Sun-Dried Tomato Pesto

Okay, this was the best dinner I had for awhile. Super duper yummy. You'd think that the amount of sun-dried tomatoes would be overpowering but it is deliciously perfect. The tomatoes almost take on a meat like texture.

You have to try it. My whole family loved it, including the (very recently) picky toddler!

The original recipe is Giada's. You can find it here.

To her recipe, I added more basil because I love basil. Plus, we have a basil bush that needed to be trimmed.

I also decided to add pine nuts to give it a deeper flavor. And more garlic. If you're not into super garlicky foods just put in a clove or two.

Also different is that I used little bags of sun-dried tomatoes not packed in oil.

For veggies, I picked lettuce, washed the leaves and stacked them on a plate. It was a nice change from eating salads. Because the pasta had so much flavor, the lettuce was just a nice little palate cleanser.

Ingredients

8 oz                 sun-dried tomatoes

3                      garlic cloves

1/4 cup            pine nuts

2 cups             basil leaves, packed

1/2 cup            freshly grated Parmesan cheese

3/4-1 cup         extra-virgin olive oil

                        freshly ground pepper

Directions

1. In food processor, add garlic cloves and turn on until finely chopped.
2. Add sun-dried tomatoes, pine nuts and basil and blend streaming in olive oil until tomatoes are finely chopped. Texture should be fairly thick. Add more oil if it starts to form a ball. Then add cheese and pulse until combined. Season with pepper.
3. Serve with any pasta.
 

 

Salmon Cakes

Where I live, it's hard to find a combination of a good price and fresh salmon. So when I buy it I buy as much as my freezer can handle and we eat it in as many different ways as possible.

Here's a tweaked salmon cake recipe favorite adapted from Giada De Laurentiis.

For the salmon:

Ingredients
 

1 lb                     salmon fillet

                           salt and pepper

                           olive oil

1. Preheat oven to 475.
2. On baking sheet lined with parchment paper, pat salmon dry with paper towel, salt and pepper, then drizzle with olive oil.
3. In preheated oven, roast for about 7-10 minutes, or until cooked through and edges are sparkling with yummy golden color. (On a busy night, I'd stop there and serve with rice and veggies)
4. Set aside to cool, then refrigerate.

For salmon cakes:

Ingredients

1 large                 egg

2 cups                 toasted fresh bread crumbs, separated into 1 cup measurements

                           -crumbs, ground in food processor from about 6 slices whole

                            wheat bread. Should be ground coarse

1/2 cup                green onions, chopped, white and green parts

1/2 cup                thawed frozed corn

1 tbsp                  Dijon mustard

1 tbsp                  coarse grain mustard (Love the texture but fine to leave out. Just add

                            more Dijon)

1/4 cup                mayonnaise

1 1/2 tbsp            capers

                               zest of one lemon

2 tbsp                  lemon juice

3 tbsp                  olive oil

3 tbsp                  butter

1. Flake salmon into bowl, add egg, 1 cup of the breadcrumbs, green onions, corn, mustards, mayonnaise, capers, lemon juice and zest. Mix until just combined. If it seems like mixture won't hold together when pressed, add a little more mayonnaise to thicken.
2. Form into 8-10 patties about 1/2 inch thick. Or however you please. Big ones for dinner, small teenie ones for appetizers. When cooking, be sure to cook long enough to cook egg though.
3. With the remaining 1 cup of breadcrumbs, coat the top and bottom of the patties.
4. Over medium heat, in a large skillet, heat the olive oil and butter until it bubbles. Cook until patties are brown and toasty, about 5-8 minutes per side. Work in batches if the pan is too crowded.

For sauce:

Ingredients

1/2 cup                 Greek yogurt

1 1/2 tbsp             capers, chopped

2 tbsp                   lemon juice

                             zest of 1 lemon

                             Kosher salt and pepper

1.  Mix all ingredients, seasoning with salt and pepper to taste.

Thanksgiving leftovers. Turkey Pot Pie

On Thursday, I cooked my second Thanksgiving meal. Between my mother (honey glazed ham, cheesecake and butter rolls), my father-in-law (Brussels sprouts and bringing the freshest tastiest oysters ever), my husband (cooking said oysters. half plain and in their natural juices, half topped with a spicy mayo misture broiled to perfection) and I (Good Eats turkey, Ina Garten's homemade gravy, crispy smashed potatoes, kale and sausage stuffing, buttermilk mashed potatoes, roasted carrots and butternut squash, roasted artichokes with lemon aioli) we had cooked a feast to last all of our families for days.

That being said, two days later I am sick of eating these leftovers.

Time for a Thanksgiving leftover recipe tweak!

The inspiration for my recipe is from the original Chicken Pot Pie recipe from Real Simple. You can click here to find it. On a day where leftover turkey isn't taking up fridge space, it's a great way to use store bought rotisserie chicken. In fact, the only reason I buy that tired old chicken is so that I can use it for other recipes.

Here's my version of Turkey Pot Pie. It's not the healthiest what with all the gravy and pie crust but...

Ingredients

4 cups                 diced cooked turkey
3 cups                 gravy
1/4-1/2 cup          chicken stock-to thin out probably too thick cold gravy
2 tbsp                  butter
1 large                 onion, diced
4 medium            carrots, diced
10 oz                   frozen peas
1 tbsp                  fresh thyme, chopped
2 rolls                  store-bought pie crust

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 425.
2. Melt butter in a large pan and cook onions, carrots and thyme until onions are translucent and carrots are tender.
3. Add peas, turkey and gravy. Stir to combine and heat turkey through. Add chicken stock if gravy is too thick; it should be a loose mixture.
4. Pour mixture into a 9"x13" dish that has been buttered on the top half. Unroll the pie crusts and layer over mixture, forming a seal and crimp edge around sides. Use any left over dough to try and create a beautiful design. (See my terrible one below). Make a few slits accross the top and bake for 30-40 minutes or until golden brown.

This is what it looked like in the baking dish. I just poured a little more chicken stock right on top hoping that the bubbling would evenly distribute the liquid. It did!

This is my very sad attempt at making a pretty crust. I had literally 10 minutes to whip it all together. Which meant the pie crust was still a bit frozen and I didn't have time to roll it out and make it smooth and pretty. Okayyy okay. I wouldn't have rolled it out to make it pretty if I did have time. If it wasn't for you guys, I wouldn't have attempted the leaves either. It would've been oddly shaped clumps like that one on the left. :)