Corn Pesto

Hey Becky-

Normally my weeknight dinners are pretty boring- pizza, pasta with red sauce, soup... anything I can throw in the oven or a pot and heat. But I'm still pretending that I'm on vacation (and paying for it now as I type this at midnight). After digging through my cooking magazines, decided to try the pasta with corn pesto recipe from last month's Bon Appetit... except I made my own pasta :)

The pasta itself was an accomplishment this time- my dough generally varies from dry and gritty to sticky. This time, I combined 4 eggs, 1 tblsp oil, 2 tblsp water, 1/2 tsp salt, 2 c semolina flour, 1.5 c all purpose flour in the mixer and mixed 30 seconds with the flat beater and 2 minutes with the dough hook for a smooth, even consistency. And then- I actually let the dough rest. What a difference! The gluten must have had a chance to chill and lengthen- the dough was much more pliable than normal. Rather than beating it into submission with a rolling pin, we only had to feed it through the pasta roller a few times. Phew.

And the idea of creating a pesto with corn? Genius! Creamy, sweet like honey, and coated the pasta noodles evenly. The sweetness can be offset by either bacon (super salty, crunchy, totally out there like a swimsuit model in a thong) or by smoked salmon (smooth, smoky, mellow like a French model smoking a cigarette)- harmonized by clean, cool basil and salty sharp Parmesan.

One of my best weeknight dinners that I can't make every night because it took 1.5 hours. Started by chopping 4 pieces of bacon and frying till crispy. Remove bacon, wipe fry pan. In the meantime, cut corn off 3 cobs (~2 cups of corn), which is surprisingly easier when the corn is raw vs. cooked. Smash 1 garlic clove. Add garlic, corn, pinch salt, few grinds of pepper to pan and heat till crisp/tender. Then, make the pesto- use 3/4 of the corn, 1/4c pine nuts (or a nut blend if you don't have those- cashews and almonds are fun), 1/2c Parm, and combine with olive oil- I usually need to stir in between pulses or half my pesto looks like baby food and the other half is unprocessed. Dump ontop of pasta with remaining corn, bacon pieces, and basil. Stir to combine, and serve with more parm. If you have it, smoked salmon adds an entirely different smoky layer.

Hey Becky-

Where the hell did the summer go- September already? What have you been up to? Like all good foodies, I've been earmarking time based on what I've eaten. Trip to Seattle? Nah, it was all about that crab omelet that I ate at Pike's Place Market and the Senegalese food in the family owned restaurant. More to come on that later- I'll spend the next few days trying to catch you up on my food adventures, and I hope to hear about yours too!

Starting with today... Taste of Blue Ash is our favorite local food festival. Blue Ash is a small suburb with a few thousand residents that looks like the Pleasantville movie set- streetlights, brick sidewalks, manicured street signs, and a propensity to compete with downtown's festivals by holding their own. Small restaurants offer $3-$5 portions, and with ~20 vendors it's enough variety to be entertaining without being completely overwhelming. Granted, the restaurants aren't the most popular by chain or by locavore standards, but a few dishes stood out: Cajun scallops on field greens with vinaigrette from La Petit France. Simple, well executed (the scallops were firm yet tender with a crispy glaze), and healthy (unheard of during a street fair). Parker's Blue Ash Grill always comes to the party with a firecracker stick- a tortilla stuffed with shrimp, sausage, and onions then rolled/deep fried and dunked in a cheesy tomato sauce. It's almost cheating because of the deep frying- but something about the spicy sausage setting off the crispy shell doused in cheesy, creamy goodness puts all pessimism to rest. And hell, everyone was walking around with one, sweating bullets no less (it was hot this afternoon)! There was a pork taco stand, though it didn't hold a candle to our local taco truck, Senor Roy's. I know, a taco truck in Cincinnati! Who would have thought that this was a cool enough city to merit a food truck?! Ach, so much to catch up on!