Pea and Parsley Pesto with Linguine

I awoke this morning to the unexpected sound of a lawn mower in my yard. Our gardener showed up a bit early (try two months early) to take care of the grass that I will admit needed to be cut because of all the rains we've been getting - premature April showers you might call them. While a gardening bill for March isn't exactly in the budget I did appreciate the smell of freshly cut grass, which immediately made me yearn for spring and all its glory. But wait - spring has sprung. My desire for all things green is acceptable now, and my craving for peas no longer has to be suppressed.



A goal of mine has always been to have fresh herbs to choose from any time I want. Dill. Chives. Thyme. Rosemary. Parsley - check. When I was at the grocery store shopping for this meal I ran across a display in the produce section filled with small pots of already-grown herbs, including this parsley. While I thought it was kind of cheating, not starting it from a seed, I also thought it would be good practice to buy some of the parsley and see how it likes living on my kitchen windowsill. A quick trip to Ikea, and a small, white pot of green parsley seems to be settling in quite nicely. While this recipe did in fact call for frozen peas I can only imagine it would be improved with a pile of freshly shelled ones. Paired with fresh parsley this dish would be bumped from pretty awesome to absolutely fabulous. I wouldn't be recommending it to you if I thought otherwise. I was pleasantly surprised at just how much I enjoyed it today for lunch and dinner. Yes, I may have eaten it twice.



I've eaten pasta with pesto many times, but I've never made it at home for the obvious reasons: fresh herbs I rarely had on hand and didn't want to pay an arm and a leg for, and pine nuts that are also costly, making a simple meal too expensive, in my opinion. Switching out walnuts for pine nuts and adding peas for some of the herbs makes this pesto much more accessible. This recipe also makes more than enough pesto for one meal so I took the extra portions and froze them flat in Ziplock bags. I'm not sure it will be as tasty after it's been frozen, but I'm willing to give it a go. I can imagine working outside all day then sitting down to a quick meal on the patio, along with a glass of white wine. I can also imagine evenings in the yard, playing in the sprinkler with Cash, and taking bites of pesto-grilled chicken legs.

It sure beats takeout.



Pea and Parsley Pesto with Linguine
Adapted from Everyday Food
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Ingredients
3 cups frozen (or fresh) green peas
1 cup packed parsley leaves
1/2 cup walnuts, toasted
1 cup grated Parmesan, plus more for dusting, if desired
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/3 cup olive oil
1 tablespoon water
coarse salt and pepper, to taste
12 ounces linguine

Directions
1. Cook one cup peas according to directions, or if using fresh cook until tender.
2. In food processor combine cooked peas, parsley, toasted walnuts, Parmesan, garlic and water. Process until ingredients turn into a thick paste. Gradually add oil, and process until blended. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
3. Cook pasta, and add remaining two cups of peas about 1 minute before pasta finishes cooking. Reserve one cup of pasta water, and set it aside. Drain peas and pasta and return them to the pot. Toss with 1/3 of pesto (reserving remaining pesto for later dishes), and add just enough pasta water to create a sauce to coat pasta. Serve with dusting of parmesan, if desired.

Guinness Brownies

There aren't many big drinkers in my family. I like the occasional cocktail, and I do love a glass of red wine, but I have to be around friends to indulge. Brad doesn't drink at all, which means that when it comes to recipes that require alcohol, well, I usually pass. (To be honest I've never even stepped inside an ABC** store!) Yesterday, however, I found myself at the grocery store on my dinner break and what should I find but a big St. Patrick's Day pile of various Irish beers. I bought two packs - Guinness and a pale ale. What can I say? That pan of brownies that my co-worker brought in Sunday got me thinking....



I've seen various recipes for Guinness brownies, but I've never actually baked them because I wondered (read: worried) if the beer flavor would be noticeable. (It's not.) While I could smell the beer while these brownies baked there is no beer taste to them. In fact it seems that Guinness has a similar effect on chocolate that coffee does; it makes these brownies seem even more chocolatey. Of course bittersweet dark chocolate, cocoa powder and chocolate chips probably add to the chocolate factor, but I doubt I'll get any complaints about those ingredients! While these brownies are nice and dark they're more cake-like than fudgy, and they definitely lean to the adult side of the brownie spectrum. This is not a dessert I'd serve to a group of first-graders, but I'd definitely bring a batch along to any St. Patrick's Day parties I'm headed to. A Guinness in one hand, and a Guinness brownie in the other. Yes, I believe those are two things that any Irishman (or lady) would be pleased to hold!



Guinness Brownies
Adapted from About.com
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Ingredients
1 cup flour
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 teaspoon salt*
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
8 ounces dark bittersweet chocolate (chopped or measured chips)
3/4 cup white chocolate chips
4 large eggs, room temperature
1 cup sugar
1 1/4 cups Guinness Extra Stout beer, room temperature, no foam
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 375. Grease 9x13 pan. (I used glass.)
2. In medium bowl, whisk flour, cocoa powder and salt until evenly combined. Set aside.
3. In double boiler over low heat, melt butter, bittersweet chocolate and white chocolate chips. Stir constantly until melted. Remove from heat.
4. In large bowl, beat eggs and sugar on high speed until light and fluffy; about 3 minutes. Add spoonful of egg mixture to chocolate mixture to cool it off (you don't want to cook your eggs.) Add chocolate mixture to egg mixture and beat well.
5. Add flour mixture to egg mixture and beat until just combined. Whisk in beer. Pour in chocolate chips and stir to combine. Pour into prepared pan.
6. Bake 25 to 30 minutes (checking for doneness starting at 25 minutes). Brownies are done when toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Let brownies cool to room temperature before cutting.

* Thank you to those who noticed the salt error in the recipe. It now reads 1/4 teaspoon of salt, not just 1/4 salt.

** An ABC store is an Alcoholic Beverage Control store, which is what we call liquor stores in many parts of the U.S. See here for N.C.

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Irish Soda Bread

Every time I make soda bread I'm afraid it won't turn out. I don't know how else to put this: In its raw form it always seems like such a glob of ... goop. It's a very wet dough, and while it doesn't have yeast it does require a teensy bit of kneading, and of course that's the part that always stresses me out. Yet when I look in the oven I'm always pleasantly surprised, and when I taste it? Well, when I taste it I wonder why in the world I was ever nervous in the first place. When this loaf finished baking I immediately pulled a hunk right off the edge (my favorite part), slathered it with grape jelly, and took a bite. I offered some to the Wee One standing beside me, but he quickly shrugged it off, leaving me to dance a little jig that this bread was mine, all mine.

Soda bread is a traditional Irish food that dates to the mid-1800s, when baking soda was introduced to Ireland. The Irish didn't invent soda bread (it's very likely an import from Australia, where they call it damper) but it is mostly identified with them because of its prevalence there. Soft wheats, which don't form traditional glutens like yeast breads, are the kind that grow best in Ireland. Since yeast breads were not widely made in Ireland, and since baking was done at home with limited supplies, soda bread was a natural fit. Baking soda is the leavening agent in this bread, and it's much more consistent and quick than using yeast. There are two accepted versions of soda bread, a whole-wheat sweetened version often made with raisins or currants, and a white, savory version which is made with all white flour. (A quick search of my blog will reveal that I have no recipes with raisins in them. That's because I believe that if there is one place raisins do not belong it's in baked goods!)

Soda bread is wonderful with soups and stews, and it makes great toast, too. It's easy enough to put together for breakfast, but it doesn't keep beyond a day or two so be prepared to share! I'm sure that your neighbors and co-workers would love to get this St. Patrick's Day treat.



Irish Soda Bread
Adapted from Disney.com and Simply Recipes
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Ingredients
4 cups all purpose flour
2 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons cold butter
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1 2/3 cup buttermilk*

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350*. Grease baking sheet.
2. In large bowl, combine dry ingredients. Cut in butter until it is in pea-sized pieces. Add buttermilk and egg and stir until dough is a lumpy ball. Turn dough onto well-floured surface, and knead about a minute. (Be sure not to over-mix or over-knead or your bread will be tough.) Shape into a disc, and place on greased baking sheet. Cut an X** into top of dough (unless like me you're unable to because the dough is too sticky.)
3. Bake 35-50 minutes, checking after 30 minutes. (If your bread begins to brown too much on top, place a piece of foil lightly on top to protect the crust as it finishes baking.) If a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean your bread is finished.

* I used powdered buttermilk, which Susan of Food Blogga intoduced me to, and I've never looked back!
** The complete origins of the X are unknown. Some say it helps the dough to bake through to the middle, but legends have it that the cross was meant to either ward off the devil or release fairies. I tend to prefer the fairy tale, don't you?

Blueberry Breakfast Muffins

There is so much I love about these muffins. I love that they make me think of Mama and the blueberry muffins she made us girls when we were small. I love how the big, bright blueberries make the muffins turn a whimsical violet. I love that these muffins are filled with blueberries that Daddy grew and that we picked last year at the height of spring, amidst the bugs and sunrays through the backyard pines. I love that they are warm and fluffy in the middle but have a crisp, sugary top that shatters when you take a bite. I love that they come together in a flash and that they make exactly one dozen. And I love that they crumble when you eat them, encouraging you to pick at the crumbs left on the plate as so not to miss one delightful taste.



My sister was at my house when I was baking these muffins, and she said she had been trying to eat a lot of blueberries to help her skin. Berries in general are said to help the skin make collagen, which keeps skin supple and smooth. Blueberries especially are filled with antioxidants, which help neutralize free radicals (that are caused by too much time in the sun, for example) and can lead to cell damage and premature aging. And besides all of those good things, well, they just taste good.



You can generally find blueberries all year in the grocery store, but as Elaina said they just aren't quite as tasty out of season. We are spoiled when it comes to having fruit at our fingertips all year, but I've found that I can't quite handle the taste of spring and summer fruits harvested and shipped to our stores in winter. Sometimes I wonder if I was to close my eyes and take a bite could I still identify what I was eating? Lucky for me I don't have to buy those hard, tasteless berries when I need a muffin fix. My freezer is filled with blueberries, strawberries and blackberries from last spring and summer just waiting to be piled into baked goods. Plus, frozen berries - unlike cooked, canned ones - maintain their nutrients and phytochemicals so while these muffins may make my cheeks chubby they'll also make those same cheeks young and beautiful! There is always a trade-off, isn't there? Fortunately this is one I can handle...



Blueberry Breakfast Muffins
Adapted from Aida Mollenkamp, via Chow
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Ingredients
1 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons coarse salt
3/4 cup sugar, plus two teaspoons, divided
1 stick unsalted butter, melted
1/2 cup whole milk
2 large eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla
2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries

Directions
1. Put oven rack in middle position, and preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Spray 12-cup muffin tin, or use paper liners.
3. In large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
4. In separate bowl, whisk 3/4 cup sugar, melted butter, milk, eggs and vanilla. Add wet ingredients and berries to flour mixture. Stir until just mixed; a few lumps should remain. Be sure not to overmix the batter.
5. Fill muffin cups completely. Sprinkle batter with remaining two teaspoons of sugar. Bake about 20 minutes or until cake tester comes out clean. Cool in pan, on wire rack, about five minutes. Remove and serve warm.

* My muffins weren't finished baking at 20 minutes. I let them go five minutes longer, and they were perfect.

Cheddar Chicken Chowder

I often lament the fact that my husband is a picky eater. Although his palate is much expanded now than when we met I often find myself wishing he'd try something new that I want to try. I have to hand it to him, however, that he has never flat-out refused to eat something I make. He's not really an ooh-er ah-er when it comes to food so when he's really enjoying something I know it. (But it's not hard to figure out when, uh, he's not a fan of a dish, either.) Let's just say that he liked this meal. A lot. So much in fact that he called me at work to tell me he liked it. And he ate it all in two days. Do you really need a more glowing review?

This chowder has been in my recipe file forever, but I just never got around to making it. This has definitely been a chowder kind of winter, though, and even in March we're getting the white stuff so we're still eating a lot of soup. (I sincerely hope that this week's dusting is the last we'll see. Right, Mother Nature?) I thought Cheeseburger Chowder was my favorite, and I do love it, but I think this chicken version may be my new favorite. And although this photo doesn't show the bacon, believe me, there was bacon. (This photo is from the day after. As in the day after we ate all the bacon!)

Crisp bacon. Stringy cheddar cheese. Thick, chunky chowder on a cold, snowy day. If spring hasn't quite sprung where you live make tonight Chowder Wednesday. Your husband (or significant other) will appreciate it!

Cheddar Chicken Chowder
Adapted from MyRecipes
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5 slices of bacon
2 large chicken breasts, chopped into bite-size pieces
1 large white onion, chopped
1 cup red and/or green pepper, diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
5 cups chicken broth
2 cups red potatoes, peeled and chopped
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
2 cups milk
1 cup cheddar cheese, divided
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions
1. Fry bacon in deep pot until crisp. Remove bacon, cool, and crumble. Set aside.
2. Add to bacon fat: chicken, onion, peppers and garlic. Saute about 5 minutes. Add chicken broth and potatoes and bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer about 30 minutes or until potatoes are tender.
3. Place flour in separate bowl. Gradually add milk, whisking constantly until combined. Add to soup. Cook over medium heat about 15 minutes, or until thick, stirring often. Stir in 3/4 cup cheese, salt and pepper.
4. Serve in big bowls, topped with crumbled bacon and remaining cheddar cheese.