UPDATE: 9/9/13 Pesto & Pesto Chicken Salad Sandwiches

Update- Pesto Chicken Salad sandwiches: I think my proportions have been all wrong. I now use 1 full cup of pesto to 1/2 cup Greek Yogurt, and the rest of the recipe as usual. (The recipe link is way on the bottom of this post.)

And this pesto is a bit different. I think the recipe is the same BUT the garlic AND the pine nuts are both toasted. Yum.

 

6/5/10Last summer was the Summer of Pesto. I discovered pesto and then tried growing my own basil. Ithink I did pretty well! I started supplementing my meager harvests with cheap bundles of basil from farmer's markets. I couldn't keep up my demand though :) I had a few 1/2 cup bags frozen for a bit but I did use it up quickly.

This first pesto picture is from last summer. It's a very good basic pesto recipe. No fuss.

Click here for the stolen recipe for last summer's Pesto.

I made this next pesto yesterday with a new recipe. I already mentioned it but here is the recipe again. I can't say if this will be my new recipe yet but it was just as simple. It's a neat shade of green! Very fresh looking.

Click here for the stolen recipe for this Pesto.

And ooooh here's my picture of the Pesto Chicken Salad Sandwiches from last summer. We've usually served them in pita bread with some fresh greens. I follow the recipe kinda but I use about 1/2 cup of my pesto and about 1/4 cup of Greek yogurt with all of the other ingredients. It's a wonderful sandwich!

Click here for the stolen recipe for Pesto Chicken Salad Sandwiches.

I can't say that I'll be making a lot of pesto this summer. Pine nut prices are a bit much. I think I heard a mention of a shortage? Bummer.

 

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Pesto Turkey Burgers

 

MMMMMM pesto. It's really just a burger. Jazzed up with some pesto and grilled onions but it was nice to follow a recipe and learn from it. I really just need to get in my kitchen and throw my favorite foods into some ground turkey or beef and create!

This was good but I wish I had had some extra pesto to smear in each of the burgers. I didn't have enough for the recipe and the smearing.

Click here for the stolen recipe for Pesto Turkey Burgers.

 

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More Roasted Chickens

I'm still consulting my Kitchen Counter Cooking School book for roasted chicken ideas. It is just lovely to roast a chicken, feed my family a dinner, and then have leftovers for freezing. So many possibilities for cooked, cubed chicken.

Pesto-rama: slather chicken with 1/4 cup pesto. I used more. Roast as usual. 425 degrees, 1 hour for a 3 lb chicken. Allow 10 minutes for each half pound. Baste every half an hour.

Italian Herb Oil: 3 T olive oil, 2 tsp grated Parmesan cheese, 2 garlic cloves chopped, 2 T finely chopped herbs such as thyme, oregano, parsley or basil (or 2-3 tsp dried herbs)

I used a combination of thyme, oregano, and Italian parsley. The parsley was store-bought. I used fresh herbs from my pots!

 

I'm hoping to get my husband on board with these chickens when I go back to work in the fall. He works from home and it would be lovely if he could put a chicken in the oven at 4ish so I could just come home and do the sides!

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Thanksgiving

It's amazing how little time it takes to scarf down all that food, all that love, energy, and time spent cooking for two days. Was it worth it? Of course! I was very happy to try so many new recipes. I don't think a single one really disappointed. My cranberry walnut rolls weren't light and fluffy, but kind of dense but still good. It was one recipe I wouldn't repeat as is. I wonder if I kneaded too much? Anyway, lots of good food. And I made my own gravy! Very proud and happy :)


OH! And my husband made both desserts. I can't make any claims on those. He did a fabulous job!


Appetizer-

Stuffed Mushrooms

Meal-

Pioneer Style Herb Roasted Turkey with Sage Gravy

Unfortunately, I didn't get any "after" pictures of the turkey. This is the 20 pounder slathered in herb butter. James declared it "yucky" looking.

The turkey ended up with a fabulous brown crust. It was darn pretty. I am so regretful that I did not get one little picture. Oh well. I have something better- leftovers!

Pioneer Woman's Creamy Mashed Potatoes- These were great because I made them ahead of time and just stuck them in the oven while the turkey rested.


Brussel Sprouts Gratin- This isn't a picture from tonight's gratin. I was flying around the kitchen at the very end and didn't take a picture of the gratin or the turkey. Bummer.



Sourdough Stuffing with Carmelized Onions and Apples

Framboise Cranberry Sauce

Cranberry Walnut Rolls

Dessert-

Jim proudly serves up his creations.

Pumpkin Cheesecake

Chocolate Pecan Pie

We are all satisifed and full. Our guests all went home with plenty of leftovers. That 2o pound bird was more than enough for our meal and many others. Happy Thanksgiving!

Pesto, Herbs, and Chicken Pot Pie

I loved the chance to use some of my fresh herbs. I made pesto with a new recipe. I think it turned out well. I may have been heavy with the garlic but I like it. The blogger said that the secret ingredient in this pesto is butter. Butter! Butter makes everything nice.

I didn't use it right away but froze it for Wednesday. I'm having some friends over for dinner and I'm making Pesto Chicken Salad sandwiches. Oh wow, I realized I've never blogged about those. I will right after this entry. Promise.



Click here for the stolen recipe for Pesto.

I also used some of my thyme in a Spring Chicken Pot Pie. Yum! I think it was the best one yet.


We've had this pot pie a few times now and we think it's just amazing. And good for you! Well, besides the processed crust. One of my summer goals is to make a perfect pie crust, especially for this recipe!

Tilapia with herbs

We didn't have much in the house for dinner but we found two last tilapia fillets in the freezer. I followed the directions on the back of the bag again to make pan fried tilapia. It suggested using seasoned flour. The last time I didn't season it nearly enough so I decided to add some of my fresh herbs from my pots. They are doing very well with all of the rain and sun, off and on.

So here is my Tilapia and herbs, with some recycled Crunchy Asian Cabbage Salad. It ended up being very light and good! My husband likes sauces so he ate his with tartar sauce, but I wanted to taste the pure flavor of the herbs. Mmmm.



My basil is DEMANDING to be harvested. I have a smaller amount of oregano, thyme, chives, and rosemary. (FB friends, it's a little like Farmville, no?)



Flour with salt, pepper, chopped oregano, thyme, and a just a tiny bit of rosemary.

My son didn't eat any of this. He was happy with his leftover chicken nuggets, some peas, and milk. Oh well!

Herbs

I wanted to harvest some of my herbs to encourage their growth so I trimmed some stalks of rosemary, thyme, and oregano. I also cut some basil, thinking I could make a small batch of pesto.

I read that you can freeze hard herbs (like the thyme and rosemary) and use them like fresh herbs later.

Click here for the stolen technique for freezing herbs.

Now I'm off to research what I can do with my fresh herbs. I know I always avoid recipes that call for fresh rosemary and thyme because the little containers of fresh herbs at the grocery store are too expensive. If I freeze enough I can be cooking all winter long with my freezer stock! Yeah!