Adventures in food processing - vegan spinach pesto recipe

I've never been much of a cook and I find myself having to cook a lot lately. Most of my life, I've actually been fiercely against cooking. I think it was some sort of feminist thing. I've found out you can still be domestic and feminist at the same time. Yippee. Now go do the dishes, husband!
So, this week I've learned to use the food processor. As part of our wedding registry we got a blender/food processor combo to take up less space. I've feared the food processor for over a year now. There's so many parts. I have to read the manual. I can't just shove food in there like the blender and then scream when it stops rotating.
The reason for my new foray into cooking is out of medical necessity. Don't worry, I'm not dying. But, basically vegetables (among many other things, including dairy) are my enemy for the time being unless they are cooked beyond sogginess or pureed. Yum baby food. And still I have to be careful. I'm contemplating whether to share my adventures into getting diagnosed and seeing a dietician with you, but I haven't quite made up my mind yet. It's not exactly something you brag about.
So, a sneaky way to get some vitamins and avoiding dairy is a recipe for my own little vegan spinach pesto. It smelled amazing and fresh and was so beautifully green! So much NOT like the jarred stuff. It may be vegan (and I know that term scares people), but tastes like regular ol' spinach pesto. The vegan Parm smells a little vile in the jar, but it's the best vegan cheese there is, in my opinion. The other stuff is quite sticky...and wet...

Vegan Spinach Pesto

4 cups lightly packed baby spinach

3 tablespoons toasted pine nuts

3 cloves garlic

2 tsp. fresh basil

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

1/3 cup grated Vegan Parmesan cheese

Place a 1/4 of the spinach leaves, garlic, pine nuts, basil and some of the oil in the food processor. Pulse until pretty obliterated. Then add more oil and some more spinach and repeat. Do this until spinach and oil are all gone, scraping down the sides in between. Add Parmesan cheese and 1/8 tsp. salt and process until mixed. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Feeling foodie-New cookbook reviews

By day, I am a cookbook designer. So, I have an appreciation for good cookbook design as well as creative and innovative topics. Topics my company would probably never produce. I've recently come across two new fun books that I fell in love with: Marshmallow Madness and Hello, Jello. Not only do they have great design, but they have recipes like I've never seen before.

Although, I do have to say...never did I imagine myself making either homemade marshmallows or more than just a plain 'ol sugar-free jello.

How do you make marshmallows? What about all these wonderful flavors I've seen all over Etsy? In Marshmallow Madness by Shauna Sever she shows you it's not impossible and maybe not as tricky as you might think. This book was so much needed after I bought a pre-packaged mint chocolate flavor at the grocery store that tasted like regurgitated cardboard. No more will I suffer! I'm most excited about Kool-Aid, Maple Bacon and Apple Cinnamon. And who could forget, cocktails flavors!? Mmm, margarita.

Is it possible to have a sophisticated Jell-o dessert? In Hello, Jell-o by Victoria Belanger, she uses molds, layers and of course suspended fruit, but practically reinvents the gelatin genre. A lot of these aren't your kiddie favorites. For example, I am most excited about Chapter 4-Boozy Molds. I'm going to be having some fun with the sangria, mimosa and pina colada recipes-they sound excellent.


You can get Marshmallow Madness and Hello, Jell-o at Barnes & Noble of course or your local Paper Source like I did.

Chocolate truffle making class

As a pre-Valentine's Day celebration, last week David and I took a chocolate truffle making class. We were provided with a simple and customizable recipe and learned how to add our flavors and even infuse the cream we would put in the chocolate (think lavender!). 

Our mixing bowls were pre-filled and melted and all we had to do was stir. I'd really like to do this kind of cooking at home. So, if someone would please come by and set everything up and measure everything out for me, that would be great. We added the flavoring oursevles. I used ground cinnamon and vanilla. David used a TON of peppermint (he even sprinkled peppermint on top). They tasted like peppermint patties. 

Then we freezed and scooped our our truffles with a tiny cookie scoop. It made very nice round truffles, better than the melon baller. After another stint in the freezer, we were ready to decorate our truffles. We coated them in powder sugar, cocoa powder and melted chocolate. The melted chocolate allowed for sprinkles, peppermint bits and shimmery pearls. Then at the end of the night, we filled our little Chinese take-out boxes full of truffles. Does anyone want any truffles? I have 42...

If you want to make your own chocolate truffles Fine Cooking has an excellent recipe very similar to what we made. They have great technique photos and a variety of ideas for toppings and flavors. And if you're near Evanston, Illinois, we took our class at Now We're Cookin'. Very fun class and a great teacher. We even got some bubbly, which is always important when you're cooking.

Makin' Mtn Dew Jelly

A couple of months ago I first heard about Mountain Dew Jelly on the radio. Someone had made it for her boyfriend and everyone else was making fun of her for it. And a spark went off in my head. I had to make it for David for Valentine's Day. He loves Mountain Dew. Well, Diet Mountain Dew. I got my Mountain Dew Jelly recipe from Group Recipes.

 

I've never made jelly before. I bought my little jar at Michael's and was just going to fill it with easy magical jelly. Apparently making jelly is not easy. You have to be careful so that you don't infect all of your family with botulism. Yum. I got all my supplies together. I made sure everything was disinfected before I began. Here's my process:
  
1. First, boil the mountain dew and lemon juice. Oops, no lemon juice. I'll try lime. Check. 
2. Next, add the pectin. Check. 
3. Used too small of a pot and have severe overflow. Check. 
4. Furiously scoop out rapidly boiling caustic solution. Check.
5. Boiling liquid spilling underneath the burner. Must clean that up later. Move to another burner since the liquid has killed the pilot light. Even more boiling over underneath the new burner. Check.
6. Ahhh...everything has calmed down. Now, I'm ready to scoop my "jelly" into my jar. Easy.
7. Next, I have to boil the finished and sealed jar in a canning pot. Oops, no canning pot. 
8. For the first time I use my extra giant soup pot. I googled it, it's fine. I gently ease my jelly jar into the pot of water and bring it to a boil. I boiled it for 10 minutes just to be safe. This is the stage that really matters if you don't want to send your family to the hospital.
9. Once the jar is done boiling, take it out. Uhhh...it's too heavy for my tongs. Burn finger in several attempts. You are really really dumb. Check.
10. Now hide jelly in the fridge behind something really old and gross that nobody wants so David won't find it before Valentine's day. Check. (David actually decided on Sunday that he would clean the fridge, so I had to kick him out.)
Bonus #11-Clean up now jelled jelly underneath entire stove top for 30 minutes. Check.

And after 24 hours of room temperature setting, I actually made jelly!

 Then, because I'm allowed to be overly cutesy on Valentine's Day with no judgment: I decorated the jar with scrapbook paper and ribbon.

And despite all my problems and the two hours and many burns it took to make this Mountain Dew Jelly, it was a success. And he loved it! I paired it with a sweet card filled with affection and a Firefly t-shirt and keychain to make the ultimate in geek gifts. The whole gift was a hit and I'm feeling pretty good today!

I could really lick the screen right now...

I saw this in Bon Appetit magazine. I'll admit, I'm not much of a cook. This is the first time I've ever even picked up this magazine (and we even subscribe to it at work). Work is a little light right now and I was desperate. I feel I'm unworthy to pick up this magazine because I can't cook. But, I try...Last night I cooked my first spaghetti squash. I roasted it for 40 minutes. It looked beautiful, I was so proud of myself. I added the lemon and olive oil that the recipe called for...and it tasted like a big bowl of lemons. 


But, this...this is something I must try, regardless of my skill. Because I literally wanted to lick the page and I hope you want to lick the screen. On thing I am, is passionate about chocolate cake. If anyone ever tries this, I want to know about it! It looks incredibly complicated, but for the holidays it may be worth an entire Saturday of mistakes to make it. Get the recipe for Chocolate Hazelnut Cake with Chocolate Praline Crunch. If all else fails, maybe I can at least eat the Praline.

Photo by Bon Appetit