Organic Homemade Pesto

We love pesto so I made my first homemade pesto. The recipe I used was:

2 cups fresh basil leaves
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan
1/2 cup extra virgin cold pressed olive oil
1/3 cup freshly roasted pine nuts
3 medium garlic cloves, minced
salt and pepper to taste

After I pan roasted the nuts, I combined the basil and nuts in my Ninja by pulsing it a few times. I then added the garlic (I added more garlic than the recipe called for - we love garlic). After this was combined, I added the olive oil (I ended up adding a little more oil to my mother-in-law's opinion). Then the parmesan cheese, salt and pepper.

It turned out AMAZING! We used it on garlic bread, and then sautéed chicken and pasta with it.

As soon as I find the charger for the camera, I will start to get better pictures. Until then, I have to keep using my phone. (I have no idea where the charger is, but I am sure a child is responsible for its disappearance)

Organic Queso Blanco

I made organic queso blanco after being inspired by a section on Diners, Drive-ins and Dives with Guy Fieri on Food Network. They featured a chef and restaurant owner Chuy Valencia.

Chuy Valencia

Chuy's runs an organic, Mexican restaurant in Chicago which I plan on visiting soon called Chilam Balam.

http://www.chilambalamchicago.com/index.html

He is also on Top Chef Texas, which I happened to catch an episode of today.

With Guy Fieri, he made organic queso blanco. When I saw him make it, I thought

"I can do that!" So the next day I was buying cheese making ingredients.

I used organic whole milk and organic, freshly queezed lime juice to make the queso fresco. We were kind of unsure on the whole process but we heated the milk to 185 degrees. We then added the lime and it started to curdle. We left the heat on for about 10 minutes. We then cut the heat and let it sit for an hour. After that, we strained it with a cheese cloth, squeezed all the water we could get out of it, tied it up in the cheese cloth and let it dry for 6 hours.

Straining the cheese

It took longer to figure out what to do than it did to actually make it. Every website gave different instructions so we messed the process up along the way. But this very easy cheese was forgiving and it turned out wonderful. I recently bought an artisan cheese cookbook so that the uncertainty will not happen again since I will be making more cheese.

At the time I made the cheese, I didn't know that I was going to be making a blog, so I do not have an after picture. When I make it again, I will update this. But trust me when I say that it was delicious!



Sourdough Starter

I have been working on a sourdough starter. It has so far been quite easy. The hardest part is not forgetting about it.

I used pineapple juice and non-bleached bread flour. The reason for pineapple juice is because it kills a certain bacteria that can show up in flour and ruin a sourdough starter. The pineapple juice came from a freshly cut pineapple that was crushed in my Ninja mixer. If you are not familiar with the Ninja, it is the mother of all mixers. That thing can take on anything. I kept breaking my blenders making smoothies. So I went out and bought the biggest, baddest mixer I could find. It came with a complete system. Here is the one that I got:

After the pineapple was crushed, we put it into a cup and let it settle out and separate. We cleared the foam off the top and then strained it multiple times with a small strainer. We then strained it with cheese cloth. The remaining liquid was clear pineapple juice.

I mixed the pineapple juice with the flour in a nonreactive bowl, covered it with saran wrap, and emailed all family members with a picture of the starter and explicit instructions to not touch it under any circumstances.

Phase 1 of starter

I put it in a safe spot and made sure to whisk it 2-3 times a day for two days.

On the third day I added more flour and pineapple juice. I had to move it to a bigger bowl because I was worried it would be too crowded in the other bowl. Next time I will plan better.

Phase 2 of starter

I now have to wait for 1-4 days, still whisking 2-3 times a day to make sure that it stays aerated. As long as it is whisked, it will not spoil or form mold. I need to wait until it is bubbly and foaming.

I will continue to update as we move along in the process!

Here we go!

Well, this is my first blog post on a cooking blog. My mom said I should start a blog on my recent cooking adventures. I laughed when she said that. For anyone that knows me, they know that I was the most limited, picky eater in the world. My husband eats any and everything. We would fight for hours about where to go out to dinner, usually it ending in us not going anywhere. My husband would watch cooking shows like it was "adult entertainment" – I watched it in disgust. Then things changed.


This past summer all of a sudden I wanted to try things I had never had before. I was having cravings for things I had never eaten in my life. I watched cooking shows with excitement and curiosity. My husband insists that it was all him who changed my taste buds. It wasn't. If it was him, it would have happened years ago. This past summer I started taking hormones that made me feel incredible! And as soon as I started taking them, that is when the taste buds changed. So, whatever it is attributed to, I am loving cooking now. I want to keep trying new things and continually improve upon the things I had been making.


We have been pushing towards organic living for the past several months too. I tried organic eating years ago, but there just wasn't the options that there are now. We have switched over to organic products whenever possible. Of course, there are items that we cannot find in organic, or if they are available, they are just too outrageously expensive, but I will try my best to give my family only hormone free, organic products whenever possible. I believe many of the health problems we are experiencing are due to the garbage chemicals that we have put into our overly processed food supply.


I have been taking pictures on my phone of the various things I have made over the past couple weeks. I am going to update the blog with the items I made and then moving forward, I hope to update this as much as possible.


I hope if anything, for those who are too afraid to start cooking, maybe they will give it a try. I hated cooking more than anything in this world. Now nothing makes me happier than being in an apron all day long in the kitchen. I just need to find a way to apply my undergrad and graduate schooling towards artisan breads and cheeses.