Cooking With Sisters (Pea Pesto Crostini Appetizers)

One of the appetizers served at Giada De Laurentiis' book signing was the pea pesto crostini, and they were so absolutely amazing that I was determined to re-make them for my sister the next time she was in town. (Which happened to be this weekend for a wedding.) I ended up making them for her as well as my other "part" sister, Kylie, and my mother, Robin. So there we were all around the kitchen's island laughing, talking, and making appetizers together. The crostinis were just fabulous to make for Kylie helped with the french bread and LB helped out by slicing tomatoes, and my mother. . . well she sat there keeping us lots and lots of company and wine. (Well for her, LB, and Ky! Ha!)

This recipe comes directly out of Giada's newest cook book; Giada at Home. So no need to run out and buy a thirty five dollar cookbook if you don't mind waiting it out until I have posted every recipe of hers on my blog, because everything Giada cooks up is just splendid and I know sooner or later her entire cookbook will be one hundred percent replicated here in my (mom's) kitchen.

Pea Pesto Crostinis can be made before hand by leaving the pesto refrigerated until time to serve on slightly toasted bread. It can also be made by creating an assembly line if you would like to have everyone in the family involved by having one slice tomatoes, one slice and toast bread, one create pesto, and one more to assemble the appetizers together. (Which is exactly what we did to make everything go by that much faster and was also easier to make! Oh, and did I mention. . . it makes cooking more fun as well?!) Okay so maybe we sort of did the "assembly line" effect because I did have some help in the kitchen, but in the end I would have to say it was me who did most of the cooking. But hey, it's my passion so who cares, right? (side note: shirt above created by the brilliant Chris Tran who designs fat cows with the phrase high in COWlories underneath the cow!)

So did I say that Ky and LB were there to help me? . . . well lets just say they attempted but got a bit side tracked with the bread knife and sharp pink tomato slicing knife. . . But that is why I love them :-)

So once the appetizers are fully prepared, arrange them neatly onto a serving platter and enjoy with one, four, or a party more! However, my pea pesto crostini did not turn out to look exactly like Giada's, but if I were to copy exactly her ways then that would show my inability to be flexible and creative. Therefore, my tomatoes were sliced a tad different and my bread was toasted a bit thicker. Thankfully though they tasted divine and were so wonderful my mother has decided to make them again next weekend for our neighbor's wedding shower.

Ingredients:

10 ounces frozen peas thawed

1 garlic clove

1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, plus more to taste

2/3 cup olive oil

somewhat thinly sliced french baguette bread

couple handfuls of cherry tomatoes, halved

LETS COOK!

Pulse together in a food processor the peas, garlic, cheese, salt and pepper. With machine still running, pour slowly in 1/3 cup olive oil. Keep machine running about one to two more minutes or until well combined and mostly smooth. Season with more pepper if needed. Set aside. Preheat a stove top griddle or grill pan over medium-high. Brush both sides of each of the bread slices with the remaining olive oil and grill until golden brown, about 2 or 3 minutes. Transfer bread to platter and spread evenly pesto and then arrange two tomatoe slice on each piece, serve and enjoy!

Giada De Laurentiis Book Signing

On April sixth, twenty ten Giada De Laurentiis came to Houston, Texas for a book signing on her recent cookbook, Giada at Home which includes all family recipes from her homes in Italy and sunny California. This was my first ever book signing to go to, and it was nothing like I had expected! I had absolutely no idea the line would swerve around blocks and blocks for a near mile. I also did not expect to be standing in that never ending line for almost two hours only for Giada to sign my book and have a sentence long conversation lasting a whopping 30 seconds. But wow! It was completely worth it! I absolutely LOVED every bit of the entire event! My mother, neighbor, and I left our house around four that afternoon to arrive in the luxury side of town known as River Oaks to stand in a line filled with armature chefs, food junkies, and book lovers while enjoying the sun shining weather and Giada's at home appetizers.

My mother was nice enough to provide the cookbook and ticket for me in order to meet my favorite television chef as well as have her sign it exclusively to me, Megan Brown. (So thank you so much mom for everything. It truly was a wonderful experience that will not be forgotten! And I love you for that as well as having the patience to wait around all afternoon with me!)

The book signing event was held at Sur La Table, a nice little cooking store located on the corner of West Gray street near the downtown of Houston. The service there was exquisite as people walked around with platters of Giada's crostini appetizers and drinks. It was very well organized and everything (thankfully!) ran smoothly as managers prepared our books and led us through the maze of cook ware to the back of the store where Giada was signing lots and lots of her cook books.

This here is Blake, which could be said he became our friend after walking the line multiple times passing out samples of Giada's at home appetizers and stopping each time to allow his photo to be taken exclusively for the Little Blue Box Blog. (I have to admit I became a bit embarrassed to keep taking photos, but my mother insisted and I just could not pass up this opportunity without having any photos to blog about and share with my fellow readers!) Thankfully my mother was persistent, because in the end I always do thank her for that, because now I feel my blog post is complete with insight, details, and pictures of the book signing with Food Network's Italian chef, Giada De Laurentiis.  

Above is a photo of the inside cover from her new book with her one and only signature as signed with a kiss and a hug addressing it to me, Megan. As I approached her table, I felt like a child picking out that one special ice cream from an ice cream truck, because I was just so happy and giddy inside that I almost (but luckily I held my composure) went star struck at yes, a chef! She was even more beautiful in person and looked so happy to be signing books for her all her lovely fans. However, there was one disappointment overall. . . the mean lady who stood next to Giada forced everyone to walk about six feet away only to take a NO FLASH picture. Which was quite a bummer considering even on zoom I could barley see her through my lens and thanks to the "NO FLASH" rule every picture turned out blurry. (Not like it matters, because one would have to squint their eyes really really had to be able to spot Giada in my photos. . . it would almost be like playing a "Where is Waldo?" game. Ha!)

And to wrap up the book signing event, the line only continued to stand around for many more hours after I had left content and happy with my book and signiture in hand. :-)

Happy Late Easter (Classic Bruschetta)

Okay, so to all my dedicated readers and followers I deeply apologize for not blogging in nearly two weeks! Gasp! It has felt like a life time, but no worries because I have not abandoned my blog (well not completely) and I most definitely have not forgotten about it! The truth is, I have been so busy with school and bike riding and events and just everything other than food. Sadly I haven't had much time to cook much of anything lately (tear.) but I am starting to get back into the groove of things and go back into my happy little kitchen. As I have made it clear that I am quite behind on my blog, I will still post up recipes that I have made in the past few weeks, such as these classic bruschetta appetizers that were made in celebration of Easter. (Which was spent with my family as well as the Brosnahan's at our lovely little lake house in Montgomery, Texas.)

I have watched endless numbers of shows, read pages and pages of recipes, and seen all variations of a bruschetta appetizer, but today I decided to take the more classic and authentic approach to these lovely little Italian appetizers. However, when grocery shopping in a small country town, well lets just say. . . Wal-Mart (the only grocer in town) doesn't usually carry raw and fresh ingredients. So I did with what was available and put together a somewhat classic version of bruschetta which turned out to be better than I had anticipated. These are terrific little appetizers, which are also great as a side for a brunch or dinner party. Not only are they delicious, but extremely easy to make and very chic to serve for guests.
Ingredients:
7 ripe plum tomatoes (about 1 1/2 lbs)

2 cloves garlic, minced
1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
2-3 tablespoons dried basil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
1 baguette French bread or similar Italian bread
1/4 cup olive oil
LETS COOK!
Prepare the tomatoes first. Parboil the tomatoes for one minute in boiling water that has just been removed from the burner. Drain. Using a sharp small knife, remove the skins of the tomatoes. Once the tomatoes are peeled, cut them in halves or quarters and remove the seeds and juice from their centers. Also cut out and discard the stem area.Turn on the oven to 450°F to preheat. While the oven is heating, chop up the tomatoes finely. Put tomatoes, garlic, 1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil, vinegar in a bowl and mix. Add the basil. Add salt and pepper to taste.
Slice the baguette on a diagonal about 1/2 inch thick slices. Coat one side of each slice with olive oil using a pastry brush. Place on a cooking sheet, olive oil side down. Once the oven has reached 450°F, place a tray of bread slices in the oven on the top rack. Toast for 5-6 minutes, until the bread just begins to turn golden brown.Serve, and enjoy!