Sicilian pesto.

Served best straight onto whole wheat spaghetti, with a little extra parmesan sprinkled on top just for the fun of it. Delizioso!



You will need:

(Serves 4)

60g Skinned almonds (or blanched almonds)
20 x Basil leaves
200g Sun dried tomatoes - drained
4 x Garlic cloves - peeled
Extra virgin olive oil - to taste
100g Parmesan - finely grated
Salt & Pepper - to season

In a shallow frying pan toast the almonds. Once golden brown set aside and leave to cool.

Into a food processor add the basil leaves, garlic and sun dried tomatoes. Blitz until combined and very finely chopped.

Add the almonds and whizz until the mixture is a smooth paste.

Add a little of the olive oil at a time until you are happy with the consistency.
You don't want your pesto to be too sloppy but at the same time it has to have movement so you're looking for somewhere in between.

Once you are happy with the thickness, give the mixture one final pulse to make sure everything is nicely combined and then transfer to a dish.

Fold the grated parmesan cheese into the mixture. This will thicken the pesto so you may wish to add a little more oil at this stage just to loosen things up again.

Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Finito!

Recipe adapted from Gino's Pasta

Crochet Withdrawal

It's been way too long since I picked up my crochet hook. Before Christmas to be absolutely precise. I hooked a granny square blanket for my Gran for a Christmas present. So, I was mucho excited when I stumbled across something that I HAD to crochet. Granny Bunting.



Yes, I admit it people, I am a shameful lover of all things granny . The hooky kind of course, not the purple rinse, dentured, hoover-kisses kind. I came across the pattern on Crocheting With Raymond. Alice is one talented, crafty lady. I've only done 3 flags so far but I'm planning on doing a nice long line of them. Probably about 15 or so.



I decided to use 5 colours and just alternate them. I've been using some leftovers from the blanket but they're running quite low so I feel a trip to the haberdashery section in John Lewis is going to be on my list of things to do very soon.

More BBQ goodness

As there were plenty of royal goings on Friday we decided that it was definitely a good excuse to throw another BBQ. Why not? The grey skies and impending rain threatened our good time (although we had the umbrellas at the ready) but before we knew it the sun had broken through the gloom and we were heating the grill. Bob donned his chef's hat (metaphorically of course) and whipped up a nostril-tingling, very fragrant Chinese marinade for some swordfish steaks that we had picked up.



It was not only extremely pretty to look at, with it's little star anise floating around amongst the crushed garlic and cinnamon sticks but it also flavoured the fish incredibly well. As soon as the steaks hit the grill they sizzled and wafted up a most amazing aroma that drew me and my camera closer.



Then came my favourite..the ribs. Finger-licking, lip-smacking and tooth-sticking. Bob decided to try two kinds, a few racks of baby back's rubbed with a bbq rub which were then doused in sweet and smoky bbq sauce while they cooked on the grill.

Then he made a smoky apple BBQ sauce which Wes glazed the other ribs with while they sizzled and spat and made our mouths water.



More sauce Wes! More!



These were the final results:



Ribs with rub and sweet and smoky bbq sauce glaze.



Ribs simply glazed with smoky apple bbq sauce.

Both kinds of rib were SO good. Hold on, I don't think I'm expressing just how good these were. They were so good I could have eaten everyone elses too. They were so good that when I realised that mine were all gone, I looked around to see if anyone might have too much to eat and would need me to help them out. Sadly not. What do you mean you really enjoyed them too? The apple glazed ones were stickier, messier and my personal favourite. The ribs that had been rubbed and then glazed were alot spicier and were packed with good, punchy flavours. They also had little bits of caramelised brown sugar from the rub. What's better than caramelised sugar? Nothing, that's what. Aren't I lucky to know two men who can glaze, make delicious sauces and rubs and grill food on the BBQ so well?

My cooking hasn't been that adventurous lately. I haven't really had the oppurtunities for it. I will though. This weekend, I'm thinking about knocking up some boneless buffalo wings and some Jack Daniels sesame chicken, TGI inspired. Oh, and some creamy blue cheese dip and sweet potatoes fries. In the meantime though, here were some delicious sides that I made to accompany the meaty goodness of..well..the meat.



Torn mozarella with green pesto, basil, lemon zest and juice and LOTS of olive oil.



My delicious cranberry salsa which is, if I may say so myself, out of this world. I love it with everything and anything. Visit here for the recipe.



A gorgeous mixed tomato salad with balsamic vinegar, olive oil, basil, chilli and garlic. I was lucky to find some unusual looking tiger tomatoes in the supermarket to jazz this up a little and make it more visually pleasing. When Bob eats this he says "It reminds me of holiday". I know exactly what he means and you would too if you tasted it.

And here to round it all off is my Bob's beard. Why? Because I can.



Mozzarella salad via Jamie Oliver
Tomato salad via Jamie Oliver
BBQ sauces and Chinese marinade via Steve Raichlen

Oh, Oh Land.

I just stumbled across this EP on Spotify. I think I've found something new to stick on repeat and wear my iPod out with.

Making the most of it.

As it's highly unusual for us to get such glorious weather in April you can probably understand that we're aiming to get as many BBQ's in as possible while it lasts. Especially with Bob's purchase of one of (BBQ, rub and marinade God) Steve Raichlen's books. When it comes to all things BBQ this man is to meat what Kenny Rogers is to country music. I think Bob plans on trying possibly every single marinade, rub and sauce in this book as they all look so good. And bless him, my man does love his BBQ'd meat. This passion having been fuelled even more so by Steve, of course.



These are some free range pork shoulder fillets that Bob rubbed with the 'Basic Barbecue Rub' from the book. The back one is 'rub-less' as it was for a doggie and it might have been a bit too spicy for his belly. Wes grilled these up a treat on the BBQ and they came out succulent and juicy, not at all dry, and the rub was amazing. I mean 'tastebud-exploding' tasty. Insane. The mixture of the different ingredients are to a good ratio so you can literally taste everything that goes into it. We even used it on Vicki's vegetarian chicken-style pieces and it was ruddy good on those too.



Now this, what can I say about this? It's amazing. Anyone who knows me will agree that I love my sauces. That might even be an understatement. Bob's always saying that I over-sauce everything but to me..there is no such thing. My delicious Bob made this delicious 'Sweet and Smoky BBQ sauce' (also from the book) which used all things tasty like brown sugar, honey and nearly a whole large bottle of ketchup. My kinda stuff. The recipe made quite alot and filled more than 2 jars. Not that I'm complaining as we now have enough to see us through many more BBQ's as it keeps for months in the fridge. What conclusion did I get from this sauce? My man's bloody good at making sauces.



And lastly, if you're looking for a kicking coleslaw for any occasion and to go with anything then you need to try 'Southwest Slaw'. It was my addition to the BBQ and the recipe comes from patiodaddio on Tasty Kitchen. It was so good. A smack of heat from the chipotle's mixed with refreshing lime and coriander. My kind of coleslaw.

Been away for a while..

..but returning soon.

In the meantime, you can enjoy a close-up of the handsome nerdness that is Fo-Bizzle.

*image by me

Plenty of Time on My Hands

But not to do this.


*image by me