Pesto alla Genovese (Basil, garlic and cheese sauce)

From: "Recipes: The Cooking of Italy." New York: Time-Life Books, 1968.

It's basil season! Just when you think you can't eat any more of whatever was last in season, along comes the next great item. Right now, for me, it's basil. I can get armfuls of basil at the farmers market for less than $5, so I'm making every recipe that contains basil and freezing what I can.

Remember Bubba from "Forrest Gump"? He listed every possible shrimp recipe imaginable as he and Forrest went through basic training. I could probably do that with basil recipes.

This little cookbooklet only has one basil recipe, but it's the best recipe for pesto I've found. The cookbooklet is a keeper, too. The recipes create very fresh tasting Italian food and make me think I can master international cuisine (i.e. they're easy).

This pesto recipe will not disappoint you. It's basic, doesn't get fancy with the ingredients (not that there's anything wrong with that) and it freezes like a dream. You can either spoon a portion into a Ziploc freezer bag, fill an ice tray with pesto and bag the cubes after they're frozen or use your favorite freezer container. I've been happy with frozen pesto well into a cold Indiana winter.

This recipe makes about 2 cups.

2 cups fresh basil leaves, stripped from their stems, coarsely chopped [I used a food processor] and tightly packed
1 teaspoon of salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 to 2 teaspoons finely chopped garlic [I throw that in the food processor, too]
2 tablespoons finely chopped pine nuts [you guessed it, the food processor]
1 to 1 1/2 cups olive oil [start with less - too much will negatively affect taste]
1/2 cup freshly grated imported sardo, romano or Parmesan cheese

Combine the coarsely chopped fresh basil, salt, pepper, garlic, pine nuts and 1 cup of olive oil in a blender jar. Blend at high speed until the ingredients are smooth, stopping the blender every 5 or 6 seconds to push the herbs down with a rubber spatula.

The sauce should be thin enough to run off the spatula easily. If it seems too thick, blend in as much as 1/2 cup more olive oil. Transfer the sauce to a bowl and stir in the grated cheese.

Dick Van Dyke, the Stepford Cook

As I was working through my piles of old cooking magazines I came across this ad for Hunt's Barbecue Sauce. Now, I love Dick Van Dyke as much as the next person, but doesn't he look a little too perfect in this photo? Granted, it's from an early 1980s "Bon Appetit" and the 80s were all about perfect hair, but still. His teeth are too white, the shirt too starched, that chicken is too delectable.

In addition to the 1980s being Dick Van Dyke's era of celebrity endorsements, it was also the era of the food processor. "Bon Appetit" had a monthly column devoted to that new-fangled kitchen appliance, the food processor. What I noticed, though, is that every single recipe can be made more easily without a food processor. So not only was DVD trying to sell barbecue sauce, "Bon Appetit" was trying to sell food processors.

However, if there's anything we learned from the 80s, it's that life is better without a food processor. It might have taken some cooks (and "Bon Appetit") almost the entire decade to figure it out, but buying frozen chopped spinach is much easier than buying frozen leaf spinach and spending the time and energy with ye olde food processor to chop it. But that sums up what "Bon Appetit" was suggesting in their food processor column and recipes. "Hey, all you at-home chefs! Why not make cooking more difficult and really appreciate your efforts?"

I'm happy to say that "Bon Appetit" has been very responsive to trends and their readers. Current issues have streamlined processes and simplified recipes. And, Dick Van Dyke? He has aged very well, in my humble opinion, and is still making great movies like "Night at the Museum."

Mississippi Mud Cake

From: "Omaha Home for Boys Anniversary Cookbook." Kearney, Nebraska: Morris Press Cookbooks, 2005.

At first glance, this cookbook has an impressive collection of recipes. Even better, the three-ring binder style cookbook also comes with a mini-plastic stand that holds the book upright and open. However, almost every recipe I tried seemed to be a family recipe - that is, the combination of ingredients probably pleased the author of the recipe and his or her family, but only one suited my tastes. And even then, I'd reserve this recipe for large gatherings because it's super rich, with plenty of sugar and fat/cholesterol. In fact, the recipe says it serves 12-16 people but based on my experience, it probably serves 40. Because it's so rich, most people can only tolerate a small piece. But they do love that small piece and come back for more!

The good news is that you can easily halve this recipe and get the same results (not true for all dessert recipes, I've found).

1 cup butter
2 cups sugar
1/4 cup cocoa powder
4 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 1/3 cup coconut
1 1/2 cup chopped pecans
1 jar marshmallow creme (large jar for full recipe, small jar for half recipe)

Cream butter, sugar and cocoa together. Add eggs and vanilla; mix well. Add flour, baking powder, coconut and pecans; beat well for 2 minutes. Spread batter in greased and floured 9 x 13-inch baking pan. Bake in preheated 350 degree oven for 30 minutes or until toothpick inserted comes out clean. Spread marshmallow creme over top while cake is still hot. Cool and frost.

Frosting
4 cups sifted powdered sugar, divided
1/2 cup butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1/2 cup evaporated milk
1 teaspoon vanilla

Beat together 1 cup of the powdered sugar with butter, cocoa, evaporated milk and vanilla. When well blended, gradually add additional 3 cups of powdered sugar and beat until creamy. spread on cooled cake. Serves 12-16.

Cup Cakes with Marshmallow Frosting

From "Rumford Common Sense Cookbook," Lily Haxworth Wallace. For the Department of Home Economics of the Rumford Company, Rumford, Rhode Island.

I used to work with someone who would put on her Nonni's (Italian grandmother) hat when she was going to clean her house. It made her more industrious (like her Nonni). She told me about this when I admitted that the way I got my own house clean was to fix myself a frozen margarita and pretend I was my own cleaning person. I paid myself at the end of my cleaning session.

These two stories are related to these two recipes because of their origin. They're from a very old, very quaint cookbooklet circa 1920. There's no publication date in the booklet, but I'm making the assumption based on the illustration and the instructions for baking by temperature: "For the benefit of housewives who follow the new method of temperature cooking, and for those who wish to learn how, the following table is given." My guess is that people were still using wood stoves for cooking during this transition period and had used wisdom and expertise vs. relying on the stove science of selecting a cooking temperature. In some ways, we all still rely on wisdom and expertise with our own stoves. I know that my over cooks low (below the selected temperature) and that my stove burners cook hot.

When I prepare these recipes, I like to imagine how early 20th Century bakers might have done things, for whom or what occasion they might have prepared these cupcakes, how those newfangled stoves worked. I have not, however, prepared this recipe while drinking a margarita. Too many eggs to deal with (requires all my faculties).

Note that the cupcakes will be much denser (and, I think, more flavorful) than the cakes we're used to in this century. The crust will be a little tougher as well, so keep an eye on them while they bake (you can't get away with over-baking even a little bit with this recipe).

Cup Cakes
1/3 cup shortening
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1/2 cup milk
2/3 teaspoon flavoring (I used vanilla)
1 1/2 cups flour (I used Softasilk cake flour)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons Rumford Baking Powder (don't even try - they don't make it anymore!)

Cream the shortening, add the sugar gradually and beat well. Separate the eggs, beat the yolks and add these to the first mixture. Then put in the milk and flavoring alternately with the sifted dry ingredients. Lastly fold in the stiffly beaten egg whites. Half fill greased cup cake pans [I ALWAYS use cup cake liners] and bake about twenty minutes in a moderately hot oven - 375-400 degrees [I went with 375]. Serve plain or frost with any desired frosting.

Marshmallow Frosting
1/3 cup water
1 cup granulated sugar
1/8 teaspoon cream of tartar
2 egg whites
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Cook the water, sugar and cream of tartar rapidly to the soft ball stage - 238 degrees F. While the syrup is boiling, occasionally remove with a small damp brush the drops with gather on the sides of the saucepan.

Beat the egg whites until stiff and dry. Pour the syrup very slowly over them, beating while pouring and continue the beating until cool, adding the vanilla while beating.

NOTE: This frosting is very "wet" (aka gooey, not stiff). I added some powdered sugar to create a stiffer consistency. If you do this, add small amount of the powdered sugar and wait five minutes - the frosting becomes stiffer with time.