Pesto, handpies, and a great margarita

It has been a damn good week of eating. Summer produce can make meals both simpler and more delicious, and I am extremely appreciative of that seasonal gift.

Because mint is an herb I can grow successfully -unlike basil and rosemary, both of which seem like herbs that black-thumbed idiots can grow; what does that make me? hmm..- and I love its clean, bright flavor, I use it regularly in favorites like my mint pistachio pesto.

Earlier this week, I oven-roasted some beautiful halibut and then spooned the mint pesto atop the filet while still warm. C'est magnifique!

oven-roasted halibut with mint pistachio pesto

The tomato salad came the night after the halibut when I went against my better judgment and bought some fresh sockeye salmon. It was so stunningly just-from-the-sea that I was certain this filet would be the one to change my mind.

It did not.

Sockeye is too flat and too dense for my liking. Thank goodness for the luscious toms.

collard and chorizo handpies (pre-bake)

And the next night came collard and chorizo handpies which are always a treat. And later, a grilled pizza.

This afternoon, at a first grade swim party, my good friend, M, brought me a huge, fragrant bunch of basil from her yard. She is not a black-thumbed herb idiot, and I am often the lucky recipient of her success.

It was very hot today but because I'd bought more than a few flowers at the big annuals sale at the nursery yesterday and so needed to go gang-busters in my garden after the swim party, I decided, as I walked up the stairs sweaty and muddy and mosquito bitten and whooped after planting, that we'd be having pasta with fresh basil pesto tonight.

happy Em

But first a shower. And then a margarita made with my favorite new strawberry and meyer lemon shrub* from Shrub & Co. And then a Harry Potter #7 read-aloud and then the pasta -bucatini- with fresh basil pesto, hold the garlic and pine nuts tonight to keep things light, and chopped tomatoes.

And now to bed. YAY!

*What is a shrub? A shrub is a marvelous concoction crafted from fruit, sugar and vinegar. It's yet another method of preservation though for a very different application than say, jam or pickles. Shrubs are used in cocktails (or mocktails) and provide both sweetness and tang. Shrub & Co makes outstanding shrubs: Blood Orange Cardamom and Strawberry & Meyer Lemon are two of my favorites. 

Mint-pistachio pesto, another of The Nut

Dealing With Mint Overgrow

Friends, if you have not pot-bound your mint crop, you may be struggling with a mighty forest of this wonderful, pungent herb. Or, even if you have cordoned off your mint, you may still be in a state of overwhelm. Perhaps you've not done either of these things but nonetheless love mint and want to take it in a new direction.

All of these quandaries can be happily addressed with the following solution: Mint-Pistachio Pesto. You might recall that this recipe won Food 52's Your Best Mint contest, an honor of which I remain very proud. This pesto never disappoints and is very flexible- great on steaks, slathered on bread, atop grilled chicken, with grilled or roasted peaches, on pasta ...

Tonight I tossed it with steamed potatoes which prompted even anti-potato Oliver to try them. His response was fairly "meh," but he did try both the Yukon Gold and red-skinned potatoes, so I'll call that a success.

I also oven-roasted some salmon with a maple-Dijon sauce and topped with tiny spring onions from our yard. We pushed The Nut off the table and settled in.

The Nut Hunts

Still without power, have decamped to in-laws

After an extremely rough night which culminated in Jack waking me up at 3:30am and then Oliver at 4, we finally decided that the power wasn't going to come back soon enough to keep us sane in our hot house. To my in-laws! Their power resumed sometime yesterday, so we cleared out the fridge and freezer, packed up the kids and dog, tried to remember everything else, and as T left for work, I headed out here. No camp, so we've just been hanging around appreciating the cool. I went back home for a bit to clean and toss and damnation was it hot.

I feel totally sleep-deprived but am hoping to catch up soon. Power is out at the center where I take my photog class, and we won't know until later if class tonight is on. Though I like it a lot, I am definitely hoping it gets rainchecked. Camp will resume tomorrow which is superb news, and hopefully our house will head back online sometime soon. Jack's birthday is Wednesday, and I hate to think of it being a bummer in any way.

Pics from last night's dinner are not terrific, BUT they do give you a sense of just how darn good the meal was. Fab! The color is slightly off here, but these tomatoes are insane: capers, anchovies, garlic, olive oil and these gorgeous Sungolds. The fresh corn and the steaks were awesome too- mint pesto was a lovely accompaniment.