High on my list of favorite activities is cooking, baking, mixology and the likes.  I’ve got enough baking gear to open up a shop, enough pans to cater a small function, and generally enough flour & sugar on hand to make a wedding cake.  So when I have enough time I like to explore in a culinary way. 

Bon Apetitie ~ Orn

 

12/26/11

Cilantro Pesto

One bunch Cilantro – washed & cleaned of heavy stems and unappetizing leaves
1/2 c. almonds
Olive oil
2 cloves roasted garlic
Salt to taste

In Cuisinart chop up the almonds & then add cilantro and garlic.  Pulse till cilantro & almonds have become paste like.  With Cuisinart running drizzle in olive oil until paste thins to a loose paste.

I found this pairs well with goat cheese on any kind of cracker type appetizer, and also tosses well with fresh pasta.

 

 

Sweet Potata!

On my recommended reading list for November is James Beard on Pasta, a fantastic book about the basics of noodles.  For any and all noodle lovers this is a must read.  And mid-November you should also be inspired by it to unearth the pasta machine from your cupboard and crank out something warm & tasty to share with friends & family.

After a hospitable evening with friends I was sent home with a couple of lovely thick baked potatoes.   After spending an evening reading the bit in the book on gnocchi it seemed like a good opportunity to try my hand at them.  Especially since I bought a gnocchi board when I was at a rather ritzy kitchen store in Bend.

Mixing up the dough was simple enough, next time though I’ll make sure to find the food mill to give the bits of potato a more consistent texture.  The time-consuming part came with boiling the little bits.  Next time I’ll also bring two big vats of water up to speed and streamline the shaping & boiling process.

And I’ll try not to realize half way through cooking that the little dumplings strongly resemble Slimey the Worm from Sesame Street, err… minus the little hat.