So, its been a busy week, and some of you might have begun thinking I've been slacking on my blog duties. In all honesty, I've been slacking on cooking duties this week. As a result, I decided I better get my tush back into the kitchen. An hour and a half and a few dishes later, I still have work to do, but the food is good. And that's why we're here, isn't it?
I should have begun by prepping my chard into pretty julienne slices. Instead, I began with step one and prepared my pesto. This called for 2 cups of parsley I only had to chop most of the stems off, say, that looks like two cups and drop into the food processor. I almost thought this could be an easy recipe. Its not hard, but its helpful if you have a sous chef, or prep things in advance. I chopped about a cup of walnuts, toasted them in the oven, and put 3/4 of them into the food processor. I was hungry, you can guess where the extra ended up. I then had to grate a fair amount of parmigiano-reggiano cheese. What luck, I still have a quarter of a brick, maybe a third and didn't need more than half. I did taste test an American style of parmesan cheese that is less costly. Its nice and nutty, but it doesn't have the bite I've grown accustomed to. In addition, I've decided that for the amount of recipes I use a brick of parmigiano-reggiano in, its worth the cost. Now I have to find a simple use for this other stuff...it's coming along, don't worry.
Edit: I learned the next day as I was making another recipe that I was comparing the American/Wisconsin Parmesan to Pecorrino-Romano cheese, which has more bite and less nut. I compared the freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano, which the package assured me it was to the American and likely, only the most discerning or snobbish of palates will notice. However, I will buy another brick of Parmigiano-Reggiano to compare to the American soon and be sure. It's only fair to compare bricks to bricks as that's how you get truly fresh grated cheese. End edit.
I processed this with two cloves of crushed garlic a few times, then added in the olive oil in a thin stream. I wondered while adding it if I could get away with half the amount. It probably would have made for a thicker pesto. Next I added some lemon juice-fresh squeezed, of course. Then I zested the lemon to add to the mix and added a little salt and ground black pepper. I processed this, once again, then scraped down the sides and left the pesto alone for a bit.
Then I followed the next step and began to reduce the balsamic vinegar while I sliced some chard. I had two bunches instead of three, and forgot about that until I pulled out the chard. Too late to go back now, I'll have extra pesto is all. Yes, this nearly resulted in disaster. The vinegar did start to boil, but hadn't reduced enough in the first try, so I turned the heat down and let it reduce longer. While it cooked, I turned my back on the reduction and proceeded to rib and slice the chard. When I finished the first bunch of chard, I had boiled balsamic and not enough liquid. I poured it back in the pan and took it into the backyard and dumped it. I then came back in and tried again. Luckily you never use enough balsamic to not be able to do it again. I started over and paid closer attention as I finished ribbing and slicing the second bunch of chard. I kept the heat a little lower so it would take a little longer. This time, it reduced nicely, and when I got it to just over the 1/4 cup I needed, I turned off the burner and left the pan there and finally finished ribbing and slicing the chard.
I located my grapeseed oil next, and placed it into the saute pan. I'm so glad I have a large cast iron pan, even if it is enameled. It makes it easier to wilt huge bunches of chard. I added the 3T. pesto and the rest of the salt and fresh ground black pepper. I allowed the chard to cook through while rinsing off and cleaning up my work surfaces. It took a little longer than I expected to wilt. And the instructions left out what to do with the rest of the pesto. I ended up tossing it in along with the drizzle of the balsamic and enjoying a very good dish.
I will definitely make this recipe again. I'm wondering if these ingredients would make a good salad if they are not cooked, I think it might be easier to work with. I enjoyed this meal, and it was nice, but it wasn't quite perfect. I'm still trying to figure out what would turn it from good into bliss. I will admit the balsamic made me think of having a really nice chard salad with a favorite glass of wine.
I will definitely make this recipe again, especially if my chard seeds turn into chard. Happy eating. Oh, and the leftover pesto, is probably going on tomorrow's left over orichette pasta. I do love double duty.
No comments:
Post a Comment