Home made Pesto with Coconut Oil, The Best Yet

 Harvesting basil, pattypan squash, tomatos and leeks.

The basil in our garden is at the use it or lose it stage.  Even though it is a very busy day I decided to enlist the help of one of the children to pick the leaves off the stems.  Great help indeed.

Many of you who know me personally are aware of my recent understanding of the amazing benefits of coconut oil because of the book I read by Bruce Fife called, "Coconut Oil Miracle."  If you are trying to take good care of your health and wellness naturally, I recommend this book.

So I didn't use a recipe this time just went from memory of times I've made it before.  Taste tested and added more of this and that until I came up with a flavor I liked.  Also, I'm usually trying to cut down on garlic because otherwise the family won't eat it...just me and then they can't stand to be near me.

8 cups fresh basil leaves
1/2 cup coconut oil
1/2 cup pine nuts
4 large garlic cloves
1/2 cup parmesan cheese
1/2 teaspoon sea salt

Combine ingredients in a food processor until creamy textured.  Freeze in Demarle Small Savarin tray, then bag in a zipper bag.

 Reflecting the blue sky from the window.  The Demarle savarin tray is black.

Makes 20 Small Savarin squares.

I can't remember when I've tasted a better batch of pesto but then I've never made it with coconut oil before so I suppose that is the secret ingredient that isn't so secret anymore.

Here it is after it is frozen:

Flourless Chocolate Truffle Cupcakes

Oh just you wait.  Most of the day today was taken up with making this recipe and it was the best dessert EVER.  Of course that included three trips to the store to get the best chocolate available in town at the Huckleberries Health Food Market. It is shocking to spend $25.00 on chocolate and that did not include the other ingredients such as a pound of butter, a pint of cream plus other ingredients.  You see as I went along I kept thinking of ways to make this better and better.  It was amazing. 

 Later I went back to the store for three more packages to make the ganache.

Meanwhile, here's the recipe before the changes:

Found online and at the end are a few notes I made as the day went along:

From the menu of . . . McCormick and Schmick
190 Marietta St. N.W., Atlanta
404-521-1236

600 Ashwood Parkway, Altanta
770-399-9900

Q: I have recently eaten at McCormick & Schmick's Seafood Restaurant. It has the most wonderful dessert. If at all possible, I would like to get the recipe for that dessert. It's called Flourless Chocolate Truffle Cake With Raspberry Sauce.
- Jerrie Wright, Atlanta

A: Rex Horrell, executive chef at the restaurant at the CNN Center location, was happy to share the recipe for this dense, flourless chocolate cake. He recommends using very high-quality chocolate for best results.

Hands on time: 25 minutes (Ha!  All day is more like it) Total time: 1 hour and 25 minutes  Serves: 12 (Actually 24)

Ingredients:

2 cups (4 sticks) butter
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons milk
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 pound bittersweet chocolate, chopped
5 eggs
6 egg yolks  Yes folks that IS 11 eggs in all.

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees on a convection setting. In a saucepan, heat butter, milk and sugar to scalding, stirring frequently. Make sure butter is melted. Remove from heat and add chocolate, stirring until chocolate is melted. Set aside to cool slightly.
In a bowl, whisk eggs and yolks together. Gradually whisk eggs into chocolate mixture, beating until completely combined.  (I skipped this next paragraph and used the Demarle Bouquet Tray 3 times).
Line an 8-by-2 1/2-inch springform pan with buttered parchment paper, making sure the paper circle comes up 1/2 inch on the side of the pan to seal. Pour batter into the pan. Bake for 50-60 minutes. The sides will be puffy and slightly cracked. The center will be soupy but will set as it chills. Refrigerate overnight. Run a knife around the edges of the pan and release springform.

Chef Horrell bakes the cake in a convection oven. If using a conventional oven, bake at 350 degrees and add 20 to 30 minutes to the cooking time. The cake is served with a sweetened raspberry sauce

 Using great ingredients

 Including fresh eggs from our neighbor's chickens:

Today's notes:

Recipe and notes were found online and here are a few notes I made as the day went along:

Made 9-8-14 for Derrick and Kate and Ermyl.  Used Theo Chocolate because Kate cannot have Soy Lecithin.  Ermyl needs to do gluten free.  Dave needs raw dairy rather than homogenized so how do you make a high end chocolate dessert to suit all three of their diet restrictions?  Well thank goodness they can all eat eggs.  Whew!

Fill the shapes to the top…these don’t puff up. 

 Convection oven at 325 degrees for 18 minutes in Demarle bouquet tray.  Then cool for an hour before removing from tray.  Top with Ganache and whipping cream.  Then fresh Ogalala strawberries from the garden.

Ganache recipe:

3 - 3.5 ounce bars Theo's Dark Chocolate 70%

1/2 cup  plus 2 Tablespoons heavy whipping cream (no substitutes please)

Combine in a double boiler over hot water and heat until chocolate is melted.  Place a dollop in the center of each bouquet muffin.

Macadamia Nut Crusted Halibut

My husband pulled a package of frozen halibut from the freezer today for lunch. My parents go to Alaska and fish then share with us.  Thanks Mom and Dad!  This halibut was from this year's trip.

 This recipe was in a cookbook I've had for several years.  Though I had never tried this halibut recipe I had some confidence it would be great because I had made the beurre blanc sauce a few times and that recipe alone was worth the purchase of the cookbook. 

Beurre Blanc Sauce before the shallots were strained out.

Furthermore, for the first time in my life I had a good supply of macadamia nuts.  It was SOOOO good and a must try recipe especially for those of you who have Alaska halibut in your freezers...you know who you are.

MACADAMIA CRUSTED HALIBUT
McCormick and Schmick's Recipe

Serves 2

Fish and Crust
2 (5-6 oz.) fresh halibut fillets  (I had enough coating for all seven fillets in the package)
1 cup macadamia nuts (chopped small in a mini food processor)
1/2 cup Panko breadcrumbs (Kikkoman brand made from whole wheat bread.  This brand had the least additives)
1 tablespoon ground pepper (I got tired of grinding so used pre-ground for about half of this)
1/2 cup all purpose flour (I used fresh ground Montana Wheat Prairie Gold)
2 eggs
1/4 cup vegetable oil (I used Avocado Oil this time)
1/2 cup Beurre Blanc Lemon sauce (see recipe below)  (I did not use lemon this time)
1/4 cup Major Grey's chutney



Roast the macadamia nuts in the oven at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes. (My macadamia nuts were pre-roasted so I skipped this step). Combine the nuts and Panko breadcrumbs in a food processor (the mixture should be a little coarse), and place on a large plate or in a pie pan.

Season the flour with the salt and pepper, and place on a second plate.

In a separate bowl, beat the eggs with a tablespoon of water or milk. I used a little 55% cream instead of milk.

Dredge the halibut fillets in the flour, then the eggs and then the nuts. Pat the fillets to ensure the nut mixture sticks to the fish.

Pan fry the fillets 3 to 4 minutes per side in oil over medium high heat. Remove the fillets and allow them to drain briefly on paper towels. Combine the butter sauce and the chutney and pour over the halibut.

Beurre Blanc Sauce and Chutney combined:

Beurre Blanc Sauce 
6 ounces white wine (I used Vermouth this time)
3 ounces white wine vinegar (I used Champagne Wine Vinegar this time)
3 whole black peppercorns
1 shallot, quartered
1 cup heavy cream (I had 55% cream from a local dairy)
9 ounces cold butter, cut into pieces

Combine wine, vinegar, peppercorns and shallot in a non corrosive saucepan. Reduce until the mixture is just 1 to 2 tablespoons and has a consistency of syrup. Add the cream and reduce again until the mixture is 3 to 4 tablespoons and very syrupy. Remove the pan from the heat and whisk in butter, about 2 ounces at a time, stirring constantly and allowing each piece to melt in before adding more. If the mixture cools too much, the butter will not melt completely and you will need to reheat it slightly.

To make lemon butter sauce, replace the vinegar with 2 tablespoons of freshly squeezed lemon juice.

I made this again June 16th, 2017 because my friend brought some macadamia nuts from Hawaii.  It was so good again.  This was the last of the halibut brought to us from my parents who fished in Ketchikan, Alaska.