Pesto time!

Is it me or it has been getting a lot cooler at nights lately? As much as I hate to admit it, it seems that summer is coming to an end! Summer flew by this year. it seems like yesterday it was June and I had the whole summer ahead of me, and now it's almost september and I have to wear a jacket to go to work in the morning...  

One of my favourite thing about summer is the fresh herbs, so before summer ends I decided to make one last batch of pesto. Pesto is a staple in our home. I always have jars on hand in the freezer to use all winter long and I'm always sad when I crack open the last one usually too early in the spring to make new one.

Today I'll share our favourite pesto recipe and later this week I'll also post a great pasta salad recipe which uses pesto (it's always a big hit at parties!). Traditionally, pesto is made with pine nuts, but pine nuts can be quite pricey and not always available in smaller grocery stores so in a pinch you can also use walnuts without altering the taste too much. If you are not much of a garlic fan, you can also reduce the quantity, but I would not omit all together as garlic does give an extra kick to pesto. Depending on how creamy you like your pesto, you can also adjust the amount of olive oil you put in.

Enjoy!

Pesto
(based on Joy of Cooking)

4 cups of packed basil leaves
2/3 cup pine nuts or walnuts (this time I used walnuts)
1 cup parmesan cheese
1 cup olive oil
5 garlic cloves

Place the garlic and the nuts in the food processor. Chopped grossly.

Add the parmesan cheese and the basil leave. Pulse a few times.

Slowly pour the olive oil in while the food processor is going. Keep blending until you reach a smooth consistency.

Keep in the fridge for up to a week or up to 3 months in the freezer. Gives 3 cups of pesto.

Summer berry clafoutis

This past weekend I was in New York city visiting my best friend. Every time I go down, it's a occassion to not only catch up with by bestie, but also to tour the city and eat tons of food! 

This time we had steak at Peter Luger's steakhouse (faboulous by the way, not only was the steak great but the desserts were to die for!! You've got to try the cheesecake and the Holy cow hot fudge sundae!!), pretzels in Central Park and pizza (of course!) at John's.Typically, on Sundays we do brunch and this time was no exception.

Ze Cafe was our destination of choice this time. We had oatmeal brulée, croque-monsieur as well as stuffed French toast, all very delicious! So in the spirit of brunches and in honour of one of the greatest person I know, the recipe I propose today is a blueberry and blackberry clafouti.

Clafoutis can be done as a dessert, but as my mother-in-law as shown me many times, it is also perfect for a weekend brunch. It is fairly easy to do and can easily be done in the toaster oven so it is perfect for a summer brunch! If you have a sweet tooth or if you are using different types of berries, you might want to add a little sugar to the recipe. This is very nice served with creme fraiche or whipped cream...

Bon appetit!

Blueberry and blackberry Clafouti
(inspired by Better Homes and Gardens)
1 teaspoon butter
1 cup of whipping cream
3 eggs
1 cup all purpose flour
2/3 cup sugar
2 tablespoons butter melted
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 cups of mixed berries (I used blackberries and blueberries)
3 tablespoons powder sugar

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Butter the bottom and sides of a 9-inch pie plate 1 teaspoon butter; set aside.

In a medium mixing bowl combine whipping cream, milk, eggs, flour, granulated sugar, melted butter, and vanilla. Using an electric mixer on low speed, beat until smooth. 

Arrange mixed berries in prepared pie plate. 

Pour batter over berries. 

Bake for 50 to 55 minutes or until puffed and light brown. 

Cool for 15 to 20 minutes on a wire rack. Sift powdered sugar over top. Serve warm.

BBQ sauce

Today I went into my pantry and I wondered how did I manage to accumulate so many spices, seasonings, oils, vinegars and condiments... Seriously, I have 8 kinds of oil and as many vinegars and I would not even know where to start to count just how man herbs and spices I have. Yet I always find myself needing another spice or finding a jar of fancy mustard or chutney that I "must have". It probably does not help that I love to try new foods and that I seek out farmers markets and fine food stores. But I was not always like that.

As a child, I was a picky eater and I was scared of food that was seasoned with anything but salt and pepper (or the occasional onion powder). As I grew up and moved out of my parents' house, I became more adventurous with my food choices and soon my spice cabinet grew from 3 to more like 50. Owning over 50 spices is one thing, but using them are another. No problem there for me. On any given day you'll catch me using 8 kinds of spices just for barbecued veggies...

Every time I order food at the restaurant, I also try to guess what was used to make it so that I can replicate it at home. One thing that I have been trying to replicate at home for quite some time is a good barbecue sauce and this weekend I finally decided to give it a try.

I looked up a bunch of recipes online and decided to use a recipe from Chateleine magazine as my base. Let me tell you that by the end of it, my recipe had not much in common with the recipe I started with. You see what tastes great to one person or what one person is looking for in a barbecue sauce can be totally different so it's important to taste ad taste some more while your making your recipe. A little bit a tweaking can go a long way to make an okay recipe into something spectacular.

Homemade Barbecue sauce

1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1/2 cup pureed onion
2 cups ketchup
2 cups tomato sauce
1/2 cup brown sugar
5 tablespoons hoisin sauce
1/4 cup vinegar
1 teaspoon garlic powder
4 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
3-4 tablespoons paprika
1 tablespoon hot pepper flakes
3 tablespoons chili powder

Heat a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the oil and the onion. Cook, stirring constantly, until fragrant, about 1 minute.

This is what your onion will look like once pureed.  Before putting it in the blender, you should chop it  first otherwise it will heat up the onion too much

Add ketchup, tomato sauce, brown sugar, hoisin sauce, garlic powder, Worcestershire sauce, paprika, vinegar, chili powder and pepper flakes. Continue stirring frequently, until flavours develop, 5 to 8 minutes.

Ladle into clean mason jars. Let cool at room temperature, about 30 minutes. Wipe rims clean, then twist lids on tightly. Keep refrigerated for up to a month.

Makes about 4 cups

Peach chutney

After being gone for 3 weeks, there is a ton of things that need to be done around the house. It seems like I spent the whole week cleaning and getting things in order so I was pretty excited when the weekend finally came around. Although after being gone for 3 weeks, there is also a ton to do in the kitchen, especially during the summer when fruits and veggies are in season in Canada.

For the last couple of years I have been canning a lot of fruits and veggies. I started small by canning some pickles and now my pantry is not big enough to contain all the canned goods I prepare. Normally I start in late July early August, but since I was gone at the time, I now had to make up for lost time so this weekend I made some sweet relish, peach chutney, mango chutney and some barbecue sauce. Fortunately for me, my parents and my aunt and uncle were nice enough to donate some veggies for my canning adventure which made it a little easier on the wallet.

I first tried this recipe last summer because I had some extra peaches. My husband was not impressed. He said he never cared for chutney, but I asked him to try it anyways. He tried it and loved it. Actually both of us really like it and every time we made pork chops, we pretty much ate a whole jar and we ran out really quickly. So this year I had to do a few batches just to make sure that we would have enough to make it through the summer.

If you like spicy food, you can use more than one jalapenos peppers and keep the seeds to give it extra punch. This chutney also makes a nice hostess gift for the person who has everything!

Bon appetit!

Peach Chutney
(inspired from Epicurious.com)

1/2 cup cider vinegar
1/2 packed brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1 large sweet red pepper, thinly diced
1 onion, thinly diced
1 small jalapeno pepper, finely diced (for more heat keep the seeds)
1/3 cup raisins
2 teaspoons ginger
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon finely chopped garlic
2 pounds firm fresh peaches, blanched

To blanch the peaches, score the skin of the peaches in a x shape.

Bring a large pot of water to a boil and drop the peaches in there. Keep the peaches in the water until the skin starts to peel (about 20 seconds).

Drop the peaches into a pot of ice cold water for a few minutes (to stop the cooking process).

Once the peaches have cooled, peel the skin, then cut the peaches into small cubes.

Put the vinegar and both sugar into a large pot, place over medium heat and bring to a boil.

Add the red pepper, onion, jalapeno, raisins, garlic, ginger and salt and simmer for 10 minutes.
Add the peaches and simmer for an additional 5-10 minutes.

In the meantime, prepare 7 clean 250 ml mason jars on a rack in a boiling water canner; cover jars with water and heat to a simmer (180°F/82°C). Set screw bands aside. Heat sealing discs in hot water, not boiling (180°F/82°C). Keep jars and sealing discs hot until ready to use.


Pour the chutney into the jars (within 1 cm of head space), cap and place mason jars into the canner.

When canner is filled, ensure that all jars are covered by at least one inch (2.5 cm) of water. Cover canner and bring water to full rolling boil before starting to count processing time. At altitudes up to 1000 ft (305 m), process –boil filled jars – 15 minutes.

When processing time is complete, remove canner lid, wait 5 minutes, then remove jars without tilting and place them upright on a protected work surface. Cool upright, undisturbed 24 hours; DO NOT RETIGHTEN screw bands.

After cooling check jar seals. Sealed discs curve downward and do not move when pressed. Remove screw bands; wipe and dry bands and jars. Store screw bands separately or replace loosely on jars, as desired. Label and store jars in a cool, dark place. For best quality, use home canned foods within one year.

Enjoy!

Back to reality

So I am back from my trip to Europe! Sad to have left, but happy to be back at home where I do not have to live out of a suitcase! Although this trip was about visiting all the places we had heard so much about, let's face it, it was also about the food! This trip was also about celebrating. Celebrating our one year wedding anniversary as well as both of our 30th birthdays!

We had a list of things that we wanted to try, a very long list which we completed (yay!) and we also got to try a few more things along the way. Since we were on a cruise for the first 12 days, we ate like kings, sampling as much as we could. We would grab a small breakfast in the morning, eat local food for lunch and order a gourmet meal every night. When people ask me what was my favourite part of the trip, I immediately think about food (which is sad given the fact that we did visit the Vatican, the Louvres, climbed the Matterhorn and observed Paris from the top of the Eiffel tower...) But I can't help it, food is my passion.


On the cruise we made sure to try all the restaurants on board. The Asian fusion one was our personal favourite, but the steak house had the best desserts! I had a wonderful raspberry cheesecake there, but the best dessert was by far their vanilla soufflé!!! We were both stuffed after eating an enormous meal (ceasar salad, French onion soup, seafood platter, filet mignon surf and turf, and 3 desserts...) but we could not stop eating it! Sadly the recipe was not available in any of their cookbook, but you can be sure that I will still try to replicate it!

Here are some pictures from the Pinnacle grill, the steakhouse on board:

The French onion soup.... I swear there must have been a pound of cheese in there!!

The seafood appetizer platter. My husband really enjoyed that one!

Here is our favourite of the night, the vanilla souffle! If you ever cruise with Holland America, make sure you try that one, it's a must!!

Here are some shots from the Tamarind Asian fusion restaurant:

The dips for the shrimp bread. Really tasty

The thai beef salad. Such a nice mix of flavours, I would order that one again in a heartbeat!

The potstickers

The kebbab sampler! There was lamb, beef, chicken, pork and shrimp in there. So good!

Ribs!

There was duck on the menu so I had to try it! Great choice!

My husband had the steak with the wasabi crust. The wasabi definitely gave it a kick

Now that's what I call a fortune cookie!!! Filled with chocolate ganache too!

Mango cloud and mango sorbet

Food on the ship in general was pretty great. We sampled cold fruit soups, lamb, seafood, lots of great salads and steaks.

Peach soup, one of my favourite

Lamb kebbab

Alaskan King crab legs. Let's just say that my husband was excited about that one!

A nice filet mignon

Raspberry mousse

Strawberry gelatto at the Canaletto restaurant 

We were also fortunate enough to have both a culinary art centre as well as a guest chef on the ship. Chef Chris Cosentino share with us a few Italian recipes as well as several cooking tips and we even got to sample the food. Some of the ship's chefs also shared their signature dish with us so we are now able to replicate some of our favourites. On top of that we were invited to 2 wine tastings, where we tried various champagnes, white and red wines that we learned how to paired with various food. Needless to say that we had a great time at those!

In Barcelona we had a great big sangria on a terrase overlooking a busy street. In Greece, we sampled the traditional Greek salad, grilled feta, gyros pita, souvlaki, olives and of course baklavas (best I ever had!). In Italy, we had lots of pasta but also tiramisu, cannolis, lobster tail, pizza, calzone and gelatos. In Switzerland we had the cheese fondue, the raclette, chocolate fondue, lots of chocolates and a berliner (that was so good!!).

Chocolate fondue in Luzern, Switzerland

Lunch at the Magna Gracia farm in Greece

Our sampler plate at the Magna Gracia farm

Greek salad

Grilled feta in Greece

Baklava in Corfu, Greece

Chicken and fries and the cold cut and cheese platter (and some wine of course) at a nice little cafe near the Pantheon in Paris

Tomato tartare with Mozzarella and pistou at Bofinger, Paris's first brasserie (1864)

But France was still my favourite! The best meal of our trip was in Bordeaux hands down!! Foie gras, warm goat cheese on bread, duck confit, creme brulee and crepe with wine, all under 50 euros... unbelievable. Here are the pictures from that meal at L'Ombriere in Bordeaux.

Baked goat cheese on bread

Foie gras plate

Duck confit and fries

Crepe!

Creme brulee!

No European meal would be complete without a nice cup of coffee

While we were in France we also tried croissant, chausson aux pommes, pain au chocolat, cannelés, macarons, steak and fries, croque monsieur to name a few.

We were also lucky enough to tour 2 chateaux in the Bordeaux region and to try their wines and while in Reims to tour 2 champagne house (Mumm and Pommery).

Luckily (maybe more like miraculously) for me, with all the walking we did (and the stair climbing...) I managed not to put any weight on (maybe I was made to live in Europe or at least that's what I told my husband when I tried to get him to move there... let's just say that did not work)! So I guess I'll have to integrate some of these dishes as part of my regular diet!

Now that my husband and I are back it's time for me to get serious! There is so much to be done before the end of the harvest season!!! Canning peaches and tomatoes, make pesto, relish, green tomato ketchup, peach chutney, bake pies (tons of them!), make tomato sauce... oh I'm gonna be one busy bee, but the results will be worth the work!!! Hopefully I will be able to document all these wonderful recipes so that you too can try them at home!