Chocolate Covered Love

Yesterday and today I spent a couple hours making pesto! I made pesto out of italian basil and thai basil. This year I had a small herb and vegetable garden in my backyard, and I grew basil. My italian basil plant got huge! It grew into a "bush" nearly 4 feet tall! So once the weather turned colder I went outside and chopped down both plants. What to do with all that basil but to make pesto? :)

In both pestos I used nearly the same ingredients. For the italian basil pesto I loosely followed this recipe from Simply Recipes. I substituted almonds for pine nuts because that's what I had. And for the thai basil pesto I just left out the cheese and used less garlic and nuts.

 Thai Basil Pesto

adapted from here, makes about 1 cup of pesto

(the recipe listed here is not the total amount that I made, which will be obvious in the pictures. Since I used an entire plant my pesto was made in several batches that produced quite a lot.)

- about 2 cups thai basil leaves, packed

- 1/4 cup almonds

- 1 clove of garlic, chopped

- extra virgin olive oil or vegetable oil

- salt and pepper to taste

- food processor (a blender would work, but not as well and might have to be done in even smaller batches.)

Add almonds and basil to food processor. 

Turn it on and let the ingredients whiz around until they are finely ground/blended. You may have to stop it to scrap down the sides with a spatula to make sure all the leaves get blended.

With the food processor running, add in the chopped garlic. Stream in the oil until the mixture forms a loose paste. Season with salt and pepper to taste and pulse to combine.

If you're making a large amount like I am, store your pesto in a jar or bottle with a thin covering of oil at the top to preserve the pesto from going bad. The layer of oil keeps the pesto from air exposure which will discolor it. Every time you use some pesto, ensure that there is still a layer of oil at the top. It will keep this way in the fridge for up to a year.

I want to start off by apologizing for not posting all that regularly as of late. 

I am super busy these days because I am in the midst of planning and preparing for my wedding at the end of June! I'm basically doing everything myself to keep it extremely low-budget, so that means a lot of work and planning on my end. Whew. And on top of that, I have Aria to keep an eye on. PLUS, my cousin and I are in the planning stages of starting a small business which I'll tell you more about as we get further along.

So. A lot going on as you can see. With all that said, here is a new recipe!

This meal started off as being Jhony's job. He offered to make a lasagna meal (which doesn't happen that often despite the fact that he can cook). But I ended up taking over because I had found a recipe for homemade ricotta that I wanted to try out, plus I wanted to make the sauce from scratch, and at that point I was basically already doing most of the work, so I just did everything. Not that I minded terribly. I love to cook. And it was the fact that he offered to do it that counts. :)

Lasagna with Homemade Ricotta

serves 4-8

Ricotta

(recipe adapted from here)

- 4 cups whole milk

- 1 cup buttermilk

- 1/3 cup heavy cream

- salt

- candy thermometer (optional)

Lasagna

(recipe adapted from here)

- 1 lb. ground beef

- 1/2 medium onion, diced

- 1/4 cup sugar

- 1 28 oz. can crushed tomatoes

- 1 15 oz. can diced fire-roasted tomatoes

- 3 oz. tomato paste

- 2 tsp garlic powder

- 1 tsp onion powder

- 1 tsp dried oregano

- 1 tsp dried basil

- 1 TB apple cider vinegar
- pinch of dried red pepper flakes

- salt and pepper
- 1/2 lb. dry lasagna noodles

- 1 1/2 lbs. grated mozzarella cheese

- 3/4 lb. Parmesan cheese, grated or shredded

Ricotta

Line a fine mesh strainer with a cheesecloth (folded over several times) and set it in your sink.

Combine milk, buttermilk and cream in a large saucepan over medium-high heat.

Bring to a boil until thermometer registers 185. If you don't have a thermometer, keep an eye on it to see when the curds are mostly separated from the whey. This will take about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Remove from heat and using a slotted spoon, scoop spoonfuls of curd into the cheesecloth-lined strainer; sprinkling it with a little salt every 3-4 spoonfuls.

Let the ricotta drain for 5 minutes, then taste to check consistency. If you like it drier, let it drain more. If you like it wetter, add a tablespoon or so of milk. 

(It's best used right away but can keep for a couple days in the fridge.)

This ricotta tastes so fresh and delicious  I had to keep myself from eating it all before I finished making the lasagna. This recipe made enough for the lasagna with about a half cup left over.

Homemade Butter Mints

recipe from here

no-bake, makes about 200 mints

- 1/4 cup butter, softened

- 1/4 teaspoon salt (if you use salted butter skip the addition of the salt)

- 3 1/4 cups powdered sugar, plus more if needed

- 1/3 cup sweetened condensed milk

- 1/2 teaspoon peppermint extract (be careful not to add too much)

- food coloring

In a medium/large mixing bowl beat the butter and salt until creamy. Add powdered sugar, sweetened condensed milk, and peppermint extract on medium-low speed until a dough forms. If the dough seems a little wet, add more sugar. The dough will be crumbly, but will come together when pinched and squeezed into a ball.

Taste the batter. If you want a more intense mint flavor, add more extract. But be very careful adding more extract because it cannot be undone and the smallest amount can make a drastic difference in flavor.

Remove dough from the mixer and divide in half. Add one half back into the mixer and squirt a few drops food coloring of your choice onto the dough. Paddle on low speed until the color is mostly mixed in. Remove colored dough and put the uncolored half into the mixer and color with a different color in the same method. (I made pink and green candies, but feel free to do whatever colors you like.)

After the dough has been colored, either roll out immediately or keep covered so it doesn't dry out.

Roll out golf ball-sized balls one at a time into centimeter wide lengths (about the width of your pinkie finger). Cut the lengths with a knife or pizza cutter, about 1 centimeter long. Repeat with all the dough. Let the dough sit out and dry for a couple hours. (Can be eaten straight away but they have a more melt-in-your-mouth quality if allowed to dry out a bit.) Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

Enjoy! 

 Chai is commonly referred to as Chai tea, although this is incorrect seeing as "Chai" translated literally means "tea". So when you say Chai tea, you're actually saying "tea tea". There are many other countries that call their tea "chai". And in each of those countries, every person who makes it, makes it slightly differently with their own spin on the spices and flavors. This recipe is based off of India's Masala Chai. 

My father grew up in India so as kids we grew up eating and drinking a lot of Indian food, and we even visited India as a family for a couple weeks when I was about 16 years old. My whole family loves Indian culture and food. I grew up with my mom making this in big batches about once a week, and my friend's mom makes it just as often. My friend, Nanda, is adopted from India and her mom makes really good Masala Chai. I actually got this recipe from her because she uses stronger flavors than my mom uses and I really like the accent of the ginger flavor in this Chai.

- four cups of water
- four cups of milk
- one teaspoon ground cloves [or about 10 whole cloves]
- one cinnamon stick
- two inch piece of peeled ginger cut into slices*
- 20-25 green cardamom pods
- eight rounded teaspoons sugar
- eight rounded teaspoons of Tea India [loose leaf]

 

First you must lightly crush the cardamom pods to release their flavor. If you have a mortar and pestle you may use that. I use a ziploc bag and a hammer. :] I place the cardamom pods in the bag, zip it shut, place it on the floor and lightly smash the bag with the hammer until the pods look like this:


In a large pot combine the milk, water, ground cloves, cinnamon stick, ginger, and crushed cardamom pods.
Bring the mixture to a boil and then lower it to a simmer. Let it simmer for five minutes.


Turn off the heat and add in the sugar and Tea India. Stir to combine.
Let it steep for ten minutes.



Strain and serve.



*I like lots of ginger, you can change the spices to your liking. My mom makes Chai without cinnamon because my dad doesn't like it, so feel free to change it up. Cardamom is a must though, it's what gives the Chai it's special flavor.

My fiance, Jhony, loves Rainbow Jello. He's not much of a sweet tooth - despite all the baked goods I make. Although this dessert is rather time consuming, it's a good thing to make for those who don't like their desserts too sweet.

I only used three flavors here because that's what we had, but feel free to use more to make more layers if you wish.

Rainbow Jello
adapted from Adventures of a Food Slut

- boxes of jello in whatever flavors or colors you want
- cool whip

Note: The jello that I had was a mexican brand that comes in large packets that requires 4 cups of water for each one. So I only did three colors since each packet made so much jello.

Add one packet of Jello to boiling water (however much the instructions say to use). Stir for 2 - 3 minutes to dissolve completely. Pour 2/3 of the jello into the prepared pan, and chill in the fridge for 15 minutes.
Meanwhile, add about 1/2 cup of Cool Whip to the remaining 1/3 of the jello and stir to completely melt the Cool whip. When the first layer has set for 15 minutes, carefully pour the Jello/Cool Whip mixture over it and chill for another 15 minutes.
Repeat with remaining colors. Once all layers have been poured, allow to chill for at least 2 hours.
Cut into squares and serve!