Two for one!

I'm judging my weekends now on how much I cook, and this weekend gets an A+ cause I cooked Saturday and Sunday! I was inspired by a) whopping $200 bill for two at New York-based STK steakhouse, which just opened in Miami (oh, but we had to be trendy and swanky and Miami for the evening). b) We bought a new Wusthof cleaver and boning knife (we is so fancy) c) a new stock pot (the dream of making pho is coming closer to reality) and d) two new learned recipes from class. First up, some tomato basil soup:

1 onion, diced
2-3 garlic cloves
1 14 oz can of plum tomato or fresh eight plum tomatoes or five wine ripe
5 cups of vegetable stock (I MADE!!!)
2-3 springs of basil
salt and pepper to taste
splash of red wine vinegar
cream (optional)
Parmesan cheese

In a pot, I sauteed onion and garlic on medium-high, added the tomatoes and cooked them until some juices were released, and then added stock and basil. I let the soup simmer for 15-30 minutes. Added 1/4 cup cream...brought the soup to a boil. Then removed from heat and pureed in the blender. I transferred soup back in the pot and added salt, pepper and vinegar to taste. The most amazing thing about the soup is the red wine vinegar. Without it, the soup was good, but missing something. Well, that something was a few splashes of vinegar. I garnished with more fresh basil and served with a grilled cheese sandwich.

On the menu for Sunday night: Pesto pasta with oven dried tomatoes.

First I made the tomatoes, because they take about 2-3 hours to bake in 200-degree oven. (Or, if you have a convection oven, it goes by faster).

Oven Dried Tomatoes:
Plum tomatoes--quartered
olive oil
fresh herbs chopped--thyme, rosemary, basil
chopped garlic
salt and pepper
pinch of sugar
balsamic (optional)

Toss tomatoes to mix ingredients. Place on parchment paper and cook for 2-3 hours at 200 degrees. Simple. And the results:

Now for my pesto:

2 cups of basil packed
1/2 cup of Parmesan or Romano cheese
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/3 cup pine nuts or walnuts, toasted
2 garlic cloves, minced
salt and pepper to taste
spinach

Toast the walnuts and grind them up in food chopper. Add basil. Pulse. Add olive oil. Pulse. Add spinach (makes the pesto greener). Pulse. Cheese, garlic, pulse, pulse. More olive oil if it looks too dry. Taste it and see if you need salt/pepper. And there you have it--pesto:

In saucepan, add garlic and onions. Then add spoonfuls of pesto and oven-dried tomatoes (cut) and pasta--I used whole wheat. Timmy had seconds (again with the portions) and licked his plate. I think he likes it.

I am impressed with my mad skills.