May 18, 2011
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Beet Risotto

After making red velvet cupcakes sans red dye and plus grated beet, I had a bunch of beets leftover in my fridge. Not wanting to waste them, I decided to go in search of a recipe that would be pleasing to the pallet and not overwhelmingly earthy. I found that in beet risotto.

Inspired by this New York Times recipe.

One thing to note, I made this over the course of two days. You need roasted beets, which is fine if you’ve got a few hours before dinner. If you’re doing this after work, do the beets one day, the risotto the next.

Here’s what you need –

  • 3/4 – 1 lb of beets, roasted and cubed
  • 3/4 cup arborio rice
  • 4 cups chicken stock (use vegetable if you don’t eat meat)
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 small onion, finely chopped
  • 1 clove garlic, minced
  • 1/4 red wine
  • 1 1/2 cups fresh baby spinach
  • 1/2 cup grated Romano cheese

To roast your beets, place in scrubbed beets in a baking dish with about 1/4 inch of water in the bottom. Roast in your oven for 35 minutes at 425 F. Let cool, dump out the water. The skin should slip off pretty easily. I used a knife to help guide it, but you could theoretically dig at it with your fingers. Chop into small cubes and set aside.

In a medium sauce pan, heat your four cups of chicken stock. Let this come to a simmer and turn the heat down low. Meanwhile, start to cook your onions in olive oil for about 2 – 3 minutes until tender. Add the rice and garlic and stir to coat. Add red wine and let cook until nearly all of it is absorbed, stirring frequently. Add about 1/2 cup of chicken stock and stir this until its been absorbed. Add another 1/2 cup and stir until absorbed.

At this point, dump your chopped beets into the risotto along with another 1/2 cup of broth. Let the rice absorb the liquid (this might take longer than the previous cups as the beets will emit some juices). Add your spinach. Continue adding the stock to the rice until you use it up. Remember, keep stirring!

Isn’t it beautiful?!

Once you’ve added all of your broth, stir in about 1/2 cup of grated Romano cheese and let sit for a few minutes on the stove. Serve with a sprinkle of Romano on top.

 

I paired leftovers with a side salad of spinach for lunch the next day. Yum!

May 17, 2011
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Neapolitan Pizza

Back in December I came down with a pretty bad stomach bug and couldn’t eat anything. I made the mistake of watching Eat, Pay, Love and decided I must try pizza from Naples. Since going to Naples is out of the question (for now) and I do not have a brick oven, I needed Plan C. Make it at home.

Let’s begin with the crust. Neapolitan pizza crust is not the same as New York style pizza. It’s incredibly thin and crunchy. We’re not making something chewy and soft. The flour is what defines this crust, so it’s important that you not substitute unless you want to make regular, boring pizza.

Here’s what you need –

  • ½ cup warm water
  • ½ tsp active yeast
  • 1 ¼ cup of type 00 or type 0 flour
  • ½ tsp salt

Combine the yeast and water in a bowl. Let sit for five minutes. Add the flour and salt, mix to combine. If you have a KitchenAid, use the dough hook to knead for 5 – 8 minutes. If not, sprinkle additional flour on the table and give it a good old knead. Shape into a ball, set it in a bowl, cover with a towel and give it a few hours to rise.

Fast forward a few hours to dinner time. Here’s what you need for part two –

  • 1 – 2 medium tomatoes, sliced thin
  • 6 oz fresh mozzarella, sliced
  • 2 tbsp of fresh basil
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 clove garlic, minced

Preheat your oven and pizza stone to 550 F for thirty minutes. While this is heating up, prepare your ingredients. Roll out your pizza dough to fit on you pizza stone. It should be between 1/8 – ¼ inch thick. Use corn meal or flour to keep it from sticking. Note that you’ll need to slide the prepared pizza onto the stone. My recommendation is to do this on a moveable flat surface (cutting board, cookie tray) so that you can transfer easily.

Spread olive oil on pizza dough and sprinkle garlic on it. Arrange tomatoes and mozzarella and top it off with basil. Slide this onto the hot pizza stone (an extra pair of hands is nice). Cook for 7 – 8 minutes until the cheese is bubbly and the pizza dough has bubbled and cooked.

May 16, 2011
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Arugula Salad (Plus Pork Chops)

Savenor’s is one of my favorite shops in Cambridge. It has a huge array of fresh and exotic meat, fresh produce and other treats you don’t find at your grocery store. It’s also where Julia Child used to shop (a plus!). I made a quick trip Saturday afternoon in hopes of reinvigorating my cooking passion, which clearly departed last week.

The first meat case had the most succelent looking pork chops and I couldn’t resist. I decided to make the spicy pork chops I tried out a few weeks ago (recipe here) since they were so moist and delectable.

But since you don’t really want to read that I remade something, I decided to try out a new salad. I’ve recently acquired a taste for arugula. The first time I tried arugula I’m pretty sure I thought it was disgusting. It’s not every day you eat a leafy green that’s peppery and pungent all in one.

Here’s what you’ll need –

  • 4 cups of arugla
  • 1 tbsp vinegar
  • 1 tsp Dijon mustard
  • pinch salt
  • 1/4 tsp pepper
  • 1 tbsp olive oil

Combine the vinegar, mustard, salt and pepper in a large bowl. Add olive oil in a stream and continue mixing until combined (this may take a few minutes, you don’t want your dressing to separate). Add arugla and toss to coat.

I used leftovers the next day and added asparagus, cucumber, pepper and cherry tomatoes for tasty lunch!

May 15, 2011
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Upcoming

Made a yummy pork chop with arugula salad last night. This weeks recipes include “authentic” Neopolitan pizza, beet risotto, soba noodles with salmon and more!

Stay tuned for the recipes!

May 9, 2011
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Red Velvet Cupcakes

Dinner was a disaster. I had defrosted some chicken which didn’t actually defrost, leaving imagination and what was in my fridge. This happened to be egg plant, pesto and quinoa. I don’t know why I thought this was a good idea. Maybe if I had Pecorino Romano in my fridge, I could have salvaged this. Either way, I ended up eating a few bites, and then throwing the rest away (before James did!).

So I decided to make red velvet cupcakes instead. I’ve never made red velvet cupcakes before, but wasn’t a fan of using red dye. What’s left? Oh some beets. Yes.

So here’s what you need –

  • 1/3 cup finely grated beet
  • 1 1/4 cup flour
  • 2 tbsp cocoa powder
  • 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1/2 cup butter, softened
  • 1/2 cup fine sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 1/2 cut of buttermilk
  • 1 tsp vinegar

Finely grate your beet. Remember, beets bleed everywhere, so don’t wear white.

Meanwhile, measure the buttermilk and add vinegar. Let sit. Sift together the cocoa, flour, baking powder and baking soda.

Beat the butter and sugar today until fluffy. Add egg and beets. Add half of the flour mixture, then half of the milk mixture. Add the rest of the flour and milk. Beat until smooth. Thin out with extra milk if the batter is thick.

Divide batter among 24 mini cupcake pans or 12 regular sized cupcake pans. I went mini here.

Frost with cream cheese frosting –

  • 8 oz of cream cheese
  • 2 1/2 cups powdered sugar, sifted
  • 2 tsp vanilla extract

Beat the cream cheese and vanilla together. Add powdered sugar in increments, blending until smooth.

May 8, 2011
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Gluten Free Scones

Happy Mother’s Day! I’m sure everyone says this about their mom, but mine is truly the most amazing woman I’ve ever met. She’s my best friend, my rock, my support. I wouldn’t be half the person I am today without her guidance. She’s coming up to spend the day with me (and to go to the circus!), so I decided to do a “Mother’s Day Tea” in her honor.

What better food to serve during tea than scones? I’ve never made scones before, and the first time would be gluten free. Ah, probably not my wisest idea, but dedication here!

If you don’t want gluten free scones, just substitute with all purpose flour. Here’s what you’ll need –

  • 2 cups King Arthur Gluten Free Flour + some for dusting
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 4 tbsp cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/4” cubes
  • 3/4 cup (6 oz) Greek yogurt
  • 2 squares of Ghirardelli dark chocolate, roughly chopped (or fruit, or nuts or whatever you fancy)

Preheat your oven to 425. Mix together the flour, sugar, baking powder and soda and salt. Cut in the butter using a fork or a pastry blender until you have a rough crumble.

Stir in your chocolate then the yogurt. I used Chobani dark cherry for mine. If your dough looks a little crumbly and isn’t holding together (because lets face it, we’re using gluten free flour here), add a tsp or two of water.

Knead the dough two or three times and form a circle about 9 – 10 inches in diameter. Cut into 8 pieces.

Pop in your oven for 12 – 15 minutes (should ever so slightly start to golden around the edges and on the bottom). For super easy clean, use a Silplat or parchment paper.

Let cool on a wire rack. Enjoy!

May 4, 2011
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Mmm, Mmm, Pesto!

I love pesto. I used to not. Pine nuts? Blegh. Basil?! Even worse. But then my taste was refined, I started eating meat, and here we are, a few years later, swimming in pesto whenever I have the chance. As you can imagine, I was delightfully surprised to see pesto at SOWA Open Market this weekend (if you live in the area, please go, it’s an amazing market place!). Pestos with Panache makes an array of surprising and interesting flavors – strawberry pesto? pumpkin pesto? Yes!

Combine yummy pesto with my new method of making pasta (Thanks, Bon Appetit!) and we’re looking at a gourmet meal in under 20 minutes.

What you’ll need –

  • 6 oz of your favorite pasta
  • 1 – 2 chicken breasts, chopped in 1 inch cubes
  • 1 zuchinni, chopped in quarters
  • 3 tbsp pesto (I used Proscuitto and Smoked Almond Pesto)

Boil a pot of water with a generous pinch of salt. Meanwhile, start to cook your chicken in a large frying pan. Add pasta to boiling water. Chop your zuchinni and add to chicken. Lower the heat on the chicken pan so you don’t overcook it and have dry meat. At this point, add 2 tbsp of pesto. When your pasta is al dente, pour about 1/2 cup of the salty water into the chicken pan. Drain the rest of the pasta and add pasta to the chicken pan. Turn the heat up and let soak up the remainder of the water. Add remaining pesto. Serve!

Please excuse the steam!

May 3, 2011
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Beef Brisket BBQ Style

As you can imagine, after buying, boiling and shredding two pounds of beef brisket, we have a lot of leftovers. So if you’re going to make this recipe and don’t intend to have leftovers, feed a lot of people or don’t make quite as much.

What you’ll need –

Mix the BBQ sauce into the beef brisket and heat up on the stove on low. At the end, add in the scallions. Serve on a bun (or naked!) with steamed broccoli and spinach.

May 1, 2011
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Beef Brisket

It’s a little early for Cinco de Mayo, but I couldn’t resist making these – shredded beef with lime and avocado, posted by Saveur.

We changed the recipe a bit (halved it, minus the beef, which we reserved half for another recipe), and swapped jack cheese for cheddar cheese and chipotles for chiles.

I’ve never made beef brisket before and was pleasantly surprised by how easy it shredded!

We made this earlier in the day, and dinner time was a breeze.