This is less a serious recipe and more an ode to summer in all it’s blast-furnace glory.  Basil season is at its peak here in Northern California and has been on my mind a lot lately, even though it hasn’t been finding its way to my plate.  (This is something I plan to remedy very, very soon.)

A very large basil plant inhabits my kitchen but this isn’t about that plant or really about fresh basil at all.  It’s about pesto and simplicity.  I’ve had a jar of pesto waiting for my attention for a while and this dish was made using that ready-made pesto, but if you want to make your own, take a look at this traditional pesto recipe by Elise at Simply Recipes or This pesto recipe by the always amazing Lydia of The Perfect pantry.  Either one will get you up and running in making your own fresh pesto.

If you are new to poaching eggs, check out this article by Deb at Smitten Kitchen or check out this video on egg poaching from Slashfood.  It may seem daunting at first, but it really is easy once you get the hang of it. And remember, fresher is better for poaching!

It’s been hotter than H. E. Double-toothpicks around here lately, so instead of using sausage or chicken as a protein I chose to top the pesto with a poached egg, both for the lightness of it and for the creaminess of the yolk mixing with the pasta.

The combination is nothing short of amazing.  The dish couldn’t be simpler and if you’re not feeling the urge to cook for a long time in the heat, this is one you have to try.

Do you have a favorite pesto dish?  A favorite variation on traditional pesto?  If so, let us know in the comments because, as always, your feedback fuels this blog.  I’d love to hear your faves!

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© Jerry D. Russell and Cooking... by the seat of my Pants!.com, 2010. | Permalink | 10 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Basil, eggs, Pesto, pine Nuts, poaching, Recipes, simple, summer

It’s summer and it’s hot.  In my part of the country this means weeks of 100-plus degree weather.  It’s the perfect time for ice cream… And to play with the brand-spanking-new ice cream maker attachment that my wife bought me for my birthday.  The timing couldn’t be better.

I searched the bloggosphere for a few days trying to decide what I wanted to make first.  I really couldn’t decide if I wanted to make ice cream, sorbet or sherbet and it wasn’t easy narrowing down the choices.  There are a ton of great ice cream recipes out there.

Did I want to make this coffee ice cream from Elise at Simply Recipes or should I make David Lebovitz’s Salted Butter Caramel Ice Cream?  Was I more in the mood for something lighter like the Very Berry Sherbet from comfy belly or this amazing sounding lime sorbet from Eating Cleveland?  This was going to be no easy decision, but a decision had to be made.

One thing that has kept me from diving headlong into making even basic vanilla ice cream is the custard base.  It’s time consuming and can be difficult. Custard bases also require a lot of attention, which can be difficult in a house full of rowdy kids and a dog who is usually underfoot.

This fear has been lessened by the discovery of a no cook custard base from Kitchen Mage, but I still wanted to start off with something a little less involved and that’s when I came across the recipe for peanut butter ice cream you see here.  Cream, yes! Custard, No.  Perfection.

The recipe was a breeze to make, works well and ends up tasting somewhat like peanut butter sugar cookie dough.  The peanut flavor is pretty intense, even using bargain brand peanut butter.  If you are making ice cream for the first time, this recipe might just be what you’re looking for.

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© Jerry D. Russell and Cooking... by the seat of my Pants!.com, 2010. | Permalink | 8 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Desserts, ice cream, peanut butter, Recipes, summer, sweets

Simple, quick and tasty.  That’s what comes to mind when I think of this salad.  The sweetness of honey, the tang of mustard and a good hearty blast of sweet red grapefruit make this a sure-fire winner on even the hottest day. It puts a smile on my face every time I make it.

It only takes a few minutes to put this together, which makes it a great choice for a quick lunch.  Alternately, just pack up the ingredients separately and assemble it right at your desk in a few seconds for a light alternative to a standard office lunch.

This recipe was created for FoodBuzz Family Bites. The ingredients used were provided by Newman’s Own, which is why there is a brand specified, but any Honey Mustard dressing that you love, whether home made or store bought will work wonders here.

On a final and unrelated note, my recipe for Chili Stuffed Cornbread is a finalist in the RO*TEL Across America recipe competition.  I’d love it if you could pop over and vote for it.  I’d love for it to end up in the top three places. (Winning would be nice, too!)  You can vote once per day up until June 30th, Show some love!

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© Jerry D. Russell and Cooking... by the seat of my Pants!.com, 2010. | Permalink | 2 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: cashews, chicken, family meals, FoodBuzz, grapefruit, Newman's Own, Recipes, Salad, summer

With temperatures in the high double and low triple digits, it’s time for lighter meals that pack a ton of flavor without being heavy.  This dish provides all the flavor you could ever want and mingles it with an abundance of color and simple preparation.  From idea to plate in less than five minutes and no stove required.  It’s the perfect summertime snack.

I made this dish as a part of the FoodBuzz Family Bites series featuring Newman’s Own products, and as part of the program, I dressed these lovely veggies in some of Newman’s own Olive Oil and vinegar salad dressing that they provided, but any good vinaigrette will do marvelously, especially if it has a good bit of zing to it.

While a three ingredient salad may seem a bit minimal, I promise that this dish is perfect summer fare.  It’s light, crisp, cool and flavorful.  All things that appeal to me when it’s blazing hot outside, but don’t let the lack of ingredients stop you from adding anything else that makes you smile to the dish.

Goat cheese would have been a welcome addition, as would queso fresco.  A little green onion or red onion would have been nice as well, but they aren’t necessary.  If you’ve got a few fresh tomatoes hanging out, they would add a wonderful acidic note to the party as well.  Have fun with it!

What’s your favorite summer salad?  Is it a classic slaw or an iceberg salad?  Do you prefer potato or macaroni salad as a quick summer snack?  We’d all love to hear what you crave in the summer months.

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© Jerry D. Russell and Cooking... by the seat of my Pants!.com, 2010. | Permalink | 6 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: cucmber, FoodBuzz, Newman's Own, quick, radish, Recipes, Salad, simple, summer

It’s grilling time here in Northern California. While this normally means making up a batch of burgers or dogs to appease the always-starving hordes of small people running around our house, every once in a while it’s also time to get seriously creative and try something new and completely different.

This recipe is inspired completely by my wife.  We were discussing her preference for thinner burgers vs. the thick ones that my boys and I generally prefer when she stated matter-of-factly “If they’re stuffed I like them thick!  you should have tried the feta stuffed lamb burgers I had the other day. “

I couldn’t argue that feta stuffed lamb sounded amazing.  In fact, since I had a freezer full of ground lamb that had been diverted from another recipe I wasn’t equipped to handle right now, it sounded absolutely perfect.  Feta is always on hand and low and behold, I even had some buns tucked in a corner.

Armed with the most fantastic method from Savory Sweet Life on how to form the perfect patty (which is also the ultimate method for making a stuffed patty) and a circle cutter just slightly larger than the buns I was using, I set out.

This method of forming patties is remarkably simple and yields absolutely perfect, uniform patties every time.  My circle cutter is pretty tall, so we ended up with 4 very substantial patties.  If I’d used a lid as suggested in the original article I probably would have ended up with 6 or 8 but big is good when feeding pre-teens and I was happy with the results.

I decided that I needed something besides the standard lettuce, onion and tomato topping and opted for thin slices or cucumber and radish.  The boys still went for lettuce which is fine by me, but for my tastes these toppings were perfect.

Note, there were no condiments used here. These burgers were more than juicy enough to stand without them.  If you really must have some kind of sauce, try tzatziki or some yogurt with a squeeze of lemon juice and dill or mint.  You definitely don’t want to overpower the burgers themselves.

What’s your favorite grilling recipe?  Are you a burger and potato salad type or do you go for chicken, pork or ribs?  Have you ever made a stuffed burger? We’d love to know!

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© Jerry D. Russell and Cooking... by the seat of my Pants!.com, 2010. | Permalink | 20 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Cheese, feta, grilled, Grilling, hamburgers, kid friendly, lamb, Recipes, summer, super bowl food, Super Bowl Recipes, Tailgate Recipes

The weather here in far Northern California is finally edging to warm and sunny, soon to be followed by blazing hot.  Along with the rise in temperature comes a steady decrease in the desire for long cooked, slow braised or even warm foods.

To put it simply, we’re entering the salad, ice cream and smoothie months of the year around here.  Milkshakes have replaced cakes, cookies and brownies as the dessert of choice and the kids clamber after the ice cream truck in the afternoons.  Summer is coming to the North State and there is just no better afternoon pick-me-up than a frosty glass of silken fruity goodness.

Smoothies are a good way to get more fruit into my kids’ diets as well, since only my youngest will readily choose a banana, apple or any other fruit in favor of something else they probably shouldn’t have been going after. (Dad needs to stop buying that stuff…  I need to talk to him about that.)

Most smoothie recipes call for banana, but  my kids despise them in their smoothies.  This recipe is all about the berries, but without the sweetness of the banana a little sugar may be needed to get the smoothy sweet enough to be drinkable.  Fortunately that usually translates to less than they would get in a soda, though this particular batch of berries was pretty tart and required more than usual.

Do you have a favorite smoothie recipe?  A favorite flavor combination?  Is there something that you add that you don’t let your kids know about?  We’d love to know, so drop a comment and let us in on your little tips for healthier snacks.

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© Jerry D. Russell and Cooking... by the seat of my Pants!.com, 2010. | Permalink | 5 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Berries, Desserts, Fruit, Recipes, strawberries, summer, sweets

Summer is here and as much as I love chocolate in all its many incarnations, warm weather calls for treats that are a bit lighter and brighter than my favorite winter fare.  The higher temperatures also mean we’re less likely to gravitate towards large treats, preferring instead to savor smaller bites and brighter flavors.  This dessert fits that bill in all ways and more.

These may be mix based, but I guarantee that you’ll overlook that once you’ve gotten a taste of these little explosions of flavor. There is simply nothing here not to love. Every bite is an immersion in all that is wonderful about lemon.  Tart, sweet and tangy with just a hint of saltiness in the glaze. Eating one of these bars is sort of like drinking lemonade mixed with rocket fuel.  It’s an unforgettable experience.

Simple, wonderful and light.  Perfect for the summer no matter where you are.  Please give this recipe a try.  And if you make something like it, feel free to leave a link in the comments.

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© Jerry D. Russell and Cooking... by the seat of my Pants!.com, 2009. | Permalink | 4 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Cookies, dessert, Desserts, lemon, summer, sweets, treats

Seafood and noodles is something that I just love together. The combination is simple, tasty, filling and has more than enough flavor to satisfy any seafood lover. Add in some lime, a bit of cilantro and a touch of heat and you have what I consider to be one of the best summertime lunch dishes I can think up, especially when the thermometer reads over 100 degrees.

I usually make shrimp when my wife is going to have to stay at the office during lunch, since it’s not her idea of a mid afternoon meal on most occasions.  The plus side is that I can have the shrimp working in the marinade while I’m feeding our son and getting him down for his nap.  That way Dad gets to eat as soon as clean up is completed and we’ve finished the ritual of “I just want a cookie!”.  A little peace, a little Bourdain and a great bowl of flavor makes for a much nicer afternoon.  Don’t you think?
(Note: When mom is home for lunch, we all eat together.)

If you’re not a huge fan of ramen noodles (though I don’t know why you wouldn’t be!), somen or soba noodles work just fine for this as well.  If you’re not fond of cilantro, use parsley, mint or Thai basil.  You won’t break my heart.  Not a fan of chili paste?  A good roasted pepper puree with a bit of garlic added would work just as well.  Have fun with it!

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© Jerry D. Russell and Cooking... by the seat of my Pants!.com, 2008. | Permalink | 9 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Asian, chilis, Noodles, Recipes, shellfish and seafood, sherry, Shrimp, spicy, summer

Potatoes are the unsung hero of any pantry.  The possibilities for turning this ruddy little blob of starch into something amazing seem to be endless and just about every culture uses them in any number of ways. Potatoes are both a min course option and the perfect side dish.  they can be presented as the star of the show or as a minor player on an ingredients linst.  They can be baked, boiled, mashed, smashed, pureed, diced, fried, sauteed and sliced into chips, all with excellent results.  But my personal favorite for preparing them lately is to very simply grill them off.

there’s something to be said for simplicity and dpth of flavor.  For allowing the ingredient to sing its own praises in its own voice without being muddled by other notes or melodies.  This, my dear reders is the potatos summertime opus.  Crisp and fluffy all at the same time, with a hint of sweetness to all of the erthiness that you would expect from this humble tuber.

The next tme you fire up the grill, consider inviting your local potato to the party.  you’ll be glad you did!

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© Jerry D. Russell and Cooking... by the seat of my Pants!.com, 2008. | Permalink | 6 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: grilled, Potatoes, Recipes, summer

Another month and another blog event.  This is my first time joining in with a lot of my blogging friends for the Royal Foodie Joust, hosted by the lovely Jenn (a.k.a. The Leftover Queen).  The joust really is the perfect challenge for me, since you’re presented with a triplet of ingredients and challenged to come up with something unique using them.  What more could the king of cooking without a recipe ask for?!?

The ingredients for this round of the event were chosen by Elle, the winner of last moth’s joust. Her choices?  Raspberry, almonds and lime.  While these three could easily be used to create something very sweet and decadent, there was a hint that she’d like to see something savory come out of it.  I knew what direction I was going to take these ingredients immediately, all I had to do was go get some berries!

While I would have loved to use fresh raspberries for this, we’re not exactly in raspberry country.  The “fresh” raspberries in the market were not only outragiously priced, but smelled more of plastic than berries, so they were out.  I considered using frozen berries, but they tend to muddle the colors of other ingredients, and don’t present well, so I went with 100% all raspberry preserves, and the result was just a bit on the sweet side for me, but still fantastic!

If you’re looking for the perfect main course for a hot summer night, this is your dish.  The texture is cool and wonderful, with a load of crunch from both the iceberg lettuce and the almonds, but still quite a bit of toothiness from the romaine.  The queso fresco is the perfect accompaniment, as it has a texture much like feta but is more mildly flavored, like a cross between a goat cheese and ricotta, and blends perfectly with the other flavors.

My wife’s response was simple.  She just looked at me and asked; “We’ll be making this again, right?”

Yes honey, we most definitely will.

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© Jerry D. Russell and Cooking... by the seat of my Pants!.com, 2008. | Permalink | 12 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: chicken, plum, queso fresco, Recipes, Salad, summer