This is true end-of-summer fare. A batch of pesto from the basil that’s growing gangly in the garden. (Try our zippy Asian Pesto, Basil-Mint Pesto or Spicy Sage and Parsley Pesto.) A spatchcocked (butterflied) chicken cooked (relatively) quickly on the grill, since the days are shorter now. Which is good. I like saying goodbye to a season with a taste of all I love about it — and this grilled chicken recipe has it.
[amd-zlrecipe-recipe:50]
This emerald pesto is ideal when the weather starts to warm up – the mint adds a springy note while the basil offers a hint of summer to come. Stir it into Maria Speck’s Speedy Chickpea Couscous with Pesto, serve a dollop atop fish or poultry, spread it on crostini or add it to hot pasta. This pesto recipe yields a generous amount. Use whatever you need now, and freeze the leftovers in an ice-cube tray. Once it’s frozen, pop the pesto cubes out of the tray and transfer them to a heavy-duty zip-top bag and freeze up to 1 month.
[amd-zlrecipe-recipe:161]
Right about now, I get to craving the aromatic bliss of basil. But it’s tough to find in winter, and tends to be somewhat bland–and expensive–if you do. My seasonal secret? I use arugula, which is abundant right now both in my garden and on market shelves. The fresher the arugula, the more pungent the whole experience will be; for even more punch, pound the pesto in a mortar and pestle. This recipe makes a double batch of arugula pesto. The extra will keep in the fridge for up to 3 days, or you can freeze it for up to 6 months. This garlicky, spicy pesto is terrific with roast chicken, as a sandwich spread or dolloped on crostini with goat cheese.
[amd-zlrecipe-recipe:210]
As Jonathan Bloom notes in his book, American Wasteland: How America Wastes Nearly Half of Its Food (DaCapo Press), bunches of fresh herbs are among the most common items languishing in our refrigerator crispers. Chances are, you bought some fresh herbs, only needing to chop a tablespoon or so for a recipe, and tucked the rest away with every intention of using it up. Pesto is easy to improvise with whatever herbs you have on hand. In this version, sage and parsley provide the anchor for a hearty winter pesto. Serve it over pasta, as a condiment with roast poultry or fish, or spread over crusty bread.
[amd-zlrecipe-recipe:178]
People ask me why the food they cook at home doesn’t taste as special what they get in restaurants. That doesn’t mean their home-cooked fare isn’t wonderfully delicious–it is–but I know what they mean: Cooking in restaurants often has an engaging complexity and nuance that’s a step up from home cooking.
There are many reasons for this. Chefs–good ones, anyway–are willing to track down top-quality ingredients. They’re not shy about using flavor-enhancing salt, butter and cream. Even more importantly, they take the time to prepare little extras that add flavor and texture to many of their dishes. I worked at a restaurant where the mayonnaise was always made in-house, as was the dough for the flatbreads. We made pureed garlic confit,* which was used to add mellow garlicky flavor to everything from salad dressings to lentils.
Thomas Keller has a similar preparation in his inspiring book, Ad Hoc at Home (Artisan), as part of a long chapter “lifesavers.” These include house-made nut butters, flavored oils, chutneys, jams and pickles, and they provide the delicious backbone for some recipes and the finishing touches for others.
Making a batch of Carnitas de Lia this weekend inspired me to make my own piquant finishing touch. As I rubbed the spices onto the pork shoulder, it occurred to me that I needed some pickled red onions, which are a traditional accompaniment to provide a refreshing tart-sweet, crunchy counterpoint to the rich pork and guacamole. And because they’re so easy to make, I put together the following Quick-Pickled Red Onions in, oh, about 10 minutes. They were great with the carnitas, and I’ve also been enjoying them tucked into quesadillas and, this afternoon, on an egg salad sandwich.
We have lots of other extras that are easy to prepare and will make your cooking anything but basic:
Once you start playing around with different ways to use components like these, you’ll see that the recipes aren’t the end goal, but the start–or end–of something extra-special.
* That garlic confit is super-easy to make: Place peeled whole garlic cloves in a saucepan, add enough olive oil to cover, and simmer until very tender. Drain, reserving the oil (because it now has wonderful garlicky flavor, too!), and mash the cloves with a whisk or a fork. Store the oil and garlic separately and use them within a week.
Serving food to 2,500 hungry people is lots of fun–especially if you do it on a perfect September Saturday in the heart of Northern California’s Wine Country. That’s what we did at last weekend’s Taste of Sonoma at the historic MacMurray Ranch in Healdsburg. The sell-out crowd came to spend the day sipping Sonoma County’s best wines, watching chef demonstrations and sampling tasty treats.
Healdsburg is Lia’s home turf, so of course NOURISH Evolution Partnership Director Mary Beth Burner and I gussied up to join the fun (that’s us with Lia in the lower right-hand photo).
We spent two days cooking up Corn & Quinoa Pasta Salad, Asian Pesto and Hot-Smoked Sablefish (the recipe is below). People relished tasting new-to-them foods, such as quinoa and Jovial einkorn whole grain pasta (it’s rolling out at Whole Foods nationwide in coming months) or the zippy pesto with Asian flare.
“I love this sablefish!” said one new fan. “I’m sick of salmon, it’s nice to have something new.”
“This is food I live for,” raved another.
Hungry festival-goers gobbled it up, and lots of peeps came back for seconds–with friends in tow. Many lined up to watch Lia demo the pasta salad, pesto and our Sauteed Sablefish Ginger-Soy Glaze. She also demonstrated a cumin-crusted grilled scallop recipe at the Alaska Seafood station.
The most fun for us was meeting NOURISH Evolution fans in person and making lots of new friends. If we didn’t see you there, you can enjoy your own Taste of Sonoma with the recipes on our site (they’re exactly what we served on Saturday). And we hope to see you at next year’s event. It’s a delightful way to spend your Labor Day weekend!
I first developed this spicy pesto recipe out of desperation with an abundance of end-of-the-season Thai basil (it freezes wonderfully). Now it’s one of our summer staples … especially now that Noemi loves being in on the action. Get creative with this flavorful pesto recipe. Rub it on chicken and fish, mix it into rice noodles, stir-fry some tofu and spicy greens. If you don’t have a mortar and pestle–or don’t want to use yours–just whip it up in a food processor; drizzle in extra lime juice and a bit of water if you need liquid to process.
3 cloves garlic
3 dried Thai chiles
Sea salt, to taste
1/3 cup peanuts
1 tablespoon sugar
2 packed cups Asian basil leaves
1 tablespoon fish sauce
1 tablespoon peanut oil
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lime juice
In a mortar and pestle, pound the garlic and chiles to a paste with a tiny pinch of salt. Then add peanuts and sugar, and pound to incorporate. Handful by handful, add the basil and pulverize completely in between additions. Stir in fish sauce, peanut oil and lime juice.
Serves 8
Prep Time: 15 minutes
I know, I know; this recipe has a lot of layers to it. But think of it as four meals in one—farro, grilled eggplant, summer pesto and salsa fresca. Make a little extra of each one and you’ll have a week’s worth of meals . . . along with an impressive dish for dinner.
[amd-zlrecipe-recipe:121]
