Tonight I was in the mood for risotto, Italian comfort food. I had some farm fresh cherry tomatoes, bacon and some frozen peas on hand so this is what happened. I put some butter, I used 1/2 a stick of butter but you could use less if you wish. In a large stock pot I added 1 1/2 cups of arborio rice, a small pinch of salt & pepper and a nice pinch of saffron. Let that brown nicely and add 1/4 cup of white wine to deglaze. The next step comes with practice, keep adding chicken stock in small increments (I added 4 cans) stirring constantly until broken down and creamy, about 1 hour or so. Then I added 1 cup of frozen peas, 10 cherry tomatoes sliced, 4 slices of cooked bacon crumbled, 1 green onion sliced, 1/4 cup of chopped parsley and a nice hand full of grated parmesan. Add a little more chicken stock if needed because risotto should be on the loose side in consistency, I can not stress this enough! All the recipes say to bring the chicken stock to a boil but I find this step unnecessary, I use it straight out of the can. Garnish this anyway you wish, it's so yummy!!!
*Comfort food at its finest
** Dinner party food with a nice app, wine, salad, garlic bread and a good dessert
*** The basic recipe with any add ins, the possibilities are endless
****Hope this makes sense because I'm a little drunk ;)
I love to go into the kitchen and just let loose, and that is exactly what I did tonight. I knew I had to use up some of the fresh herbs on my deck, with that in mind I went into the grocery store and plotted as usual. I spotted some spinach and cheese ravioli on sale so I grabbed them and the wheel's started spinning. I immediately thought of a white lazy man lasagna. Simply what I did was make a basic pesto sauce:
1 part fresh basil to
1/2 part fresh parsley
5 cloves of garlic
a pinch of salt
a generous grinding of fresh pepper
and a big handful of grated parmesan
Next I made a white sauce:
2 tablespoons of butter
2 tablespoons of flour
melted together and cooked for about 3 minutes, then I added
1 cup of heavy cream and whisked until thickened, then I added
2 giant tablespoons of the fresh pesto
Now I boiled the raviolis.
Then I tossed them with the sauce, some diced up fresh mozzarella and baked it until it was hot, bubbly and browned on top. It came out way yummier than I anticipated!!
*this is a good prepare ahead dinner for company with a nice salad, garlic bread, a bottle of wine and dessert
**really easy to prepare
***this cost me less than $20 to prepare and you can probably feed at least 8-10 people
I've been cooking dinner for my 82 year old mom who fell and broke her right arm, needless to say she can hardly do anything for herself and is feeling a little down so I wanted to cook her something extra special today. I decided on buttery New England style shrimp rolls and traditional macaroni and tuna salad. Really not that difficult to pull off. All I did was boil up some shrimp in water seasoned with a couple of slices of fresh lemon, a few whole pepper corns and a bay leaf. I drained them, rough chopped them and set them aside. Then I moved on to the macaroni salad. I set a pot of salted water on to boil then I diced up carrot, celery and onion about a 1/2 a cup of each. I tossed a box of elbow macaroni into the boiling water until cooked. I drained it and tossed it with the veggies, 2 cans of tuna fish and enough mayo to hold it all together. I plated up the macaroni salad in a serving bowl, topped it with paprika and put it in the fridge to chill. I did all this in the morning so at dinner time most of the work was done. When we were ready to eat I just heated up my cast iron griddle, tossed the chopped shrimp on with a good amount of butter and heated it through, toasted the buns and it was ready to enjoy!!!
*you can also do this with lobster or scallops
If you have never roasted your own peppers you must!! It is so simple you're going to think to yourself, why didn't I try this sooner. I just put them directly on the grill and char the skins until almost all black. You can do it on a gas or charcoal grill or sometimes I do it right on the burner of my gas stove top. The flavor between homemade and jar is like night and day!!! After I get the skins nice and charred I put them in a freezer bag, seal it and let them steam for about 5 minutes or until they are cool enough for me to handle. I remove them from the bag and the skins slide right off and I remove the seeds. Now this is very important, you are going to feel the urge to rinse them under water, DON'T, I can't stress this enough you will rinse off all the smoky flavor that you were trying to achieve in the first place, it's worth a stray seed or two and a few pieces of black skin!! Now I just slice them up and dress them with sliced garlic, olive oil, salt and pepper. I use them for bruschetta, tossed with pasta, in paninis ect.... The choices are endless!! Please try and roast your own, you won't be sorry!!
So tonight was another grab from the fridge and smash it all together kind of night. When the fridge is almost empty on a Friday night I always look to a pasta dish. I had a little cheese ends left so mac n' cheese it was. I only had some mild muenster and mozzarella in the on hand so I decided to spice it up with seasonings and chipolte panko bread crumbs, one of my new favorite ingredients, so this is what I did.
1/2 lb medium shells pasta
1 cup diced muenster cheese
1 cup diced mozzarella
1/2 cup grated 50/50 blend if parmesane/romano cheese
1 tablespoon butter
1 cup heavy cream
1 tablespoon Grey Poupon dijon mustard
1 tsp Coleman's dry mustard
1 tsp paprika
1/2 cup 4C Chipolte Panko bread crumbs
drizzle of olive oil
First I boiled the pasta in salted water, then drained and added it back to the pot with all the rest of the ingredient except the panko and olive oil. Simmer until all the cheese is melted and blended well. Now add it to a baking dish, top with the panko and drizzle with the olive oil. Bake at 375 until bubbling.
*Couldn't have been an easier put together in 15 minutes meal
*Nice comfort food meal on a cold winter night
Tonight was one of my favorite nights when I just went into the kitchen and winged it. I had a craving for pasta carbonara but wanted to put a little twist on it, so I grabbed all the usual suspects and went to work. First off I boiled a 1/2 lb of mezza rigatoni, but you can use any pasta of your choice. After it was cooked I tossed it with 2 tablespoons of butter, a bunch of chopped parsley and plenty of fresh cracked black pepper. Next I fried up 1/2 lb of bacon, drained and chopped it and set it aside. Then I finely diced 1 cup of cheese, I used muenster but you can use anything you like. Next I scrambled 8 eggs with 1/2 cup of heavy cream and 1/4 cup of a grated blend of 50/50 parmesan and romano cheese. I tossed all the ingredients together and put it in a greased spring form pan, baked it at 375 until set, about 40 minutes. This was one of the most yummy comfort foods I have ever made, good for breakfast, lunch or dinner a must try!!!!
My mom used to make these whenever the Italian bread was going stale, or if money was a little tight (poor man's meatballs). They are delicious so don't wait until the bread is stale to make these. They're a great side dish with a nice bowl of pasta. You can also use this for stuffed peppers or tomatoes. Make them bite size for a cocktail party, perfect finger food!!
1 loaf of ciabatta bread diced into small pieces, day old is best
1 2 oz can of anchovy fillets, the oil too
1 6 oz can of black olives roughly chopped
2 tablespoons of capers chopped
3-4 cloves of garlic grated
1/2 cup of grated parmesan
1 egg
olive oil about a cup more or less
fresh herbs of your choice, I used parsley and rosemary chopped
fresh cracked black pepper
Add all ingredient into a large bowl and mix well, use your hands it's the easiest way to combine. You may have to add some water to hold in together. Shape into balls, I flatten them a bit for easier frying. Chill about an hour. Fry until golden and enjoy!!!
* Don't add any salt!!
** They're yummy cold too!!
