Cinnamon Basil was a garden experiment that produced more than I expected. Now, what do I do with it?
I found this interesting Cinnamon Basil Pesto recipe and decided to try it in three ways:
Simple spread on a wafer/cracker
Served on top of a mild cheese (brie, gouda, etc.) and wafer/cracker
Served on top of a mild cheese with wafer/cracker and drizzled with honey
This fun experiment ended with the pesto, cheese and honey winning my vote!
CINNAMON BASIL DESSERT PESTO
1/3 – 1/2 cup walnut oil
2 cups firmly packed, fresh cinnamon basil leaves
1/2 cup chopped almonds
1/2 cup flaked coconut
1/4 cup freshly grated Asiago cheese (1 oz.)
2 teaspoons raw sugar or packed brown sugar
In a food processor or blender combine 1/3 cup of the oil, the basil, almonds, coconut, cheese, and sugar. Cover and process or blend until nearly smooth, stopping and scraping sides as necessary and adding enough remaining oil until of desired consistency.
If the pesto is not to be served immediately, divide it into three portions. Place each portion in a small airtight container. Refrigerate up to 24 hours or freeze up to 3 months. Makes about 1-1/3 cups pesto.
Spring brings wonderful strawberries to the markets. Honey goat cheese pairs beautifully with strawberries and with a hint of honey drizzle, you have a very simple, delicious appetizer (or dessert). Yummy!
STRAWBERRY HONEY GOAT CHEESE BITES
1 dozen large strawberries
8 oz. package Honey Goat Cheese (I use Haystack)
Honey
Wash, stem and halve strawberries.
Allow them to dry on paper towels.
Place a small piece of Honey Goat Cheese on top of strawberry and drizzle with honey.
Quarterly book club review of the book, The Chile Queen by Sandra Dallas, was big hit. She has become one of my favorite authors. Our book review is always preceded by our favorite part of the evening, the themed potluck. This time the theme is Southwest and the main dish included four different versions of Chile with cornbread. What to make to compliment chile? I found this recipe from Paula Deen, which I altered to suit my taste, and loved the results. It has made me think there are even more creative ideas for for delicious deviled egg.
12 eggs, hard-boiled and peeled
1/3 cup mayonnaise
3 tablespoons shredded Cheddar cheese
3 tablespoons salsa (I used home-made Salsa)
1 tablespoon sour cream
1 tablespoon chopped green onion, plus more for garnish, optional
1 teaspoon ground cumin
salt and pepper to taste
Halve eggs lengthwise. Remove yolks and add to a small bowl.
Mash the yolks with a fork and stir in the mayonnaise, cheese, salsa, sour cream, green onion, and cumin.
Add salt and pepper, to taste, and blend well.
Fill the egg whites evenly with yolk mixture and garnish with additional green onions, if desired.
Arrange in a container and store, covered in the refrigerator, until ready to serve.
Poisonwood Bible (1998) was our recent Book Club read. I remember trying to read this great book in the late ’90s but work, teenagers and life interrupted my reading experience. I was delighted when our Book Club added the book to our 2014 list. While the book is long, the time flew by as I read this marvelous book by Barbara Kingsolver.
The book was originally suggested to me by my sister-in-law, Betty, when they were living in Malawi, Africa on a medical and education mission. During their time in Africa, Betty wrote many emails to family and friends capturing the many wonderful and tragic moments there. Poinsonwood Bible brought back a flood of memories from her stories.
Our book club always begins the evening with a potluck dinner with a theme from the book, so African recipes it is! Betty was kind enough to mail me her cookbook, The Malawi Cookbook:
Malawi Cookbook
The cookbook was originally published in 1972 by the Malawi Ministry of Health to raise money for children’s vaccinations and the Save the Children fund. Malnutrition is one of the leading causes of morbidity in young children in developing countries.
The recipes are fascinating and I will keep a few for my future cooking experiences, although I doubt I will ever serve Bee Larvae, Flying Ants, Grasshoppers, Crickets and Locusts. Instead, I decided to use the eggplant recipe that Betty shared directly with me. I love eggplant, made any which way, so this was a perfect choice. As Betty shared, Mashed Eggplant is served everywhere during harvest season.
Other wonderful dishes shared at our dinner were Ingera (sponge bread), Chicken and Peanut Stew (recipe to appear in Friday’s post), Fried Plantains, and an array of Ethiopian dishes from a local restaurant.
I took several wonderful pictures of the Eggplant and Peanut Spread, to later discover I didn’t have my memory card in my camera. My apologies but let me assure you the dish was a big hit, even for those that confess to not liking Eggplant. Serve this spread with wedges of pita bread or, for those eating gluten-free, a gluten free cracker.
The only change I would make the next time I make it, would be to roast the eggplant in the oven to decrease the amount of fat in the dish.
MASHED EGGPLANT & PEANUT SPREAD
2 pounds eggplant, peeled and sliced
2 teaspoons salt
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 teaspoon ground coriander
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons crunchy peanut butter (in Malawi, they would use local made groundnut butter)
salt and red pepper flakes, to taste
Prepare the eggplant in the usual way of slicing, salting, weighing down the eggplant during the two hours you are extracting the liquid and bitterness.
Pat dry, then fry eggplant slices for about five minutes in the olive oil, turning once.
Mix and pour remaining ingredients over the fried slices, mash with fork, then serve with pita wedges. (I admit to having used a food processor which made the finished product a bit smoother).
Brie and Blackberries is like a slice of heaven. For my last meal, I would definitely choose Brie and a bowl of berries so this recipe sounded perfect to me! It’s relatively simple to make. Delicious addition to my recipe box!
You’ll notice a glimpse of Fancy Schmancy Asparagus to the right as well. I used 1/2 of the crescent rolls to make the Blackberry Brie Bites and the other half for the Asparagus. Win, win!
BLACKBERRY BRIE BITES
1 tube refrigerated crescent rolls (8 oz.)
1 round Brie Cheese (8 oz.)
1/4 cup blackberry jelly or jam
24 fresh blackberries
24 large toothpicks (optional)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Separate the crescent rolls into 4 rectangles. Press the seams together and cut into 6 even squares. Press into 24 mini muffin tins.
Cut the rind off the Brie. Cut into 24 small squares. Place one square into each crescent lined tins. Spoon a small amount of blackberry jelly/jam on top of each cheese square. Fold the tips of the crescent rolls over, if desired.
Bake for 12-15 minutes. Remove from the oven and top with a fresh blackberry on a toothpick. Serve immediately.
Deviled Eggs are an Easter ‘must have’, and this year will be no different. Everyone in the family loves them so as they say in ‘Fiddler on the Roof’…TRADITION! Back in the day, my Mother would make them from the eggs laid by our own hens. The yolks were deep yellow and it was a lucky treat when we would have an egg with a double yolk.
That was the good part. I can’t say that gathering the eggs was a treat since the hens were often pretty fussy about having anyone poking around their nests for their eggs. Then there was the washing of the eggs for our use and sale to others. All in a days work down on the farm.
Today, I usually buy my eggs at the grocery store but found that Chicken Track brown eggs closely resembled the eggs from the farm. This recipe does not include the direct measurements but was taught to me based on feel/texture. The filling should be moist but not runny.
DEVILED EGGS
Boiled eggs
Mayonnaise
Mustard
Dill pickle juice
Salt to taste
Paprika
Peel boiled eggs and cut eggs in half, lengthwise.
Remove yolks to a separate mixing bowl.
Mash egg yolks and add mayonnaise, pickle juice and dash of prepared mustard to taste.
Fill egg whites with yolk mixture. Sprinkle with paprika. Chill before serving.
Our family was gathering for a late Sunday afternoon dinner and Mexican food was planned. I needed a good starter but wanted something that wasn’t high fat/high calorie. I have had 7 layer dip many times and this is a low cal twist to that recipe. I used 2 cups of refried beans and 1 cup salsa for the bottom layer and otherwise, used the recipe as below.
It was a great little dip and I like it served with vegetables (especially Jicama) along with the chips.
MEXICAN LAYERED DIP
1 cup refried beans, vegetarian/low-fat
1/2 cup salsa
1-1/2 cups low-fat Greek yogurt
3 tablespoons taco seasoning
2 avocados, pitted, peeled & mashed
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
juice from 1/2 lime
TOPPINGS:
1/2 cup low-fat shredded cheddar cheese
3/4 cup cherry or grape tomatoes, quartered
1/4 cup sliced green onions
1/4 cup sliced black olives
cilantro sprigs
DIPPERS:
raw vegetables spears; red/yellow/orange bell peppers, jicama, daikon radish, carrots, celery, etc.
tortilla chips or strips
In small bowl, combine and stir beans and salsa. In separate bowl, combine and stir Greek yogurt and taco seasoning. In third bowl, combine and stir mashed avocado, garlic powder, salt, pepper, and lime juice. Use a 8×8″ pan or bowl or similar size. Place bean mixture on the bottom, guacamole in the middle, yogurt mixture on top; smoothing each into an even layer using the tip of a table knife.
Sprinkle on toppings: shredded cheese, tomatoes, onions, olives. Top with a sprig of cilantro. May be assembled, covered, and refrigerated up to 6 hours in advance. Serve with veggie spears and/or tortilla chips.
It seems my world truly revolves around food, as it does for my daughters! Our oldest daughter, Megan, was married last year; we asked bridal shower guests to share a favorite recipe to insert in a cookbook. This year daughter, Sarah, is also engaged and we did the same for her shower. I photocopied hand-written recipes of Grandmothers, Great-Grandmothers, and other family members no longer with us. We also asked each guest to write a note the bride inside the cookbook.
As favors, we gave each guest a copy of three of Megan’s favorite dip/spread recipes which we also served at her shower.
Megan’s recipe favors at bridal shower
The dips shared were Cheesy Apple Spread (today’s post), Hot Wing Dip, and Peach Salsa. They are all family favorites. The Cheesy Apple Spread recipe has been in my recipe box for at least 30 years. Younger daughter, Sarah, loves this dip as well and prepared the dip for the shower. Cheesy Apple Spread is truly an oldie but still a goodie!
Apple Dip
CHEESY APPLE SPREAD
8 ounces low-fat cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup low-fat mayonnaise
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 cup chopped apple
Ingredients for Apple Dip
Blend together the cream cheese and mayonnaise. Add shredded cheese and chopped apple. Chill until ready to serve with Ritz or other favorite crackers.
Fork Lore 