Vegan basil hemp pesto

I've been cooking but not writing about it much lately. Trying to get back on track. The fall harvest is a great time to do it! Here's one for the gardeners (and the vegans).

If you're like me, you tend to grow basil in your garden in the summer and there's only so much of it you can use before the frost get it. Pesto is one of the greatest ways to use up large amounts of the fresh stuff. And making it takes hardly any time at all.

And this recipe mixes it with one of my favourite (and local!) seeds: hemp, which have an extraordinary nutty flavour that is enhanced by toasting the seeds before making the mixture. Add a little hemp oil to ratchet up that nuttiness. The fresh parsley, which is likely also in your garden, adds a bit of herby lightness.

Yield:  1.5 cups

Ingredients

1/2 cup hemp seeds

3 loosely packed cups of fresh basil leaves

1 sprig fresh Italian parsley

2 cloves of garlic, peeled and sliced

1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil

3 tbsp cold pressed hemp oil

2 tbsp nutritional yeast

1/2 tsp salt

fresh ground pepper

Toast the hemp seeds in a non-stick pan on medium heat. It will seem like it takes a while but keep your eyes on it at all times because the seeds will go from not toasted to burnt in about 30 seconds. The toasting shouldn't take more than about 5-6 minutes depending on the pan you're using. Cool before making the pesto.

Clean the basil and parsley, making sure it's mostly dry before continuing on.

Add all the ingredients into a food processor. Blend for about a minute making sure the garlic is all chopped and it is quite smooth and creamy. Check the seasonings and voila. 

Use it on pasta, add cream/cream substitute if you want to make a creamy sauce, use it dressing for salads, etc.  It'll keep in the fridge for about a week but you can also freeze it in ice cube trays and save it for later when you're yearning for some garden freshness in the middle of winter.

© Gail J. Cohen 2017

Market tales from Goa

Spice seller at the market in Vasco de Gama, Goa, India

I came to India for some work meetings and wasn't going to come all this way and not stay and experience a bit of the country for at least a few days. And what better way to experience it all than through food, of course! I found a cooking course in Goa (on the west coast in what is the top of what is considered South India). And in case you weren't aware, South India means cooking with coconut!

Vasco de Gama at the pin!

But before cooking began, it was time for a trip to some of the local markets in Vasco de Gama. There are five main markets: vegetables and staples; fish; chicken and eggs; beef; and pork. With the varying beliefs of the Hindus, Christians, and Muslims -- the largest religious groups in the area -- the meat markets needed to be split up to keep everyone happy and able to shop for their necessities.

It's pretty dry at this time of year and fresh herb prices are at a premium.

The first stop was the rudimentary "farmers' market" for veggies. Almost everything sold here is grown in Goa or neighbouring states. There's the occasional imported piece of fruit but it's more the exception than the rule, so people buy what's in season. The prices are fair and the produce fresh daily from the farmers.

The local garlic is tiny and sold both by the head and the clove. Lots of tumeric and ginger.

Almost all of it is pretty recognizable but with a local twist. The garlic here, for example, is extremely tiny. Tomatoes and onions are also much smaller than we are used to seeing in North America. The cucumbers are a very light shade of green and the gherkins for pickles are tiny and look more like little marrows than cucumbers. The pumpkins are slightly different (and the one we used, at least, was very sweet) and there is a very wide selection of gourds ranging from big and round to long and skinny.

Bags of dried spices, whole and ground, dotted the aisles along with a variety of rices including a brown rice found almost exclusively in South India.

Bergi chiles on the top and the fiery little kankons in the bottom basket.

Of course, for me, the icing on the cake is always discovering new chiles and Goa did not disappoint. A fiery little devil called kankon is used in both its fresh green form as well as dried. The other is a larger and longer one called bergi, a medium spicy chile that gives an orange tint to food when used in its dried format. Kankons are just coming into season and there aren't a lot of them around yet.

These are mostly dried bergis and Kashmiri chiles

I was also told that right now in the couple of hot months before the monsoon, the ladies are out buying dried chiles by the bucket load in order to grind and make their various masalas. During the monsoons, fresh chiles are hard to find so the dried and ground versions are used a lot more.

Veg purchased and never tried before but got cooked, eaten, tried, and likely won't be eaten again: bitter gourd (it's name is no exaggeration).

Bitter gourd takes centre stage.

Only visited the fish market, which is quite small but boasts catch made by local fishermen that day. Apparently the best time to get the optimal fish is early evening but we were there in the morning so had to settle for what was around. It did not smell delightful and took quite a bit of mind of matter to get me in there.

Some good sized prawns at the fish market.

The sellers were mainly women with a variety of prawns, crabs, squid, and mostly really small fish (including baby sharks!). Kingfish is the most popular fish in these parts. We left with prawns, crabs, and a kingfish. Got out just before a tidal wave of fishy water was about the wash over my feet. I don't think I would have survived.

Lots of little fish, that in my opinion shouldn't be legal to catch, but I don't make the laws.

We did get to walk down the street with a fish in a bag, mostly tail to the wind as the bag was a bit too tiny. Luckily there was a bucket in the trunk of the car to contain it on the way back to cooking school. Unfortunately I did not take a picture of the absurd fish tail.

Ingredients purchased, it was back for some cooking action. More on that later.

Mexican egg cups with roasted tomato and chile sauce

Sometimes you want something a little flavourful for breakfast (or even breakfast for dinner). Some members of our household (never me) go running on Sunday mornings and I tend to take that time to whip up a breakfast/brunch that’s a bit heartier and more complicated. Also if you’re just hosting friends for brunch and want a dish that will impress, give this recipe a try. These eggs in a spicy tomato sauce served in a crispy tortilla bowl look nice and offer up some delightful Mexican flavours.

As with many chile sauces, the chile you use defines the flavour. I’ve provided a few options below. You can really use any dried chile so explore something new. I like to use costeño amarillo, which I brought back from Oaxaca, Mexico. This doesn’t work as well with fresh chiles.

Yield: 2-4 servings

Ingredients

Chile sauce 

Makes 1.5 cups sauce

chiles*
1/2 onion
3 roma tomatoes or 2 dozen cherry tomatoes
2 cloves of garlic
1 tsp Mexican oregano
1/4 tsp freshly ground cumin
1/2 tsp of sugar
juice of half a lime
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp olive oil

* I used 3 costeno amarillo chiles (med spicy) – this would also work with 3 dried red chiles that you find in the stores (spicy), 2 guajillo chiles (fruity not too spicy), 1 pasilla chile (earthy not too spicy), 2 chipotle chiles (smokey and medium spicy)

4 fresh corn tortillas
4 eggs
1/2 cup grated cheese (cheddar, jack, queso fresco)
1/2 avocado, thinly sliced
Bit of finely chopped tomatoes or pico de gallo


To make tortilla bowls:

Preheat the oven to 350F.

Make sure your tortillas are soft and pliable so they don’t crack. If they are a bit dry, sprinkle them with water, wrap in a damp paper towel, and microwave for about 30 seconds.

Spray each tortilla all over with some cooking spray. Then manoeuvre the tortilla into an oven-proof dish (I used some onion soup bowls) so they’ll create a bowl. Bake for about 10 minutes until lightly browned and crispy. Set aside when ready. Don’t remove from the bowls.

To make the sauce:

Stem and seed the dried chiles. If using larger chiles, splitting them open so you can flatten them. Heat up a comal or a non-stick frying pan and dry roast the chiles in the pan. Heat them for about 20 seconds on each side, flattening with a spatula, so they get soft. Be very careful not to blacken the skin otherwise your sauce will be bitter. Wispy smoke is okay, more than that they’ll be burnt and bitter. Place the roasted chiles in a small bowl of boiling water for 20 minutes so they can rehydrate.

Thickly slice the onion. Put it along with the garlic with its skin still on, onto the comal or frying pan. Roast them until they are blackened on both sides. Put the tomatoes on as well. If you’re using larger ones, they’ll take a bit longer to roast. Turn them frequently until blackened all over. The cherry tomatoes won’t take very long. Let them get black on one side then roll over so they get another blackened area. Don’t let them burst open because it’s messy and you’ll lose most of the meaty good stuff.

With the garlic, once it’s ready put to the side and let cool, then slip off the skin. Put the other roasted ingredients as they’re ready into the jar of a blender. Add the cumin, oregano, salt, and sugar as well as the rehydrated chiles and 1/2 cup of the chile water. Blend it all together until you have a smooth, yet fairly thick sauce, about 3 minutes. If it’s too thick add a bit of plain or the chile water to thin it out a bit. Squeeze in the lime juice.

In a small sauce pan, heat the oil to a high heat. The sauce needs to really sizzle when you pour it in so test with just a drop to see if it’s hot enough. When it is, pour the sauce from the blender jar into the pot. It’ll sizzle and sputter a bit so watch out. Turn the temperature down to med-low and simmer the sauce for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. The colour will darken and the simmering allows the flavours to all blend together. If it begins to dry out and stick to the bottom of the pot, just add a bit of water.

Check for seasonings and let rest a few minutes while you bring it all together.

Bringing it all together:

Put the oven back on to 350F. Sprinkle the bottom of each tortilla cup with a pinch of cheese (or more if you desire). Put them back in the oven for 7 minutes or so until the cheese melts.

Cook the eggs. If you are an egg poacher, then knock yourself out and poach four eggs. If you prefer to fry them, then make it so. Cook them so the yolks remain soft and runny.

Once the cheese has melted, take the tortilla cups out and, if you prefer, remove them from the bowls you’ve cooked in and put on a plate. Gently place your soft eggs in the cup. Top with a generous dollop of the spicy tomato sauce. Garnish with the sliced avocado and tomato/pico.

Serve them up and enjoy.

© Gail J. Cohen 2017

Let's cook (and eat) together

There really are few things in the world that give me more pleasure than cooking and sharing interesting and delicious food with friends. A couple of years ago, I decided to host a dinner party at least once a month. It worked out fabulously and gave me the opportunity to cook some great stuff and connect with lots of friends. The only downside: lots of cleaning up.

A few months ago, someone mentioned the idea of a cookbook club, so I checked it out and thought it would be a great way to once again indulge in my love of cooking and sharing the table with friends, new and old. As you can see from the picture above, there's a lot of cookbooks in this house (most of them belong to my partner and this isn't even all of them....) 

So, for 2017, I am launching a cookbook club. 

The first rule of cookbook club is: Everybody cooks and everybody eats.

My plan is to have us meet once every couple of months. Pick a cookbook to discuss and make recipes out of. Then have a potluck type together and hang out and eat and drink. 

If you live in Toronto, especially the east end, and you're interested, leave a comment or find me on Instagram @ohcanadagail. Hoping to launch later this month or early February.