Cilantro Pesto

Today's recipe for Cilantro Pesto comes from a lovely couple in Washington State, USA. They note that it comes recommended by both spouses to stay equally "kissing" sweet.

Now I've made pesto from each basil and carrot greens that I've grown in my garden, but I haven't tried it with cilantro yet and I'm very excited. I love cilantro. Now if you're still scratching your head over carrot green pesto, it reminds me a little of a curled parsley pesto. Here's a recipe: Carrot Green Pesto.

Now for the Cilantro Pesto:

Ingredients:

5 cloves garlic
1 bunch organic cilantro
1 cup sliced almonds (pine nuts are too expensive)
1/4 cup grated cheese
1/3 cup olive oil
dash cracked pepper to taste
dash sea salt to taste

Directions:

Mix ingredients in a blender until level of desired creamy or crunchy consistency.

Serve with sliced sourdough french bread, gluten-free crackers, or other medium.

Note: If you're not familiar with pesto and you're wondering what type of cheese to use, Parmesan is standard. I'm curious to try this with other cheeses though, maybe cojita?

Bon Apetit!

Diana

Peppermintcrisp Tart - A Taste From South Africa

This recipe comes from a lovely woman in South Africa who not only sent me a postcard and recipe, she sent an envelope with two postcards and stamps! The postcard with the view of the sheep grazing is what the landscape looks like in her area. It is so beautiful!

This dessert sounds amazing! I adore mint and chocolate and coconut biscuits, but I've never had them together. Here in the United States I suspect Andes Mints would work quite well as a substitution for the peppermintcrisp chocolates.

Ingredients:

1 can caramel treat (360g) (canned caramel or dulce de leche in the United States)
2x 250mL cream
2x packets of tennis biscuits (any type of coconut biscuits will do)
3x peppermintcrisp chocolate (grated, +- 150g)

Directions:

• Whip cream and add caramel treat
• Add chocolate, but leave a bit for the top
• Dip biscuits in water and put in dish - one layer
• Throw a bit of cream over and then another layer of biscuits
• Repeat cream and biscuits until you end with a layer of cream, the thinner the layers the better!
• Throw the remainder of the chocolate over. 
• Put in the fridge until set. Enjoy!

This would make a fantastic Christmas holiday dessert!

Bon Apetit and Happy Postcrossing!

Diana

Pelmeni Moscow

Today's delicious recipe comes from Russia. Pelmeni is a filled dumpling, generally with meat, fish or vegetables. The recipe does not give an amount of time to boil, so I will add that generally you boil the dumplings until they float, then add an additional 2-5 minutes.

For more information on the history of Pelmeni, here is an article from the School of Russian and Asian Studies. Pelmeni History

To make it gluten free, I would simply change the flour to rice flour or use any 1:1 all purpose gluten free flour blend.

Bon apetit and Happy Postcrossing!

Diana