Nouvelle Alert: Hello, Pesto

'Ello everyone!

Busy as a summer bee this week. Midterms are just around the corner! Boy, this quarter is going by quickly.

So, it's summer time and the most common request (foodwise) is for something light, something fresh.  We should really be eating like this all year round, right? (A preview for Fall: Harvest mistakes: The Frying Pan's Bane.) So, California's nouvelle cuisine makes it all the way to our crazy-weather state.

An answer to this summertime query might go like this:

Light --- lean protein, less oil, something with a looser mouth feel

+ Fresh --- veggies/fruit, something crisp/crunchy, cold?

The whole greater than the sum(mer) of its parts

= lettuce wraps.

What a spread!

 What you're drooling at right now is a lettuce wrap with roasted chicken, accoutrements (tomato, avocado, green onions, lime), romain heart "boats",and cilantro pesto. Pestooooo.

I've already given one mention to sauce on my blog, but let me mention, again, about the wonders of sauce! Great for adding moisture when lean meats run dry, it also adds a burst of flavor so you don't have to over season your proteins. In many ways, it can make or break a dish. This past week was sauce week in school, and we learned the classic French mother sauces:  Bechamel, Veloute, Tomato, Hollandaise, and Espanole, of which all other hot sauces originate. But for the curious case of pesto, it seems to be out of the French-Classical-sauce loop. (French/Italian hostility??) In an case, I'm satisfied that it's herbacious, homogenized, and semi-fluid. ---I'll be sure to note if I learn more in class.

Pesto = herb (ususally basil), pine nuts/pignolias, garlic, olive oil, (parmesan cheese) ground to a saucy constistency.

Tips for making pestos:

1) ALWAYS, ALWAYS TOAST

 Toasting your pine nuts will result in a deeper and, if you will, "nuttier" flavor. Put nuts in a dry sauce pan on med-hi heat. Keep a close eye on these guys, agitating the pan often. Very quickly they'll get a light sheen (its oils are leeching out, yay!) and as soon as you see these beauties start to lightly brown, pull the pan off. Ambient heat from the pan will continue to toast the little guys and the last thing you want is to burn them! Burned nuts = bitter nuts = bitter pesto. (And that's not "good eats".)

2) STOCK: If the consistency is too thick after adding additional olive oil, thin it out with chicken or vegetable stock. Or, cut fat corners by using more stock and less oil.

3) SEASON: Make sure to season with salt + pepper or else it'll taste flat. 

Hope everyone can keep up with all of the summer produce coming out! Put on some Beach Boys, eat some peaches for me, and get some Vitamin D. At least 15 minutes, folks!

 CILANTRO PESTO

      ---great with chicken, fish, and veggies

1 bunch cilantro

1/3 C. pine nuts

1/2 C. olive oil

3 cloves garlic

S + P

Remove leaves from cilantro stalks, but don't throw the stalks away! Bundled, they are a great seasoning when making stocks and soups. In class, we call this a bouquet garnis. (Traditionally parsley stems, thyme, whole pepper corns, and bay leaf). Use a food processor of some type to grind it all together, and if you own a Magic Bullet, now is the time to pull it out!