parsley pesto

Its that time of the year again when we have an abundance of flat leaf parsley in the garden and while i let some of it go to seed to allow for next years crop I have been filling in some spare moments by making pesto with the rest. Pesto pasta is a form of comfort food in our house, it's one of the green foods that doesn't involve coercion or other forms of negotiation with non compliant minors.

I would normally add parsley to a basil pesto, its seems to alleviate the bitterness that can occur when chopping basil with a steel food processor blade (not the correct way but the quick way). Using the processor allows me to make pesto in bulk (literally bucket loads) and easily vary the consistency according to preference (chunky or smooth). I add it to vegie or meat sauces, mayo to dress coleslaw, lasagna, or spread it onto pizza bases. Recently I made some potato and spinach gnocchi and dressed it with parsley pesto which was feast of green! (that nobody complained about, much...)

3 cups of chopped parsley

1 cup of cashews ( i buy the broken ones much more affordable than pine nuts)

2/3 extra virgin olive oil

1-2 gloves of garlic

1 cup grated parmesan

pinch of salt

Process according to preference. Store in sealed containers in the fridge for a week (longer if you pour more oil over the top) or freeze. When adding to pasta retain some of the cooking water and/or add some olive oil to encourage good coverage.

Birthday girl

Well the birthday girl got her cake and she ate it too. I was surprised how significant turning six was,

for me rather than for M. It feels like its gettin

g serious and I don't just mean the party. She's a big girl and filled with ideas and attitudes which i tried for a couple of weeks in September to channel into party preparations and she did quite well.

She painted a donkey (outline supplied by V), helped make and paint the pinjate(sp?), wrapped the pass the parcel and iced the cake. The party planning was mostly driven by her and each morning

she would prepare me with "now you'll do such and such for the p

arty today won't you mum, or you'll buy......"

Prep parties seem to be quite important milestone and for weeks M was making lists and telling me who she was or wasn't going to invite but I put a cap on it and decided to limit it to girls from her school. I was pleasantly surprised to find them also filled with id

eas and attitudes, luckily i had a party plan!! P.S actual party cake was tri-coloured which i managed to over cook not that they cared they seem to only ever like eating the icing.

Little m thought it rocked as well!!

Homemade Mayonnaise

It was mentioned to me recently that we only cook two recipes from any one cookbook, which sounds ridiculous when i think about how many books i have but perhaps it's not far from my truth. I have been meaning to post this recipe for Mayo for some time, as it is one I always return to. It's taken from my tatty old Moosewood cookbook a wholesome whole foods delight i bought (?maybe it was a present?) sometime back in the 80's (yes the good old days) and I haven't gone near supermarket mayonnaise since. I tend to make it when eggs are plenty and with the onset of spring i am pleased to report that my girls are laying well. The three chicks we raised from the creche hatching have all turned out to be ladies (although not laying yet it looks like it will be any day now), so we have seven chickens in total. When out on my walks along the Merri Creek I pick them a bunch of greens so that when i let them out to free range they tend to by pass my vegies. I have some garden beds fenced off but none the less they still get in and their scratching around can cause enough damage to make me twitchy. So watch out ladies if you don't prove you can earn your keep.....

Mayonnaise makes 3.5 cups

1/2 cup vinegar (or part or all lemon or lime juice)

1 tsp honey

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp tamari

2 whole eggs

2 egg yolks

Beat together in a blender (eggs should be at room temp)

Gradually drizzle in while blender is still running

2.2 cups of oil (I have used extra virgin olive oil in the past but i find its flavour too strong, so i either mix it with another oil such as rice bran or just do rice bran or whatever i have avail.)

The mayonnaise will thicken as the oil is drizzled in. As soon as it thickens stop or it will thin again.

You can add pesto parsley ( I will post about this soon) or garlic to make aioli or thin it down with a little milk to cover a coleslaw.