Garlic Scape Pesto

I first tried pesto when I was 17 and in Minneapolis for the spring All-State Band festival. My high school band director took myself and my fellow band geeks to Edwardo's Natural Pizza (unfortunately, now closed) for what was pretty much the best pizza I've ever had, even to this day. It was a deep dish with pesto sauce, roasted garlic, and mozzarella, provolone, and Parmesan cheese.

I liked it so much that I made my parents go to this pizzeria with me the next time my family went to Minneapolis to visit family. My mom agreed with me; my dad kept complaining that there wasn't any meat on the pizza (silly dad).

I still crave that pizza occasionally.

A few weeks ago I went to the Farmer's Market and picked up a bunch of garlic scapes and decided to make pesto out of those. I was a bit nervous, but it was delicious! I wish I had made more batches to freeze.

Garlic Scape Pesto

Serves 2-3ish

Prep Time - 15 min

INGREDIENTS

10-12 garlic scapes, roughly chopped

1/2 cup Parmesan cheese

1/3 cup toasted pine nuts

1/4 - 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

salt, to taste

DIRECTIONS

Combine all in food processor until it reaches your desired consistency. Since I like pesto thinner, I used close to a full 1/2 cup of the olive oil, but depending on your preference, you may use more or less.

Toss with cooked pasta. I used fetuccini, but it's great on almost anything. Top with Parmesan cheese.

** Pesto also freezes really well. Store in an airtight container and it will freeze for several months.

A Serious Note

While I don't normally do this, I'm going to write about something other than cooking for one post. I'm sorry to my readers who were hoping for a new recipe, but I think this is important enough to devote a post to it.

Two weekends ago, my husband and I went "up north" to visit my family and spend time at the lake. That Saturday evening was one of the scariest nights of my life. We were outside grilling burgers & pork chops for dinner, and we heard some very loud, repeated popping noises. Considering we were in the country, and basically in the middle of BFE, we both assumed either someone was playing with some leftover fireworks from the previous weekend or was shooting stuff, or something similar. However, it was really loud. And it smelled funny. And made a lot of cracking sounds. And pretty soon the sky was filled with really black smoke. It wasn't fireworks or a gun - it was a fire. And it was 3 doors down from my grandmother's house.

I immediately noticed a girl on a golf cart with a phone up to her ear so I ran over to her and asked if she was calling 911. She said no, she was on the phone with her mother. While I was confused why she found it more prudent to be talking to mom rather than the 911 dispatcher, I ran into the house and called 911. I was comforted someone had called before me, and the dispatcher informed me that the fire trucks were en route. I was told that it was a garage fire, and was instructed to make sure to stay a safe distace away.

When I got out of the house, a crowd of neighbors began to form, standing basically in the middle of the road, just watching the fire burn and marvelling at how high the flames were, how they could feel the heat from the flames even where they were. Soon more people arrived, in cars, parking on both sides of the road, leaving only a small path to drive through, and joined the crowd. Some of them even brought cameras and were taking pictures.

I have never felt so helpless as I did that night as I stood there, in our driveway, waiting for the firemen, watching the fire engulf not only the garage and takeover the storage shed and a nearby tree.

The firemen arrived about 10 minutes after I called 911. Gawkers from the area continued to gather. I actually watched two cars, and several crowds of people, either not pull over for the trucks, or fail to move out of the way.

Thankfully, the firemen were able to contain the fire in less than 5 minutes, and completely extinguish it within 10. The firemen from the nearest neighboring town even came to help out. I'm sure that every one of these men on both all-volunteer squads would've rather been doing whatever it was that they had been pulled away from. I'm sure their wives or girlfriends or families would've preferred that, too. However, their efficiency, and their obvious concern for not only the aforementioned property, but for the neighboring properties as well, was impressive.

In the end, the garage, shed, and the contents of both, including two vehicles, were completely lost, but the house and the neighboring properties remained virtually unharmed. Sure, the front of the deck was charred, and the siding had basically melted off. The siding on one side of the neighbor's garage had melted off and had some smoke damage. The front end of the neighbor's truck basically looked like melted plastic. But the homeowners still had a house to go home to. If the wind had been blowing in basically any other direction than the direction it was that night, the damage likely would've been much more significant and widespread.

I have never been so thankful to live only a few blocks from a fire station with a full-time staff.

And to all my readers, please promise me that if you see a fire or an emergency situation in your area, call 911 immediately. Please do not go out to gawk at it. Do not get in your car and drive to an area where you heard there is a fire, just so you can see it; do not use your police scanner to determine your nightly entertainment. Do not stand in the road, do not park your car so as to make it difficult to impossible for a fire truck to drive down, and do not be so oblivious as to not move out of the way for the emergency vehicles. Use common sense, stay away, and let the emergency services do their job. Just be thankful that you're safe, and hope that everyone at the affected property is safe, too.

Green Beans with Olive Oil & Garlic

Hello, there. Remember me? Contrary to any rumors you may have heard, I haven't actually fallen off the face of the earth. In fact, I've been cooking quite a bit. I'm very excited to share this post with you, not because I think it's the beacon of culinary genius, but because it's made (almost) entirely with ingredients from my garden. This last week, I was able to pick some green beans! I decided they'd be the perfect companion to the beer can chicken my husband was grilling. And they were. So I picked them, and they were on my plate less than 20 minutes after I picked them.

By the way, have you made beer can chicken yet? If you haven't, what are you waiting for? I told you weeks ago to make it.


Green Beans with Olive Oil & Garlic
Serves 2
Total Cook & Prep Time - 10 minutes

INGREDIENTS
Green Beans
1-2 cloves garlic, minced (this was from my garden, too!)
olive oil
salt & pepper, to taste
grated parmesan cheese, if desired

DIRECTIONS
Wash & trim the green beans. Boil them or steam them for just a few minutes, or until they get bright green.

Meanwhile, heat oil in a small skillet and sautee the garlic until it gets soft & mellow.

Once the garlic is done, add the green beans to the skillet (I started them both at the same time and the green beans & garlic took about the same amount of time). Toss till combined. Add salt & pepper to taste. Sprinkle with a bit of freshly grated Parmesan cheese, if desired.

Chicken in Spicy Garlic Broth

This is a great dish for those nights you've had a long day and really don't want to spend much time cooking. It has great depth of flavor and a nice spicy kick. The best part was that it only took about 15 or 20 minutes from start to finish.

Chicken in Garlic Broth

Recipe from Mary Ellen's Cooking Creations, adapted

Serves 2

Total Cook & Prep Time - 20 minutes

INGREDIENTS

2 chicken breasts, pounded a bit

1 TBSP butter & 1 TBSP olive oil

Flour, for dredging

Salt & Pepper

4-5 cloves garlic, minced

1 small onion, diced

1/4 - 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes

1/4 cup dry white wine or chicken broth

1 cup chicken broth

1/2 lb cooked fetuccini

Grated Parmesan cheese, optional

DIRECTIONS

Cook pasta to al dente. Drain & set aside.

Meanwhile, heat butter & oil in a large pan over medium heat. Season chicken with salt & pepper and then dredge in the flour. Cook chicken until cooked through, about 5 minutes per side. Transfer to a covered dish or the oven to keep warm.

Add a bit more oil to the pan if it is dry, and then sautee the garlic and onions until onions are soft. Add red pepper flakes.

Add wine and scrape up any brown bits, then add chicken broth and bring to a simmer. Simmer for about 5 minutes. Toss pasta in the broth. Return the chicken to the pan and cover the chicken in broth.

To serve, pour some sauce over the chicken and serve next to the pasta. Top with Parmesan cheese.

Beer Can Chicken

Before I get started with this post, I have to say this: you must make this chicken. Now.

Beer Can Chicken was something I wanted to make for a long time, but didn't because I had a notion that it had to be grilled, and we didn't have a grill. So, when we got a grill, it was one of the first things I decided to make. Well, I should say that I enlisted my husband and his spectacular grilling skills to help me make it. I'm not sure why I put it off for so long - it really couldn't have been much easier and was the tastiest chicken I've ever had. You really do have to make it.

Beer Can Chicken

Recipe by Adam Gertler, via Carrie's Sweet Life, adapted

Serves 3-4

INGREDIENTS

1 (3-4 lb) chicken

1/4 cup kosher salt

1/4 + 1/8 (0.375) cup light brown sugar

1/4 cup paprika

1/8 cup chili powder

1/2 tsp dried rosemary (crushed lightly)

1/2 tsp dried thyme

1/8 cup garlic powder

1 can beer

2 sprigs rosemary

2-3 cloves garlic

DIRECTIONS

Mix all spices together. Rub all over the chicken, including the inside cavity. Wrap in plastic wrap and let sit in the refrigerator for at least 2 hrs, up to overnight.

When time to cook the chicken, open the beer and get rid of about half of it (what you do with the beer after you take it out of the can is your choice. ;) ) Put about 2 sprigs of rosemary and 2-3 cloves of smashed garlic in the can.

Put the can in a beer can holder (as seen in the picture below) and put the chicken on top of the holder.

Grill for about 1 1/2 hrs. Take it off the grill and let rest, either on the can or off the can, for about 10 minutes before carving.

Cheesesteaks

I haven't been intentionally neglecting my blog. I started a new job a few weeks ago where I stare at a computer for most of my day, so when I get home, staring at my computer for more time isn't necessarily appealing. Anyway, enough excuses.

I've never been to Philadelphia. Despite its historical significance to the country, I really don't have a huge desire to go there, either. Unfortunately, that means that I probably will not ever have a true cheesesteak. I wanted to try making one at home, though, so I looked at some "recipes" online that claim to be authentic and took a jab at it.

We were both quite pleased with the results. How it compares to the real thing, I have no idea, but it's probably better for my psyche that I never know that.


Cheesesteaks
Serves 2
Cook & Prep Time - 15 minutes

INGREDIENTS
1/2 lb deli roast beef
1/2 green pepper, sliced thinly
1 small onion, sliced
butter & olive oil
salt & pepper
1 hoagie buns
1/3 cup melted cheese whiz or 6 slices provolone

DIRECTIONS
Season roast beef slightly with salt & pepper. Cook in equal parts butter & olive oil over medium-low to medium heat. After a couple minutes, add the onions and peppers to the pan and saute until just tender.

Meanwhile, melt the cheese whiz in a small saucepan or double boiler.

Toast the buns, if desired. Add meat, veggies, and cheese in desired amounts. Consider slicing in half to make it easier to eat, and enjoy.

Rhubarb Pie

With this post, I'd like to introduce what I hope to be a new segment on this blog called "Stuff I Made with Stuff I Grew in my Backyard." Yep, that's right - I have a garden this year. I'm very excited. My first creation from my homegrown goods was a rhubarb pie.

I grew up eating rhubarb and I love it. When baked, it's somewhat similar in taste to an apple, but softer and more tart. It pairs well with berries, but I prefer it on its own. It's very easy to work with, too. When picked out of the garden, it should look like this:


Don't be alarmed... your pile should be that size. Trim off the leaves. Don't be alarmed if some of your apparently mature rhubarb stalks are more green than red - they taste the same as the deep pink ones, they just aren't as pretty. Don't eat the leafy greens. Be sure to wash the stalks well. When you're all done with that, they should look like this:


Isn't that better? Cut them up into little pieces like you would chop up celery.

For this pie, I used my regular apple pie recipe, but used rhubarb instead of apples and coated them in a bit more cinnamon & sugar than normal. The result is an amazing pie.


You must try it right away.