In Honor of My Birthday . . . I make my favorite dish
My birthday is a funny thing. For some reason I always make a super big deal out of it, and yet at 28 I am probably the only person I know who thinks birthdays are a reason for any super special acknowledgement. Sure a card here and a small present or two from a good friend, but other than that . . . what is the big deal? Right?
Yeah right. So this year I felt kind of grown up. The current boyfriend, seemed to be fighting really hard to take me out on my birthday, but he had a work obligation, so I told him not to worry I would see him on another night . . . and I sure did feel grown up for doing it. Which is not to say I wasn't secretly expecting some surprise out of left field, but since this rarely if ever happens I wasn't all that suprised that is didn't. So, I came home and did one of my favorite things--went for a nice long run in Central Park, then showered, looked in the fridge, and saw that I had basil, parmesean, and garlic. I also have had pignoli nuts my cabinet (ever since my roomie pointed out that trader joes has 'em cheap and already toasted it seems silly not to have them as a staple), and the roommates always have olive oil. So why not my first attempt at pesto?
A word on pesto . . . it is one of my favorite wierd foods from growing up. That's right I said it one of my favorite wierd foods. I know this is hard to believe in a world where pesto is seemingly ubiquitous as both a condiment and a sauce in Italian restaurants, and even at the local pub, but at least when I was growing up it seemed that the only place to get it was home. And it was a special sauce that my mom made and put on funny shaped pasta, and she made it in the cuisinart. So, the cuisnart or food processor seemed to me to be a key ingredient. I don't have a food processor (okay technically I do but it is in a box in my room because there is just no good place to store it in my shared kitchen) so I can't make pesto.
Then a week and a half before my birthday I made this green sauce in the blender and it occured to me that I should probably try making pesto in the blender too. It would be unfair to say that I realized I could make pesto in a blender, because pretty much every cook I know has suggested to me using a blender in place of a food processor, but for some reason I didn't trust any of them, because my mom used a food processor so clearly one was needed to make pesto.
Making pesto wasn't easy. My first go, which I put over macaroni (not the right pasta but clearly better than my other option, spaghetti--the only two pasta shapes I had readily available), broccoli, fresh tomato, and asparagus. And it was way too smooth and way too garlicky. One of the things I like about pesto is the fresh taste of basil (my mom used to use basil from her garden, unfortunately not so easy to grow in my sunlight free apartment) and I just didn't put enough in--and I thought, I like garlic so why not use two cloves instead of one. I talked to my mom before I made the second attempt, the first wednesday folloing my actual birthday, and her suggestion, when in doubt just add more cheese was much appreciated. Unfortunately the second time I still put in too much garlic. And I didn't have enough basil to fix it, because most of it had wilted. And I didn't realize I had forgotten the pignoli nuts until after I had sauced the pasta. But I didn't over blend this time, so the pesto wasn't over smooth. And I was able to add more cheese and that helped. As did pignoli nuts in the garnish. And current boyfriend noted the excess garlic (even though he claims to love it too) and the missing pignoli nuts, but he still cleaned his plate and the remains out of the serving bowl. Mostly I am just excited to continue working on pesto and further expanding my cooking reptoire now that I realize that my lack of food processor (sort of) is not really a limitation afterall.
Yeah right. So this year I felt kind of grown up. The current boyfriend, seemed to be fighting really hard to take me out on my birthday, but he had a work obligation, so I told him not to worry I would see him on another night . . . and I sure did feel grown up for doing it. Which is not to say I wasn't secretly expecting some surprise out of left field, but since this rarely if ever happens I wasn't all that suprised that is didn't. So, I came home and did one of my favorite things--went for a nice long run in Central Park, then showered, looked in the fridge, and saw that I had basil, parmesean, and garlic. I also have had pignoli nuts my cabinet (ever since my roomie pointed out that trader joes has 'em cheap and already toasted it seems silly not to have them as a staple), and the roommates always have olive oil. So why not my first attempt at pesto?
A word on pesto . . . it is one of my favorite wierd foods from growing up. That's right I said it one of my favorite wierd foods. I know this is hard to believe in a world where pesto is seemingly ubiquitous as both a condiment and a sauce in Italian restaurants, and even at the local pub, but at least when I was growing up it seemed that the only place to get it was home. And it was a special sauce that my mom made and put on funny shaped pasta, and she made it in the cuisinart. So, the cuisnart or food processor seemed to me to be a key ingredient. I don't have a food processor (okay technically I do but it is in a box in my room because there is just no good place to store it in my shared kitchen) so I can't make pesto.
Then a week and a half before my birthday I made this green sauce in the blender and it occured to me that I should probably try making pesto in the blender too. It would be unfair to say that I realized I could make pesto in a blender, because pretty much every cook I know has suggested to me using a blender in place of a food processor, but for some reason I didn't trust any of them, because my mom used a food processor so clearly one was needed to make pesto.
Making pesto wasn't easy. My first go, which I put over macaroni (not the right pasta but clearly better than my other option, spaghetti--the only two pasta shapes I had readily available), broccoli, fresh tomato, and asparagus. And it was way too smooth and way too garlicky. One of the things I like about pesto is the fresh taste of basil (my mom used to use basil from her garden, unfortunately not so easy to grow in my sunlight free apartment) and I just didn't put enough in--and I thought, I like garlic so why not use two cloves instead of one. I talked to my mom before I made the second attempt, the first wednesday folloing my actual birthday, and her suggestion, when in doubt just add more cheese was much appreciated. Unfortunately the second time I still put in too much garlic. And I didn't have enough basil to fix it, because most of it had wilted. And I didn't realize I had forgotten the pignoli nuts until after I had sauced the pasta. But I didn't over blend this time, so the pesto wasn't over smooth. And I was able to add more cheese and that helped. As did pignoli nuts in the garnish. And current boyfriend noted the excess garlic (even though he claims to love it too) and the missing pignoli nuts, but he still cleaned his plate and the remains out of the serving bowl. Mostly I am just excited to continue working on pesto and further expanding my cooking reptoire now that I realize that my lack of food processor (sort of) is not really a limitation afterall.
posted by Emily at 9:05 PM
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