Recipes Cooking: basil

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Sunday, March 16, 2014

Grilled Basil Pesto Flatbread with Petite Filet and Horseradish Cream

So, the other day I was at my Moms and she was fretting over the abundance of basil she had growing in her herb garden and how she could possibly use it all. I took that as the perfect invitation to make her some homemade basil pesto, for purely selfish reasons of course, as I was secretly hoping she would give me a jar to go. Of course, she did and I put it to good use as a topping on this grilled flatbread with heirloom tomatoes.

I also started experimenting with using hard wood chips in my gas grill. Last night, with the help of a foil packet of water soaked hickory wood chips, I grilled this steak which was gently infused with the rich smokey flavors and aromas. Topped with a horseradish cream it was an outstanding summer grilled meal.

Pesto
2 cups basil
3 garlic cloves
1/3 cup walnuts
1/2 cup parmesan cheese
1/2 - 3/4 cup olive oil
salt
pepper

Place all of the indgredients, except for olive oil, in a food processor and pulse until smooth. Gradually, add the olive oil while the processor is running. It will keep for quite some time if kept in a jar under a layer of olive oil and stored in the refrigerator.

Basic Pizza Dough adapted from a recipe by Chris Bianco in "The Gourmet Cookbook"

1 (1/4-ounce) package active dry yeast
1 3/4 cups uncleached all-pupose flour, plus more for kneading and dredging
3/4 cup warm water
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 1/2 teaspoons olive oil

Stir together yeast, 1 tablespoon flour, and 1/4 cup warm water in a measuring cup and let stand until surface appears creamy, about 5 minutes.

Stir together 1 1/4 cups flour and salt in a large bowl. Add yeast mixture, oil, and remaining 1/2 cup warm water and stir until smooth. Stir in enough remaining flour (about 1/2 cup) so dough comes away from the sides of the bowl.

Knead dough on a dry surface with lightly floured hands (reflour hands when dough becomes too sticky) until smooth, soft, and elastic, about 8 minutes. Form into 4 balls for individual pizzas and put on a lightly floured surface and generously dust with flour. Loosely cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until doubled in bulk, about 1 1/4 hours.

To shape the dough for grilling, do not punch down dough. Carefully dredge 1 ball of dough in a bowl of flour to coat and transfer to a dry work surface. Holding one edge of dough in the air with both hands and letting the bottom touch work surface, carefully move hands around edge of dough (like turning a steering wheel), allowing the weigh of dough to stretch to roughly 4 inches. Transfer to a floured tray and work edges with fingers to get desired shape. Let side on tray for about 15 minutes and prepare per recipe.

Horseradish Cream
2 tablespoons prepared horseradish
1 tablespoon mayonnaise
2 tablespoons sour cream
1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire Sauce
salt
pepper

Combine all in a mixing bowl and let it sit in the refrigerator for approximately 1 hour to let the flavors combine.