Eric's Pesto with Grilled Chicken

I think pesto is one of those things like risotto that people think is way more complicated to make than it actually is. Once I started to make my own, much like making your own marinara, it's difficult for me to go the store bought route any more.

I think the greatest thing about pesto is that there is no definitive way to make it. You can use spinach (or almost any leafy green) instead of basil... you can use toasted walnuts instead of pine nuts (which is how I prefer to make it)... I've even made it with a jalapeno thrown in to add a bit (or a lot) of spice. Endless possibilities, but this also adds to the perceived complexity... if you look up some recipes, I guarantee that they will all be different. The most important thing to keep in mind is that you're going to use only a few ingredients: olive oil, a leafy green/herb, cheese, and a handfull of nuts. The ratio to which you use all of these is subjective. Taste your pesto as you're combining everything and you'll come out with something you'll love.

Large Bunch of Fresh Basil
1/3 Cup Parmesan
1/4 Cup Walnuts (Pine nuts are used traditionally)
2 Garlic Cloves
1/4 Cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 lbs Rotini Pasta
3/4 lbs Grilled Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts, Cut into Bite Size Pieces
Salt and Pepper

Boil pasta according the instructions on the box.

While the pasta is cooking, make the pesto. Toast walnuts over medium low heat in a skillet until they become fragrant. Remove from heat and let cool for about 5 minutes. Combine basil, parmesan, garlic, and toasted walnuts in a food processor (I use a 2 Cup mini food prep) and pulse briefly to combine. Slowly add olive oil while pulsing mixture until it reaches your desired consistency. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Toss pesto with cooked pasta and grilled chicken. Serve with additional parmesan.

Serves 6

(Everyone grills things a little differently, so I included the amount of chicken I usually prepare for this dish... I'll leave it to you all to figure that part out)

Coming Soon (For Real this Time): Orecchiette with Spicy Sausage and Broccoli Rabe

Farmor's Macaroner

Everyone has meals growing up that are etched into their minds... all it takes is one bite and you're instantly reminded of all the times you've eaten it in the past. This is one such dish for me... for the rest of you that are lacking a Swedish mother, this may sound very strange and/or unappealing. My mother cautioned me that very few people of the non-Swedish persuasion that she has served this to cared much for it, but I got lucky because both Christie and Jonas ate it at least. I'm still debating whether they like it as much as I do.

Literally translated, what I'm calling this dish is Grandma's macaroni (Farmor is Swedish for Father's Mother), since I got the recipe from her I thought that was appropriate. I'd actually never made this before, so it was a little embarrassing to have so many questions for so simple a recipe. I would liken it to Swedish risotto, except using elbow macaroni as opposed to arborio rice. The technique used to cook the dish is very similar.

As you can see from the photo below, I served it in the traditional Swedish manner... with ketchup and Spiderman... and with meatballs. If you were to have/order this in Sweden it would most likely be presented to you with meatballs in a nice brown gravy that would be applied to the noodles as well, but seeing as how I was trying to recreate some nostalgia for myself I went with what I remembered. That's Jonas' plate in case you were wondering.

1 lb. Small Elbow Macaroni
1 to 2 quarts 2 % Milk (Whole Milk works well too)
Salt and Pepper to Taste
2 Tablespoons Sugar

In a large heavy pot combine milk, macaroni, salt and pepper and bring to just a boil, stirring constantly. Reduce heat and let pasta simmer until liquid is almost completely absorbed. Remove from heat and stir in sugar. Serve immediately with meatballs or german type sausage... ketchup optional.

Feeds 4 to 6 Hungry Swedes

Some Tips:
-You want the pasta to cook fully without absorbing all the milk, add more if your pasta starts to dry out (Much like risotto)
-Stirring regularly is key, you don't want anything to stick to the pan (Again, like risotto)

Coming Soon: Eric's Pesto with Grilled Chicken

Blueberry Boy Bait

Moving is hard work, but when you're finally getting settled it's almost like Christmas... you start to find things that you didn't remember you had. Hopefully this will lead to some more interesting posts in the near future.

In case you're wondering why there haven't been too many posts lately, it's honestly because I haven't made anything interesting enough to blog about. We've eaten out more than I care to recall over the last few weeks due to various reasons, most of which revolve around moving, and I figured no one wants to hear about us going to McDonald's for third time in a week... although the new angus burgers are pretty good. Anyhow, now that we're getting more settled, I'm hoping to post more regularly.

Jonas has developed a love for fruit which has been cultivated by all the wonderful things that his grandparents grow in their yard. Knowing how much Jonas enjoys berries, and especially blueberries, his Farmor bought him a large flat of them this last week. This lead me to look around for something to do with all these blueberries, since we had quite a bit more than he was going to be able to eat.

I have a hard time following recipes to the letter, I prefer to look at a recipe as a rough outline of what I'm trying to make... this sometimes frustrates Christie. But this recipe was quite easy, I didn't make any changes and the source included a little story/background on the recipe so I've copied it verbatim below.

Like any recipe with a great name, this also has a great story, which was that in 1954, a 15-year-old girl stole the show (but only won second prize) in the junior division of an early Pillbury Bake-Off with a variation of this recipe, named, she said, after the effect it had on boys.

Cook’s Country magazine dusted this recipe off from the Pillsbury Bake-Off Dessert Cookbook and made a few tweaks to bring it more deliciously into the modern age: butter was swapped for shortening, the quantity of blueberries was doubled and some plain sugar was replaced with brown sugar. The result? Let’s just say you don’t need to be a boy to be lured in.

Serves 12, generously

2 cups plus 1 teaspoon all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon table salt
16 tablespoons unsalted butter (2 sticks), softened
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
3 large eggs
1 cup whole milk
1/2 cup blueberries, fresh or frozen (if frozen, do not defrost first as it tends to muddle in the batter)

Topping
1/2 cup blueberries, fresh or frozen (do not defrost)
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

For the cake:
Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour 13 by 9-inch baking pan.

Whisk two cups flour, baking powder, and salt together in medium bowl. With electric mixer, beat butter and sugars on medium-high speed until fluffy, about two minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until just incorporated and scraping down bowl. Reduce speed to medium and beat in one-third of flour mixture until incorporated; beat in half of milk. Beat in half of remaining flour mixture, then remaining milk, and finally remaining flour mixture. Toss blueberries with remaining one teaspoon flour. Using rubber spatula, gently fold in blueberries. Spread batter into prepared pan.

For the topping:
Scatter blueberries over top of batter. Stir sugar and cinnamon together in small bowl and sprinkle over batter. Bake until toothpick inserted in center of cake comes out clean, 45 to 50 minutes. Cool in pan 20 minutes, then turn out and place on serving platter (topping side up). Serve warm or at room temperature. (Cake can be stored in airtight container at room temperature up to 3 days.)

Adapted from Smitten Kitchen, July 2009

Coming Soon: Farmor's Macaroner