My basil in the front garden is going crazy. I thinned it out, but it still looks nice and bushy. I made a fresh pesto pasta with chicken and tomatoes for a most delicious dinner. I always have a bag of boneless skinless chicken thighs in the freezer, it's one of my few quick-fix meal solutions these days. They add a kick of protein and they are done in about 1/2 an hour on my countertop grill. Minimum of heat added to the house, or this can be made at night when it's cooler and just heated up or eaten cold.
Fresh Pesto
2 cups packed fresh basil
1/4 cup parsley
1-2 cloves garlic
1/4 cup toasted walnuts
1/4 cup parmigano reggiano
3/4 cup olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
Put all ingredients except olive oil into a food processor or blender. Pulse briefly to chop the basil and then run on low as you drizzle the olive oil in until you get a smooth sauce.
Chicken Pesto Pasta
1# short pasta (penne or rotini work well)
1 recipe fresh pesto (about 1 cup)
1# cooked chicken, chopped
1/2 cup toasted walnut pieces
1 pint cherry tomatoes halved
Parmigano reggiano to taste
Toss all the ingredients in a large bowl. Eat, enjoy.
Showing posts with label sauce. Show all posts
Showing posts with label sauce. Show all posts
03 July 2010
04 March 2010
Sloppy Jalopy
Everyone should have an easy dinner now and then to fall back on. I actually tend to use the easy ones on my days off of work, so that I have more time to get things done around the house or out in the world. I can't unfortunately take all the credit, but the original recipe is posted in a private forum, and I've heavily modified to make use of ingredients I generally have on hand. If you don't like things really spicy, cut the paprika by half, an omit the jalapenos all together. You could also replace the jalapenos with sweet bell peppers (I'm not a fan of the sweet, so I don't use them almost ever). Pair this with a great onion roll or kaiser roll from a local bakery if you can get them (I used the New Yorker rolls from Zingerman's Deli). I also pulled a package of corn on the cob that I froze last summer from our CSA and heated that up for along side. Expect around 15 minutes for prep (including browning the meat).
Venison Joe:
3 lb ground venison, cooked
2 c. onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, pressed or minced
1 1/2 c. ketchup (about 16-18 oz)
1/2 c. water
3 med. jalapenos, minced
1/2 T. horseradish
4 T. brown sugar
4 T. mustard
4 T. cider vinegar
4 T. worcestershire
4 T. spicy paprika (if you can't find spicy, use chili powder instead, but don't just use the bland red powder most grocery stores stock as "paprika")
Put all ingredients in crock pot, stir and forget about it (6-8 hours on low or 3-4 hours on high).
A few final notes: the sauce is rather liquid when it first goes in, but cooks down to a great thick consistency. If you are pressed for time or don't want to use the crockpot, omit the water in the recipe to achieve similar results and mix together in a regular sauce pot on the stove. Add the venison, and cook for 10 minutes or so until everything is heated through.
Alternately if you are going to be gone longer then 8 hours, add more water to the sauce so that it does not burn. Another 1/4 cup should give you about 2 to 3 more hours.
Venison Joe:
3 lb ground venison, cooked
2 c. onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, pressed or minced
1 1/2 c. ketchup (about 16-18 oz)
1/2 c. water
3 med. jalapenos, minced
1/2 T. horseradish
4 T. brown sugar
4 T. mustard
4 T. cider vinegar
4 T. worcestershire
4 T. spicy paprika (if you can't find spicy, use chili powder instead, but don't just use the bland red powder most grocery stores stock as "paprika")
Put all ingredients in crock pot, stir and forget about it (6-8 hours on low or 3-4 hours on high).
A few final notes: the sauce is rather liquid when it first goes in, but cooks down to a great thick consistency. If you are pressed for time or don't want to use the crockpot, omit the water in the recipe to achieve similar results and mix together in a regular sauce pot on the stove. Add the venison, and cook for 10 minutes or so until everything is heated through.
Alternately if you are going to be gone longer then 8 hours, add more water to the sauce so that it does not burn. Another 1/4 cup should give you about 2 to 3 more hours.
14 October 2009
10 August 2009
Garden Tomato Sauce
The farm stand around the corner from my house was having a sale. 1/2 a peck of tomatoes for $4.95. How could I pass it up? So I carted home my peck of tomatoes (at that price, I totally bought 2) and then contemplated what the heck to do with a peck of tomatoes! And then I set about thinking what I ate a lot of that involved tomatoes, and came up with a solution that had everything going for it. During the winter here in Michigan I tend to eat a lot of pasta because it's quick and filling and generally warm. And I like my pasta with tomato sauce because it's a little bite of sunshine when sun is in short supply. So I set about making my tomatoes into sauce to go into my freezer until I am desperate for a mental trip back to August.
What You'll Need -
9 tomatoes chunked (leave the seeds and skins intact)
3 medium onions, diced
10 cloves of garlic, minced (ok, I really like garlic, but you can cut back to taste)
2 small poblano peppers, seeded and chopped
any other garden veggies that you need to use up (zucchini, green peppers, etc...) diced
3 sprigs of basil, stripped and chopped
1 cup of good red wine
1/4 cup sherry or red wine vinegar
1 cup tomato juice
1 teaspoon sugar
salt and pepper
olive oil
Turn the burner on medium heat and in a large stock pot heat the olive oil (enough to coat the bottom) until it shimmers in the pan. Add the onions and cook for about 5 minutes or until soft. Add the garlic, any peppers or other veggies (Not the tomatoes), the basil and cook until soft.
Add the vinegar and scrape the bottom of the pot getting up all of the good bits at the bottom. Let everything simmer lightly in the vinegar so that it soaks it all up. The vinegar is going to brighten up the sauce and play up the sweetness of the tomatoes. At this point I like to add the sugar, salt, and pepper and stir so all of the veggies are evenly coated. Add the tomatoes, wine and tomato juice stirring to combine.
Put the lid on the stock pot, turn the burner down to low so that the sauce is barely simmering and walk away. If you are feeling particularly responsible you can clean up the kitchen (you are done with the intensive prep work now) but I grabbed the trashy romance novel that I was in the middle of and plopped down on the couch where I could see the stove and chilled out for a while. In about half an hour (if it's longer it's not really going to suffer at this point, you'll just need to add more liquid) take the pot off the heat. We've now reached the point where my husband and I disagree. I really like chunky sauces, he likes them smoother. This batch got smoothed out with an immersion blender because I wasn't home to bicker with him, but this is not a necessary step. If you are going to enjoy immediately, you're done! If you are going to keep it for a bit let it cool on your counter for about an hour. After that hour, put the sauce in the refrigerator and leave it overnight to cool completely. Seal in appropriate containers (we have a vacuum sealer so we made up 2 cup bags) and freeze. Use in 4 to 6 months for best flavor. This makes approximately 8 cups of tomato sauce.
Now I just have to figure out what to do with the other 20 tomatoes I have left!
What You'll Need -
9 tomatoes chunked (leave the seeds and skins intact)
3 medium onions, diced
10 cloves of garlic, minced (ok, I really like garlic, but you can cut back to taste)
2 small poblano peppers, seeded and chopped
any other garden veggies that you need to use up (zucchini, green peppers, etc...) diced
3 sprigs of basil, stripped and chopped
1 cup of good red wine
1/4 cup sherry or red wine vinegar
1 cup tomato juice
1 teaspoon sugar
salt and pepper
olive oil
Turn the burner on medium heat and in a large stock pot heat the olive oil (enough to coat the bottom) until it shimmers in the pan. Add the onions and cook for about 5 minutes or until soft. Add the garlic, any peppers or other veggies (Not the tomatoes), the basil and cook until soft.
Add the vinegar and scrape the bottom of the pot getting up all of the good bits at the bottom. Let everything simmer lightly in the vinegar so that it soaks it all up. The vinegar is going to brighten up the sauce and play up the sweetness of the tomatoes. At this point I like to add the sugar, salt, and pepper and stir so all of the veggies are evenly coated. Add the tomatoes, wine and tomato juice stirring to combine.
Put the lid on the stock pot, turn the burner down to low so that the sauce is barely simmering and walk away. If you are feeling particularly responsible you can clean up the kitchen (you are done with the intensive prep work now) but I grabbed the trashy romance novel that I was in the middle of and plopped down on the couch where I could see the stove and chilled out for a while. In about half an hour (if it's longer it's not really going to suffer at this point, you'll just need to add more liquid) take the pot off the heat. We've now reached the point where my husband and I disagree. I really like chunky sauces, he likes them smoother. This batch got smoothed out with an immersion blender because I wasn't home to bicker with him, but this is not a necessary step. If you are going to enjoy immediately, you're done! If you are going to keep it for a bit let it cool on your counter for about an hour. After that hour, put the sauce in the refrigerator and leave it overnight to cool completely. Seal in appropriate containers (we have a vacuum sealer so we made up 2 cup bags) and freeze. Use in 4 to 6 months for best flavor. This makes approximately 8 cups of tomato sauce.
Now I just have to figure out what to do with the other 20 tomatoes I have left!
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