Fennel Pesto: What To Do With All Those Fennel Fronds I Told You To Save

Tell me true: is anything better than pesto? Ok, you know, maybe a few things, but the list is short. While we normally think of pesto being made of basil, pine nuts, parmesan, garlic, and olive oil, the basic pesto equation is anything green + garlic + hard cheese. Nuts give it a little more flavor, and a nice texture, but you can make it without, if you're so inclined (some recipes for the nut-allergic use soy beans in place of nuts). We made this with our leftover fennel fronds and walnuts, and it was awesome. 

Roasted Fennel Bulb, Motherfuckers! Deal With It!

Fennel is misunderstood. Because the fronds, stalks and seeds have that anise-like black licorice flavor, people who dislike that flavor avoid fennel like the plague. Obviously, these people are wrong and bad, and they should feel bad. Roasted fennel has a mild, earthy, nutty flavor that's really unique, and even people who hate that black licorice flavor *coughcoughDavecoughcough* really love it. Fennel is one of the main spices used in sausage, so roasted fennel often reminds people of delicious sausage.

How to Make Good Guac

Often when I go to a restaurant and get guacamole, I'm disappointed. I don't know if it has to do with my tastes versus everyone's tastes, or if we've all just agreed to accept and pay for a sub-par version of something that's actually really easy to make. Let me show you what I mean.

French Onion Soup

French onion soup. Even typing the words makes my mouth water, though that may have something to do with the fact that I haven't eaten for about fourteen hours. Still, it's an amazing dish. I'd never had homemade French onion soup until Beth made it for me early on in our relationship. I'd only had it at restaurants, and most of that at Shallo's on the south side of Indianapolis. I'd swing by after work in the winter and enjoy a stout and a bowl of French onion soup before the kitchen closed. It was enjoyable for sure, but I'm of the opinion that in addition to the depth of flavor you get with homemade soup, nothing quite compares to your whole house smelling like caramelized onions for the rest of the day.

Toasted Mochi Cakes with Red Bean Filling

Mochi is a glutinous rice cake. That maybe didn't win you over. Let me start again: mochi is a delicious glutinous rice cake. Does that sound better? How about if I tell you it's super easy to make?

Black Bean Soup: Awesome

Well, it's fall, and we're broke right now, so that means black bean soup. It's super cheap, healthy, and delicious. It's best if you have a food processor or blender, but will be just fine without. 

Stir Fry with Noodles and Random Shit

So, this was a throw-together meal. We had some left over udon  from making these, some asparagus, and some ham from Local Pig that was juuuust about to go bad. We added some ingredients that we always keep around (mushrooms, garlic, ginger, edamame, radishes, and green onions).  Let me stress that stir fry is one of those things that was pretty much designed to use up what you've got sitting around. I have a pretty loosey-goosey approach to recipes in general, mainly that I almost never follow them ever, and I'm always adding stuff (coughcough*garlic*coughcough) and subbing out stuff that I actually have for other stuff that I very really don't. This way, I never have to make a special trip to the store to make something. My inability to follow a recipe thoroughly is the reason that I am the worst at baking, and I leave all that measuring and specificity to Dave, whose precise measuring in contrast to my eyeballing makes him seem like some kind of a bread-making wizard, when maybe it all just comes down to following directions.

Pumpkin Gnocchi with Creamy Gorgonzola Cider Sauce (Bonus: Baked Pumpkin Seeds!)

So, it's fall, and time for everyone to carve up the harvest of the season and put it on their porch to rot. Unless you're us, of course, in which case you add pumpkin to nearly every dish for about two months or so. Our first endeavor this season started over at Saveur, whose Squash Gnocchi with Meat Sauce provided the genesis for this recipe.