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Sunday, July 9, 2017

Perfect Parsley and Chive Pesto

What a week I have had! 

I was back out at the airport hoping to finish up the annual inspection. Once we had the new alternator, along with the new alternator bracket on the plane, the new throttle cable installed, the new nose wheel tire installed, we rolled it out to start it up, check the compression and make sure that there were no oil leaks. A turn of the key and we found that the battery didn't have enough power to turn the engine over. My mechanic explained that when the alternator fails, it really taxes the battery. He said that we could charge it over night and maybe get it back. I shook my head no and said, "look, winter isn't that far away and I don't want to end up getting stuck somewhere because I didn't put a new battery on the plane." He agreed, and we ordered a new battery. He could see that I was heart broken as I really wanted to get it back up and running. But all in good time. One thing being a pilot will teach you is patience, whether you like it or not. 

I had a glorious day at home on Friday, and I made up the new Fast and Fabulous jacket pattern from Islander Sewing. I was all set to post my pictures and share my jacket. Sat down to turn on my laptop, and I couldn't get the screen to come up for love of money. The computer was on, but no screen, total blackness. So a call to my nieces's husband begging for help. Actually, I really don't have to beg, he's so very generous about helping me out, thank goodness!!! He came by and it ended up being an easy fix. Again, thank goodness. 

We attended a glorious wedding yesterday. I'll share what I made to wear and more about the wedding in another post. It was truly a fairy-tale wedding. Perfect from start to finish. In fact, the father of the bride was the friend who shared with us the lovely letter that his uncle wrote about his evening with the king and queen of England. 

Now on to something delicious!

Earlier this week, I was thinking about what I might make for dinner. I had a big bunch of parsley in the refrigerator. As I looked at it, the thought came to me that it just might make up an interesting twist on a traditional pesto. So, I de-stemmed the parsley, and then went out to my garden and chopped off a hunk of fresh chives. I felt that Parmesan  cheese would work best as the flavor of the parsley is somewhat delicate. But rather than use pine nuts, I used walnuts as I like the meatier taste of a walnut. I used the pesto in a simple pasta dish and it was so, so good!

To make the pesto, begin with 2 packed cups of de-stemmed parsley and 1/2 cup of fresh chopped chives. 



Put the parsley and the chives in the bowl of a food processor. Add 2 large cloves of garlic, 1 cup of chopped walnuts, 1 cup of shredded parmesan cheese, 1 cup of good olive oil. Salt and black pepper to taste.



Process until smooth.


I like to store mine in a plastic container.


It can be used on sandwiches, added to pasta for a quick and easy dinner. I'm going to roast some cauliflower with the pesto for tonight's dinner. Actually, any roasted vegetables would be nice with the pesto. So be inventive and have some fun!

One last thing that I thought I would share is fresh chive butter. Actually, this can be done with any leftover herbs. I'm sure that like me, you purchase herbs for a particular dish, use a few and then the rest goes bad as you don't use them quickly enough.

So whether you have chives, or another herb, allow a stick of butter to come to room temperature. Chop the herbs into the butter, and stir to combine.  



Plop the herbed butter onto some plastic wrap.


Wrap the plastic around the butter and roll into a log, and refrigerate.


If you aren't going to use the butter right away, put it in the freezer. Just be sure to label it so that you know which herb you used!

Try experimenting and mix several herbs together. 

I used my herbed butter on some grilled salmon. It was so good. Also great on a morning bagel :), baked potato or any other vegetable that you might like to grill.



Perfect Parsley and Chive Pesto

Prep time: 10 minutes

Ingredients

2 cups packed de-stemmed parsley

½ cup fresh chopped chives

1 cup good olive oil

1 cup shredded parmesan cheese

2 large cloves garlic

1 cup chopped walnuts

Salt and black pepper to taste

Directions

Combine all ingredients in food processor. Process until smooth consistency.
Enjoy on grilled vegetables, with pasta, and on a sandwich.




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4 comments:

  1. I recently made a basil and coriander (cilantro) pesto. That was yum too. Looking forward to seeing the jacket and the wedding outfit :)

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    1. I was thinking about a pesto with coriander. Maybe making it a little tangy 😊

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  2. Why hadn't I thought of herbs in butter? Thanks for sharing that - and the pesto - Rhonda.
    Not long now until you will be flying again. Your patience is admirable and absolutely essential in this case.

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    1. It's such a great way to use up leftover herbs. Another nice thing to do is put the herbs in a lovely container, add olive oil and allow the herbs to infuse. Perfect for sauting vegetables and great for salads.
      As for patience, I have no other choice 😊, so really not very admirable since it is forced in me!

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