Recipe testing: Chocolate Chunk Muffins

My dear friend Zoe Nathan is writing her first cookbook, and it's going to be major. The collection will focus on baked goods, and she's asked a few of her nearest and dearest to do some recipe testing for her. Of course I jumped at the opportunity to both help her out, and to preview what's to come in the forthcoming book.

My first assignment: Chocolate Chunk Muffins. They were crispy on the edges, tender inside, and full of good dark chocolate. What's not to love?

I can't wait for this book to come out.

This week in the garden & basil pesto

Scarves, raincoats, and bike fenders have come out of summer storage and that is my cue to harvest and rip out all our summer season vegetable plants. Tomatoes, squash, basil, cucumbers, and tomatillos have all met their final resting place in the compost pile. I've brought the last of summer's bounty inside to eat right away, freeze, can, or to allow green tomatoes (still on the vine) to ripen on the counter.

Disease prevention: I harvest these plants not only so that I can get to them before our cold night time temperatures destroy them, but also for disease suppression. A good fall cleanup is one of the most effective steps we can take to prevent both insect and disease problems in the following growing season. I don't leave any roots, stems, leaves or fallen fruit behind because these residues provide food for vegetable-eating microbes and larvae over the winter, and I'm not interested in hosting the buggers.

To 'handle the harvest', this time of year I typically make a lot of sauces, and either freeze or can them to eat throughout the winter. My most frequently used freezer sauce is basil pesto. Everybody makes it slightly differently, but here's how I do it.

Basil Pesto
All measurements are approximate and exact ingredients will change depending on what I have on hand.
3 1/2 cups fresh basil leaves
1 tsp kosher salt
2 cloves garlic
1/4 cup toasted nuts (walnuts, pine nuts, hazelnuts, and almonds are all good)
1/3 grated cup hard cheese (parmesan and pecorino romano are both delicious)
3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

In addition to the basil I add olive oil, salt, garlic, a hard cheese like parmesan or pecorino, and toasted nuts (usually pine nuts or walnuts, but today I only had almonds and they turned out delicious).

In a food processor I chop two cloves garlic with a good pinch of kosher salt. Then I add the nuts and combine until smooth. This way I can get the garlic and nuts very fine without having to over process the basil.

 Next I add about 3-4 cups of basil, about a third of a cup of grated cheese, and about 1/2 -1 cup of olive oil.  

I blend until smooth and silky, and adjust the amounts of olive oil and salt to my liking. I typically like my sauce pretty thin and smooth so I use a lot of oil, but you may not like it this way as much as I do. If not, just use less oil. Sart with 1/4 cup and add more until you reach the consistency you like best.

My favorite way to freeze pesto is in ice cube trays. I put 1 Tbs in each square and then freeze for at least 24 hours. I only have 4 ice cube trays, so any extra gets frozen in small tupperware containers. 24-48 hours later I pop the pesto out of the trays and transfer to a resealable freezer bag.   

I (almost) always write the contents and date on the freezer container. I typically think that I'll remember what's inside, and when I made it, but 6 months later there's just no way.
I believe that this pesto will last at least one year in the freezer, but I've never made it past 9 months before running out.

I love to use the 1 Tbs servings to spread on toast for fried egg sandwiches, and to mix with mayonaise for roasted turkey or BLT sandwiches. I defrost the tupperware containers when I want to use it to coat pasta.

What's your favorite way to make pesto? Have you tried it with greens or herbs other than basil? I once was at a dinner party where someone added butter to their basil pesto and it was delicious!