Tortellini with pesto and garden salad

The pesto I made earlier (see today's previous post) went over cheese tortellini for a quick dinner. Two heaping teaspoons were plenty for the one bag of tortellini, so we'll be making pesto garlic toast for dinner tomorrow and freezing some more sauce.

The salads we served were all greens from our garden, red leaf, green leaf, spinach and sorrel. Green pepper from the garden. Carrots and cucumbers from the store. Dehydrated peas from Forks Mediterranean Deli. I had Newman's Own Sesame Ginger dressing. Child has vegan Goddess Dressing. Husband had Annie's Cowgirl Ranch.

To keep the meal vegan, watch your dressings and I recommend a tofu-spinach ravioli for the tortellini.

Brainstorming "The Ultimate French Burger"

Tomorrow is July 14. I'm pining for things French and the iron deficiency has me yearning for red meat. "Bastille Day" brings to mind family, picnics and national spirit. And it makes me hungry for a burger.

But how would we make a French burger? Oh, I feel a trip to Wegmans in my bones.

The ultimate French burger would have (play along)...

A brioche for the roll, with a perfectly shaped to fit the roll patty (not too thick not too thin) definitely rare... With some sort of creamy herby mustard sauce, a mild Camembert, hearty leaves of sorrel and maybe spinach or endive. I'm on the fence re: tomato or even scallions...and BIG steak fries with a side of au jus

My friends and my husband are encouraging me to make this bad boy, but it's a culinary creation that can't be rushed.

Mulling it about in my head. Brioche alone is a two day affair requiring 2 lbs of butter and a trip to the farm for eggs. Not to mention, finding the right Camembert to be strong but not too strong and the right meat to make a quality au jus...

My husband wants desperately to take me to Wegmans but the finances aren't proper for a splurge like this.

Fresh Garden Salad

The other day, the child and I were in our tiny, mostly fenced in backyard with the cat (Zoot) and the kitten (Oz, after the werewolf in Buffy the Vampire Slayer) when I noticed our mixed greens in the garden looked delicious.

I couldn't resist. I picked them and some French sorrel and made myself a salad of dried peas, sorrel, greens and Annie's Cowgirl Ranch Dressing.

Pesto chicken, summer salad & honey corn

Today's dinner contains one stick of butter. Only one!

My dad and his wife are coming for dinner to bring my daughter her birthday presents. I had my husband get sine chicken out of the freezer. I thought I had three packs of 2 breasts but when my husband thawed them all, I realized each pack had three whole breasts which = a heckuva lot of chicken.

My husband and daughter picked some lettuce and herbs from the garden.

First course:
SUMMER SALAD
- greens (from the garden)
- French sorrel (from the garden)
- 2 strawberries for each salad
(one sliced, one whole)
- one cucumber, sliced
- choice of dressings: Newman's own raspberry walnut dressing

Homemade biscuits
Honeyed corn
Leftover rhubarb cobbler
Chocolate Berry Earl grey iced tea

PESTO CHICKEN:
- 1/4 cup parsley
- 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1/4 cup roasted sunflower seeds
- about 4 cups basil
(mix in food processor to form a sauce)

Slather chicken breasts with sauce and brown in butter.

Pesto ravioli primavera

I started a cream sauce while browning beef kielbasa (which I divided into four segments and froze three of them) but I never got the cream sauce done... So, I made this:

- about 1.5 cups diced beef kielbasa
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil
- 2 teaspoons flour
- about 2 tablespoons garden fresh dill
- 1 large leave sorrel
- about 7 basil leaves
- 2 cups peas
- 2 cups cauliflower, carrots and broccoli
- 2 packages trader Joe's ravioli

I put the butter in my Le Creuset skillet and browned the meat. I carefully pushed the meat to the side, added the oil, and incorporated the flour as if I were going to start a cream sauce. I added all the herbs.

Meanwhile, I cooked the ravioli and added the vegetables so it could all cook at the same
time.

The sauce smelled so fragrant I opted not to make the cream sauce after all. The family ate it all.

Broiled shrimp and salad with homemade croutons

We were given a bag of shrimp which I broiled, five minutes each side, and sprinkled with it's a dilly seasoning.

I had a chunk of homemade rye bread beyond its prime but not reduced to breadcrumbs or compost yet... So I had daughter slice it, oil it lightly and sprinkle it with herbs and heated at about six minutes at 475, flipped them, five minutes more and then turned them one more time.

Took a packaged salad I got at Target ($2.49)and added lettuce from my garden, sorrel, golden raisins, raisins and mandarin oranges. Topped with Newman's Own Raspberry Walnut dressing.

Summer fruit and fresh herb chicken salad

This is to accompany that bread I have on the rise. A perfect cold meal for a hot day.

-12.5 ounces chicken
- one cup fruit (I used local strawberries, local raspberries, a handful of red grapes and a three by two inch chunk of watermelon)

Dressing:
- 1/8 cup vegan mayo
- 1/8 cup Chobani mango yogurt
- two teaspoons Newman's Own Raspberry Walnut Dressing
- one teaspoon country herb blend
- 1/4 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper

Stir then add from the garden:
- 3 large leaves French sorrel, chopped
- about four tablespoons parsley
- one tablespoon dill

Venison loin in the crock pot

My mother gave me some venison so I soaked some in brine this morning. I placed a loin in a solution of water, vinegar, pepper and salt. In a fit of indecision, I added apple cider and balsamic vinegar.

After a couple hours, I tossed it in my skillet with a couple tablespoons of canola oil and seared it on medium high for about three minutes on each of three sides.

I tossed it in the crock pot on low with water, a touch of garlic powder, a few shredded leaves of fresh sage and sorrel and a hearty squirt (about 3 ounces?) of Newman's Own Raspberry Walnut dressing.

French Herbs with Cheryl Karcher

Today, thanks to the prodding and support of a very sweet friend, I attended a French herb workshop at Grouse Studios in Frenchtown. The "teacher" for this informal seminar was Cheryl A. Karcher of Hilltop Herbals.

Fun, fun afternoon.

The blend of experience levels at the workshop made it really interesting. I wanted to learn more about some of the French herbs you commonly see in recipes but I've been hesitant to buy them fresh because they're expensive and I wasn't sure what to do with them.

Really~ I have no clue what to do with sorrel, tarragon, and I would love to make more use of my lavender and lemon thyme. I also need to grow my own rosemary. It's pathetic that I don't.

I'm not going to share any of Cheryl's recipes although I can't guarantee I won't be playing with them in the future. Cheryl has to make a living like everyone else, so these recipes are not mine to share. But we dined on toasted bread with Cheryl's herbed butter and of course white wine. We had a lovely sautéed chicken with mustard and rosemary sauce, an orange/spinach salad with tarragon dressing, and a crisp string bean salad with a lemon/garlic/lemon thyme dressing. And she shared some of her lavender cookies and rose raspberry tea with us.

Also exciting for me was to get up close and personal with fleur de sel. I've wanted some but didn't feel justified in making the investment.

So, what did I learn?

That I need to expand my herbs, and that sorrel is high in iron.

My current herbs: lemon thyme, basil, parsley, spearmint, catmint, oregano (a bush these days), chives, lavender, pink lavender...

My wish list: rosemary

Cheryl's workshop gave me some real food (or herb) for thought... and I'm just too excited to contemplate it now. But look for her inspiration in coming days.