What's Cooking (Take Four)

I consider chimichurri sauce to be a pesto variant.

I know there is a whole world of 'variant pesti' out there, using cilantro, mint, rosemary, etc.

A lot of Indian chutneys probably qualify as 'variant pesti'.

-Paul W.

I had to post to say again how much I am liking microwave poaching an egg in a coffee mug with 1/2 cup of water. The mug should be tapered more narrowly at the bottom. I have not mastered getting my yolk how I like it yet. The white is perfect, and I am cooking for 56 seconds. The yolk is almost to the runny part. My eggs are large, so I will reduce the cook time by a minute next time. Todays egg is on a thin slice of sourdough jalapeño cheddar, toasted, and with two slices of Fontina cheese. An egg is placed on top and sprinkled with dill, salt, and white pepper.

[Jenise]

I've made various 'other' pestos of which my favorites were arugula and mustard greens. But these days a jar of Costco pesto is my go-to for quick improvisations. I absolutely loved the pesto cream sauce and mushrooms with the chicken thighs and so did my dinner guest. I served it on spaetzle with broccolini on the side. The starter was a salad of spicy local greens with sliced underripe plums and a chunky shallot vinaigrette.

Then yesterday a friend and I waddled down the coast onto Fidalgo and Whidbey Islands for the annual Penn Cove Mussel Fest. In advance we bought tickets for the chowder tasting, which had us zooming all over this tiny, quaint town (lots of Victorian architecture) to taste nine different entrants in a mussel chowder contest and vote for a winner. Five were very good and two were outstanding though one was the clear winner. In the process we discovered a heavenly bakery, a Dutch store selling licorice (for my friend) and Speculoos cookies (for me), and a wine bar. Fun day!

The white is perfect, and I am cooking for 56 seconds. The yolk is almost to the runny part. My eggs are large, so I will reduce the cook time by a minute next time. .

OK, trying to understand this. That would make cooking time negative 4 seconds?
My parents used to love poaching their eggs in microwave, don't think I've ever tried.

The white is perfect, and I am cooking for 56 seconds. The yolk is almost to the runny part. My eggs are large, so I will reduce the cook time by a minute next time. .

OK, trying to understand this. That would make cooking time negative 4 seconds?
My parents used to love poaching their eggs in microwave, don't think I've ever tried.

Microwaves are quite the time savers.