Pesto in a different manner

i like to learn from other cultures, the addition of spinach comes from South America, nuts (or sunflower seeds in this case) are an Italian addition.  The bacon is well, American?

Chicken pesto on Fettuccine

2 lbs chicken meat (will end up boneless, any part will do)

1 cup fresh basil

1/2 cup sunflower seeds (because Pinole nuts are too expensive)

5 cloves garlic

1/2 cup olive oil

8 oz spinach

1 teaspoon salt

1 package bacon

1 cup parmesan cheese

1 cup sunflower seeds

Boil the chicken, removing any skin and bones after it has cooled

Cook the bacon crisp

mix chicken and bacon together and roughly chop, set aside.

Boil the spinach for one minute remove from heat and drain

Add spinach, basil, garlic, salt and olive oil to a blender and blend until smooth.

add 2 cup water, sunflower seeds and 1/2 parmesan cheese and mix

Prepare your favorite pasta (i use fettuccini for this) and plate on top of pasta as follows

teaspoon of cheese, tablespoon of chicken/bacon then the pesto sauce.

Add crushed hot pepper as an option

the challenge

For a number of months, i have been working under a severe challenge...
I need to prep or pre-cook in one location, be interrupted and then move to another.
The reasons this happens are multiple, many of the mistakes in the previous post are due to this.
If i move my supplies to cook in another kitchen, i inevitably forget something and have to substitute.
If i cook a meal completely and then reheat in the other location, things get dried out.
I have not been really successful yet at working things out.
Tonight i used an ingredient, which i created, cilantro salt, but it was not cilantroy enough and much too salty.  After starting, i had to leave and came back to my chops too salty.
I will over come this challenge, but it is difficult.

Mistakes

I make a lot of them, some are not edible...
Most of the time they have great flavor, but are just cooked WRONG.

I was listening to a pod cast the other day with my cooking idols, Bobby Flay and Alton Brown.
They talked about mistakes they have made...
Mistakes, Bobby?  He is not perfect?
Oh My, what can i say.

Neither am i.
Recently i have had a bad series of dishes using grilled chicken.

I have done grilled chicken before and done it well,
most most of the time i pre-cooked and then crisped up on a grill.
I want to cook it completely o the grill.
I listen to Bobby Flay doing it and Alton brown.
I failed, several times now.
The last time i set the fire in the grill/smoker wrong and the temperature is up to over 400 F.
Needless to say, the chicken was over cooked.
The thing to say, is that i learn.
I know how i can do it correctly, i want to expand beyond my oven and pot delicious chicken.
I will, meanwhile Pizza and Chinese delivery is on speed dial.

more potatoes

Everyone who reads here knows i love potatoes and i do many styles and this is one that got rave reviews:

Spicy Mashed Potatoes

10 medium potatoes

1 Chipolte pepper

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 teaspoon salt

1 stick butter

1 tablespoon Sweet Green and Red Pepper, diced

1/2 cup sour cream

1/2 cup Half and Half

Instant dry mashed potato flakes

Cook the potatoes by your favorite method (i use the microwave potato setting)

Melt the butter with the garlic, Chipolte pepper, sweet peppers and salt

add the milk and Half and Half and bring to a simmer

Remove the Chipolte pepper and mix with the cooked potatoes

USE a FOOD MILL to add the potatoes to the simmering mixture

turn off the mixture and mix thoroughly.

Loosen the mixture with more warm half and half

or thicken the mixture with instant dry potato flakes

Thick Pork Chops

You know those inch plus thick pork chops that most people tell you to stuff?  I do not like to stuff them, but this is what i do to keep them moist inside.

Thick Pork Chops

4 Equally Thick (1" or more) Pork Chops

1 teaspoon crushed red pepper

1 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoon raw sugar

1/2 teaspoon Fresh Rosemary, minced

1/2 cup apple juice

1/2 cup rose wine

Mix Juice and wine and pour into a large baking pan

Mix dry ingredients and rub the chops

place the chops in the baking pan with liquid

Broil on high for 10 minutes (or till browned) and flip to the other side

Bake at 300 F for until the internal Temperature is 160 F (about 1 hour)

Serve with the cooking liquid (which has thickened a bit)

Capturing Summer

To start this post, a simple apology because it has been to hot for me to be my normal self
and so i have not posted here recently, but there has been a lot going on.

I could have titled this port: " A some what technical dissertation about tradition", but it is about drying spices and preserving summer made more sense.

So, i love traditional flavors and use them often.
I often "tweak" them to my style, but the traditional flavor is there.

The "traditional" way to dry spices is to cut the branch and hang it up side down until the leaves dry and them capture the crumbled leaves for later use.

When i first tried it, i questioned it, sure hanging the branches upside down was helpful, but flavor seemed to not be retained in the leaves, so i tried something different...
I removed the leaves and dried them separate and it seemed i had much more flavor.
This is not definitive so i decided to experiment...as a chemist.
The easiest compound for me to analyze was chlorophyll, but chlorophyll degrades to phenophytin as vegetation dies...
I separated the mint leaves into 2 groups, one i removed the leaves immediately, the other left on the stem till they dried.
I did take a sample of each first to measure chlorophyll, to insure they were approximately equal and they were.
The dried product was the checked and yes the phenophytien levels were higher in those leaves that were taken off the branch.  I make the assumption that the same happens to the flavors.

I know take the leaves off before dring herbs.

It is summer!
Fresh Vegetables and a cool soup in the way to go!

Working within my heritage, inspired by Tzatziki!

gazpacho - Greek Inspired

3 medium lemons, juiced

2 cucumbers, peeled

3 tomatoes, cleaned

3 cloves garlic

1/2 cup fresh dill weed

5 scallions, green part only

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup plain yogurt (not Greek)

All is placed in a blender and liquefied, serve cold