Arugula Pesto

I love pesto; basil pesto, sun dried tomato pesto and perhaps most of all I love arugula pesto. Can be used as a sauce on pasta, pizza, with meat, chicken etc., or as a spread on a piece of bread or, or, or......

Mmmmm.

Ingredients;

1 small bag of arugula (appr. 65 grams)
1/3 cup olive oil
1 tbsp white wine vinegar
1 tbsp dijon mustard
1 finely chopped shallot
salt and pepper

Add all the ingredients to a blender and process until smooth (or coarse if you like that better). Taste then add salt and pepper (how much is more a matter of preference).

Spicy Holiday Mustard

This one is so spicy it will leave you breathless. Not recommended for the coward out there (spice wise).

Ingredients;

1/2 cup yellow mustard seeds
1/2 cup brown mustard seeds
2 cups boiling water
1/4 cup white wine vinegar
1/2 cup colemans mustard powder
4 tbsp honey
1 orange
salt

Heat the water and vinegar in a pot until boiling. Add the mustard seeds. Remove from heat and let sit for one hour.
Wash the orange thoroughly and grate the orange peel.
Add the water and mustard seeds to a blender and chop coarsely. Add Colemans mustard powder, 1/2 tsp salt, honey and the orange peel and blend until it gets a nice consistency but still has some whole mustard seeds in it.
 Add more water if needed, it will get dryer as it sits over the night so its supposed to be rather loose to start with.

 Add to jars and let sit in the refrigerator overnight. Keep refrigerated.

Spice alert!!!!

Holiday Ketchup

Yes, its quite possible to make your own Ketchup, pretty easy too. This one has a hint of the Holidays  from the use of spices like cloves and allspice.

Ingredients;

1 bottle of tomato passata ( 2 cups)
1/2 cup of sugar
1/2 cup of white wine vinegar
4 whole cloves and 4 whole allspices freshly grind in a mortar
1 tsp salt

Bring all ingredients to a boil in a small pot and continue to boil on medium to low heat for 10 minutes.

 Use a hand blender if needed to make the ketchup smooth.  Add to clean bottles or jars. Keep refrigerated. Use the way you would have used regular ketchup.

Perfect as a hostess gift during the holiday season!

Happy Holidays!!

Guacamole

For Christmas I got something I've had on my list for a long time; a Molcajete. This is a traditional Mexican mortar and pestle made of Mexican volcanic stone, used when making guacamole, salsas and mole sauces.
Today I'm using it (not for the first time...) for Guacamole.

Ingredients;


A handful mixed cherry tomatoes
1-2 fresh chilies (depending on their strenght)
A handful of fresh cilantro
2 ripe avocados
1-2 limes (I use 2 but if you like it less sour only use 1)
Salt and pepper

Divide the cherry tomatoes in 4, chop the chilies and cilantro and add it to the Molcajete.

Use the pestle to squeeze the tomatoes, chilies and cilantro together. Add the avocados and juice of the 2 limes (or 1 if you prefer) and continue to use the pestle until the guacamole has the right consistency.

Some like it rather chunky (I do!) but some like it more smooth. Taste and adjust the flavors by adding salt and pepper and perhaps more lime, chili or cilantro.

I like to serve my Guacamole straight from the Molcajete but if you want you can put it in or on something else. Your Guacamole can be served with fish, chicken, meat, chips or perhaps as I did with a plate of vegetables for dipping.

Bon Apetito!!!

Smoked Salmon Cream with Grisini in glasses

This dish was also part of our New Years Eve menu. You can find it in the same cook book as yesterdays Granité, "Gourmet" for nybegynnere. The dish doesn't necessarily need to be served in glasses, you can put the cream on crostini's or on a toast or put it in a bowl with crackers on the side as a spread.

Ingredients;

8 oz Philadelphia cheese
1/2 cup milk (I use reduced fat you can use whatever you want)
Juice from 1/2 lemon
6 tbsp good olive oil
1/2 pound of smoked salmon cut in small pieces
3 tbsp chopped chives
1 tbsp chopped thyme
1/2 tsp salt
5 rounds with the pepper mill

Put the cheese, milk, lemon and olive oil in the bowl attachment to the hand blender and blend for ca. 15 sec. Add the smoked salmon, herbs and spices and blend an additional 10 sec.
Put the smoked salmon cream in high glasses, top with some olive oil and grisini.

Eat and be merry!!