Chunky Basil Pesto

I don’t really have much to say about this recipe… We got a new basil plant because the one we had all winter died after not being water during one of our trips out of town. Since we had a new plant, and it’s really growing, I needed to do something with some of the basil, and well, this is it.

Note: This pesto is not runny like most recipes that you see…

What You’ll Need…

1-1 ½ Cups Fresh Basil Leaves

¼ Cup Fresh Grated Parmesan Cheese

¾ Cup Whole Almonds

¼ Cup Olive Oil

Chili Powder (To taste)

Pepper (To taste)

Garlic Powder (To taste)

In a small food processor place the chunk of cheese and run the processor until the cheese is a fine grate. Place the cheese in a bowl and repeat the process with the almonds; they will not get to be as small as the cheese, but the pieces should be quite small.

Once the almonds have been processed add the cheese back into the processor. Add the basil leaves on top of that and lastly pour in all of the olive oil. (Most pesto recipes call for you to drizzle the oil in so that the mixture comes together, but I only have a small processor that does not have an opening and this way of going about things works just fine.)

When the oil has been added, close the processor and run it until the mixture becomes a paste. Transfer the paste from the processor to a bowl, add the spices, and mix.

Now the pesto is done! This version is great for crusting pork chops or tofu, over top of pierogies, or rubbed on corn on the cob.

Enjoy!  

Potato Salad

I’m sure that at least some of you are having cookouts or family gatherings this long weekend and if you’re looking for something to take try this out.

What You’ll Need…

3-5lbs Potatoes (Whole. Washed, put not peeled)

1 Bell Pepper (Diced)

1 Carrot (Thinly sliced)

2-3 Green Onions (Sliced)

1 Celery Rib (Diced)

Cole Slaw Dressing (Your choice, I prefer Marzetti’s.)

Salt

Place the washed whole potatoes in a large pot and cover with cold water. Make sure that the water is about an inch over the potatoes.  Salt the water, or not, to your liking and turn on the heat. Allow the potatoes to cook until they are fork tender.

Once the potatoes are cooked drain them and set them aside to cool slightly. You don’t want the potatoes to get cold, but you also don’t want to work with them right off the heat, you will get burned that way.

While the potatoes are cooling wash, peel, and slice/dice the vegetables and if you are making your own dressing take this time to do it.

When the potatoes are cooled enough that you can work with them cut them into bite sized pieces. Yes, I like my potatoes salad chunky.

Place the potato chunks in a large bowl, add the vegetables, and “toss” so that the vegetables are evenly distributed. Lastly, add the dressing. The amount of dressing you add depends on how much you and/or the people you will be serving like. Remember, because the potatoes are still warm they will absorb some of the dressing and will have more flavor than if you dressed the salad when it was cold. After adding the dressing toss/mix thoroughly so that all of the potatoes are coated.

Cover the bowl and place in the refrigerator for at least an hour before serving. You can serve it still warm, but it’s not as good.

Enjoy!

Ultimate Breakfast Sandwiches

Mmm breakfast. I’m sure that many of you just grab something and eat it on the way to work, or a smoothie for those of you that are “super healthy”. During the week we have a bowl of cereal to start the day, but when it comes to the weekend we like to have something that is more involved.

One thing that we have really gotten into recently is breakfast sandwiches; we even had them as breakfast for dinner one night a few weeks ago. I figure since almost everyone loves sandwiches and I haven’t posted a breakfast recipe in a while that this would be a good way to go.

What You’ll Need… (For 4 sandwiches)

8 Eggs

8 Slices Bacon

8 Slices Bread (Your choice)

4 Slices Cheese (Your choice)

2 Cups Greens (Your choice)

4 Button Mushrooms (Sliced)

1 Bell Pepper (Cut into rings)

Salt (To taste)

Pepper (To taste)

1 ½ - 2 Tablespoons Olive Oil

Preheat your oven to 400.

While you’re waiting for your oven to come to temperature prepare the vegetables and place the bacon on a greased cooling rack that has been placed on top of a baking sheet.

Once the oven has come to temperature allow the bacon to bake for 10-15 minutes, this all depends on how crispy you like your bacon.

In a skillet with about ½ a tablespoon of olive oil allow the pepper rings to soften; again this depends on the texture that you like. Once the peppers are to your liking remove them from the pan, add the greens and a bit more oil, and allow the greens to wilt. Once the greens are almost completely wilted add the mushrooms and allow them to soften.

Once the veggies are cooked the bacon should be about done, when it is, remove it from the oven and set it aside.

Now onto the eggs; crack the eggs directly into a greased skillet, four at a time. Break the yolks, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and cook over medium heat. When the eggs are almost cooked carefully flip them over so that the other side can cook. You may have to separate the individual eggs with a spatula.

Once everything is cooked it’s time to assemble the sandwiches. Each sandwich gets one pepper ring, two slices, of bacon, two eggs, one slice of cheese, and a spoonful, or as much as you like, of greens and mushrooms.

Once the sandwiches are assembled to your liking, place them on a baking sheet and place them in the oven for about 5 minutes to allow the cheese to melt.

Enjoy as is or add ketchup!

Banana Boats

Everyone loves s'mores around the around the camp fire or after a cookout, but there are other super delicious desserts that you can have in place of the chocolate, marshmallow, graham cracker goodness. And this is one of them.

What You’ll Need…

1 Banana (Per person)

Possible “Toppings”:

Mini marshmallows

Chocolate Chips

Peanut Butter Chips

Butterscotch Chips

To make these wait until the fire dies down, whether in the grill or the campfire, and the cools are smoldering.

With a sharp knife slice through both the banana peel and the banana, almost all of the way through the actual fruit part lengthwise. DO NOT cut all of the way through and DO NOT cut through the bottom part of the peel.

Place your desired “toppings” inside the actual fruit part of the banana.

Wrap each banana in foil and place in the cools to melt the toppings. Allow the bananas to cook for about 5-10 minutes.

Carefully remove the foil packets from the cools, unwrap, allow to cool slightly, and eat banana goodness with a spoon.

Enjoy!

(The picture may not be very pretty, but they are quite tasty.)

Rabbit Stew

Beef stew is delicious, but I decided to take a different approach to stew last week a made it with rabbit. I know, some of you are saying, “Ew rabbit” or “Oh, no. Not Thumper”, but rabbit is delicious. If you haven’t tried it before you really should, and this recipe is a perfect one to try rabbit for the first time.

What You’ll Need…

1 Cut up Fryer Rabbit

3-4 Medium Potatoes (Cubed)

½ Large Rutabaga (Cubed) [Optional]

 3 Medium Carrots (Large Dice)

2 Ribs Celery (Large Dice)

½ Large Onion (Large Dice)

2-3 Cloves Garlic (Minced)

1 Cup Frozen Corn

2 Tablespoons Worcestershire Sauce

4-6 Cups Water (Enough to cover all of the vegetables.)

Black Pepper (To taste)

Chili Powder (To taste)

Herbes de Provence (To taste)

Dried Parsley (To taste)

Start out by washing, peeling, and chopping your vegetables; add the potatoes, rutabaga, carrots, celery, onion, and garlic to the bottom of your crock pot.

After the vegetables have been added place the cut up rabbit on top of the vegetables and then add the Worcestershire sauce over everything. (The rabbit can still be completely frozen.)

Now, add the water to your crock-pot and make sure that the vegetables are covered and that the water touches the rabbit. Set your crock-pot to low, cover, and allow to cook for 8 hours.

One hour before you plan to serve add the corn and spices and mix well. If you want the stew to be slightly thicker you can add in some flour and mix thoroughly. Also at this point carefully remove the rabbit pieces from the stew, remove the meat from the bones, and cut into bit sized pieces. Be careful, there are a lot of bones and some of them can be tricky.

Return the meat to the stew and allow everything to cook for the remaining hour.

Serve as is or mix in a little ketchup if you’re like me. This stew goes great with a slice of bread.

Enjoy!