foodie | Annie's Kitchen Therapy – Recipes Here!

With everything slowing down there’s tons of time for recipes that need tons of time. And what better example than pickling! I received this recipe from a colleague and have tweaked it along the way. I’ve tried pickling a few different things based on what I can find fresh at the local farmer’s market. The most popular are the pickled cucumbers, super crunchy and tasty. You can up the amounts of garlic, onion and dill to taste – you’ll figure it out along the way. The peppers make a great addition to a charcuterie alongside some cheese and prosciutto. I use the largest bell jar I can find, the seal keeps the pickles from getting mushy.

Ingredients for Brine:
4 cups water
2 cups white vinegar
2 tablespoons of kosher salt
A huge bunch of dill coarsely chopped
1 teaspoon of sugar or sugar substitute
Put all ingredients in pan, stir together, bring to a boil. Remove from heat and let brine cool to room temperature.

Goodness for the Jar:
Mini cucumbers – I like to slice in half, but you can quarter or make discs
A bunch of garlic (to taste) skins removed and crushed (like 2020)
1 white onion sliced
A handful of black peppercorns

Fill jar with brine after all ingredients are packed in there. Let it sit in fridge for 10-14 days before eating every single one!

The battery on my watch died on March 8, 2020, the day before I was heading to Chicago for our first conference of what was supposed to be a jam packed, busy, great year. It was that evening that my phone rang (setting the stage: it’s a Sunday night, it’s already dark, bags are packed and I’m ready to go) it was senior management, calling everyone on my team, informing us that our conference which was to kick off on Wednesday would be cancelled due to COVID fears. What would follow would be the cancellation of all of our events, travel, gatherings (like everyone else in the world). So, with much more time on my hands, and no travel for the foreseeable future, I took to the kitchen.

I’ll use this blog, which has been dormant for quite a while to share some recipes, pictures and cooking advise.

Let’s start with my abundant bounty of basil. Apparently basil does not love the super hot temperatures of Florida. So my spoiled little plants come in and live in my bright, air conditioned kitchen. Now, before I share my “recipe” know that I never measure, always use whatever good, fresh ingredients I have on hand. That said, here’s how you can make a great pesto.

Ingredients:

4 cups of Fresh Basil (to see how to properly harvest your basil, I recommend this link: https://youtu.be/Kn0Y4xoMApU)
1 cup Shredded Parmigiana Cheese
2 cups High quality EVVO
1 Cup Nuts (Pine nuts are preferred if you can find them, but you can use walnuts or pistachios)
Garlic (use as much or as little as you like)
Salt & Pepper to taste

How to pull this together:

In a food processor blend up garlic and nuts – pulse until very fine
Add basil, cheese, EVOO, salt, pepper – Pulse until consistency is loose, add oil as needed
Taste final product and season with additional salt, pepper or garlic as needed. If mixture is too thick add additional EVOO
I like to use small (4 ounce) mason jars that I freeze. I can pull out just the right amount or you can freeze even smaller portions in ice cube trays and freeze (just pop out what you need)