beans on medium until boiling. Serve with mustard and ketchup.

Aside from the silly ones, there are quite a few good recipes. When I take the book out to use it, and read the names of the children who submitted recipes, I find it hard to believe that these kids are mostly over 30 now!!

Last night's quiche creation included garlic, onions, broccoli, cheddar cheese, and an assortment of chopped herbs from our first CSA share of the season. Served with a big tossed salad, topped with almonds and craisins... it was a delicious springtime meal.
The best part is that there are leftovers for lunch!

Keeping up the momentum...

We had to work like mad men during the hottest July that I have ever experienced. The show at Mt. Sunapee Resort was looming and there wasn't a choice. We vowed that upon our return we would keep up the pace. After unpacking, I will have to admit, we were in fog for a week. That fog needed to lift because September through December is the most important sales quarter for the year.

Thankfully it did lift and we are back in full swing. We finished glazing yesterday and Jeff loaded the kiln, which was a nice break for me because I was the kiln loader for the month of July. At 9:30 last night the door was bricked and we sat down to a nice meal. I am still on the cooking kick and tried another new recipe...

Bleu Cheese Stuffed Pork Chops with Pears

Jeff really liked the pork chops but not the pears so much. I thought it was yummy all the way around. It was also easy and quick to make. I think my cooking kick has come about for two reasons.

1. Cooler temperatures

2. Pinterest

I have seen and pinned so many  new recipes from Pinterest and they inspire me to get in the kitchen. I think Jeff is enjoying the break because for a long time he was the chef in this house. I was burnt out and was glad to let him take over.

back to pottery...

I listed this mug and bowl in the Etsy shop this weekend. This is the new glaze combination of shino, copper red, and nuka. We glazed some piggy banks in this combo and they are in the kiln today. They should look pretty darn cute, who wouldn't love a purple piggy?

After Jeff mixed the nuka glaze in July, he remembered that it's extremely thixotropic, and settles like a rock on the bottom of the bucket. Bentonite should have been added to eliminate the problem when the glaze was mixed. It was a total pain in the ass to mix every time we used it. He was talking to a potter friend in NH about it and she said to add a cupful capful of muriatic acid to the glaze and it will stay mixed.

Muriatic acid, who knew? Not us, that's for sure. We bought some this week and sure enough it does the trick. Almost like magic.

So that's my tip of the week, add one capful of muriatic acid to a 5 gallon pail of glaze and voila! 

(Just be careful when handling acid)

recipes and a little glazing (pots not food)

Here are a couple of the recipes from the last post...

I don't have a clue where this apple brownie recipe came from, but it's been in my recipe box for years. It's really easy and quick to throw together and I like that it makes a 9 x 9 pan... if it's only the two of us we don't need a big dessert recipe.

5 tblsp. butter or margerine (I use butter)
1 cup of sugar - I cut back on the sugar slightly
1 egg
1 1/4 cups flour
1 1/4 cups peeled and chopped apples
1 cup raisins & nuts (optional) I don't care for raisins or most nuts in baked things so I leave them out
1/3 tsp. baking powder (1/3 tsp. is odd, I take a guess on this measurement)
1/3 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. cinnamon (I always sprinkle more on top before it goes in the oven)

Cream butter, sugar, and egg. Mix in remaining ingredients. Spread in a greased  9 x 9 pan.
Bake at 350 degrees for 30 -35 min.
Good warm or cold!


Hummus

I have been making hummus using a combination of two recipes. One is from Charan Sachar who writes the blog Creative With Clay and this recipe for real hummus that I found online.
To one can of drained chick peas I add a little more than 2 tbsp. tahini, 1-2 cloves of chopped garlic (depending on size), the juice of almost a whole lemon, a few grinds of himilayan salt & fresh ground pepper, and coarsely ground cumin seeds. I add reserved liquid from the chick peas until it's the consistency that I want. We tend to like it more on the dry side. I don't measure the olive oil either. Once it's all pureed to the desired consistency, I put it in a bowl and stir in some chopped sundried tomatoes in oil. I add some of the oil from the tomatoes to the mix as well. I have added a little sour cream as Charan suggested (didn't have any plain yogurt) and I am not sure I noticed much difference.

Barbecue

I know very little about how Jeff smokes a pork shoulder! He has a smoker with a firebox and I know he uses a mix of Cowboy chunk charcoal and oak from our wood pile. He says the key to a good smokey flavor is to not let it flare up. It seems like it takes about 12 hours to get the job done.

on the pottery front...

A potter in town has some space in his salt kiln and needs some help firing. Which meant Jeff's big pot needed to get glazed.

Not a great picture, there was too much sun... Jeff poured Albany slip into the pot using a big watering can. That way he could direct the glaze under the rim. Once that was done I cradled the pot in my arms as he turned it and poured the glaze into the large red bucket. Next we quickly dipped the rim into the slip that is in the trash can lid, resting on the gray bucket. Both of us watching to see that entire rim on all sides was covered with slip.

We did a fairly decent job. The edge needed only a little clean up. I can't wait to see this fired, although I will miss it keeping me company on the porch.