Rucola Pesto.

My first post is about a very simple and scented sauce: Pesto.
With this recipe I'd like to thank Heather for inviting me to her blog and I virtually offer her my personal taste of italian cuisine.

With this mediterranean breeze on the Gourmet DIY Shanghai I hope you will be prepare for summer. Who lives here knows that spring is just so short and after the cold and rainy winter we had this year, summer will be soon at the door,  hot and humid.

What is better than an easy and fresh green thing that can be spread on a piece of bread or a ready to use sauce in the fridge for a pasta or rice?

The name "pesto" is the italian for pestle and it refers to the manual grinder made of stone that was used in the past. Here I've prepared a rucola pesto.

For a jar to store in fridge:

80-100 grams of basil or rucola leaves

50 grams of parmesan cheese

50 grams of pine nuts (I've used pine nuts and pecan)

olive oil (better if extra virgin) around 150 grams 

salt 

1 garlic clove

Wash the rucola leaves (or basil) and let it dry before using it. Put cheese, pine nuts and garlic (if you don't like garlic it can be omitted) in a grinder or food processor. If you don't have a food processor (in shanghai not all have) just use a manual grinder or a pestle. Add the leaves, salt and the olive oil and grind together till the sauce comes like a cream. Store in a glass container cover with more olive oil on top to prevent the pesto to change its vibrant color.

If covered with oil it will last one week in the fridge and of course ... if you don't have a piece of bread to dip in!

Pine nuts are expensive and sometimes difficult to find so any of the following works, just experiment: almonds, nuts, hazelnuts, pecan.

Baked Potato Soup

I've been meaning to post this recipe for a while now. It is a perfect recipe for the cold winter months. This is a “man pleasin” kind of recipe. Bacon, potatoes and cheese. I don’t know of many men that wouldn't love this soup.

 I actually created this recipe with my Papa in mind. When we were kids the fanciest restaurant my mom and dad took us to was Tony Roma’s Steak House. Now I laugh about this but to a little girl it felt fancy. My dad absolutely loved the baked potato soup that they served there, so I set out to create a recipe that would make him proud.

The secret ingredient in this recipe is the shot of Tabasco sauce. It just gives the soup that extra little kick that takes it from good to AWESOME! Tabasco sauce can be found at Carrefour in the imported section or of course, at any of the other expat markets.

Ingredients:
½ cup butter melted
1 cup flour
200 g or about ½ lb of diced bacon (variation: can use Costco bacon instead, but I do cook it a little differently; see below)
1-2 tbsp oil
1 large onion diced
5-6 bay leaves
2 tbsp chicken boullion
6 cups water
3-4 large potatoes cut into ½ inch cubes
A few good dashes of Tabasco sauce
1 cup milk
½ cup heavy cream
1- 1 ½ tsp salt (taste to make sure you have just the right amount
Fresh ground pepper
Garnish with: bacon, shredded cheese and chopped Chinese chives

In an oven safe dish, combine melted butter and flour. Bake at 325 for 30 minutes until flour mixture is golden brown. Set aside.

*In a stockpot, sauté bacon over medium heat until tender and slightly crispy. Using a slotted spoon, transfer bacon to a serving bowl and set aside.

( *I used Costco precooked bacon which I bring over from the Statesin my suitcases in my soup, so I skipped this step, but I've included the instructions for using regular bacon)

Keep bacon drippings in pot (this imparts a lot of good flavor to the soup) and add onions and 2 tbsp extra oil if needed.

Add bay leaves. Sauté onions and bay leaves in oil and drippings until onions are tender and clear.

Add water, boullion, fresh ground pepper and potatoes and cook until potatoes are tender.

Add butter/flour mixture and stir until well combined.

Remove from heat and add milk and cream. Add a dash or two of Tabasco sauce.


Turn heat on low and bring soup temperature up to a simmer. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Garnish with reserved bacon, chives and shredded cheese.

Enjoy!!

Easy Omelets

My sister told me about this little trick this past summer for making omelets. Now, I wouldn't go out and buy a sandwich maker just to make these, but I happened to have been given one by a friend who returned to the States so I decided to try it out. Easiest omelets ever!

Grease your sandwich maker with cooking spray. Plug it in just before using so it doesn't get too hot.














Add two eggs to a bowl. Add a dash of salt and pepper (not shown)

Add your choice of omelet ingredients, such as tomatoes, bacon (I use crumbled Costco bacon) onions, cheese, and green peppers.

Mix well.

Pour into all compartments of the sandwich maker.

Close and cook 1 1/2 minutes then turn over. Cook 1 1/2 more minutes until done.

Enjoy!!!

>

Homemade Ricotta

A few years ago, I was obsessed with making everything from scratch and I heard I could even make cheese!  I googled cheese recipes and the easiest recipe that came up was this ricotta by Shutterbean.  I'm still not convinced that ricotta is even a cheese, but it was amazing and I've been making it ever since!  Originally, I only used ricotta in lasagna, but this stuff is so good that I'm always trying to find new excuses to make another batch.  Some of our favorites are ricotta pancakes, bruschetta, as a pizza topping, and as a filling for crab-rangoon-without-the-crab (aka Poor Man's Rangoon).  Enjoy!

First, gather your ingredients.  You'll need:

• 4 cups milk
• 2 cups cream
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 3 tablespoons white wine vinegar

You'll also need to set a colander lined with a few layers of cheesecloth or a thin kitchen towel over a bowl.

First, pour the milk and cream into a large pot and stir in the salt. 

Bring to a boil over medium heat. You only need to stir it occasionally so it doesn't scald.   (Don't try to take pictures while doing this or it will boil over like mine did and you'll have a mess. If it does, just take close up pics the rest of the time and no one will notice.)

Once its come to a full boil, turn off the heat and stir in the vinegar.

Let it sit for a minute or two until it begins to curdle.

Pour the mixture into your cheesecloth lined colander.  Let sit for 20-45 minutes at room temperature depending on the texture you want.  I always go the full 45 minutes because it makes it extra thick and creamy.  If your bowl seems to get too full of liquid before its done, just pour it out.

When the time is up, you have ricotta!  Use immediately or cover and refrigerate.  It will last up to 5 days if you don't eat it first!