Pasadena Farmers' Market

Boo! What better way to start off a frightful Halloween night than with a healthful Saturday morning at the Pasadena Farmers' Market. I'll be there -- come say hello.

Photo: Getty

Ask the Chef....

Mexican Chocolate

This will be a fun one.

Stay tuned....

A Halloween Treat

(Ann Johansson / Los Angeles Times)

No tricks this year -- well, at least not right now.

I am feeling festive and thought I'd post a delicious recipe I recently discovered that is simple and potentially a BIG hit for you and your friends and family this week leading up to Halloween.

Tomato Soup with Ghost Toasts

Servings: 4

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion, diced small
2 carrots, diced small
2 stalks celery, diced small
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 (28-ounce) can diced tomatoes
3 cups chicken stock
2 slices white bread (large enough to make 8, 2" croutons)
3 ounces white cheese, such as Gruyere, Cheddar, Jack or Swiss, cut in 4 slices
12 whole peppercorns, optional
1/2 cup whipping cream
Salt, pepper

1. Heat the oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add the onion, carrots and celery. Cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook 1 minute. Add the tomatoes and chicken stock. Increase the heat to high and bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to low and simmer until the vegetables are tender, 15 minutes. Stir occasionally.

2. Meanwhile, using a cookie cutter or scissors, cut the bread slices into ghost shapes. Cut the cheese slices into the same shape. Toast the ghosts in a toaster oven. Place them on an oven-safe tray, then place the cheese on top. Use 3 peppercorns to make eyes and a mouth for each ghost. Put them back into the toaster oven and toast again to melt the cheese. (If you don't have a toaster oven, you can broil the cheese toasts about 4 inches beneath the broiler element until the cheese is bubbly, 2 minutes.)

3. Puree the soup in a blender in two batches. Return it to the pot. Add the cream and adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper. Heat, then serve in bowls with the ghost toasts on top.

Los Angeles Times, 2009

Bon Appetit!

Pesto - A Spin on the Familiar

Hope everyone had a great weekend.

Today I want to close our discussion on pesto with a variation on tradition: cilantro pesto. Last summer, the Los Angeles Times featured a recipe using this fun twist on a favorite staple.

Here you go, try it over pasta or get creative!

Cilantro pesto

1/2 cup unfiltered olive oil
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
1 large bunch cilantro
2 cloves garlic minced
1/8 cup pine nuts

In a blender, combine the oil, vinegar and nutritional yeast and blend well. (Of course, as we know, if you have a marble mortar use it instead of the blender!) Add the cilantro and garlic and blend as needed for desired thickness and texture. Add the pine nuts and blend quickly to coarsely chop, giving the pesto a thicker texture. Makes about 1 cup pesto. (Los Angeles Times, Food, June 10, 2009)

Post a comment and let me know what you think.

Enjoy!

We're #1!

Did you know?

Condé Nast Traveler announced that San Francisco was voted the #1 city to visit in the U.S....

for the 17th year in a Row!

Whoohoo! Let's hear it for my hometown!

Pasadena Farmers' Market

I will be at the Pasadena Farmers' Market tomorrow morning --- come say hello!

Pesto - O Olive Oil

Olive Oil. What a broad topic! Today I will focus on the production of olive oil and also how it relates to the pesto sauce.

As we know from previous posts, the pesto sauce originates from the lovely Italian region, Liguria. The Western Riviera location is prime for olive production -- olive trees blanket the hills and coatlines.

The process of producing olive oil is complex and an interesting combination of traditional method and modern day efficiency. Very simply, the olive is crushed into a paste and that paste is kneaded to release the oil from the pulp. The oil is then extracted from the pulp. In yesteryear, this was accomplished by crushing the pulp in a press. Today, the oil is extracted using methods that take advantage of the different characteristics of water and oil. The oil is then clarified to remove impurities.

Liguria boasts a museum, Musee dell'Olivo, devoted to educating people like us about its divine kitchen staple, olive oil. Check it out if you want more information.

A Kitchen Tip: try to buy 100% extra virgin olive oil from a Mediterranean country to get the highest quality, first-pressed, and cold-pressed olive oil.

Pesto -My Way

I love to read reader comments, so don't be shy.

I also love making pesto. My favorite is a creamier pesto augmented with pearl onions. I serve it over a penne pasta, and it makes a beautiful meal. I like it so much, I offer a variation of this dish as a Long Beach Symphony POPS! Menu offering.

Pachelbel and Pesto.

Perfetto!

Pesto - The Basics on Basil

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Basil, that aromatic ingredient that gives a pesto sauce its distinctive green hue, is an herb worthy of our undivided attention.

A member of the mint family, basil comes in upwards of a 100 varieties. We are most familiar with sweet basil, the variety traditionally used in Italian cooking. Other more common varieties include lemon and Thai basil as well as the colorful purple and red leafed basils popping-up in salads.

The basil flavor resides in the natural oils in the herbs' wide, flat leaves. As discussed in my earlier post, the ideal method of releasing those flavors is grinding the leaves in a marble mortar with a pestle. Some things never change. However, according to the Cooks' Illustrated test kitchen, bruising the basil leaves, enclosed in a sealed bag, with a meat pounder or rolling pin is a quick, effective alternative.

Basil's flavor is powerful but fleeting. If you do not have fresh basil on hand, the next best option is frozen cubes, available at Trader Joe's and many grocery stores. For those of you with a summer basil plant, you may consider freezing your own. Dried basil, although readily available, lacks in flavor and has a very short shelf life.

Now a question for my readers: what is your favorite way to use basil in your own cooking?

Stay tuned for more Pesto chatter... coming next, Olive Oil.

* Image found here.

Pesto - The Humble Origins

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According to foodie lore, the pesto sauce originated in Liguria, an Italian province along the Mediterranean coastline, more specifically in Genoa, the Ligurian capital city. The region is renowned for the quality of its produce. Genoa's proximity to the Sea, mild temperatures, and topography combine to create an ideal environment for growing quality produce such as grapes for wine, olives for oil, and basil for, well, pesto.

An authentic Ligurian pesto sauce requires a marble mortar. The marble best releases the basil aroma and flavor. Basil, coarse salt, and garlic cloves are blended within the mortar to a puree using a circular technique. Gradually extra virgin olive oil, grated Parmesan cheese, and pine nuts are added to the emerging sauce.

Although more than three hundred years old, the pesto sauce, in its true form, remains largely unchanged. Simple technique and quality produce continues to yield a refreshing flavor.

Stay tuned for more on the key ingredients in a good pesto.... First up, basil.

* image found here

Ask The Chef... Pesto!

Fall has finally set in with slightly cooler weather and the holidays right around the corner.

I want to spend a little time on one of my favorite Italian staples: the pesto sauce. We will focus on the origins of the Mediterranean (hint) recipe as well as the blessings of its simple ingredients.

Stay tuned.... More on pesto very soon.

Final Destination on the Green Train..

Three popular combinations of mixed greens include Mesclun, Oriental mix, and Baby mix. Mesclun is an interesting mix of nine different greens imparting sweet, bitter, peppery, and sometimes herb or flower flavors. Oriental mix isn’t quite as popular but contains a variety of uncommon greens that impart zesty, minty, and spicy flavors. A Baby mix is self-explanatory and includes a mixture of textures, flavors, and colors. Now, wasn’t that what we were looking for? If you’re reluctant to buy that whole bag of arugula or Belgium endive, perhaps these popular mixed green combinations can help spice up your salads, literally.

Last Stop on the Green Train...

Stay tuned for tomorrow's post! And make it a great day...

Third Stop: Spicy Greens - yay!

Spicy greens give salads, you guessed it, a spicy flavor. These greens are usually sold as baby greens so they are less spicy and peppery in flavor. Arugula is one spicy green that has become popular at farmer’s markets and grocery stores due to its versatility for salads, sautéed in entrees, and even baked on pizzas. If you like the spiciness that arugula adds to your food, try adding variety with amaranth, mizuna, mustard greens, or watercress. If you can’t pick just one, that’s okay. You can make your own specialty mixes at most farmers’ markets due to the increasing popularity of mixed green varieties.

Next Stop: Bitter Greens...

Let’s jump to Bitter Greens. This category includes varieties that can stand up during cooking but are also tender enough for raw salads. Some examples of bitter greens include Belgian endive, frisee, arugula, escarole, watercress, and radicchio. Chicories are often sold but as baby greens because of a strong bitter flavor that develops with age. While all of these greens can be used in salads, Belgian endive, radicchio, and some others hold up to grilling, braising, and roasting. How’s that for a twist on a regular salad?

First Stop: Mild Greens

First, let’s group salad greens into four categories: mild greens, spicy greens, chicories and bitter greens, and mixed greens.

And our first stop: our friendly iceberg and romaine who fall into the mild greens category. These are ‘crisphead’ greens but there are also Butterhead, i.e. Bibb or Boston, and leaf groups, i.e. green or red leaf. Butterhead varieties are loosely formed and round, have tender leaves, and are sweet and delicate in flavor. If you usually fall for the iceberg lettuce, try a Bibb or Boston lettuce for a crisp and flavorful crunch to your salad. These varieties provide good crunch for lettuce wraps. (Bibb lettuce wraps with lemon grilled chicken anyone?)