Basil Pesto with Fresh Mozerella

Peter and I catered a great dinner this weekend and it was great because it was all about fresh ripe ingredients. We wanted to showcase the beautiful flavors of summer and this salad was the best way to go. The salad is very simple, ripe tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, olive oil and basil pesto. This pesto sauce can be used on just about anything. I’m looking forward to using some of it on pasta.

4 cups packed fresh basil leaves, washed well

1/2 cup pine nuts, toasted until golden, cooled, and chopped fine

1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan (about 1 1/2 ounces)

2 large garlic cloves, minced

1/4 cup plus 3 tablespoonsextra-virgin olive oil

In a food processor purée basil with remaining ingredients until smooth and season with salt and pepper.

To assemble the salad slice a ripe tomato and lay the slices out on a platter. Season the tomatoes generously with sea salt and pepper and drizzle with a fine finishing olive oil. Cover the tomato with a slice of fresh mozzarella and drizzle with pesto.

Mango Salsa

We all just got back from an incredible sailing trip in the British Virgin Islands. Since we had chartered a large sail boat we were lucky enough to be able to cook all of our own meals. Peter really took the lead on this and went shopping for the week before we got on the boat. The kitchen on the boat was laid out great and both of us were able to work together on putting together some great meals.

For me the best meal of the trip was when we made Coconut Curry Chicken with Mango Salsa. I love this salsa because it is sweet and hot at the same time. You can control the heat by adjusting how many chillies you use. This mango salsa can be used on just about anything so I thought I should share it with you.

Mango Salsa

4 mangos diced
1/2 pineapple diced
2 shallots finely diced
1 scotch bonnet finely diced with seeds removed
1 jalapeño finely diced with seeds removed
2 limes juiced
2 tablespoons olive oil
salt
¼ cup finely chopped cilantro

Combine the mangos, pineapple, shallots and chillies. Pour olive oil and lime juice over the fruit. Stir to combine. At this point taste the salsa and add salt to taste. Stir in cilantro. Serves 8.

Checking Out

We'll be heading down to St. Thomas for ten days of sailing. We'll be coming back with lots of new cooking adventures. See you in a couple of weeks.

Strawberry Rhubarb Pie

It looks like summer has finally decided to show up. I made my first Strawberry Rhubarb Pie of the season. mmm.

Fromage Blanc Tartlets

I have a large dinner coming up at the end of the month and I wanted to start the dinner with a great little fromage blanc tart. I did a little test run this weekend and I was really pleased with the final product. Earlier in the week I stopped by my cheese shop Foster and Dobbs and talked with the owner about what cheese I should use. She was generous enough to talk me through and let me taste several cheeses. I settled on a plain fromage blanc. After I settled on a cheese it was time to put some thought to the pastry crust. For the last couple of years I haven’t been very happy with my pastry crust. It’s been hard to work with and temperamental. I found a recipe that I think solves all of my problems.

I combined the fromage blanc with some fresh tarragon, thyme, chive and chervil and then piped the cheese into the tart shells.

For crust
3 cups all purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup chilled solid vegetable shortening, cut into pieces
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks) chilled unsalted butter, cut into pieces
10 tablespoons (about) ice water

Make crust: Combine flour, sugar and salt in processor. [Alternately, you can use a pastry cutter to make your dough, as I did.] Using on/off turns, cut in shortening and butter until coarse meal forms. Blend in enough ice water 2 tablespoons at a time to form moist clumps. Gather dough into ball; cut in half. Flatten each half into disk. Wrap separately in plastic; refrigerate until firm, about 1 hour. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Keep chilled. Let dough soften slightly at room temperature before rolling.)
Using a biscuit cutter cut out rounds and press them into a mini muffin pan. Bake until golden brown at 350.