Refrigerator Bran Muffins

This recipe has been around for a long time. It's also called 6 week bran muffins. But because this is one of my family's favourites, and very convenient, I decided to post it here.

Ingredients
1 cup boiling water
1 cup 100% bran cereal
1 1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter or shortening
2 eggs
2 1/2 cups sifted all purpose flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups buttermilk or (Substitution = 2 cups milk & 2 tablespoons lemon juice)
2 cups "All Bran" Cereal
3/4 cup raisins

Pour boiling water over 100% bran. Let stand until cereal has absorbed water and cooled slightly.

Thoroughly cream together sugar and shortening.

Add eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition.

Add flour, soda, salt, and buttermilk. Mix until smooth.

Blend water and bran mixture into batter.

Add raisins and "All Bran" and mix well.

Cover and refrigerate batter.

Batter will keep up to 6 weeks.

When ready to use, dip batter from container, without stirring, into greased muffin tins.

Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes or until done.

Makes 3 dozen.

Recipe can be doubled.

Variation: Use 3 cups of All Bran instead of cereal combination.

Variation: Add 1/2 cup sugar and omit raisins.

Classic Pesto

I love basil. In fact, I think it wouldn't be a stretch to say I'm obsessed with it. I use it in all my Italian savory dishes. Tonight, for dinner, I've a craving pasta tossed with a good pesto sauce.

Pesto means to pound or crush. It's traditionally made with a mortar and pestle. But it can be made in the food processor or blender.

As usual, I prefer the simple, most classic, recipe for this.

And in keeping with my usual style, I like to make a lot so that I can freeze it for another day. So you might wish to halve the recipe.

And don't tell my mother, but I cheat and make mine in a blender because I don't have a food processor or a mortar and pestle. I'll get around to getting these items one day. Sigh.

PESTO SAUCE

8 cups basil leaves, well packed
8 to 10 cloves garlic, lightly crushed and peeled
1 cup pine nuts
1 cup walnuts
3 cups freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano or Pecorino cheese
3 cups extra-virgin olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

Combine all the ingredients in a blender. Grind until it is a paste.

Stir pesto into drained pasta while still hot.

Garnish with extra cheese and crushed pine nuts.

Enjoy!

Preserving Basil

I don't know what it is about basil, but it is definitely my most favourite spice during the summer. It's rich peppery taste really enhances the taste of tomatoes, pastas, and many other favourite dishes.

Yesterday, while visiting my cousin Emily, we asked her father, my uncle Pete, to bring us a few leaves of basil and Italian parsley He is an avid gardener and at this time of year, his garden is brimming with the season's very best vegetables. Well, he brought more than a few leaves. I think he brought us a pound of each - enough to fill to overflowing a shopping bag.

Therefore, today I will have to preserve them.

Here's how my family does it.

First, we blanch the leaves for two seconds in boiling water, then drain and rinse them immediately with ice cold water. If you have a salad spinner, then spin the leaves dry. If not, simply pat the leaves dry with paper towel. Stack the leaves in bundles. Wrap them in paper towel. The bundles are the size of small hotdog and fits in the palm of your hand. Wrap each of thesee bundles in foil. Seal them in a ziplock freezer bag and they're good for a year.

Use in cooking as you would fresh basil leaves, but, cup for cup, frozen leaves are more compact than fresh ones, so use a little less than the recipe calls for.