How To Make Pesto, Family Style

{ Scroll down for the recipe. }

Me & Bunny

I learned how to make pesto from a woman named Bunny. She's a cool ol' broad who built a log cabin with her own two hands and makes biscuits by putting her hips into it. She's tough as nails and warm like butter, and she's left a mark on my kitchen that goes deeper than the kitchen sink.

She tasted my mid-made pesto, and from over her shoulder gruffed simply, "More garlic," in her leftover east coast accent. Ok, I thought. Right. More garlic. But first I quietly tasted it myself to see if I could get what she got, if I could taste what she did and be able to name what was missing without missing a beat.


We were having about 25 people over to our little apartment for a big family dinner, including Gary Danko (yes, that Gary Danko) to celebrate the life of Bunny's son Chris, who after two weeks of lying in a deep sleep, and 35 years before that of giving this world his funny, unique and wholly honest breath, passed away, leaving us to ourselves and our food. We had held vigil in his hospital room for those weeks laughing, crying and hoping, and coming home each night to my kitchen, something that will never be less than amazing to me.

Chris worked with Gary at his restaurant in San Francisco, and over the years Gary got sucked into this wonderful family, just like me. He slid into my kitchen and quietly stood hip-to-hip with Bunny, each of them getting to work on getting through this. Even then the 24-yr old me knew that Gary. Danko. Is. Making. A. Rue. In. My. Kitchen., but looking back on it, what's seared into my memory is how we were all the same level of human in that moment, brought together by a very special guy named Chris and the food that would nourish our bodies to keep us going.

Although my Beginner's Bunny Pesto certainly wasn't the focus at the table that night, I've made it a million times since then. Each and every time, it's never lost on me where and when I learned how to taste the food I'm making and know instinctively when it needs more garlic.

Read more about the legacy that our friend Chris has left, changing the lives of thousands living with cancer. 

Bunny's Pesto

When baking Bunny measures like a scientist, but when cooking at the stove, eyeballing it is the only way to go. It's an art form that applies to this recipe. Maybe the lack of exact measurements will encourage you to "just go with it," and not want to crack under the anxiety like I did the first few times. When in doubt, always start with less and add more to taste.

Ingredients:

A couple of bunches of fresh basil

1-2 lemons, zest & juice (start with one and add more if needed.)

1-2 Garlic cloves chopped, you be the judge

About 1/2 cup toasted nuts - walnuts & pine nuts are my favorites

About 1/2 cup grated Parmesan, Asiago or Romano cheese

E.V. Olive Oil - use the good stuff for this since it's not cooked.

Kosher salt & fresh cracked pepper

1. Start by toasting the nuts. I use a small cast iron skillet and hover smotheringly, otherwise I WILL burn them.
2. In a food processor (or blender) add the basil, lemon zest and juice of one lemon, garlic, nuts, cheese, salt and pepper. 

It will look kinda like this:

      

      3. Start blending, and drizzle in the olive oil through the lid until it comes together like this.

      4. Taste it. It should have a fragrant basil aroma, a subtle garlic spice and a bold acidity from the lemons. If all you taste is lemon, then you need more salt. Add a touch more and blend. If it's bland, then add more lemon juice. Dance around with the salt, lemon juice, garlic and parmesan until you get to the good stuff: A zesty, aromatic, tangy pesto.

And then do this:

Cheese Tortellini with Sauteed Chicken, Kale and Heirloom Tomatoes

And this:

And then with the leftover pesto sauce, do this:

Take it to your friend's house, and they'll send you this:

Photo by my buddy Peter Campbell

What are your most vivid memories of learning to cook?

EAT Fast Food: Peppercorn Steak w/ Heirloom Tomato & Summer Corn Salad

There's nothing like eating summer when it's summer. 

This is a quick little ditty I whipped up last night in 25 minutes flat. 

Go!

*********************************************************************************************************************************

For a video tutorial on cooking this 

peppercorn steak with the cuuute 

Ali Wentworth and Jessica Seinfeld, 

click here.

Ingredients List:

1 NY Strip Steak (1" thick)
1-2 large heirloom tomatoes
1 ear of corn
1 can black beans, rinsed & drained
Handful of arugula
1 tbsp. chopped fresh cilantro (substitute basil for you cilantro soap-tasters)
1/2 a lime
1/2 tbsp. black peppercorns, crushed (not ground)
1/2 tsp. kosher salt
1 tsp. canola oil
Salt & Pepper, to taste

Tip: Use a heavy bottom sautee pan to crush your peppercorns. Make sure they're all "popped" or else somebody's gonna lose a tooth.

Total prep & cook time: About 30 minutes  |  Serves 2

1. Start boiling the ear of corn in salted water. 
2. Trim the steak of the hard fat, and pat dry with a paper towel.
3. Use the canola oil, crushed peppercorns and 1/2 tsp. kosher salt evenly over both sides of the steak. 
4. Bring a heavy bottom pan (cast-iron or stainless steel) to heat at med-high. No need to add any extra oil - the steak has all the oil needed. 
5. Once the pan is hot, put the steak on. This is going to make a crunchy, flavorful crust. It's also going to get a little smoky in the kitchen, so open a window.
6. For medium-rare, cook about 4-6 minutes on each side, about 125-130 degrees on an instant read thermometer.
7. While the steak is on the first side, large chop the tomato(es) and cilantro. Put them in a salad bowl and add the arugula and about 3/4 cup black beans. Add as much of any of these ingredients as you like. 
8. Flip the steak.
9. Squeeze 1/2 lime over the salad. Add a pinch of salt & pepper. (If you use pure citrus as a salad dressing, you HAVE to salt it in order to marry the flavor. Otherwise it will taste like a lime salad, which I guess isn't such a bad thing.)
10. Remove the ear of corn and let cool a little.
11. Check the steak's temperature. Remove and tent with foil when done. 
12. Cut the corn off the cob and add toss in the salad.

Divide the salad onto two plates. Cut the steak in about 1/2" slices against the grain and lay over the salad. Drizzle any juices onto the steak.

Savor the flavor, y'all!!

EAT: Strawberry Coconut Cake for breakfast, lunch and dinner

I found this on Pinterest! Scroll all the way down for the recipe. . . 

Guess what I had for breakfast.

Ask me how I guilty I feel.

Zip. Zilch. Nada.


This is quite possibly the best recipe that I've ever tried.

Being a southern girl and all, I appreciate a good Strawberry Cake.

Ok, that's a little vulgar. 

But this loco woman did all kinds of crazy goodness to an already good thing.

I could fill a bathtub with this stuff.

I'm gonna make you scroll through

all the mouthwatering images

before you get

to the recipe. 

You're welcome.

**I found this through Pinterest, and boy am I so glad. That place is awesome. 

You should all join. Oh, and follow me.

EAT: On A Pulled Pork Mission

Photo: heartsnxj1.blogspot.com/

I'm southern. There's not much else I need to say to justify this post. 

When you're from Mississippi, just south of bar-b-que capital Memphis, TN, you have the sauce running in your veins. Your family reunions are bigger than a Skynyrd concert and may involve your Uncle Hambone cooking something on the engine of a beefed up pickup truck piled high on cinder blocks. You get lost in a sea of your cousins, know how to properly tip a cow and can smell kudzu in your sleep. You're southern. 

When I moved to California almost 11 years ago, I had no idea how much I would miss those parts of being from the south that were once second skin. Of all the sensory experiences that linger the most, southern food is the one I find myself trying to recreate often, albeit with a California touch.

Be not afraid - I have seen the light of California food. One of the first things that amazed me was seeing lemons, limes and avocados growing on trees. In people's backyards! Food growing on trees! Heading south along route 1, you're destined to find farmer's stands with heaps of brussel sprouts, greens, corn, tomatoes and strawberries stretching for miles along the fresh ocean breeze.

Southern food, which in my mind has always been based on what you grew in your garden or raised in the pastures, has seen a sad amount of fast food-washing over the years. My once small town two-lane road is now a six-lane congested McDonalds-BurgerKing-Applebees-SteakInShake thoroughfare, paving over what used to be green space, grass fields and my old trailer park. 

  

My Granny, Verneal Timmons

The southern food I miss is my Granny Timmons' homemade cinnamon buns, buckets of boiled peanuts, homemade breads, roasted chickens from the coup and good bbq. The fresh foods from her gardens and canned veggies from last season were torturous as a picky kid eater, but times are always achangin'. I find myself cooking more and more like my granny, and a good pulled pork sammich is definitely in order.

My fellow southern transplant friend Damion makes a capital M, Mean pulled pork, but he's holding on dearly to his recipe. I've asked him for it multiple times, and he just starts rattling off various ingredients with this charming, secretive smirk, saying, "Oh, honey! It's so simple. You just. . . brown sugar blah blah. . . pork butt blah blah. . . marinade. . . blah blah," until I've either lost interest or simply can't keep up. He never writes it down.

Luckily there's an awesome place up in Guerneville, CA by the Russian River that my friends have turned me on to. Stumptown Brewery has a yum-o-licious pulled pork sandwich, not to mention that good ole southern biker bar feel and fresh tap micro-brews for days. Sit out on the patio and watch the game or sprawl out on blankets in the large grassy area overlooking the river. This is fast becoming my favorite escape from the foggy city by the bay, and it is oddly always summer there.

Stumptown Brewery's fresh micro brews

Stumptown Brewery Patio

Also, fantastically there's a food truck that hangs out at City Hall on Fridays as a part of San Francisco's Off The Grid food truck movement that surprised the southern out of me with their undressed pulled pork (you add the sauce after, so weird!), fresh cabbage slaw and soft egg buns. Washed it right down with a large sweet iced tea and proceeded to sleep for an hour in the promenade.

Off The Grid, SF Food Trucks @ City Hall
Photo: cookwitheva.com

Of course there are tons of recipes online, but this is the one I'm probably going to try first, unless I can bribe Damion with sugar cubes. I usually default to Ina Garten's methods because she's not afraid of butter, but I go to her mostly for fresh yet indulgent, cape cod fantasy cooking, not down and dirty southern. Food 52 has one that looks simple and, shall we say, "interesting." Coke, really? 

Inarguably, there are different styles of bbq that must be considered - Texas, Carolina and Memphis-style, to name a few. Each has their own subtle and nuanced flavors, methods and fervent followers. I'll just say I'm a Memphis gal, and leave it at that. You can't go on a pulled pork mission without tasting these:

Photo: igougo.com

Rendezvous - the most famous bbq in Memphis. 

Neely's BBQ - three locations throughout Memphis & Nashville. YUM!!

Corky's BBQ - boasting "Slow-cooked over hickory wood and charcoal. As we say...cookin' the old fashion way!" 

Is there a mouth watering bbq hole in your neck of the woods?