triple a pesto

We invited some folks over for dinner last night who have just moved into the neighborhood, which sent me to the refrigerator and the pantry to see what I could make of what I had on hand. I have a couple of recipes to post, but I'll start with this one. I found

marinated aritchokes
dried unsulphured apricots (an equal amount)
almonds (about half the volume of the first two ingredients)
cinnamon basil (from our garden)

I added

a little lemon juice
salt and pepper

and pulsed it in the food processor. Once it was fairly well pureed, I began pouring a slow stream of

olive oil

into the food processor and let it run for a good bit, until the mix was the consistency I wanted. It turned out to be quite good.

Peace,
Milton

sweet potato cakes with cranberry relish

For a number of years, Ginger and I have had a New Year's Day open house and this has been one of the staples of that event. Now that I live in Sweet Potato Land, I thought I would post the recipe.

1 cup whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Sift these ingredients together into a medium bowl.

1 medium sweet potato, peeled and grated (I use my food processor)
1/2 cup shredded cheddar
1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh thyme

Add these ingredients to the flour mixture and toss to cover the cheese and potatoes well.

1 large egg, lightly beaten
1 1/2 cups milk

In a large bowl, combine the egg and milk and then add the dry ingredients until combined.

1/2 cup oil, for frying

Heat the oil to medium high heat in a large nonstick skillet. Drop a few rounded teaspoons of the batter into the oil and flatten to form cakes about 1 1/2 inches in diameter. Cook until bottoms are browned and tiny bubbles begin to form on top (about two minutes). Flip and cook a minute or so longer; transfer to paper towels and repeat until all batter is used.

(You can make these ahead of time, layer them between wax paper, and then reheat them in a 350 oven when you're ready to serve.) On to the relish.

1 medium orange, unpeeled, but cleaned well, halved, seeded, and cut into chunks
1 medium Granny Smith apple, unpeeled, cored, and cut into chunks
1/4 medium unpeeled lemon, treated just as you did the orange

Put the fruit in a food processor and pulse until finely chopped. Add cranberries and pulse until they are the same consistency.

2 cups fresh cranberries
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Transfer to a bowl, add sugar and walnuts and mix well. (This can be made up to a week ahead.) When I've served these, I also put out some sour cream.

Peace,
Milton

pilgrim punchers

This is an adaptation of tear jerkers, a recipe I posted at the beginning of the year.

3 16 oz jars of sliced jalapeños, drained
2 cups sugar
1 20 oz can of crushed pineapple
2 cups dried cranberries

Mix the ingredients in a large saucepan and heat until sugar is melted and mixture is bubbling. Set aside and let cool completely, then put into whatever containers you wish. The jalapeño jars are great if you want to share the relish with friends. Keeps well in the refrigerator and makes a great substitute for cranberry sauce.

Peace,
Milton

tomato chutney

I had a bunch of tomatoes from out garden that were ripening faster than we could eat them, so I played around with a new recipe today.

5 cloves garlic, peeled, coarsely chopped
2 inch piece fresh ginger, peeled and coarsely chopped
1 or 2 dried chipotle peppers
1/2 cup red wine vinegar

Put these ingredients in a blender or food processor and puree. In a large non-reactive stock pot, put

2 lbs fresh tomatoes (if they taste like a tomato should) or
1 (28 ounce) can whole tomatoes
2 bags mixed dried fruit (mine had apples, pears, pineapple, & apricots)
1 20 oz can crushed pineapple
1 large onion, diced
1 cup cider vinegar
1 small can pineapple juice
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
salt & pepper

Bring this to a boil and add the puree from blender. Lower heat and simmer gently, uncovered, for about 1 1/2 to 2 hours or until chutney becomes thick. Stir it occasionally at first, and then more frequently later as it thickens. Turn heat off and allow the chutney to cool before storing it in your refrigerator.

Makes about 2 1/2 quarts and it turned out to be both tasty and spicy.

Peace,
Milton

tear jerkers

Here's my favorite new recipe from the holidays (and from my mother):

3 16 oz jars of sliced jalapenos, drained
2 cups sugar
1 9 oz can of crushed pineapple

Mix the ingredients in a large saucepan and heat until sugar is melted and mixture is bubbling. Set aside and let cool completely, then return jalapenos to jars (unless you have something else you want to keep them in) and fill jars with remaining liquid. They are ready to eat, but get better if they sit for a day or two.

They go well on anything from steak to eggs to crackers.

Peace,
Milton