Pancakes Drizzled with Maple Syrup & Walnut Oil

Olive oil is a wonderful oil to have on hand for dressing salads, drizzling on breads, tossing with pasta, finishing fish, etc.  So is walnut oil and hazelnut oil and sesame oil and peanut oil and lots of other oils that we tend to overlook.  (Pistachio oil, macadamia nut oil, pumpkinseed oil…okay, I’ll stop now.)  Point is, if you’re shopping somewhere that offers lots of different oils, you may want to try out new flavors on various dishes.  In this case, I topped off my pancakes with walnut oil instead of butter — the rich, nutty oil blends beautifully with the maple.  Walnut oil also tastes great on deeply-flavored salads (think baby spinach leaves with dried cherries and goat cheese) and on medium-fleshed fish garnished with fruit (try rainbow trout with orange slices).

If you’re going to add butter or olive oil to a dish, it’s fun to take a literal step back, look at your ingredients, consider the dish’s origins — pinenut or avocado oil would be a great addition to a Mexican salad, for example — and then choose your oil accordingly.  Just remember two things:  cold-pressed, unrefined oils have maximum flavor and canNOT handle high heat, so use the oil to finish the dish rather than cook it (i.e., swirl a few drops of sesame oil into your Asian soup after you’ve ladled it into individual bowls); and once you’ve gotten your new oil home, be sure to store it properly.  This is all the more crucial if you enjoy using a variety of oils — it’ll take you several months to use them all and you want them to be as fresh as possible.

The best way to determine how to store your oils is to look at the fat breakdown on the back of the label.  If the predominant type of fat is polyunsaturated, store that oil in the refrigerator (take a look at flaxseed, sesame, and/or walnut to see what I mean).  If the predominant type of fat is monounsaturated (like olive oil), store it in the refrigerator if you don’t think you’ll use it within 6 months.  Refrigeration can only help, not hurt, but be aware that monounsaturated oils will be semi-hard in the refrigerator.  (I keep my olive oil in a dark, cool cupboard for ease of use and because I know that I’ll blow through a bottle in a month or two.)  If the oil is predominantly saturated (coconut oil, ghee, palm), you can leave it out or refrigerate it — saturated fats are very stable and will last a long time either way.  Refrigeration will turn saturated fats rock-hard, so again, it’s up to you and how you like to use your oils.  See “Properties of Oils” for more information on the health impact of oils and fats.

Happy cooking!

Cayenne-Parmesan Popcorn

How to Pop It:

Your easiest option is an air-popper. If you don’t have one (which I don’t), you can also pop your corn using the old-fashioned, you’re-gonna-get-a-workout method.

1. Find a pot that’s deep but not too heavy–you’ll be shaking it constantly. It should also have a fairly tight-fitting lid.
2. Set out a large bowl.
3. Add a tablespoon of ghee, butter, or coconut oil to the pan — enough to cover the bottom of it with a thin film once the fat melts — and set the pot over medium-high heat.
4. Measure out your plain popcorn (grocery stores usually stash the plain kind on a bottom shelf somewhere near the Orville Redenbacher stuff). I find that 1/4 cup will make enough for one person. Do not try to eyeball this–you’ll wind up with enough popcorn to decorate three Christmas trees! Popcorn has amazing powers of expansion.
5. Add the kernels to the pot and swirl them around to make sure that they’re covered with oil.
6. Cover the pot and get out a potholder or oven mitt.
7. Use the potholder/mitt (I prefer a mitt since sometimes tiny speckles of oil come out from underneath the lid) to hold the lid down firmly with one hand.
8. With the other hand, get a good grip on the handle of the pot. Start shaking. You can rest for a few seconds now and again, but if you don’t shake the pot almost constantly, you’ll burn the popcorn. If you shake it continually, however, you’ll have stronger arm muscles and a beautiful bowl of popcorn. (I rarely have unpopped kernels when I make popcorn this way.)
9. After a minute or so, you’ll hear the rapid popping start. This is the fun part! Keep shaking and listening–when the popping slows to a crawl, it’s time to pour the popcorn out of the pot and into the waiting bowl. You can plop a pat of butter into the still-hot pot to melt it.
10. Pour the butter over the popcorn and then swirl some popped kernels into the pot to get the rest of the butter onto the kernels.  Alternatively, you could also use extra-virgin olive oil or more melted coconut oil.
11. Add toppings. These may include: sea salt, freshly-ground pepper, roasted garlic flakes, dry grated cheeses such as Parmesan or Romano, cayenne pepper, chili powder, curry powder, etc.  For dessert popcorn, sprinkle with cinnamon and drizzle on a bit of honey.

Enjoy!

Classic Pesto with Yellow Tomatoes

As the summer shades into fall, herb-garden growers are faced with a dilemma: what to do with the last of our basil? If you’re anything like me, you’ve watered and de-budded and cherished your basil all summer long so that you could eke every last leaf out of it. (For first-time growers, know that pinching off those buds is very important — left to its own devices, basil will flower at the expense of growing leaves, and you’ll be left with nothing but a fairy spire of tiny white flowers.)

There are several ways to preserve your basil: you can carefully strip the leaves off the plant, swish them in cold water, leave them to dry, and then toss the leaves in a freezer-safe plastic bag and freeze them. You can do the first three steps, extend the third, and then stash the completely dry leaves in spice jars. Or you can make pesto!

Bear in mind that these amounts are only guidelines — if you’re a big fan of pinenuts, feel free to add more. Likewise for the basil and Parmesan. The garlic should probably be kept to a minimum, though, since you’re eating it raw…unless you have a phobia of vampires. Or going out on a date. Then again, if you’re sautéeing the garlic, use as much as you like.

1 cup loosely packed fresh basil leaves
1/4 cup grated Parmesan
3 T. pinenuts
1-2 cloves garlic (if you don’t care for raw garlic, sautée it over low heat for 2-3 minutes in the olive oil to mellow its flavor)
1/4 cup olive oil

Salt and pepper to taste
Squeeze of fresh lemon juice (optional)

Place first five ingredients in a small blender and blend until the mixture is smooth. (Add more oil if necessary.) Salt and pepper to taste. You may want to add a squeeze or two of fresh lemon juice for a brighter flavor; the lemon will also help keep the basil from turning black. (Just be careful not to add too much — the acidity of the lemon can easily overcome the delicate nature of the basil.)

Toss the pesto with warm angel-hair pasta, serve it with toasted pita chips, spread it on top of a home-made pizza, or bake it with chicken — the possibilities are endless. This amount is plenty for one plate of pesto-laden pasta, but multiply it by the number of guests at your table to make sure there’s enough to satisfy everyone. You can store the pesto in the refrigerator for up to a week if pour a thin layer of oil over the top to protect the basil from browning.

Enjoy!

1 can (2 cups) chickpeas, drained

1/2 cup sesame or olive oil (use a tablespoon or two for sauteéing the garlic)

1/3 cup fresh lemon juice (approx. 2 lemons)

3 cloves garlic, finely chopped and sautéed

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup tahini

To prepare in blender:  blend all ingredients except chickpeas.  When mixture is smooth, add chickpeas.

To prepare without a blender:  mash the chickpeas with a potato masher, add the lemon juice and mash again.  You should be able to stir in the remaining ingredients.

Garnish with a sprinkle of paprika.

Variant:  to make roasted red pepper hummus, substitute puréed roasted pepper for part or all of the chickpeas.

Hummus is best served with crisp, baked pita pieces or a very thin, crisp bread (such as Armenian flatbread).

Enjoy!