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To market, to market
Whenever I go to the Farmer's Market I always wonder why I don't go more. The main reason I went this time was to get some local small-ranch, grass-only beef to compare with the La Censa I got sent. That mission was somewhat successful - I was not able to mirror the cuts exactly since our local ranch is running low on what it has from the single cow or so it slaughters at a time.
But I naturally shopped around as well. Here's what we got: 2 pounds lovely white peaches - perfect in every way. Two pints of raspberries so fragrant you could smell them from ten yards away. Two pints of blackberries. Two pounds of rich, juicy pluots. A pound of crisp, fresh spinach. A pound of teeny tiny button crimini mushrooms. And the big score - 3 pounds of basil at $3 per pound. Do you know how much basil a pound of basil is?
Half of it is already pesto - made simply and cleanly. Here are the proportions. I am sacreligious and use a blender because - well I have a life to live too. I also use walnuts because walnuts are a real local nut and although pinenuts ought to be they aren't so much.
2 really packed cups of basil leaves.
4 cloves fresh garlic
3/4 cup of the best olive oil you can afford to use
1 heaping teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons lemon juice
Multiply as many times as necessary - I start with one batch and leave it in the blender and keep adding until the blender can't blend it any more.
Blend it all together in a food processor or blender. Most recipes make this seem easy - it isn't - it takes a lot of work for your blender to really puree all those leaves. I use a rubber spatula and pulse mode and keep scraping down and it takes a total of about ten minutes.
So - a few notes. First - no parmesan. I am of the school that says add the parmesan when serving. So that's what I do. Second, lemon juice? Well - I think it improves the taste and it helps the pesto hold its color longer. Once made, you can freeze or keep in the fridge for quite a while but you will want to cover with a small amount of olive oil to prevent oxidation. Finally - the nut allergic can make a passable imitation using toasted breadcrumbs. The consistency won't quite match but overall it will work.
Tags: recipe, pesto
But I naturally shopped around as well. Here's what we got: 2 pounds lovely white peaches - perfect in every way. Two pints of raspberries so fragrant you could smell them from ten yards away. Two pints of blackberries. Two pounds of rich, juicy pluots. A pound of crisp, fresh spinach. A pound of teeny tiny button crimini mushrooms. And the big score - 3 pounds of basil at $3 per pound. Do you know how much basil a pound of basil is?
Half of it is already pesto - made simply and cleanly. Here are the proportions. I am sacreligious and use a blender because - well I have a life to live too. I also use walnuts because walnuts are a real local nut and although pinenuts ought to be they aren't so much.
Pesto
2 really packed cups of basil leaves.
4 cloves fresh garlic
3/4 cup of the best olive oil you can afford to use
1 heaping teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons lemon juice
Multiply as many times as necessary - I start with one batch and leave it in the blender and keep adding until the blender can't blend it any more.
Blend it all together in a food processor or blender. Most recipes make this seem easy - it isn't - it takes a lot of work for your blender to really puree all those leaves. I use a rubber spatula and pulse mode and keep scraping down and it takes a total of about ten minutes.
So - a few notes. First - no parmesan. I am of the school that says add the parmesan when serving. So that's what I do. Second, lemon juice? Well - I think it improves the taste and it helps the pesto hold its color longer. Once made, you can freeze or keep in the fridge for quite a while but you will want to cover with a small amount of olive oil to prevent oxidation. Finally - the nut allergic can make a passable imitation using toasted breadcrumbs. The consistency won't quite match but overall it will work.
Tags: recipe, pesto
Comments:
Based on your commentary about the beef, I'm guessing we may have passed each other at the market on Saturday -- Walnut Creek?
Hah! my dirty secret is out - I don't measure very carefully. But in this case I do know - 1/2 cup walnuts. I'll update
what happened to the September Paper Chef...no results, no explanation...so I'm wondering...is it dead? Give it to me straight -- I can take it...
Actually - Ilva - the judge - had a serious personal issue to deal with and I am trying to soft-pedal Paper Chef so she can concentrate on important things. I was thinking about getting the roundup soon with an explanation though...
Certainly local farmer's markets are the best choice to make for health also.
A guest blogger recently submitted this to my blog.
http://www.nourished.com.au/articles/finding-health-close-to-home-a-call-for-localism
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A guest blogger recently submitted this to my blog.
http://www.nourished.com.au/articles/finding-health-close-to-home-a-call-for-localism