Celery Pesto

 Celery Pesto 

I friend of mine was over and was looking at all the pesto i have in the Fridge and she asked about this one.  I like using this on fish or as an addition to other sauce.  I call it my little taste of summer, its really easy to make, and is last for about to 6 months in the Fridge.

Ingredients

10 to 12 cups of Celery leaves

1 cup of Italian Parsley leaves

6 to 8 cloves of garlic

2 teaspoons Lemon zest

Olive Oil

Directions

Spin dry the leaves, i leave the stems on the leaves as well. 

Place the garlic and lemon zest in the food processor first and then pulse until a medium chopped.  You can drizzle in a bit of Olive oil to help the processor.

Place in a jar.

And cover with Olive Oil, about an inch above the Celery.

When you remove some to use always top off the Olive oil, if you do not the celery pesto will start to brown.

Enjoy Cooking 

Red Beans and Rice

Keeping with the Louisiana theme here is my version of read beans and rice. It took awhile to get it down. It again uses the "holy trinity".

Red Beans and Rice

Ingredients

2 table spoons olive oil
1 stick unsalted butter
1/2 cup of unbleached flour
1 yellow onion diced
2 red bell pepper diced - you can use green i just like red
4 stalks of celery diced
6 cloves of garlic minced
3 bay leaves, fresh
6 springs of fresh thyme
1/4 teaspoon of cayenne pepper, you can use more if like more of a kick
1 quart of water
1 quart plus one cup of chicken stock, low salt
1 pound of red kidney beans, soaked over night and rinsed
6 links of Andouille sausage, cut into 1/4 inch slices
Salt and pepper taste

For Rice
1 1/2 cups of long grain rice
1 teaspoon of salt
1 1/2 table spoons of butter
3 cups of water

Directions

In a large skillet over medium high heat place olive oil, onions, celery and peppers, cook until soft, about 6 minutes. Add garlic stir for a minute then remove from heat, place in a bowl and set aside.
In the same skillet brown the sausage, once done remove from heat and set aside.
In a 6 quart dutch oven over medium heat place butter, once butter is melted add flour and keep whisking until Roux is a brick colour, about 5 minutes or so. Again do not leave this or it could burn and you will need to start over. Once to the Roux is the desired colour, fold in the holy trinity. Once combined, whisk in the water and chicken stock until smooth. Now add the cayenne pepper, thyme and bay leaves (tie the thyme and bay leaves together with twine), and the red beans. Raise heat to high until boiling, keep whisking until the mixture comes to a boil, then reduce heat to low, cover and simmer for about 1 1/2 hours. Give a stir every 20 minutes or so. After the covered time cooking, raise heat to medium low, add sausage, uncover and cook for an addition 45 minutes or until the sauce has thicken and beans are tender. The thickness of the sauce depends on your taste, we prefer not to thick, more of a cross between an stew and a soup but i have had it where it is like a pudding. This additional uncover stage of the cooking process to to thicken the sauce and get the beans to their desired tenderness, so this could be shorter then 45 minutes or longer.
During the last 30 minutes or so start the rice. Bring water to a boil, add butter and salt stir until butter is melted. Add rice, reduce heat to low, cover and cook rice for about 20 minutes or until rice is tender but not mushy. Most rices have directions on the package, follow them but remember to include the butter.
Once beans and sauce are at the desire thickness and tenderness, remove thyme bundle and remove from the heat.
Spoon rice into bowl and cover with the red beans and serve

You can also make this with pork shoulder. I make a pulled pork with the shoulder reserve some of the pork to add to other dishes, like red beans and rice.

As for my pulled pork recipe, that is reserved for the cook book, sorry.

Enjoy cooking

Vegetable Soup

Here is another great soup, it is very easy, there is just allot of stuff in it.

Vegetable Soup

Ingredients

Broth
2 large yellow onions quartered
6 celery stalks cut into 3 inch pieces
6 carrots cut into large slices
10 stalks of Italian Parsley
6 sprigs of Thyme
6 sprigs of marjoram
12 cups of water
1 table spoon of salt
1 table spoon of pepper corns, black or pink
1 table spoon of yellow mustard seeds
pinch of Saffron

Soup
Note: you want a large dice for the veggies below
2 table spoons of olive oil
1 yellow onion diced
3 cups of diced Yukon gold potatoes
3 leaks, dark green part removed, cut in half, clean and then sliced into 1/8 slices
3 cups of diced carrots
3 cups of diced parsnips
3 cups of diced turnips
1 celery root, cleaned and diced
1 funnel bulb, cored and diced
4 gloves garlic diced
1/2 cup Italian parsley, chopped and stems removed
Salt & Pepper to taste

Directions

In a large deep soup pot place all the ingredients for the broth, bring to a boil, then reduce to low medium and simmer for about 30 to 40 minutes. when the carrots are soft the broth is ready.
Strain broth and set aside, you have made more broth then you need for this soup but you can freeze the balance for other uses.
In the same large pot add 6 cups of the broth you just made and the olive oil and bring to a boil. Now add all the ingredients from the soup list with the exception of the parsley. Simmer, partially covered over low medium heat for 35 to 45 minutes. At the midpoint taste the soup and salt and pepper to taste. Once all veggies are tender the soup is done. Now add parsley and stir.

Serve with a nice baguette and an herb goat cheese.

This soup also is a nice base for other ingredients, like left over cooked chicken, ham or even lamb. Just add them at the last ten minutes so that warm up in the soup.

Enjoy cooking