Getting Creative with Pesto

Not a summer goes by without this cook making some form of pesto. It's so easy to get creative with pesto, and unless you go insane and add too much of something like, say, jalapeno, you really can't go wrong. It's easy to make, too; and, being so damn tasty for spiffing up a simple weeknight pasta, potato, or pizza dish, it's a trifecta condiment/sauce/paste to have handy. Aaaand, little 4oz mason jars filled with this deliciousness make for much-welcomed gifts for friends!

There are many options for greens that deviate from the classic Genovese basil used in pesto, and some can be used on their own or in a mix: arugula (adds a peppery note), cilantro, garlic scapes (whoo!), mezuna (adds a less peppery note than arugula), or radish greens (whoa, spicy!). Spinach is one of my favorite bases, and it's featured in the recipe below. Of course, there are also all the different flavor profiles of basil itself! Lemony...or cinnamon-spicy...or just super-basily.

Greens, Greens, Greens!

Roasted baby red potatoes, red and golden beets, and chunks of poached Tamworth chicken made this plate of greens a substantial meal.  A little leftover apple gremolata and crumbles of Sandwich Creamery's 'caerphilly' cheese topped it off.  Beach Pea Bakery baguette slices on the side, crostini style.

Greens, greens, greens.  Man, am I suddenly wanting for a growing rack.

Our mission at the farmers' market yesterday was to find as many greens as we could.  We did.  And then some.  Different kinds of spinach; mizuna; kale; sweet Asian mixed greens, spicy Asian mixed greens; tatsoi; arugula; microgreens; baby bibb and green leaf lettuces; Swiss chard...phew, we got it all.  And, one large kohlrabi to top it off. (Peel it, then slice or shave the flesh into ribbons for your salad...or do like we did and eat planks straight off the knife.  Or not.)

Cherished farms this week: Coppal House Farm; Herb Farmacy; Heron Pond Farm; Hollister Family Farm; and, Riverside Farm

Herb Farmacy's pouches of micro greens may look slight and small, but let me tell you, they are packed tight and full of fresh, deep flavor.  I love these tiny little shoots for their crunch and flavor, but also for the way a handful stays put in a sandwich.  No leaves slipping out the sides with this stuff.  See one of my favorite sandwiches here.

Included in Herb Farmacy's micro green mix this week: kale, broccoli, kohlrabi, arugula, a little mizuna, and cabbage.  Mizuna is milder version of arugula.  It has a very light herbaceous, peppery flavor.  As a whole, this mix had a succulent butteriness that makes you realize how deprived you've been since last summer. Get some soon.

As for tatsoi, my idea of salad has been changed forever.  We were eating fingerful after fingerful of this stuff.  Sooo good.

The same can be said for the spinach we picked up from Hollister Family Farm.  My exact words, er, sounds, upon my first bite:  "Mmmmpf!"

 You're crazy if you don't seek some of this stuff out.  In the words of Michael Pollan: "Eat food.  Not too much.  Mostly plants."

I'm not quite keen about the 2nd part, but I'll accept it.

Pan seared sea scallops with wilted spinach over russet-celeriac mash

1 lb fresh sea scallops----NH-caught are available right now
generous heap of freshly chopped parsley and cilantro
evoo
salt, pepper
lemon zest, if you're so inclined

coat and marinate scallops in herbs, oil and seasoning for an hour, maybe two, whatever works.  Twenty minutes can cut it if you're really desperate.

check those tendons for sand/grit!  Nothing worse than crunching down on crud while eating a delectable meal.

when you cook 'em, be sure to use a hot pan (a non-stick one is absolutely fine for creating a nice sear, just be sure to apply the "flip once" rule).  and don't overcook these babies.  even the largest of these bivalves only need 3 or 4 minutes.  mine, tonight, took all of 2 or 3.  tops.

I served ours over a mash of Riverside's russets and Brookford's celeriac.  Threw the two roots, peeled and largely chunked, together into a pot of salted water, cooked until tender, and mashed with a "knob" of butter and a healthy splash of cram.  Wait, not cram, cream.

Meadow's Mirth spinach was tossed on top of the scallops just before killing the heat.  Hardly even wilted.  This spinach does not want to be cooked.  Way better raw.  Like, w-a-y better.

Simple...simple...simple.  No other way.

Almost Spring Chicken Dinner

Smokey Maple Brine: 3/4c kosher salt, 1/2c sugar, 1/2c maple syrup, a bunch of dashes of good quality liquid smoke.  Dissolve all in 4 cups hot water.  Add 4 cups cold water and a couple trays of ice.  Brine for at least 4 hrs, up to 6.

Inspired entirely of the need to free up freezer space over the next 6 months in order to accomodate this upcoming growing season's stash, I pulled out our last General Butler's chicken and a container of stuffing left over from last Thanksgiving.  The stuffing was not your ordinary bread stuffing.  No-no.  It was a vegetable tempeh stuffing, made with all kinds of little goodies that I'll get into later, including tempeh that, too, was a freezer cull in and of its own right.  Being of frugal Yank stock, I seldom throw anything away.  Truly, it has to look like we'd get poisoned for me to throw food away.  Okay, I jest.  A little.

At the farmers' market this past Saturday, I scored several bags of greens from Meadow's Mirth.  This spinach is worth pushing people out of the way for: sweet, buttery, tender-tender-tender (there was no way I was using heat against it for this dinner).  Now listen, be nice to your fellow shoppers. In-line patience starts with you.  Not me, you.

     
The allure of spinach photography.

So, no heat.  Instead, I tossed it in a very mild champagne vinaigrette, and topped it with the tempeh stuffing. A meal in itself.

That's the last of our butternut squash, too.  I picked up a large, long and slender (don't you even go there) squash from Brookford Farm back in early February at the Exeter market.  Used a third in a risotto concoction one night, and another third, roasted in cubes, for a steak dinner.  Not bad, three dinners from one squash.  But now it's gone...waah.

Okay, so that tempeh stuffing:

Last night I could detect currants, chestnuts and bits of mushrooms.  I had used a mirepoix base (onion, carrot, celery).  I remember the reason for this tempeh stuffing, which means I know I initially used olive oil and vegetable to stock to make it.  Last night I completely fattened it up and drizzled a copious amount of melted butter all over it, and added a layer of toasted pine nuts to its middle ("pine nut surprise stuffing!").  Several splashes of Bragg's liquid aminos (an alternative to soy sauce) also perked it back up.  It was sublime over the spinach, and what I'll be having for lunch today.  'Course, with this time change, it'll feel like breakfast.