Fresh Basil Pesto

I love basil! I love the way it smells, the way it tastes, the way it looks, I love everything about basil!

Basil adds a wonderful flavor to most dishes, but my favorite basil dish is Basil Pesto! And you can't beat Pesto made with basil leaves that were just picked from the field.

I have played around with several different recipes for Pesto and this is the combination that works best for me. I hope you enjoy this as much as I do!

Bekki's Fresh Basil Pesto

2 cups basil leaves (press down gently when you fill the cup up and get as much as you can in there without crushing them)
6-8 cloves garlic
2-3 tbsp olive oil
1-2 tbsp pine nuts
1-2 tbsp parmesan cheese
Pepper to taste

Start by adding about 1/2 cup basil leaves and 1 tbsp oil and 1 or 2 garlic cloves to your food processor and chop finely. Continue to add basil, garlic and oil until you have the entire 2 cups of leaves chopped in the food processor.

I like to add the pine nuts after the leaves and garlic are chopped.  I use a little more or less depending on how dark green my basil leaves are. I've noticed if the leaves are light and I add too much of the pine nuts the whole thing ends up looking white.

I add the parmesan and pepper last. I don't like to use too much as I think it tastes pretty good without it, but it does add a nice final touch.

Enjoy on crackers, red pepper, pita bread or stirred into your favorite pasta dish.

Pesto has a short shelf life, so don't keep it in the refrigerator for too long. If you want to save your leaves, you can just process the garlic, basil and oil and free in small serving cups. Defrost and add the pine nuts and parmesan after you have defrosted.

Yellow Squash Soup with Basil Cream

We have had a wonderful harvest of yellow squash so far this year and many of our customers have enjoyed it.

We recently received this lovely recipe from Cecily Rodman, it is a delicious soup that can be a great start to your meal or the main course!

Thank you for sharing with us Cecily!

Ingredients:

4 tbsp unsalted butter                                       
1 med onion finely chopped
4 cups sliced yellow squash
1 cup finely chopped carrots
2 1/2 cups nonfat chicken broth
1 cup half and half
1 tsp salt - freshly ground white pepper to taste
Basil Cream (recipe at bottom of page)

Melt the butter in a heavy, deep saucepan over low heat. Add the onion, cover and cook until the onion is limp but not brown, about 10 minutes. Add the yellow squash and carrots and stir to coat with the butter. Cover and cook undisturbed for 10 to 15 mins or until soft.

Bring the chicken broth to a boil and add to the vegetables.  Simmer, uncovered for 15 minutes more until the vegetables are tender but retain some firmness.  Remove to a food processor, blender or food mill and puree to a smooth consistency. Return the mixture to a clean saucepan. Pour in the half and half and season with salt and pepper.  If the soup is too sweet, add a little dry white wine or lemon jice to taste. Bring to a simmer over low heat before serving.

Ladle the soup into warm individual serving bowls.  Add a teaspoon of Basil Cream and swirl it through the soup.   Serve immediately.

BASIL CREAM

1/2 cup fresh basil
1/2 cup heavy cream

While the soup is heating, finely chop the basil in a food processor or blender. Add the heavy cream a little at a time until a thick sauce is formed.

Crunchy Dill Pickles

We have had an abundance of cucumbers for the past few weeks, more than we can sell. I hate throwing perfectly good produce away, so we have been busy making lots of pickles!

My favorite are dill, and I have been trying several recipes to get a nice pickle with a little bite that doesn't get soggy. After several tries this is the recipe I came up with and it is quite nice if I say so myself!

There are two options you can do for your pickles - if you are going to eat them right away you do not need to set up your canning process. BUT if you want to save them for a while then you should can them. I'm going to describe the canning process, which you can skip and just jar and refrigerate if you will be eating them in the next week or so.

Bekki's Crunchy Dill Pickles

Fresh, firm cucumbers - preferably small and thinner in diameter
Water
Vinegar
Canning Salt
Mustard Seed
Black Peppercorn
Garlic - chopped or whole
Dill - fresh or dried
Optional: Jalapeno slices
[Quantities vary depending on how many you plan to make]

Begin by boiling a large pot of water and sterilize your jars and lids for at least 3 minutes, then let cool.

Keep the water boiling if you are canning your pickles!
In a separate pot mix equal amounts of water and white vinegar, [quantities depend on how many jars you are making] for each 2 cups of water and vinegar use 2 tablespoons of canning salt. Boil and then let cool slightly. I can usually do about four - 16oz jars of pickles with 4 cups of brine.

I've made several jars of pickles in the past few weeks and have found if I add the boiling brine right to the cucumbers it cooks them and they get soggy, so the last few batches I let the brine cool a while.

While  your brine is cooling prepare your pickle jars. Its important to use the freshest cucumbers possible, if they are starting to get soft, your pickles will be mushy *yuck*! Also, the fatter the cucumber the most likely you will have soft pickles. So try to use a younger cuke.

For a 16 ounce jar I add:

1 chopped clove of garlic
1/4 tsp dill
1/8 tsp mustard seeds
2-3 peppercorns
Optional: 2-3 slices of jalapeno pepper for some bite!

After you have added your spices, then put the cucumbers in the jar, again, I've found long lenghtwise slices tend to stay crunchier than the smaller slices or chunks.

Once all your ingredients are in the jar, add the brine to cover the cucumbers completely. Don't forget to add your jalapeno slices if you like them hot!  Then seal the jars and submerge then in the boiling water for no more then 3 minutes.

At the risk of repeating myself, if you let them get too hot, they cook and you have lost your crunch!

As soon as the jars have cooled, and you hear the tops *pop* (meaning you have a good seal) put them in the refrigerator.

We have eaten our pickles as early as two days after making them, but of course the longer they sit, the better they taste! If you are saving them for a while, I usually shake them occasionally to mix up the seasonings.

Enjoy!

Fried Okra

There is nothing like picking your own home grown okra and then taking it home and cooking it right up.

When I was a kid my dad used to eat pickled okra and I thought it was so gross! Very slimy and the outside of the okra was hairy! Yuck!

But then I moved to Texas and discovered fried okra and now I'm hooked!

I found that you really don't have to go to much trouble to make some really good fried okra, but there are a couple of tricks of the trade to make sure you don't end up with soggy okra.

First, always use fresh okra, preferably from Skinny Lane Farm *grin*

Chop your okra into bite size pieces. I don't go to alot of trouble with the coating. Simply take an egg or two and beat it in a good size bowl, add just a bit of cream and stir the okra into it. Once the okra is completely covered in the egg mixture add just enough flour to absorb the egg and cover the okra pieces. Salt and pepper to taste.

Heat a frying pan with a thin layer of oil. I like to use an iron skillet and canola oil. Don't use too much oil, you don't need to deep fry it! Now here is the most important part, only put as much okra in the pan as you can keep in one layer. You only want to turn the okra once. 

Once it is nice and brown on the under side - carefully flip the okra and brown the other side. Don't overcook! You want the okra nice and crispy!

It only takes about 3-5 minutes on each side. 

ENJOY!