Garlic & Veggie Risotto

Risotto is a well-loved dish in my household and I'm always looking for ways to change it up.
I recently saw a post by Lidia Bastianich for a garlic risotto which sounded interesting but I was hesitant about the amount of garlic and lack of other veggies.  I made a few modifications, but I now have no doubt the original would have been wonderful the way it was!  You could easily pick any vegetable or combination of veggies for this risotto.

Needless to say, this risotto was a huge success!  The kids ate it up and the husband was very impressed.  This served our family of four with a protein and salad, with leftovers for another day. 

Ingredients:
7-8 cups chicken stock
2 cups arborio rice
1 head of garlic (approx. 14 cloves), peeled and crushed
1 cup white wine
olive oil
salt to taste
1 onion, chopped
1 cup chopped green beans
1/2 red pepper, seeded and diced
2 tbsp unsalted butter
1/2 - 1 cup Parmesan cheese, finely grated

Directions:

1. Bring the chicken stock to simmer over medium heat and season with salt.

2. In a frying pan over medium heat, add a couple of tablespoons of olive oil.   Toss the green beans red peppers and cook until tender.

3. Puree the garlic and white wine in a blender or food processor.

4. In a large, shallow pot, heat a few tablespoons of olive oil over medium heat.  When the oil is hot, add the onions and cook until they are tender, but not starting to brown, about 5 minutes. 

5. Raise the heat to medium-high and add the rice, stirring constantly until the grains are coated in oil and translucent, about 2 minutes.  Add the wine-garlic puree and cook until the liquid is mostly absorbed.

6. Ladle in about 2-3  ladlefuls of stock, stir and cook until the liquid is mostly absorbed.  Repeat this process, adding in a couple of ladlefuls of stock each time the liquid is mostly absorbed, until the rice is al dente, about 20 minutes.  With about 5 minutes left, add the green beans and red peppers.

7. When the rice is al dente, turn off the heat and stir in the butter and Parmesan cheese.  Season with salt and pepper if necessary.  Serve immediately (with more cheese if you like!)

Veggie Risotto

My husband grew up on rice, but I get bored of it quite easily.  We didn't eat rice very often at home unless it was risotto.  So every once in awhile I will make a risotto (usually mushrooms) because that pleases everyone.  I was visiting my nonna and she was talking about a zucchini-saffron risotto she made and I thought to myself Why not try something like that??

So while this is in no way her recipe, it was definitely inspired by her!  While my LO tried to pick out some of the vegetables, overall it was a huge success with everyone in the house!

Ingredients:

1/2 onion, chopped
1 zucchini, halved and chopped (or quartered if it's a big one)
2 small green peppers, seeded and sliced
2 tomatoes, thinly sliced
2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
6 cups chicken (or vegetable) stock
1.5 cups arborio rice
1/2 cup white wine
3-4 tbsp butter, separated
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese (or mixed with Asiago cheese)

Directions:

1. Bring chicken stock to a boil in a small saucepan.  (If you don't have chicken stock handy, use a bouillon cube in boiling water.  Make sure you follow the package instructions and make enough for the risotto).

2. Saute onions until translucent over medium heat in oil and butter.

3. Add garlic and pepper and saute for a few more minutes until tender.

4.  Add zucchini and tomato and cook until softened; add more butter if necessary.  Season with salt and pepper.

5. Add 1 tbsp butter and rice and stir until rice becomes translucent, about 5 minutes.

6.  Add 1/2 cup white wine and stir until absorbed.  Add chicken stock by the ladleful/s and stir until absorbed.  Continue to add stock until the rice is cooked, about 45-50 minutes.

7.  Remove from heat, add 1 tbsp butter, then the freshly grated Parmesan (and Asiago) cheese.  Stir.  Season with salt if necessary.

This serves great with a nice salad or even bruschetta as a side.

Veggie Risotto

The yummy bruschetta side dish

Sautéed Veggies & Pork Cutlets

Today I stopped by the grocery store and just browsed around waiting for some type of inspiration for dinner.  I saw some fast frying pork cutlets and knew right away I could use that, so I made my way to the veggies and picked up some zucchini and spinach.  I was going to pick up some broccoli as well, but remembered that I had some frozen at home so left them behind.  I had a good idea of what I wanted to make for dinner!  The problem for the blog is that I didn't really  measure my ingredients and just eye-balled it.

Sautéed Veggies

Ingredients:
1 onion, thinly diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups broccoli florets (or broccoli cut into small florets)
2 small zucchini, halved and then sliced
1/2 cup spinach
2 tbsp olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
Parmesan cheese

Directions:
1. If using fresh broccoli, cook in boiling water for about 3 minutes until tender.  If using frozen broccoli, follow instructions (ie: microwave with water for 3-5 minutes or boil until tender).
2. Heat oil over medium-high heat in a large pan.  Add onion and sauté for 1-2 minutes until softened; add garlic and cook another minute until fragrant.
3. Add zucchini, tossing to coat, and cook for 2-3 minutes until tender.  Season with salt.  Add broccoli and cook for another 1-2 minutes.
4. Tear the spinach in half or thirds and add to the pan.  Cook, tossing to combine, until the spinach is wilted.  Season with salt and pepper.
5. Remove from heat and grate Parmesan cheese over top.

Breaded Pork Cutlets

This is a pretty easy thing to bring together.  All you need is some thin pork cutlets, bread crumbs, an egg and oil for frying.

1. Beat an egg and place the cutlets in the egg to coat.  Drip off any excess.
2. Coat the cutlet in your favourite bread crumb mix (I like Italian breadcrumbs), patting down to make sure the crumbs stick and the cutlet is fully coated.
3.  When you are ready to fry, cover the bottom of a pan with enough oil for frying.  Heat over medium-high heat.  When the oil is hot, place the cutlets (in batches) in the oil.  Don't overcrowd the pan as it will lower the temperature.
4. Fry the cutlet about 4 minutes on each side, until it is golden brown, turning once.   Remove from oil and place on paper towel-lined plate to absorb excess oil.  Fry the remaining cutlets.

Dinner & Dessert

Happy New Year!!

Today was not a very productive day for the pile of marking sitting at my front door, but I did get to do some amazing cooking and baking!  I haven't put anything on the blog lately, not because I'm not cooking, but because I don't have time to type up the blog post.

So today you are going to get two recipes: a one pot barley and chicken cacciatore and a lemon-blueberry loaf.

And I apologize in advance for the terrible photos I have included - I always forget to take the photo until the leftovers are packed up.  Maybe that should be one of my new year's resolutions! ;-)

One Pot Barley & Chicken Cacciatore

This recipe takes its inspiration from Giada DeLaurentiis' Everyday Italian Cookbook. It's a modification of her chicken cacciatore recipe.  I decided to add barley because of how much my husband loves it. It is a very filling dinner, and definitely enough for lunch the next day as well.

Ingredients:

4-5 full chicken leg/thighs

salt and pepper

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

3 tbsp olive oil

1 large red bell pepper, chopped

1 onion, chopped

6 garlic cloves, finely chopped

1-1/2 tsp dried oregano

3/4 cup wine (I used red)

1 can (28 fl oz) diced tomatoes with juice

3/4 - 1 cup chicken broth (I put closer to 1 cup since I was adding barley to the recipe)

3/4 - 1 cup pearl barley, rinsed

Directions:

1. Sprinkle each piece of chicken with salt and pepper and dredge the pieces in flour to coat lightly.

2. In a large, heavy saute pan, heat oil over medium-high heat. Working in 2 batches, add the chicken pieces to the pan and saute just until brown, about 5 minutes per side. Transfer the chicken to a plate and set aside. Add the bell pepper, onion, garlic and oregano the same pan and saute over medium heat until the onion is tender, about 5 minutes.

3. Add the wine and simmer until reduced by half, about 3 minutes.  Stir in the barley. Add the tomatoes with their juice and broth. Return the chicken pieces to the pan and turn them to coat in the sauce. Bring the sauce to a simmer.  Continue simmering over medium-low heat until the barley is tender and the chicken is cooked through, about 40 minutes.  Stir occasionally to prevent the barley from sticking, but be careful not to break apart the chicken, and keep the meat covered in the sauce.

4. Remove the chicken and transfer to a platter.  You can boil the sauce a little longer to thicken the sauce and cook the barley.  Spoon the barley onto plates and place the chicken on top or along side it.  This would also go great with pieces of chicken, making it more like a stew.

5. My husband grated some Monterey Jack cheese and sprinkled it over top of the barley.  It made it nice and gooey and tasted great as well.  This also made my 18-month old daughter devour her dinner, but each mouthful had to have some cheese in it!

Serves 4-5.

Lemon-Blueberry Loaf

This lovely loaf comes from my cookbook: Wanda's Pie in the Sky. It will make a 9" loaf. It is my first time trying this recipe, but as I'm sitting here smelling it as it cools, I can tell it's going to be so moist and delicious.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup butter, softened

1 cup granulated sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 eggs

1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour

1-1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

2/3 cup milk

1/3 cup lemon juice

1 tbsp lemon zest

1 cup fresh blueberries

For the glaze:

1/3 cup granulated sugar

1/4 cup lemon juice

Directions:

1.Preheat the oven to 325F. Butter and flour ra 9x5zx3" loaf pan.

2. Using an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar until light. Add the vanilla and eggs and beat until fluffy. Stir together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture in 3 parts, alternating with the milk and lemon juice. Mix until smooth. Stir in the lemon zest. Fold blueberries into the batter just before turning it into the pan.

3. Spread into the prepared pan. Bake for 55-65 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean.

4. Once the loaf is baked and cooling, start on the glaze. In a small saucepan over medium heat, combine the sugar and lemon juice. Heat until the mixture bubbles and the sugar dissolves, stirring occasionally. Pour over the warm loaf in the pan. Allow to cool for 15 minutes.  Turn the loaf out and cool on a rack.

(For this part I would let the loaf cool a bit before actually making the glaze and pouring it over and/or wait more than 15 minutes before removing it from the pan - my loaf was still way too warm and started to break as I took it out of the pan - and it had been cooling for quite a long time!)

The loaf just soaked up the glaze and when I took it out it was so moist all the way through! It looks amazing! FYI It also tastes amazing! It is definitely very moist; the glaze definitely helped with that and gives it a nice sheen. It's a very light loaf - my husband said it'd pair well with ice cream, but even a nice cup of tea would do.