Whole Grain Linguine with Creamy Broccoli Pesto

Who knew broccoli could be this well hidden?  And subtly delicious!  

I chose this meal because it went with John's and my plan to incorporate more fiber into our lives as a source of weight loss.  And, I can proudly say that I have lost 5 pounds since New Years!  Fiber is so underrated . . .

Ignore my store bought Parmesan cheese sprinkles on there.  You should have seen John's face when I brought it home!

This recipe is adapted from Deb's over at Smitten kitchen.  And my cell phone pictures are not nearly as good as hers.

Broccoli Cream Pesto

1/2 pound broccoli
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 small onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon table salt
Freshly ground black pepper or pinches of red pepper flakes
4 tablespoons heavy cream
A heap of grated Parmesan (about 1/2 cup), to serve

Remove broccoli florets from stems and chop into medium florets. Peel stalky stems with a vegetable peeler and slice them into 1/2-inch segments.

Use your pot of future pasta water to steam (by suspending a mesh strainer over your pasta pot and covering it with a lid for 5 to 6 minutes)) or par-boil (for 3 to 5 minutes) your broccoli florets and stems until just tender, then drain if needed and set them aside.

Before draining pasta, reserve a cup of pasta cooking water and set it aside for the sauce.

In the bottom of a pot or large saucepan, melt butter and olive oil together over medium heat. Add onion and reduce to medium-low, sauteing it until tender, about 7 minutes. Add garlic and cook for another two minutes. Add steamed broccoli, salt and red or black pepper and turn the heat back up to medium-high, cooking it with the onion and garlic for a few additional minutes. Pour cream over mixture and let cook for 30 seconds.

Transfer broccoli mixture and all of its creamy bits at the bottom of the pan to a blender or food processor and blend in short bursts until it’s finely chopped and a little sauce.  Immersion blender will work here as well.

Combine the broccoli sauce the drained pasta and a splash or two of the reserved pasta water. Cook over medium-high for 1 to 2 minutes, tossing the mixture so that it evenly coats. Add more pasta water as needed to loosen the sauce. Adjust seasonings to taste, adding more salt or pepper, and scoop into a serving bowl. Shower spaghetti with grated Parmesan.

Blueberry Lemon Jam

This is my first attempt at jams.  And though I was not entirely happy with my viscosity, I would definitely attempt this again.  It was delightfully easy to make.


And pretty good to eat.

Blueberry Lemon Jam:

8 cups fresh blueberries
5 1/2 cups sugar
3 tablespoons lemon juice
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons grated lemon peel
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
2 pouches (3 ounces each) liquid fruit pectin

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• 
  

• Place blueberries in a food processor; cover and process until blended. Transfer to a stockpot. Stir in the sugar, lemon juice, cinnamon, lemon peel and nutmeg. Bring to a full rolling boil over high heat, stirring constantly. Stir in pectin. Boil for 1 minute, stirring constantly.

• Remove from the heat; skim off foam. Ladle hot mixture into hot sterilized half-pint jars, leaving 1/4-in. headspace. Remove air bubbles; wipe rims and adjust lids. Process for 10 minutes in a boiling-water canner.

I found my first attempt to be a little too lemon-y, with too low of a viscosity.  I also found it too be too sugary.  I think those will base the adjustments I make to my next batch, which will be delicious.

Poblano Gazpacho and Goals

I'm experienced a renewed sense of vigor with the mere identification of a goal.  It's wonderful.  Two basic things have been identified: Working all the damn time drains my creativity and makes me miserable (1).  I'm finally ready to go back to school to do my Masters (2).  Just identifying and recognizing these things has helped so much.

But what to do the Masters in?  This is a fun problem to have.  The original plan was music, but now the possibilities seem limitless, well almost limitless.  I'm really, seriously, pondering an MA in Photography.  Seriously.  Now the task is finding out just how qualified I actually am.

And as far as goals go, I've come up with a few more in my moments of inspiration.  I don't like to call them New Year's Resolutions because that seems so fleeting and boring.  And plus, I made them in December, so they are more like End of Year Resolutions, or maybe just Life Plan.  I'll stick with that.  They are really quite beautifully simple.

-Be more active!  Not go on a diet or lose weight or anything, just lead a more active lifestyle and enjoy nature a little more.

-Keep in touch!  Most of my friends live really far away, and we all lead such busy lives.  I miss them.  Let's fix that.

-Chase the Dream, whatever that may be! Seems cliche, I realize, but I have found myself settled lately.  I don't like it.  Who dreams of working in food service?  Though it has been a fabulous opportunity, I'm ready to get out and do something more meaningful.  It's time.

Oh yeah, about the soup . . .

Such a great fresh and smokey flavor is achieved from first roasting or sauteeing the vegetables.  It can be served hot or cold.

Poblano Gazpacho:


3 cups of poblano chili peppers, seeded, chopped
1 1/2 cups chopped onions
3 cloves of garlic (why not more?)
2 T unsalted butter
1 T flour
4 cups of chicken broth
3/4 t ground cumin


Sautee vegetables in a large pan (or roast in oven) until tender, about 8 min.  Stir in flour to thicken and cook 1 min longer.  Add chicken broth and cumin and bring to boil.  Reduce heat and simmer, covered, about 10 min.  Process soup in blender or immersion blender until smooth.  Season to taste with salt.  Feel free to garnish with a dollop of sour cream on top!

Nam Sad Moo

It's no surprise that I favor Asian dishes.  John has commented on that on many occasions.  So much that he gave me a wok and seasonings for my birthday in July.


I'm ashamed to say that I still haven't seasoned or used the wok yet.

John is a recipe tweaker, while I am a "wing it" sorta gal.  We get into debates over this all the time.  This is also why I'm not a big baker.


To prove this, I thought you may enjoy this:

Always the thinker between us!

And in other news, I still work all the damn time!

Blueberry Cream Muffins

I made by first Blueberry muffins from scratch last night.  It called for 24 muffins, but only having a 6 cup muffin pan and a 24 cup mini-muffin pan, I ended up with close to 40 muffins and mini-muffins alike.  I'm still giving them away today.

Blueberry Cream Muffins:

Ingredients
4 eggs
2 cups white sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 cups sour cream
2 cups blueberries

Directions
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Grease 24 muffin cups or line with paper muffin liners.
In large bowl beat eggs, gradually add sugar while beating. Continue beating while slowly pouring in oil. Stir in vanilla. In a separate bowl, stir together flour, salt and baking soda.
Stir dry ingredients into egg mixture alternately with sour cream. Gently fold in blueberries. Scoop batter into prepared muffin cups.
Bake in preheated oven for 20 minutes.

I opted for a healthier option.  I used half AP Flour and half Whole Wheat flour.
I also used half sour cream, half organic low-fat vanilla yogurt.
I used 1 cup of white sugar (instead of 2) and half cup of brown sugar.
I just threw all of the ingredients into the stand mixer, saving flour for last.  It turned out a little over-mixed, but ok.  And super easy work for me.

I hear you can freeze muffins well, which I may well have to do.