Homemade basil pesto

Basil Pesto

If you have never tried to make your own pesto, you are missing out.  I highly recommend giving it a try as it is easy to do and doesn't take any time either.  Plus, you can use a variety of different herbs to change up the flavor and it makes a lot more than you can buy in the store.  The first pesto I made was one from Italian Immigrant Cooking by Elodia Rigante.  Once I realized how easy it was to make though, I now put in basically whatever I am feeling that day or what I have on hand.

Basil Pesto

1/2 cup basil (or whatever herb mixture you want to try)

3 tablespoons pine nuts (toasted)

2-4 tablespoons Parmesan or Romano cheese, finely shredded

6 cloves garlic, peeled

3/4 cup olive oil (more if you like it thinner)

1 tablespoon parsley

1/2 teaspoon salt

Combine all the ingredient in a blender until smooth.  Serve over pasta or gnocchi of choice.  Or you can try my ricotta gnocchi.  You can easily double this recipe.

Roasted Leg of Lamb

I once took a cooking class and part of that class was making a roast leg of leg.  Since there were about 8 students and one chef, we divided the recipes up, which meant I did not get to participate in making the roast leg of lamb.  I have had rack of lamb and helped prepared that, but I was thinking about things to cook for a Christmas gathering while walking through the grocery store.  I thought about all the mutton I ate in New Zealand.  Then I stumbled upon this awesome leg of lamb which I decided was what had to be made for my group of friends who were coming over in the not distance future.  They had all been to my house before, but their significant others had not.  I had never served lamb before, so it was decided; I would roast the leg of lamb as the center piece to the meal.  I served the leg of lamb with a variety of roasted vegetables which worked out very well in the end as it meant a bunch of preparing in advance, but then left little to be done once everyone arrive, with the exception of carving the lamb.

This is a simple recipe, which only takes time to actually roast the lamb and afterwards let it rest.  This is based off the Roasted Leg of Lamb from Richard Bertinet's cook Cook in a Class of your own.

leg of lamb (I think mine was about 6 pounds)
olive oil (4-6 tablespoons)
salt and pepper (about 1 tablespoon each)
garlic cloves, about 6, cut into quarters, but depends on how many slits you make
rosemary and thyme, fresh sprigs
red wine to make a gravy (about 1/2 bottle)

Take out lamb a little before roasting so it can warm up before baking.  I took mine out about 1.5 hours before roasting.  Preheat the oven to 375 F.  I usually do this 20-30 minutes in advance.  Rub with olive oil, salt, and pepper.  I sprinkle it on first to be sure I have enough salt and pepper, and then I add the olive oil.  Use enough to coat, but not drip off Cut into the skin and meat at an angle so that you can stuff a sliver of garlic and rosemary and thyme into each cut.  Place the leg of lamb into a roasting pan and place in the oven for about 2 hours (or 20 minutes per pound).  You can check the temperature so you don't over cook it (about 135 F for rare and 145 F for medium rare).  The last 30 minutes it is a good idea to cover so it doesn't brown too much.  Remove lamb from oven and let it rest on a warm plate or cutting board for about 20 minutes, covered with the foil.  When the lamb is resting, you can make the gravy.  Use about 1/2 a bottle of red wine and cook on the stove top until it has thicken a bit.  If you like a thicker gravy, you can add cornstarch.

Italian Potato Pie

When I first met my husband I discovered that he really loved Italian food.  Since I love to cook, I wanted to impress him with cooking good food for him, however, his family does not make Italian food from Italy, they make immigrant Italian food.  Once I realized the kind of food he loved I searched for a cookbook to give me ideas of what I could make for him that would be more similar to the food he was accustomed to eating.  I came across a recommendation for an out-of-print cookbook called Elodia Rigante's Italian Immigrant Cooking.  Never before have I read a cookbook that sometimes measures garlic in cups (see below).  However, everything which I have tried out of this cookbook has turned out very good.  Watch the portion sizes though as this states that it serves 6, but I really think it would serve 8 especially if you have other things to eat like a nice green salad.  This will also reheat well as long as your Parmesan or Romano cheese is thinly shredded instead of big pieces.

Italian Potato Pie

Crust: 

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup butter

3 tablespoons water

In a large bowl, sift together the flour and salt.  Work the butter into the flour mixture with a pastry cutter or your fingertips until the flour mixture is in small crumbs.  Add the water and mix to form into a ball.  Refrigerate for 20-30 minutes.  Roll out the dough and then press into a large pie dish.  Set aside.

Potato Layer:

6 cups potatoes, cubed

1 cup cream, 2% milk, half & half

1/2 cup olive oil

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

salt and pepper to taste

Cover the potatoes with water in a large pot.  Bring to a boil and boil until tender.  Pour the potatoes into another bowl and whip them with the half & half, olive oil and butter until fluffy.  Season with salt and pepper and set aside.   (As an alternative you can use an immersion blender and save a bowl.)

Tomato Layer:

6 cups tomatoes, diced

2 1/2 cups diced Mozzarella cheese

1 tablespoon oregano

2 1/2 tablespoons minced garlic

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

Stir all ingredients together and set aside.

Bread Crumb Layer:

4 cups fine Italian seasoned bread crumbs

1 cup olive oil

1 cup grated Romano or Parmesan cheese

1/8 cup minced garlic

1/2 cup parsley

2 eggs

In a mixing bowl, combine all of the ingredients.  Set aside.

Assembly:

Preheat oven to 375 F. 

Spread one half of the whipped potato mixture over the pie crust.  Add half of the tomato mixture, then one half of the bread crumb mixture.  Repeat the layering in the same order with the second half of each mixture.  Bake the pie until the crust and the bread crumbs are golden brown, which should be about 30 minutes.  Slice and serve hot, though this does reheat well.

Serves 6

Easy French Chicken

I stumbled upon this recipe while reading through cookbooks I had checked out from the library.  My husband didn't even know the library had cookbooks, let alone the number they actually do have on their shelves!  So my quest started to try to not buy very many cookbooks, but really that is a lost cause.  It became a way for me to preview a cookbook to see if I would be interested in cooking any of the recipes in the cookbook.  It does pay off as I can decide how many recipes I would like to try and decide if it really is worth buying the book.  This recipe for French Chicken comes from one such trip to the library.  This recipe I made before I even bought the cookbook.  I figured this and the other recipes in this book was well worth as easy and very tasty chicken recipe for an easy weeknight meal.  The book is called The Bonne Femme Cookbook by Wini Moranville.  I look forward to trying more of the recipes from this book.  The ingredient lists are not intimidating and the directions not extensive.  I think this book will bear more recipes which this ones shares...very good, easy and quick.

Chicken Francese (French Chicken)
2 boneless skinless chicken breasts
salt and pepper to taste
1/4 cup flour
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon fresh parsley or chives
2 tablespoons  unsalted butter
3 cloves garlic, pressed
3/4 cup dry white wine
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

Pound chicken breasts between plastic wrap to about 1/4 inch thick or butterfly them.  Season both sides with salt and pepper.  Dredge chicken in flour, removing any extra.  Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat.  Add the chicken and cook, turning once until no longer pink inside (7-8 minutes).  Transfer chicken to a platter and sprinkle with parsley or chives.  Cover to keep warm.

Drain off any fat from the skillet.  Add 1 tablespoon of the butter to the skillet.  When melted, add the garlic and cook until fragrant (about 30 seconds).  Add the wine and lemon juice,  stir to remove any brown bits from the bottom of the pan.  Bring to a boil and boil until reduced by half (about 2-3 minutes).  Reduce heat to low and whisk in the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter, 1 tablespoon at a time to thicken the sauce.  Arrange the chicken on dinner plates and spoon the sauce over the chicken and serve.

Makes 2-4 servings, depending on the size of the chicken breasts.

Roasted Brussel Sprouts

My family never made brussel spouts growing up, so I never knew what I was missing.  Well, I did have them eventually when I was in New Zealand, but they were not something that tasted good, nor was it something that I would ever have thought to make, eat and enjoy.  Fast forward many years later.  I was living in Munich and was invited to a Thanksgiving dinner made by a New Zealander.  No, New Zealand does not celebrate Thanksgiving, but this was an expat whom had lived abroad with Americans and found that he loved Thanksgiving and every year since then had continued to celebrate it.  I was the token American invited to this Thanksgiving dinner.  As you can image, I met another very different brussel sprout at this dinner that remained intact in my memory so that again years later, I would see these wonderful things at a grocery story and decide that finally it was time to tackle the brussel sprout.

The way that amazing brussel sprout was prepared was ever so simple...roast them with olive oil and balsamic vinegar.  This simple method creates a lovely sweet brussel sprout.  I recently made them for a friend of mine at a dinner party.  She, and everyone who was present, thought I was crazy to make something that few people like.  Well as it turns out everyone who tried them also thought they were wonderful.  How can you turn up your nose to olive oil and balsamic vinegar roasted goodness?  I encourage lovers and haters of brussel sprouts to try these.  Not only are they lovely to eat, they are also curious when you buy them in a complete stalk.

Roasted Brussel Sprouts
Decide on a quantity of brussel sprouts
Olive oil
Balsamic vinegar
Salt and pepper


Clean the brussel sprouts, remove any outer leaves which look damaged, then cut them in half. Drizzle with olive oil (just enough to lightly coat each sprout...depending on the quantity about 2-3 tablespoons).  Drizzle with balsamic vinegar (less so you have about a 2 to 1 ratio of olive oil to vinegar).  Sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Roast for 30-40 minutes at about 375F or until the brussel sprouts have absorbed the balsamic vinegar and are slightly shriveled.