The Fall Harvest: Herbs

As mentioned in an earlier blog, I grew my first herb and vegetable garden this summer, and the herbs absolutely thrived! Chives, garlic chives, rosemary, globe basil, cinnamon basil, sweet basil, oregano, dill, chocolate mint, lemon thyme, french thyme, marjoram, lemon balm, sage, and catnip were some of the 20-plus herbs I had growing. The better part of them were enjoyed summer-long in salads and vinaigrettes mostly - and for marinades, but now, there's a ton of basil left, so I'm now busy harvesting it and making tasty edibles with it.

Pesto Genovese
This recipe is done to taste, so please forgive my lack of measurements:
In the bowl of my food processor, I blitz 6 or 7 cloves of garlic until they're finely chopped. I then add a palmful of pine nuts and blitz them. I pack the bowl with fresh (rinsed and dried) basil leaves, place the top on the machine, and pulse it. With the machine running, add a slow stream of high quality extra virgin olive oil until the mixture makes a thick paste - maybe 1/2 to 1 cup. Pour pesto into a non-reactive bowl, add the zest and juice of a lemon or two, add about 1 cup of Parmigiano Reggiano, salt and pepper to taste.

This leaves you with a rich paste of delicious freshness that is ready to enjoy - or freeze (divide into freezer containers, top with extra virgin olive oil, label, and freeze.

This same "recipe" can be used to make a variety of pestos - just combine something green (in place of the fresh basil leaves) and a nut (in place of pine nuts): asparagus and walnut, cilantro and macadamia nut, baby spinach and walnut, arugula and pine nuts...

*pesto versus pistou
Pesto in Italian, literally means paste. Pistou is the French version of pesto - classically minus the pine nuts and Parmesan...although, I always add Parmesan to my pistous.

I always like to have fresh herbs on hand, so with extra herbs - of almost any kind - I wash, dry, and chop them and place into ice cube trays. Once frozen, I pop them out, place in freezer bag or container, and use them when I don't have fresh herbs on hand. This is a GREAT thing to do to let you enjoy the tastes of summer all year long.
Happy herb harvesting!

My personal chef business

Thought you might like to peruse my personal chef business' website: Home Gourmet

The Foodie Circle

Here's more about The Foodie Circle, The Association for Professional Foodies:
The Association for Professional Foodies

introductions

blogging has long been an interest of mine, but i was always unsure of how it all worked.

being technologically skilled - if i do say so myself - and having a professional computer nerd as a husband, you'd think i'd have started this long ago...but i hadn't. i'm looking forward to it now, however.

so, this is me...
i am the chef and owner of a successful personal chef service, www.homegourmet.ca. i started home gourmet in 2003 and have never looked back. some days i like my career more than others, but overall, it's an interesting way to make a living.

this year, i launched a professional culinary association, www.thefoodiecircle.com, with members in canada and the states. our goal at the foodie circle is to provide a place for entrepreneurial foodies to network and congregate - all the while offering support and guidance in our online community.

i have 3 four-legged children - a blonde cocker spaniel named jack, a black cocker named libby, and a charcoal cat named sugi. my husband and i married 4 years ago thanksgiving weekend.

my husband and i purchased our first home last november and are loving it. i planted my first vegetable and garden this year - it wasn't as productive as i would have hoped...i'm still learning, i suppose.

besides gardening, i am a bit of a neat-freak - i actually enjoy cleaning and organizing. music is another big part of my life. i love watching tv too.

the idea behind this blog is to share my experiences as a personal chef and with the new foodie circle...

thanks for reading!