Hatch Chile Pecan Pesto

 

I have never been a fan of pine nuts. Honestly, their lack of flavor makes me wonder why anyone is. I suspect that the reason the Italians used pine nuts in pesto when it was first created is because of convenience, because they’re so widely available in Italy. No, I think pesto is better using almost any other seed or nut, and I have done so.

 

Today, not only did I try pesto with pecans, but spicy pecans from Melissa’s produce, Hatch Chile Seasoned Pecans in particular. Melissa’s Hatch Chile pecans are available in both red and green. I used the green variety for this pesto, but I wouldn’t hesitate to use the red, or a combination of the two. This pesto was out of this world! I’m a fan anyway, but seriously I could’ve eaten this stuff with a spoon. If you would like to seriously enhance the flavor of your pesto, this recipe is a must try.

Hatch Chile Pecan Pesto

 3 large garlic cloves

1/3 c. Melissa’s Hatch Pecans

¼ c. grated Parmesan cheese

2 c. packed fresh basil leaves

½ c. olive oil

¼ - ½ teaspoon kosher salt

¼ - ½ t. freshly ground black pepper

1½ t. freshly squeezed lemon juice

 Place garlic and pecans into the work bowl of a food processor and process until blended. Add cheese and basil and process until blended. With machine running, slowly drizzle in olive oil. Lastly, add salt, pepper, and lemon juice, and pulse to combine. Keeps in the fridge for two days, freezes for 2-3 months.

Parmesan Peppercorn Salad Dressing

 

With few exceptions, I make my own salad dressing. Having more than once read the ingredients on bottled salad dressing, I tend to shy away from those. There’s really nothing to making your own salad dressing, particularly if you have a mini food processor to blend everything together for you. It emulsifies salad dressing like nobody’s business, even better than those you buy in the store that will occasionally need a good shaking. You just have to make up your mind that you’re going to do it, and once you do, not only will you enjoy it, but you’ll start to experiment like I did with this dressing. Give it some thought. It’s economical, the quality control is unbeatable, and the taste and freshness is phenomenal.

 Parmesan Peppercorn Salad Dressing

½ c. buttermilk
½ c. Duke’s mayonnaise
1/3 c. grated Parmesan cheese
Juice of ½ lemon
1 t. Dijon mustard
1 t. freshly ground black pepper
¼ t. kosher salt

Combine all ingredients with either a mini food processor, or by whisking to within an inch of your life. Cover, refrigerate. Keeps 7 to 10 days.

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Cannellini Bean Dip with Black Olives

 

I’ve been trying to eat healthier while still satisfying my snacky cravings, so I decided to do away with the ranch dip that I generally use with crackers and crudités, and replace it with this creamy and nutritious cannellini bean dip. It is so super simple to throw together that I find myself making it every week. The recipe can be doubled, if like me, you find yourself craving it.Cannellini Bean Dip with Black Olives

 1 large clove garlic

1 15.5-oz. can cannellini beans, rinsed and drained

¼ c. extra-virgin olive oil

Juice of half a lemon

10 small pitted black olives

½ t. kosher salt

¼ t. freshly ground black pepper

 Throw all ingredients into a mini food processor and process until smooth. Cover and refrigerate to allow flavors to meld for a minimum of 4 hours.

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Poached Salmon with Capers and Lemon Butter

 

The more I experiment with different types of fish and fish recipes, the more I have come to realize that you can get dinner on the table faster with fish than with anything else. This took me 15 minutes. I wasn’t quite sure that I was going to like it, but it was delicious! The salmon was so tender, and the sauce was absolute perfection.

Poached Salmon with Capers and Lemon Butter

 2 T. butter, divided

1 small clove garlic, minced

½ c. chicken stock

2 T. freshly squeezed lemon juice

1 4-oz. fillet of salmon

2 T. capers

Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

 1 T. chopped fresh parsley

Melt 1 T. butter in a medium skillet. Stir in garlic and cook for 30 to 45 seconds. Add chicken stock and lemon juice, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer and place salmon fillets in pan. Cover and simmer over low heat, 10 minutes per inch of thickness, or until fish flakes when tested with a fork. Remove salmon to a warm plate and tent with foil while you make the sauce.

Boil remaining liquid in the skillet until it is reduced to approximately 1/4 cup. Whisk remaining 1 T. butter and stir in capers. Spoon sauce over fish. Season with pepper and sprinkle with parsley.

Serves one, recipe may be doubled.

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Artichoke Salad with Hearts of Palm

 

A colorful salad is welcome at any meal, but sometimes it’s hard to come up with something different from the norm. This vegetable-laden artichoke salad fills the bill. It is colorful, fresh, and delicious. It’s beautiful in a bowl or on individual plates, and always garners favorable comments from guests. The vinaigrette dressing gives it a pleasing tang. This salad keeps well so you can easily make it the day ahead of serving.Artichoke Salad with Hearts of Palm

 1 14.75-oz. jar marinated artichoke hearts, drained

1 14.5 oz. jar Melissa’s Hearts of Palm, drained, and sliced

1 c. cherry tomatoes, halved

1 11.6-oz. jar mixed pitted olives

½ c. diced Melissa’s fire roasted red peppers

½ c. diced yellow bell pepper

2 T. minced fresh parsley

 Place all ingredients into a large mixing bowl and toss with vinaigrette.

 Vinaigrette

1/3 c. cider vinegar

½ t. kosher salt

1½ t. sugar

¼ t. dry mustard

Pinch of oregano

¼ t. freshly ground black pepper

1 t. garlic salt

½ c. vegetable oil

 Place all ingredients into the bottom of a medium size mixing bowl and whisk together until blended.

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Pecan Crusted Salmon

When the late Mr. O-P and I were living in Connecticut while we were working at Yale, we had the opportunity to try a lot of different ethnic restaurants, one of which was an African restaurant, Eritrean food specifically. I have to say it didn’t wow me. The bread was like a thick placemat in both appearance and taste. I had ordered pistachio-crusted salmon that was so insipid that it didn’t even taste like salmon.  The idea of nut-crusted salmon, however, appealed to me. The other day when I was chopping pecans, I decided to chop a few more to use on top of salmon for dinner. It was a wonderfully flavorful dish.

Pecan Crusted Salmon

 ¼ c. butter, melted

3 T. Dijon mustard

1½ T. honey

¼ c. panko

1/3 c. finely chopped pecans

1 T. chopped fresh parsley

4 (4-oz.) fillets salmon

Salt, to taste

 Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Preheat the oven to 400°F.

  Pat salmon dry, place on baking sheet that has been lined with a piece of parchment or foil.

 Stir together butter, mustard, and honey in a small bowl;

set aside. Mix together panko, pecans, and parsley in another bowl.

Brush each salmon fillet lightly with the honey mustard mixture.

Generously coat the tops of fillets with panko/pecan mixture.

Bake salmon in the preheated oven until it flakes easily with a fork, 12 to 15 minutes. Season with salt and pepper, and garnish with a wedge of lemon.

 * I used Mike’s hot honey

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Creamy Minestrone

 

 This is one of those recipes that came about as the result of a mistake. I was making a pot of minestrone that I had been craving all week, and at the same time had warmed a bagel that I had recently cut in half and was ready to slather with some chive and onion cream cheese spread.  I scooped out half of the container, and ended up flipping it right into the soup. The soup was hot, the cheese immediately started melting, ​and there was nothing I could do but stir it in. It’s wonderful!

Creamy Minestrone

1 T. extra virgin olive oil

1 clove garlic

2 bay leaves

3 Melissa’s shallots

2 carrots

2 ribs celery

1 medium zucchini

1 T. vegetable soup base

1 14.5-oz. can fire roasted diced tomatoes

1 15.5-oz. can cannellini beans, drained

1 15.5-oz. can kidney beans, drained

Pinch of sea salt

Freshly ground black pepper

2 large handfuls of curly kale

½ c. ditalini pasta

½ 7.5-8-oz. container Chive and Onion Cream Cheese

 Peel and finely chop the garlic and shallots. Put a stockpot over medium-high heat and warm olive oil.

 Add the garlic and the bay leaves, followed by the shallots.

Trim and chop the carrots and celery into rough ¼” dice, adding to the pan as you go. Chop zucchini into ½” dice; add to the pan. Cook for 10 to 15 minutes, stirring regularly, or until softened and caramelized.

 Add the vegetable stock, tomatoes, beans, sea salt, and pepper.

Remove and finely chop any tough stalks from your greens, shred, and add to the pan and top with 4 c. of boiling water. Add the pasta, cover, and simmer for 10 to 15 minutes, or until the pasta is just cooked and the soup has thickened to your liking. Remove from heat, add cream cheese, and stir until melted and incorporated.

 Season the soup to perfection and serve.

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Pumpkin Muffins with Bourbon Raisins

 

It just wouldn’t be fall without my whipping up a batch of pumpkin muffins. Every year I try to use a different recipe, or add a bit of variety to existing recipes, by switching or swapping out an ingredient or two. This year I decided that different ingredient was going to be bourbon. These are phenomenal! If you don’t like bourbon, it doesn’t matter, it is not overt, it just adds to the overall deliciousness, while enhancing the flavor of the pumpkin. The raisins are plump and fabulous here, particularly considering that I used two different kinds. I guarantee that these are going to be a part of my Thanksgiving table. I believe that I can also guarantee they will disappear in a flash.

Pumpkin Muffins with B0urbon Raisins

½ c. raisins

½ c. golden raisins

½ c. bourbon

2 large eggs

1 c. pumpkin purée

1¼ c. sugar

¾ t. ground cloves

¾ t. cinnamon

½ t. salt

 1/3 c. canola oil

1¾ c. flour

1½ t. baking powder

½ t. baking soda 

The night before, soak the raisins in the bourbon, do not drain.

 Preheat the oven to 400°F. Line a 12-well cupcake pan with paper liners; set aside.

 In a large mixing bowl, beat the eggs until foamy, stir in the pumpkin, sugar, cloves, cinnamon, and salt.  Add the canola oil and mix well.  In a separate bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder, and baking soda.  Add the dry mixture to the pumpkin mixture with half of the raisin-water mixture.  Mix well, add remaining raisin mixture; stir to mix.  Fill greased muffin pans 2/3 full.  Bake until the top springs back when pressed with fingers, about 25 minutes.

Dust with powdered sugar when they have cooled.

 

This recipe makes 12 to 16 standard size muffins.

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Frost on the Pumpkin Spice Cookies

 

I have always lamented the fact that Christmas cookies are only available at Christmas time. I get it; Christmas cookies are special, that’s the point, but what if I want a Christmas cookie at some other time of the year? What about that? I was thinking about snowball cookies the other day (that just happen to be one of my favorite Christmas cookies), and decided that I wanted them now. But to make them more socially acceptable, I decided to make a pumpkin spice version, making them much more suitable for this time of the year. Because I hate working with anything fiddly, and that includes rolling cookie dough into balls, I lost myself for a moment, thinking I was rolling meatballs, so mine tended to be a bit large. No complaints from me, the bigger, the better, right? You, however, may want to make yours a little smaller.

Frost on the Pumpkin Spice Cookies

 Cookies:

1 c. butter, room temperature

¾ c. powdered sugar, divided

1 t. vanilla extract

2¼ c. flour

½ t. salt

1 T. cinnamon

1 t. nutmeg

½ t. ginger

½ t. allspice

½ t. cloves

1/8 t. cardamom

¾ c. chopped pecans    

Sugar coating:

1 c. powdered sugar

2 t. pumpkin pie spice

 1 t. cinnamon

 In the work bowl of a stand mixer, beat butter, sugar, and vanilla until fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes.

 In a medium bowl whisk together flour, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, cloves, and cardamom.

 Add dry ingredients to creamed mixture, beating just until the dough comes together. Fold in nuts. Gather the dough into a ball, wrap in plastic, and refrigerate overnight to allow the spices to intensify.

 When ready to bake, remove from refrigerator, and allow setting at room temperature for 30 minutes.

 While dough is coming to temperature, whisk together 1 cup powdered sugar, 2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice, and 1 teaspoon cinnamon; set aside.

 Preheat oven to 375°F. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper or a Silpat; set aside.

 Roll about a tablespoon measure of dough into balls and place on prepared baking sheets. Bake for 14 to 15 minutes. Remove from oven, and cool for a few minutes. As soon as you are able to handle them, roll each cookie in the spiced powdered sugar mixture, and place on a rack to cool. When cooled, roll a second time in the spiced powdered sugar and return to the rack.

Store in an airtight container, or freeze.

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