Category Archives: Cooking

Presto! Pesto!

02 Monday May 2011

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A few weeks ago I picked up my food bag  and what did I find?  Fresh basil.  What in the world do I do with fresh basil?  I made soup and put a little bit of it in the soup, but after that I didn’t know what to do.  The result?  It went bad.

This time when I picked up my food bag there was more fresh basil.  With a little help from my friends I decided to make pesto.  I wasn’t sure how it would turn out or even how it would taste, but I think that it worked out well.

Pesto made!

INGREDIENTS

  • 2 cups fresh basil leaves, packed
  • 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan-Reggiano or Romano cheese
  • 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
  • 1/3 cup pine nuts or walnuts
  • 3 medium sized garlic cloves, minced
  • Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
  • Special equipment needed: A food processor

METHOD

1 Combine the basil in with the pine nuts, pulse a few times in a food processor. (If you are using walnuts instead of pine nuts and they are not already chopped, pulse them a few times first, before adding the basil.) Add the garlic, pulse a few times more.
2 Slowly add the olive oil in a constant stream while the food processor is on. Stop to scrape down the sides of the food processor with a rubber spatula. Add the grated cheese and pulse again until blended. Add a pinch of salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste.
Serve with pasta, or over baked potatoes, or spread over toasted baguette slices.
Makes 1 cup.

I didn’t really measure two cups of basil, I just used the whole bunch that I had.  I also didn’t use nuts because I put some of the pesto in a macaroni casserole that I made for a potluck and wanted to avoid nut allergies.  I didn’t add any pepper and just a pinch of salt. I also just used my blender.  It worked great, so don’t worry if you don’t have a food processor.

As I re-read the method of the recipe I didn’t really follow that either!  I put in the basil and added the oil, minced garlic, cheese, and pinch of salt and blended it together.  It didn’t seem to make a difference they way I put it together.

In the freezer!

It was suggested to put the pesto in an ice cube tray and freeze it so I did.  The next morning I woke up and took out the tray.  It was solid as a rock and wouldn’t come out!  I asked a friend at church the best way to get it out.  Really, why didn’t I think of what she said?  I took her advice and ran the bottom of the tray over warm water and they popped right out.  I individually wrapped them and then put them in a baggie.  Now they are back in the freezer and ready to put in soups, sauces, and really anything I want to try it in!

Finished!
Next time I will try it with almonds and see how it turns out.

Now that I’ve made Pesto, what do I do with it?  Check out my recipe for Pesto Sweet Potato Mash.

Spaetzle Beef Stir Fry

11 Tuesday Jan 2011

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What to cook for supper?  That was my question yesterday.  I was at the grocery store the other day and decided to pick up an egg noodle.  I went with Spaetzle, which is a German noodle.    Then I was asked what else.  I wasn’t sure yet, so after pulling things out of my fridge here is what I came up with.
Prepare Veggies
Choose 3 – 4 different types of veggies
I used
2 white turnip (small) cut in 1/4 chunks
1 yellow turnip (small) cut in 1/4 chunks
1 carrot (large) sliced
1 yellow beat (adds a sweat taste) cut in 1/4 chunks
1 – 2 cups  Broccoli (frozen) left as is or you can chop smaller
Other ingredients:
1 onion
3 gloves of garlic
1/2 lb lean ground beef (or other meat or no meat)
Spaetzle or other egg noodle
2 – 3 tbs of olive oil
2 – 4 tbs of garlic spare rib sauce
1 – 2 tbs of soya sauce
pepper
steak pepper mix (sorry I can’t remember the proper term
Instructions:
1. Prepare veggies
2. in a skillet or wok saute onions in a bit of olive oil and add garlic (squeeze in garlic press for best results or finely chop garlic). After onions are tender or almost translucent add all veggies except for frozen broccoli.  Add more olive oil as needed (about another spoon full, just enough to let veggies cook). Cover and let cook stirring occasionally.
3.  In a frying pan, cook lean ground beef with pepper and steak pepper or other spices/herbs for seasoning.  There is no need to add any oil as the beef will produce it’s own fat.  When it is cooked and the veggies are slightly tender, add to the veggie mix and stir.  Also add the frozen broccoli – it doesn’t need that long to cook.  Cover and let simmer. 
4.  While the veggies continue to cook, boil water and cook spaetzle as directed on package. 
5.  Drain cooked spaetzle and put into the empty frying pan that held the beef.  Cook over medium heat and add 2 – 4 tbs of garlic spare-rib sauce and about 1 – 2 tbs of soya sauce.   Continue to stir and cook for about 5 minutes
6.  Add spaetzle to veggies and mix well.  Let heat through and continue to cook if needed (until veggies are at consistency that you prefer).
The end result:
It was really delicious!  I was quite surprised because I like following recipes, but every once in a while I get creative.  If you ever try it, do let me know if it worked for you.  Sorry, I don’t have exact measurements of ingredients because I wasn’t measuring when I was cooking this, so don’t take the above as exact.  Experiment and have fun!  Just don’t put too much soya sauce and you don’t need a ton of oil.   
If you are getting this through email visit www.jackmansjourney.blogspot.com to visit my actual blog. 

Turkey Soup

02 Sunday Jan 2011

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It’s only the next year, but I finally made my turkey soup … a week later from Turkey dinner.

It’s hot on the stove and ready to eat!  I love cooking soups.  I got a crock pot for Christmas and people talk about making soup in the crock pot, but I’m not so sure about it.  I will have to try one of the recipes from the book.

There is just something about making turkey or chicken soup from scratch.  Boiling the bones and watching the water turn into a yummy smelling broth and adding all those veggies.  My house smells of a nice mix of turkey soup and banana bread!    I decided not to put any rice in this soup.  I have potatoes, carrots, yellow and white turnip, Jerusalem artichoke, and yellow beats, and turkey of course.  I seasoned it with salt, pepper, and summer savory.  By the way, any New Brunswicker’s reading this could always send me a fresh package of summer savory anytime.  It is hard to find around here.

I am ready to give it a try, but waiting for a certain someone to come home for supper.  Perhaps our guests later will get a taste as well!

Christmas Cooking

27 Monday Dec 2010

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I love Christmas food!  Particularly Christmas dinner!  I made dinner on Boxing day.  We had friends from church join us.  It was a wonderful meal and a wonderful time with good friends. 

The turkey turned out to be wonderful.  I put the turkey in at around 8am and took it out around 12 noon.  I cooked it in a bag.  It is so much easier this way, except you do not get as many drippings.  It is cleaner.  You just throw out the bag after and it does not take as long to cook.  The meat was falling off the bone.  Wonderful!

Hot steaming turkey with dressing! 
I didn’t think that there was enough drippings to make gravy, but I tried it anyway and it turned out perfect!  My Daddy taught me well! 
Gravy


I also made Apple Pie and Rhubarb Custard Tarts.  I don’t make pie very often because the crust is not easy to make, but it turned out great!  I think the more I make crust the easier it will become.  I guess I have to make it more than two or three times a year.  My Mom told me the secret to a good pie crust when she gave me her apple pie recipe.  I would tell you, but then it wouldn’t be a secret anymore.  This is one recipe that I will not be sharing! Some things you need to keep in the family. 

Santa Says:  “Don’t Eat My Pie!”
We also had masshed potatoes, carrots, squash, and coleslaw.  We enjoyed some homeade pickles, relish, and beets that my cousin made.  We ended dinner with our pie and tarts followed by a great game of Phase 10. 
Our Christmas dinner brought back good memories growing up with my family.  Now I am forming new memories with my fiance and remembering the old ones.  What will Christmas look like next year?  I don’t know but hopefully surrounded by people I care about a traditional Christmas dinner and apple pie.  

Cheese Dreams

27 Monday Dec 2010

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A family Christmas morning breakfast.   The smell of turkey, coffee, and frying bacon.  Every year growing up we had Cheese Dreams on Christmas morning after we opened our presents.  When we were kids Dad would put marshmellows on top, but as we got older was asked Dad to not put marshmellows on them. 

My Dad always says, “Be careful not to leave them in the oven too long or else you will have Cheese Nightmares not Cheese Dreams.” 

Out of the oven

So Delicious!
Ingrediants
8 thick Cheese Slices
8 pieces of your choice of bread
3/4 package of bacon
Directions
Toast bread and cut into three slices from top to bottom
Cut cheese slices into three strips and place on pieces of toast
Fry bacon in whole pieces.  When cooked cut into two pieces.
Place the strips of bacon on top of the cheese.
Place cheese dreams on cookie sheet and place in oven
Cook on grill at 350 until cheese is melted.  It is important that it is grill (heat from the top not from the bottom) so that it melts the cheese and heats up the toast. 
Watch them carefully so that they do not burn and become cheese nightmares.
Serve and Enjoy!


 

The Loft Market – Surprise Surprise

19 Friday Nov 2010

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A surprise is what I feel like when I open see the contents of my order from the Loft Market.  This is my second time getting veggies from the Loft Market.  The first time I got a combo bag, which means you get local vegitables and fruit (although the fruit might not be local but it is organic).  This time I got only the bag.  I wanted to see how many more vegitables I would get and we still recived fruit – apples. 

In today’s loft bag this is what I found:
apples, lettuce, winter radish, potatoes, golden beets, jerusalem artichoke, leeks, onions, carrots, winter squash (which I think is a buttercup squash – looks like the one I got last time).

I recognize 8 out of the 10 items and if it wasn’t for the first combo bag I got I would only recognize 6 of the 10 items.  The first week I had no help with what the food items where so I looked up images on the internet and found out that the pinky looking beets that were yellow inside where actually golden beets and that the winter squash was a buttercup squash. This week I actually got an email with the expected food items to come.  Thank goodness!!  

I still need to research winter radish.  I’ve never cooked with leeks before and I definately had to discover what jerusalem artichoke was.  It’s no ordinary artichoke.

What did I find?  Well, I found out that the jerusalem artichoke is kind of like a potatoe.  You can eat it raw, boil it and mash it, steam it, or boil in slice but be sure to add lemon so it doesn’t brown.  I tried it raw since I like raw potatoes.  It wasn’t that bad.  I read that it is also very healthy for you and you get more nutrients and minerals from it raw.  I also read that it can give you a bit of gas if you normally don’t eat it and start to eat a lot of it!  I only put a little bit in the soup! 

What did I make tonight from my loft bag (and previous loft bag)?  I made a potatoe leek soup that also has red pepper, carrots, brocolli, jerusalem artichokes, and garlic and milk and a few spices (last three not from the loft bag!).  How does it taste?  I don’t know yet, well I did a little taste test but I’m still waiting for it to heat all the way through.  So far it looks and smells good!  The real verdict will be what other people think. 

I do need to add that I made a great squash cassarole last week with the butter cup squash.  I also made baked golden raddish which was really great!  If you want to know about a recipe for them, just leave a comment and I will let you know or maybe when I have a bit more time I will blog about it. 

I’m excited to find new vegitables that are in the loft bag, that are local and that are in season.  Oh the freshness in the fall and soon to be winter!