The Best Pesto: The Italian Pantry

I've posted this pesto recipe before. It's Gran Fran's famous pesto and it cannot be beat.

Click on over to her site, The Italian Pantry to read her memoir relating to this lovely pesto.

Classic Pesto

original recipe courtesy of Fran Claro of The Italian Pantry

Ingredients

• 3 cups basil leaves
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 cup Parmigiano Reggiano cheese, roughly grated (I omit the cheese when I make this and it's fine)
• 1 to 1 1/4 cups extra virgin olive oil
• 3 tablespoons toasted pine nuts
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2   teaspoon freshly ground pepper
• Dried red pepper flakes to taste

Preparation

1. In blender or food processor, pulse all ingredients, until sauce is thick and creamy.
2. Add more oil if necessary.
3. If you are storing this for later use, put a few tablespoons of olive oil in the jar after you’ve filled it with the pesto to keep it fresh and green.

Yields approximately 2 cups Prep time, 15minutes; cook time 0

Cook’s Notes: Serve on top of pasta, as a pizza sauce or as a spread on your favorite sandwich. Great with mozzarella and tomato in a salad.

You Will Be Missed Marion Cunningham: Fig and Ham Sandwiches on Rye Bread

Fig and ham sandwiches with butter on rye bread mark my second installment in our Cook The Book project.

We are cooking through Marion Cunningham's The Breakfast Book. There are six of us participating in the project: Rachel of Ode to Goodness, Sammy of Rêve du Jour, Emily of The Bon Appetit Diaries, Aimee of Homemade Trade and Claudie of The Bohemian Kitchen.

Imagine my surprise when I found out that our author, Marion Cunningham, passed away last week. She was 90 years old, and died from Alzheimer's in Walnut Creek, CA. You can read more about her in the New York Times' obituary. I'm glad we chose her book and that we can use these next few months to showcase her wonderful recipes and keep her legacy alive.

The sandwich recipe I selected, fig and ham with butter on rye bread, is a perfect example of Cunningham's style of cooking. She was known for relating recipes from home cooks for home cooks. The straightforward nature of her writing is a breath of fresh air. Though I love today's cookbooks and all the techniques, varied ingredients and multiple steps they outline, I just adore a simple home-style recipe.

As my mother, Gran Fran, put it: "Cunningham joins Dionne Lucas, Elizabeth David, and M.F.K. Fisher as much-missed writers of the joys of cooking." So right. These are the names I recall when looking through Gran Fran's cookbook collection over the years. I can remember Gran Fran reading and marking up Cunningham's books, just as I do today.

The sandwich turned out wonderfully. It would never have occurred to me to add butter to a sandwich with meat (although I do recall loving a sandwich I had in Paris that clearly had butter on top of ham). Even though I didn't have gluten-free rye bread, I did eat one triangle of this sandwich. I just couldn't resist. The sweet figs, salty ham and soft creamy butter make a heavenly combination.

So here's to you, Marion Cunningham, for leaving wonderful tomes of recipes for us to remember you by. I can't wait to cook the next installment of The Breakfast Book.

The rye bread featured in the pictures is standard-issue. You can purchase this Colorado Caraway bread from Canyon Bakehouse, online or check out their store locator to see if it's available near you. 

Fig and Ham on Rye Bread

from Marion Cunnigham's The Breakfast Book, Copyright 1987, Alfred A. Knopf

Makes 2 sandwiches

Ingredients:

• 4 slices rye bread
• Butter
• 5 ripe figs
• 4 pieces of thinly sliced ham

Method:

1. For 2 sandwiches, butter 2 slices of bread to the edges. Trim the blowwom end and stem from 5 ripe free figs (the Adriatic variety is delicious) and slice each one into 3 slices.
2. Divide the slices of fig between 2 unbuttered slices of bread. Place a very thin slice of ham [I went with 2 slices on each sandwich] over each and cover with the buttered bread.
3. Gently press down on each sandwich. Cut in half and serve.

Really Tasty BBQ Vegan Skewers

As you may or may not already know, I'm a really big meat eater so BBQ vegan skewers are not normally I'd partake in, let alone create.

Given the bounty of the season, and my effort to eat a bit lighter, I thought we'd give some vegan skewers a try. I've been getting amazing vegetables these past few months and want to showcase their flavor. What better way to do this than by grilling veggie and tofu skewers, coated with a light olive oil mustard and thyme marinade?

Tofu has only appeared once on this site, as part of my beloved version of Cook's Illustrated's Hot and Sour Soup. I usually eat around the tofu in the soup, only eating little bits of it for the texture. Imagine how delighted I was by the flavor and consistency that the tofu had in these skewers. Not crisp, but firm, and just the right amount of marinade seeped into the tofu cubes to give you that extra flavor in every bite.

I do have to admit, I think I'd like these more with shrimp in them, but the tofu was a surprisingly good part of the whole.

BBQ Vegan Skewers

INGREDIENTS

• 6 skewers, soaked in water if they are wood
• ½ block super firm tofu, water pressed out, cut into cubes
• 1 onion, peeled and cut into chunks
• 1 cup summer squash cut into chunks
• 12  mushrooms, cleaned, ends trimmed but left whole
• 1/3 cup olive oil
• 2 teaspoons mustard
• 2 sprigs thyme leaves, minced
• Salt and Black Pepper to taste

PREPARATION

1. Preheat grill to high.
2. Mix all the dressing ingredients together in a medium bowl.
3. Alternating squash, onion, tofu and mushroom, make six skewers.
4. Brush with the dressing on all sides.
5. Place on the grill and cook for five minutes with the lid closed.
6. Open the lid, brush with dressing on all sides, cook for five minutes more on second side, turn and repeat above steps.

Iced Cappuccino with Almond Milk Redux

Simply put, Gran Fran's iced cappuccino makes me think of summer. I included this in my

Mother's Day post

, but really would like you to think about making it again now.

There are glimpses of real summer even her in San Francisco. And I know the rest of the country is hotter than a hot dog (the name of a children's book I used to read to Isabella), so I wanted to share this again with you.

Enjoy and keep cool!

Gran Fran's Almond Milk Blender Cappuccino

serves 1

you will need a blender (ok, seems obvious, but thought I should mention it)

Ingredients:

• 2 cups hot coffee, if it’s winter; cold if it’s summer
• 1 cup almond milk (Gran Fran uses whole milk)
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 6 ice cubes if it’s summer
• Cinnamon, optional

Method:

1. Place all ingredients in blender; adjust amounts to fit capacity of blender.
2. Hold down cap of blender with a dish towel.
3. Turn blender on high.
4. Blend until frothy and creamy.
5. Pour into glasses or cups. Sprinkle with cinnamon if desired.
6. Serve immediately.

Homemade Slushy: Cran-Raspberry with Strawberry Slushy

Summer means icy drinks like this cran-raspberry with strawberry slushy.

 This past weekend my daughter asked if we could make slushies. We searched for a machine that might assist us in our efforts, but came up empty.

Isabella then remembered an As-Seen-On-TV slushie shaker that she had seen at our local Walgreen's. They have two shelving units full of As-Seen-On-TV products (wait, I noticed yesterday that they've replaced this section with back-to-school items, even though it's still July). We purchased a Slushy Magic cup and went home to give it a go (we paid only half the price that was listed on their site).

The cup comes with some "magic" ice cubes (whose ingredients I decided against investigating) that you put in the freezer for a few hours. Then you pour juice into the shaker cup, add the "magic" cubes, cover and shake.

It seems that we didn't leave the cubes in the freezer long enough. And, I think it would take about forty minutes of dedicated shaking to get the Magic Slushy cup to create a nice smushy iced beverage.

We went to plan B: use my drink blender, with the juice, some whole strawberries and ice. We blended several batches, poured them into some red Solo cups (Isabella sang the song while we worked, the "Glee" version) and put them in the freezer for two hours.

They were great. When we got to the party, we poured them into smaller cups, added some ginger ale and a sprig of mint.  A great standard kid-friendly drink was born!

Cran-Raspberry with Strawberry Slushy

Ingredients:

• 2 cups cranberry-raspberry juice
• 10 strwberries, hulled and cut into chunks
• 8 to 10 ice cubes
• 1 cup ginger ale
• 10 mint sprigs for garnish

Method:

1. Put juice, strawberries and ice into a blender. Mix until ice has become crushed and strawberries are just past being chunky.
2. Pour mixture into several plastic cups.
3. Cover with plastic wrap and place in the freezer for two hours.
4. Remove from the freezer, pour into individual serving cups.
5. Stir in a splash of ginger ale into each drink. Garnish with the mint.

Bastille Day, 2010, Paris and a Crepe Recipe

Two re-posts from Paris, 2010 in honor of Bastille Day, plus a link to Isabella's crepe recipe from her years in French school here in SF.

Bastille Day Eve, 2010

Bastille day is tomorrow. This city knows how to celebrate their independence.

Two big events were going on, just in the Bastille/Marais neighborhood we are staying in.

First, there was the Bal de Pompier (fireman just does not have the same ring to it as pompier). We saw everyone lining up and much later in the evening, we looked in at a very happening party with a disco ball and crazy lights.  Seemed fun, and I believe it’s a fundraiser of some sort.

More importantly, and where we ended up, was the Concert for Diversity in the Place de la Bastille. Granted, most of the music was not up our alley, but the event was fun nonetheless.

We’ve watched quite a bit of MTV here (can’t understand most of what’s going on, but found some good videos). Ben l’Oncle Soul and Shi’m both played at the concert. We had seen their videos and liked them, so it was a nice surprise to see them live.

The crowd was really well behaved, there was no pushing, no jockeying for position, no negativity. The craziest part was that, apparently, it’s ok to drink anywhere. There were tons of people with open bottles of wine wandering around, chatting with the cops.  No one was super drunk, and overall, everyone was enjoying themselves.

We left around 9:30 (when that picture was taken, still light out) and made our way back home to watch the last hour of it on TV.

A really nice start to the holiday.

Originally posted here.

 Bastille Day, 2010, Paris, France

Not only did we go to the Champs-Elysses for the Bastille Day Parade, but we also got to see some of it right down the block from our apartment on the Rue du Rivoli.

We went up to the parade route, with me vaguely aware of the fact that it was probably going to be pandemonium.

Yes, I was right.

The biggest issue we had was our height, or lack there of. I had forgotten how hard it is in huge crowds and events it is for me to see, let alone my little lady. We did our best.

The planes overhead were awesome, got some video of them, too. We heard the music of the marching bands, and saw the members of the band coming off the parade route.

And, we did manage to see a bunch of horses and their regiment dressed up ready to go. As they were preparing, the skies opened up and there was a huge downpour.

At this point, we were right near the Franklin Roosevelt Metro stop, so we ran inside. Our size here was an asset, since we had our tickets and could wiggle our way in between the crowds.

Once back in our neighborhood, we noticed the military out in the street and that the big thoroughfare was shut to traffic. As we walked around, we started seeing crowds gathering on the corners. It occurred to us that the parade was coming down our way.

And, so it did. We saw many tanks filled with crisply outfitted military men (only one or two women in the bunch). They were not slowly going down the route. No, they were booking down the road towards the Bastille where presumably parade ended. We have video of this, too, which I will try to post soon.

The skies opened up again somewhere around when the first tank appeared. We stayed put with a completely unobstructed view of the parade. But, eventually, we had seen enough and it sure felt like we were being pelted with hail, so we went home to have a crepe and dry off.

Originally posted here.

Crepes a la Isabella

originally published in

this post,

2009.

You will need a flatish-round, nonsticl pan, or better yet, a nonstick crepe pan.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup flour (you can substitute Gluten-Free Pantry Flour mix here)
• 1 cup milk
• 1/2cup water
• 4 eggs
• 4 tablespoons melted butter
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• pinch of salt

Method:

1. Mix all ingredients well in a food processor or blender until smooth.
2. Let the batter stand for 30 minutes, undisturbed.
3. Heat the non-stick crepe pan over medium heat.
4. Spray a light coating of vegetable oil on pan.
5. Pour batter slowly into center of pan. Then, quickly pick up pan and twist the handle to move batter around into a thin coating.
6. Leave undisturbed on medium heat for 3 minutes, until edges begin to curl a little.

• Flip the crepe over. Cook another 2 minutes and flip onto a plate.
• Cover finished crepes with a clean kitchen towel while making the others.
• Serve immediately with Nutella or sugar rolled inside.
• If storing, simply make a stack of crepes and wrap in plastic wrap.

Adapted from The Joy of Coking

Cinnamon-Sugar Almonds: More Versatile Than You'd Think

Cinnamon-sugar, almonds, butter and salt. The ingredients for a fantastic little sweet treat, which is just what I was in search of.

I had a choice of walnuts, pecans, cashews or almonds. The almonds were already slivered and raw, so I went with them. This recipe is really adaptable, you can use any kind of nut (although I'd stay away from peanuts).

While I was eating these I realized they could be an accompaniment for savory dishes as well as sweet ones. These cinnamon-sugar almonds would be great in oatmeal or included in a rice pudding. For a savory use, serve them up with a really crispy-skinned glazed chicken and roasted Brussels sprouts. To add some texture and another level of flavor, stir a portion of cinnamon-sugar almonds into saffron rice with shrimp.

Add in a variety of spices, experiment a bit to see what flavor mixes work well together for you. Smoked paprika would go nicely with the sugar and butter, alongside the cinnamon. Have some fun and enjoy!

Cinnamon-Sugar Almonds

Ingredients:

• 1 cup slivered raw almonds
• 1 tablespoon powdered cinnamon
• 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 3 tablespoons butter

Method:

1. Heat a small skillet over high heat.
2. Add butter, and swirl it around in the pan, until it is melted.
3. Pour almonds into the butter, stir them around until all are coated with the butter.
4. Cook for 4 minutes, stirring constantly, until the nuts begin to brown.
5. Turn off the heat and let the almonds sit in the hot pan for another 3 minutes, stirring to keep them from burning.
6. Pour the almonds into a serving bowl and add the cinnamon-sugar. Stir to coat all the almonds in the cinnamon-sugar.

Everybody Loves Gluten Free Pizza!

 I made pizza for my friends one night recently. Here's what we put on them....

 And let me show you a few of the other toppings we used, along with links to the recipes!

Make my vegan bolognese sauce for your pizza. One recipe will yield at least five pizzas with plenty leftover for a few bowls of pasta, too.

Gluten-free pizza dough can be made at home, following this recipe. Or, you can buy a ball of dough at your local pizza place. In San Francisco, there are several places that offer GF pizza dough.

Top your pizza with roasted veggies, anchovies, an egg, cheese, or anything else you can think of.

We used thisEnglish snap pea and lemon spread on a white pizza with an egg and some anchovies. Delightful!

Anchovies. Need I say more?

(the above pizza is made with regular pizza dough from the local pizza place)

Pizza can be made on the grill, for those of you in those super hot areas of the country right now. I hope you enjoy these topping ideas and please do share your own favorite toppings with me.

This pizza is made with the GF pizza dough recipe featured above and here.

Roasted Vegetables: Beets, Potatoes and Zucchini

 I know it's really hot outside, but if you can deal with it, you need to make some roasted vegetables. There are many great choices at the farmer's markets right now:  beets, potatoes, zucchini.

 The best part is, that once you make it through the roasting, you'll have plenty leftover for upcoming meals. You can serve these veggies as part of a green salad, as a pizza topping, or just on their own, cold with some salt and pepper.

Roasted Vegetables: Beets, Potatoes and Zucchini

You can cook all the veggies at once, but I prefer to do them individually so that they each keep their own flavor.

Ingredients:

• 4 to 6 zucchini sliced into rounds
• 8 to 10 beets, peeled and cut into chunks
• 10 yukon gold potatoes sliced into rounds
• 3/4 cup olive oil
• Salt and pepper to taste

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees and place an empty jelly roll pan in to heat up at the same time.
2. Once the oven has preheated, carefully remove the tray from the oven, pour 1/4 cup of the olive oil onto the tray and place the zucchini on top.
3. Turn the zucchini slices over several times to coat in the oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
4. Cook for 15 to 20 minutes, until the pieces have browned and softened.
5. Repeat this process with the beets and the potatoes.

Glazed Cinnamon Rolls from The Breakfast Book

Glazed cinnamon rolls are so very tasty. Welcome to the first installment of my very first Cook the Book. The idea here is that I will cook a recipe every other week from Marion Cunnigham's The Breakfast Book. I'll give you a flavor of what the book is like and will inspire you to cook up some of the tasty breakfast treats yourself.

Up first is a very good glazed cinnamon roll recipe. I'm not much of a baker. I fully acknowledge my shortcomings in this area. The requirement to follow an actual recipe with precise measurements is next to impossible for me. I've been at this recipe since 7:30am this morning. The rolls went into the oven at 5:15pm. To be fair, the dough rested for six hours in the refrigerator.

I chose to do the cinnamon rolls because I have the fondest of memories of Gran Fran whipping these up for us on weekends. I now have an even greater respect for the process she went through to give us fresh baked pastries. Gran Fran was known for being up at all hours of the day and night cooking and baking. I'd come home well after midnight to be greeted with the smell of beef stew or foccacia bread with garlic and rosemary. Gran Fran was to be found somewhat asleep, sitting up on the couch with the TV on. She'd awake with a start saying "Oh, I was just resting my eyes. Let me make you a plate." It was never asked as a question. It was a given that when you came in she'd feed you.

Why'd I wander off on that tangent? Because I just figured out that she must've been up making the dough so it could rest in the fridge overnight to be ready for baking soon after we got up. I wasn't that smart. Isabella will be having cinnamon rolls as her dessert tonight (with many more leftover for breakfast). Regardless of when we eat them, they are amazing, and I am proud to say that I made my first successful batch of glazed cinnamon rolls (it only took me 42 years!).

As per Isabella's instructions, I made one dozen with the glaze and dusted one dozen with cinnamon-sugar.

I'm doing this project along with five other wonderful food bloggers: Rachel of Ode to Goodness, Sammy of Rêve du Jour, Emily of The Bon Appetit Diaries, Aimee of Homemade Trade and Claudie of The Bohemian Kitchen.Click on through to their sites to see which recipes from the Yeast Breads chapter they made.

Glazed Cinnamon Rolls

from Marion Cunningham's The Breakfast Book, copyright 1987, Alfred A. Knopf

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup warm water
• 1 package dry yeast
• 1 teaspoon plus 1/4 cup sugar
• 4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 pound (2 sticks) butter, chilled [I used unsalted, recipe didn't specify]
• 3 eggs yolks
• 1 cup milk

Filling Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter, melted [I used unsalted, recipe didn't specify]
• 6 tablespoons sugar
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon

Glaze Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups confectioner's sugar
• 2 tablespoons butter, room temperature [I used unsalted, recipe didn't specify]
• 1 tablespoon water (a trifle more mat be needed to make a manageable glaze)

Method:

1. Put the warm water in a small bowl and sprinkle the yeast over. Add 1 teaspoon sugar, stir, and let dissolve for 5 minutes.
2. In a large mixing bowl stir together the flour, 1/4 cup sugar, and salt with a fork to mix them well.
3. Cut the butter into pieces the size of small grapes and add to the flour mixture.
4. Using either you hands or a pastry blender, rub or cut the butter into the flour mixture until it is distributed and there are coarse little lumps of butter throughout.
5. Stir in the yeast mixture, the egg yolks, and the milk. Beat until blended [I used my Kitchen-Aid stand mixer with a dough hook].
6. Cover with plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator at least 6 hours (this dough can be refrigerated for 12 to 14 hours).
7. Divide the dough in half. On a lightly floured board, roll out half the dough into a rectangle about 10 by 12 inches.
8. Spread 2 tablespoons of the melted butter over the rectangle.
9. Mix the remaining 6 tablespoons sugar and the 1 teaspoon cinnamon together in a small bowl. Sprinkle half the sugar mixture evenly over the rectangle.
10. Starting with the wide side, roll up the rectangle like a jelly roll. Divide the roll into 12 pieces by first cutting the roll into 4 equal portions, the cutting each portion into 3.
11. Put the rolls cut side down in a greased muffin tin. Repeat these steps with the other half of the dough.
12. Cover loosely and let rise for 1 hour.
13. Bake in a preheated 400 degree F oven for 20 to 25 minutes
14. Remove the rolls and out them on a rack set over a piece of waxed paper.
15. To make the glaze, sift the confectioners' sugar into a small bowl, then beat in the butter and water until smooth.
16. Spoon a little of the glaze one reach roll while still hot.