Pesto

2 cups fresh basil leaves (no stems)
2 tablespoons pine nuts or walnuts
2 large cloves garlic
½ cup extra-virgin olive oil
½ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
½ teaspoon sea salt
1 tablespoon lemon juice

 Toast pine nuts lightly in frying pan.

Combine basil leaves, pine nuts or walnuts and garlic in a food processor and process until very finely minced.

Add salt and lemon juice and give a final blitz.

With the machine running slowly dribble in the oil and process until the mixture is smooth.

Add the cheese and process very briefly, just long enough to combine.

Alternative suggestion includes adding a small cooked new potato and green beans.

Simple vinaigrette

2 tbsp white wine vinegar 

1 tsp caster sugar

2 tsp Dijon mustard 

Shake.

6 tbsp olive oil / 5 tbsp yoghurt 

Shake.

Salt and pepper to taste. 

One last shake.

Slow cooker oatmeal

8.5 cups water 

2 cups oats

1.75 cups whole milk

0.25 cups brown sugar 

0.5 tsp salt

Coat inside of slow cooker with thin layer of butter.  Add all ingredients and stir. 

Cook on low for 8 hours. 

Add 1 tsp vanilla essence. 

9200' Black Bean Soup

Beans take forever to cook at altitude but this (primarily) slow cooker method seems to work well. Would probably result in an ungodly mush at sea level though...

Ingredients

• 1lb black beans
• 2 green bell peppers
• 2 small yellow onions (or one large one halved)
• 2 bay leaves
• 12 cups water
• 4 large garlic cloves
• 4tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1 small (~4oz) jar pimiento chiles 
• 2 tsp ground cumin
• 2 tsp oregano
• 1 tbsp red wine vinegar
• 2 tsp caster sugar
• 2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp black pepper

Phase One: cook the beans

Put the beans, 1 bay leaf, 1 bell pepper and 1 onion along with the water into a crockpot and cook on high for 4 -  6 hours. The bell pepper needs to be cut in half and have its seeds removed. The onion needs to be peeled and anything funky on root removed but otherwise left whole.

At the end of this time the beans would normally be well cooked if you were at sea level. At 9200' however they need longer. I have found that timing the 4 - 6 hour phase on high so that it ends before you go to bed works out well as you can then put it on for 8 - 10 hours on low overnight and then get up the next morning and complete it.

Phase two: make the sofrito

When the beans are finally(!) soft and well cooked they will still be sitting in a lot of water. This will be remedied by the end though so don't worry. Remove the bay leaf, onion and pepper and discard. Next remove around a third to a half of the beans to a bowl and mash them up (the more you mash up the thicker the end result will be). Keep the beens set aside.

Now make the sofrito: mince or very finely chop the garlic, the second onion and the second bell pepper. Heat the olive oil in a frying pan and saute the garlic, onion, bell pepper and pimientos along with the second bay leaf. Give this 5 or 6 minutes. Now stir in the cumin and oregano and cook for a further minute, stirring regularly. Finally add the mashed up beans and cook for a minute or so, stirring to evenly mix everything together.

Phase three: finish it off

Transfer the beans and broth that remain in the slow cooker to a large dutch oven. Stir in the sofrito then add the vinegar, sugar, salt and pepper.

Bring up to a good simmer and then partly cover with a lid and allow things to bubble away and reduce down a bit for an hour or so. Stir and check every 20-30 mins or so to prevent catching on the bottom of the pan. 

The soup is basically ready when it has achieved a thicker, creamy consistency. Remember to fish out the last remaining bay leaf.

Good served with the usual suspects: white rice, avocado, roasted red pepper, tortillas, sour cream etc.

Cornbread

1 1/2 cups cornmeal
2 1/2 cups milk
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tbsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
2/3 cup white sugar
2 eggs
1/2 cup vegetable oil

Combine cornmeal and milk in a bowl and leave standing for 5 minutes. In a large bowl combine flour, baking powder, salt and sugar. Mix in the cornmeal  mixture, eggs and oil until smooth.

Grease a 9 x 13 inch baking pan and pour in mixture. Bake in a preheated oven at 400F.

Spicy variation: roast some chile peppers (jalapeno, fresno, hatch etc.) until soft and a little blackened. Remove skin and dice chile flesh. Add to cornmeal batter before pouring into baking pan.

Kefir salad dressing

In a mason jar or similar combine:

• ~1 cup kefir
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 2 tbsp mayonnaise 
• ~1 tbsp garlic infused oil (or 1 tsp garlic powder/granules)
• fresh or dried parsley to taste
• fresh or dried chives to taste
• juice of 1/2 - 1 lemon (depending on taste, juiciness of lemon...)

Shake vigorously and you're done. Keeps about a week in the fridge.

Rosemary chicken

Ingredients

• 3 - 4 x chicken breasts
• several sprigs fresh rosemary finely chopped
• 2 - 3 cloves garlic, minced or finely chopped
• juice of one lemon
• quarter cup or so olive oil
• 1 - 2 tsp red pepper flakes
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 1 tsp black pepper

Preparation

Place the chicken under saran wrap or similar and bash flat with a rolling pin. Cut into halves.

Into a gallon ziploc bag place all the marinade ingredients and combine. Add the chicken pieces and get them all well covered. Close up the bag expelling as much air as possible. Leave to marinate at room temperature for 30 minutes or in the fridge for up to several hours.

Best cooked on the grill over hot coals with hickory wood chunks for smoky flavor.