Monday night is a magical night for pesto

I'm pretty sure that Monday's are not only productive for me, but my prime night for experimenting in the kitchen with new recipes. Not sure what the correlation is, but maybe it has something to do with the fear of falling into the Monday slump/blues, that makes me proactive and brave in the kitchen. While I wasn't super challenged today, as I stuck with a simple homemade basil pesto, I did make this recipe up...and it tasted pretty damn good!


Leftover basil is great, but we all know it goes bad pretty quick. Nothing like soggy, brown, crunchy basil to ruin your dish. So before things really went awry, I decided to take a bunch of leftover basil and some household ingredients to make this light, flavorful sauce.


Did I mention that this pesto is...

Instagramed pesto is even better. 

• Gluten Free
• Dairy Free ( skip the Parm and it will be!)
• Fast
• Easy
• Amazing
• Fantastic...Oh I COULD GO ON...but I won't

So here are we go...

Ingredients:

• 1 bunch of fresh basil leaves
• extra virgin olive oil1-2 cloves of fresh garlic
• palmful of slivered almonds (or pine nuts, which I did not have on hand, so I improvised)
• kosher salt (or garlic salt), ground black pepper
• 1/2 tsp. grated parmesan cheese

Directions:

Get you chopper ready, a blender works fine as well if you are making a large batch of pesto. 

Rip basil off of stems and place into the chopper. Add 1-2 garlic cloves, depending on how flavorful you want your pesto to be. 

**Remember raw garlic is much stronger and sharper flavor than roasted or cooked garlic.**

Add in the slivered almonds and pulse until coarse. Slowly drizzle in extra virgin olive oil. I used a few table spoons, but the more olive oil the more thin your pesto will be. The almonds were spectacular! It gives the pesto a creaminess that remains light and, of course,  healthy.

Add salt ( or I used a sparing punch of garlic salt) and pepper to taste. You may also add the grated parmesan cheese here. 

This pesto is great fresh or can be stored in air tight container in the fridge for up to 2 weeks, or freezer for 3 months.

The cookie sheet--a gateway to baking

DISCLAIMER: I finally made some cucpcakes for the 4th of July, red velvet to be exact ( I mean I know the recipe like the back of my hand!) Nothing screams "HAPPY BIRTHDAY AMERICA" like some good, old-fashioned red velvet (insert Paula Deen twang here). Sorry, they were devoured before I could take a decent photo...


But let's celebrate the fact that I, finally, used my Silpat yesterday. I baked some simple and surprisingly light, stuffed mushrooms. They complimented my grilled chicken well and would be certainly light enough along side a beef dish as well. Portobello mushrooms, which are often the mushroom of choice for stuffing, are very hearty and have a meaty texture. They are great for main dishes if you are a vegetarian, but I think these mushrooms, as a side, make more sense with your protein. With that said, I've made a variety of stuffed mushrooms dishes, but this seems to be least labor intensive, with practical ingredients that many people usually have on hand, and packs some real heat! Never underestimate the power of Tapatio, it's got a vinegar-y kick if you use enough of it. 


So this is from Pioneer Woman's blog. She's become quite famous and I can see. She's unpretentious and got some twang and sass that people can't get enough of. In fact, rumor has it, she getting a show on The Food Network, and they actually describe her as sassy...I mean LOOK at that red hair, I don't what's sassier?! Well, I'd like to think that these stuffed  mushrooms, adapted from the Pioneer Woman's spicy stuffed mushroom recipe, channeled some sass. Also, I'd like to point out how subtly, tacky her blog theme is. It shows she humble, down to earth and honest-to-god, damn good cook! Or maybe I'm just reading into her circa 1989 blog, just a little too much. Either way it's super garish and I love it.


Below is the modified (I always do this!) version of her recipe. Whatever is in parenthesis is what's in the original recipe, I clearly improvised with what I had and made something equally as delicious!

Stuffed Mushrooms with a Dash of Sass

My first Silpat creation, cheesy, spicy and deliciously, light.

adapted from Pioneer Woman


Ingredients:

• 24 oz. white mushrooms
• 1 tbs. olive oil
• 1 tbs. butter
• half of a white onion, diced
• 1/2 cup Panko breadcrumbs
• salt and black pepper to taste
• 8 oz. low fat ricotta cheese (or 8 oz. weight cream cheese, softened)
• 1/2 cup grated sharp cheddar cheese ( had some deli slices on hand, so I ripped two of those up instead. See how I'm improvising here!)
• 1/2 cup Grated Monterey Jack Or Farmer's Cheese
• a handful of fresh spinach leaves (or 1 package (small) chopped spinach, thawed)
• a few dashes dashes of Tapatio (or Choulula)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Wash and dry mushrooms. Pull the stems off the mushrooms, then chop the stems finely. Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion and chopped mushrooms stems and saute for several minutes, or until soft and starting to turn golden. Add panko crumbs, salt, and pepper. Stir and continue cooking for 2 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside to cool.

In a large bowl, add ricotta cheese, grated cheeses, and the cooled mushroom/onion/panko mixture. Fold together to combine. Rip or chop spinach, add to bowl, alongside a dash of salt, a little pepper, and hot sauce to taste. Fold together until combined.

Using a spoon, mound the mixture into the stemmed mushroom caps. Use the spoon to round the mixture on top. Don't be afraid if the filling isn't really fitting, overflowing is fine! Place on a baking sheet or in a baking dish and bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until the mushrooms are cooked and the filling is hot. Serve immediately or at room temperature. 

A cure for the case of the Mondays

Well, it's true, I have yet to post anything about cupcakes, although I swear, they are my one and true love when it comes to baking. The thing about cupcakes is that it can be a long, drawn-out process, especially when you are low on time and need specific in...and well let's face it seems like it takes forever to wait for them to cool and then frost ( I always get too excited and want to frost earlier than I should!) But I digress. Today, I had a serious case of the Mondays. What with the 4th of July coming up, half days, and the promise of sunshine and mildly, warm weather in San Francisco, I just couldn't seem to think about anything but baking and cooking! There is nothing like being in the kitchen to calm restlessness and disorder with some chopping, stirring and stuffing. Today I told Monday to get the heck out of my kitchen and to save its mood-killing self for next Monday!  It all started with some left over ground beef from a previous burger binge. Of course, I consulted my fav go-to, Foodgawker, for some ambitious guidance to the perfect post-Monday, post-workout meal. I came back with a savory fare that didn't seem overly-hearty and with the just the right amount of comfort (making my Monday all the more better!) 


Note: The recipe I used below calls for sundried tomatoes; I didn't have these on hand so, I left them out. The shells were divine without them! Since I didn't really follow the recipe to the tee (using the ingredients as base), I've decided to give this dish its own name. Hope I don't run into any copyright infringements...just kidding. (Not really!)


Ground Beef, Spinach, Ricotta Stuffed Shells (By The Bay)

Naked without the parm,  but looking good before going into the oven.

The final product--a Monday night miracle.

adapted from Cookin' Canuck


Ingredients:

• 8 oz. large pasta shells

Filling:

• 2 tsp olive oil
• 1/2 of a yellow onion, diced 
• 2 cloves garlic, minced (or 1/2 tsp of crushed garlic from the jar)
• 1 lb or 1/2 lb lean ground beef
• 1 1/2 cups (packed) roughly chopped fresh spinach
• a few heaping teaspoons of low fat ricotta cheese 
• 1/2 tsp dried chili flakes
• garlic salt (to taste)
• ground black pepper (to taste)
• 1 jar of your favorite tomato sauce
• a handful of Parmesan cheese

Directions:
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add pasta shells and cook until just tender. Add a bit of olive oil to the boiling water to prevent the shells from sticking. 


For the filling, heat olive oil in a large frying pan set over medium heat. Add onions and saute until soft, 4 to 5 minutes. Add garlic and saute for additional 30 seconds.


Turn up the heat to medium-high. Add the ground beef and cook, breaking up with wooden spoon, until beef is cooked through. 


Transfer ground beef mixture to a large bowl. Stir in spinach and ricotta cheese until combined.

Season with dry chili flakes, salt and pepper to taste.


Fill each shell with 2 tablespoons of the beef mixture, or until the shells looks well stuffed.


Prepare a 9- by 13-inch baking pan by spreading even tomato sauce to coat the bottom. Arrange pasta shells, opening-side up, in the pan. Spread additional  cups tomato sauce on top, and sprinkle with grated Parmesan cheese.


Cover with foil and bake for 20 minutes. Remove foil and bake for additional 5 minutes, or until cheese is melted. Remove from oven and let cool for 10 minutes before serving.

Delicious with a salad, some veggies, or on it's own!

What the heck is a Silpat anyway?

I vividly remember watching Martha Stewart rave about and eventually introduce the Silpat into my life. Disclaimer, I don't own a Silpat yet, but I swear, this weekend, I'm going to Sur La Table and buying a couple of those bad boys. 

Made in France, of course it would be!

Again, so what the heck is a Silpat?? Basically, it's a non-stick baking mat that prevents the burning or sticking of baked goods onto your beloved cookie sheets. It seems like a godsend...yet I don't have one? Sometimes avid bakers, such as myself, get caught up in the, expensive, gadgets, ad nonsensical frills that come along with baking! I mean a lime grater?! Who really needs one of those? And yet I am wide-eyed and  practically drooling in places like William & Sonoma, Bed Bath & Beyond, Sur La Table, Crate and Barrell... well you get it. And for that very reason, I have a hand-me-down, hand mixer, instead of a standing mixer. But I digress...investing in a handful of quality, long-term use, tools and gadgetry is a must for an everyday, week...okay once a month, baker. 

The List:

• hand mixer (or standing mixer, if you can afford one!)
• measuring cups/spoons
• mixing bowl
• spatula
• muffin tin
• cake pan
• at least 2 cookie sheets (can be used for a wide variety of baking, not just sweets but anything)
• pastry bags/plastic tips (these can be disposable and/or $10 or less! Gives those cupcakes a little something special, great for filling cupcakes as well.)
• silpat (or parchment paper for the time being)
• wire rack

So besides being a blasphemous baker, by not owning a Silpat, I also do not own a wire rack for cooling cookies, cupcakes and all/any baked goods! Really, who am I!?! So I recently, fancied, this gem of a wire cooling rack. It allows for me to mass bake (thus, mass cool), in a space saving and efficient manner. 

GENIUS! A stacked cooling rack. I MUST HAVE. So I bought it :) And so should you! It's practical and slightly trendy, totally a win/win situation here. 

Smells like fall, feels like summer

Well this is a rarity in San Francisco. It's true, this year, San Francisco is actually getting a summer?! I wouldn't believe it unless I felt it myself..and it was awesome! Well, summer, I welcome you with open arms. I know that baking and cooking with fruit is all the rage right now (don't get me wrong, I can't wait to try a peach tart...coming soon), but I love fall so much! It reminds me of my favorite holidays, to start reflecting on what I've done during the past year and all the warm, tingly...desserts! Nothing like baking on a cold, frigid San Francisco day, let me tell you! I've been eyeing this recipe for a few weeks now, looking for healthier alternatives to buttermilk. Alas, Google came to the rescue and I learned that plain yogurt is a fine substitute for the fattier, buttermilk version of this recipe. Don't get me wrong, fatty = delicious, but with summer rolling in on time, here in San Francisco, cutting calories here and there makes them.. dare I say...semi guilt-free! Let's not forget the stick of butter I used, but hey! let's be real, biscuits need to be a little buttery. I'm sure margarine would have been a healthier substitute to try though. 


Also, would like to note, that I loved the idea of using honey, instead of sugar. I think adding allspice might work well if you don't have ground cinnamon or ginger on hand. 


I'd imagine this would be great with some butter and honey, a side of ice cream maybe :) Try it with a savory dish, perhaps. Definitely delicious both warm and room temperature.


Pumpkin Biscuits

The smell of these are overwhelmingly, fragrant and sweet, but biting into it, you'll get a slight pumpkin flavor and insanely fluffy texture inside. 

Substitutions Used: 

• 1/2 cup buttermilk -- 1 cup yogurt ** Doubled up here so the biscuits would be extra moist...no matter how long you over cooked them! Like me :( **
• 1 tablespoon honey -- 1 tablespoon agave

adapted from The Girl with the Wooden Spoon


Ingredients:
4 cups all-purpose flour

2 1/2 tablespoons baking powder

2 teaspoons salt

2 teaspoons ground ginger

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, cold and cubed

1 1/2 cup pumpkin purée

1 tablespoon honey (or 1/2 tablespoon agave)

1/2 cup buttermilk (or 1 cup yogurt)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or spray with vegetable oil, set aside.

In a small bowl combine the honey and pumpkin, set aside. In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, salt, ginger, cinnamon, and butter. Using a pastry cutter or your hands, cut the butter throughout the dry ingredients until butter is the size of small pebbles and dough is coarse. Stir in the honey pumpkin mixture until just combined. Stir in the buttermilk until dough just comes together. Because I used yogurt here, the dough was extra sticky, which is normal. No need to flour your surface too much here, just be ready to get your hands dirty!


Turn dough out onto a well floured surface. Using your hands knead dough about ten times. Roll the dough out to about 3/4 inch thickness. Using a round biscuit cutter of your choice cut out the biscuits. I didn't have the time or patience to do this, so I just formed small round balls, about the amount of a tablespoon. I flattened the biscuits a little with my hands, but I really loved that they were full of craters and how they turned slightly crunchy on top, after baking. Space them about one inch apart on prepared baking sheet. Bake for 20-25 minutes until lightly browned. Remove from sheet and cool on a wire rack. Storing in an airtight container or some plastic wrap is best.