Protein Waffles (that taste like cake!)

This is going to be a quick and dirty post. In my quest to boost my daily intake of protein, I combined several different recipes for waffles using protein powder and was so pleasantly surprised to learn that they taste like cake! Here’s how I did it:

 

In your blender, combine 1 cup of oats, not the quick cooking kind, not steel cut, just original Quaker Oats, with 2 tablespoons of chia seeds. Blend until it looks like flour. Pour this mixture into a large bowl. (Note: you could probably just buy oat flour and add chia seeds. Or leave the chia seeds out if you don’t want to buy them.)

Add the rest of the dry ingredients and mix well with a whisk. I suppose you could sift them together, but that is just one more item for the dish washer. Then add the wet ingredients (I didn’t bother to mix the wet ingredients separately before adding them to the dry). Generously spray your waffle iron with non-stick spray. I use the butter flavor kind. These do tend to stick, so don’t be shy about the spray. I have a Black & Decker square waffle iron and this made a little more than seven big waffles. For each square (so 1/4 of the big waffle), it’s 2 weight watchers points with 6.4g protein.

 

Ingredients

• 1 cup oats
• 2 tbsp chia seeds
• 3/4 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/4 cup cornstarch
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 8 scoops EAS Whey Protein Powder – Vanilla
• 2 large eggs
• 4 egg whites
• 2 cup low fat plain Kefir
• 2 cups low fat milk
• 4 tbsp melted butter

 

Shrimp Pasta Salad

There’s a reason I don’t call this recipe Pasta Salad with Shrimp. The shrimp is the star; it’s the best part.

I like to let everything but the pasta hang out in a large tupperware for a least an hour, shaking or stirring it around every ten minutes or so to let the ingredients really absorb the yumminess of the dressing. So I start with the dressing, which is essentially just a vinaigrette. Now, the hubby and I like these salad dressings more vinegary than oily, so feel free to adjust the proportions if you disagree. I pour a half cup of white wine vinegar into a large tupperware. I can’t stress enough the importance of using the biggest tupperware you have for two reasons: first, it allows you to make a huge batch because you will want a second helping and leftovers; second, you can shake shake shake the salad to evenly distribute the ingredients and make sure everything gets dressing and tastes delish. Next add in about a third of a cup of olive oil and whisk together.

Now, it’s time for the shrimp’s supporting actor: garlic. Now, most chefs and uppity home cooks would say that you should always chop, mince, etc your own garlic. And I agree sometimes. But for this, I like to use a jar of crushed garlic. It distributes itself much more evenly throughout the salad and you never risk biting down on a big chuck of uncooked garlic and scaring away your coworkers and loved ones with your gnarly breath. I add about a tablespoon from the jar into the dressing.

Are you ready to get your mind blown? This where you grate in a shallot or two. You want to use a citrus zester or microplane. You could use a box grater, but make sure to use the side with the smallest holes. And grate it directly over your tupperware so you don’t lose any of that yummy shallot juice. Don’t have shallots lying around? Can’t find them in your grocery store? Chop up two bunches of green onions. That was the original ingredient in my mom’s recipe, but I chefed it up a bit.

Next, a generous amount of salt and pepper. A two teaspoons of each, I’d say. You can always add more once your whole salad is assembled. Then I chop an entire bunch of parsley (minus the stems) and about six roma tomatoes and toss those in. Stir thoroughly to get all these guys acquainted.

Now for the shrimp. I buy cooked, frozen shrimp because there is so much less work involved and there’s no risk that I over cook it. You can cook your own and use any size you like. In this photo, you’ll see I used baby shrimp or shrimp meat. It’s what was cheapest. I’ve also done it with small and medium shrimp and I suppose you can use jumbo shrimp as well. Depending on your budget, get the shrimp is whatever state you like. The easiest for me is cooked, peeled, deveined, tail off shrimp. Just do what you have to do get your shrimp into this state of being. I used a two pound bag when I made this last night. I told you the shrimp was the star here.

So once you have all these ingredients mixed up and marinating, taste a piece of tomato. Is it delicious? Good. Could it use a little more of any of the dressing ingredients or salt or pepper? Add more. This is a very eyeball it kind of recipe. Now, this should be pretty saucy at this point so you have enough to coat your pasta, which will also absorb some of that yummy liquid as well. Last step here, shake some parmesan cheese over the top. Do not make the mistake of getting fancy parm. Trust me, the jar with the green lid from the pasta aisle is the best option for this. Now put the cover on your tupperware and shake shake shake. It should look like this:

Hungry yet?

Now put it in the fridge for at least an hour. Shake shake shake a few times. You know, whenever you open the fridge to pour yourself another glass of wine.

Now cook up some pasta. I use plain old traditional rotini, but you could use shells or penne or macaroni or another short cut pasta you like. I do not recommend trying to go healthy and use whole wheat pasta. I’ve tried it and it’s just not the same. But I suppose I can’t stop you from experimenting in your own kitchen. Just cook it according to the package directions. Don’t forget to salt your water. For two pounds of shrimp, I use about three quarters of a pound of pasta. But feel free to use more pasta or less shrimp depending on your mood that day.

Once you drain the pasta, add it directly into your cold tupperware with the tomatoes, shrimp, and sauce. Adding it in hot will help the pasta absorb the garlicy, shalloty, vinegary yumminess. Put the lid back on shake shake shake. Take the lid off and let this guy cool on your counter for about a half hour. Stirring or shake shake shaking occasionally. This lets the steam escape into your kitchen rather than diluting your salad and making it soggy. Once it’s cooled a bit, put the lid back on, give it one last shake, and throw it in the fridge to cool completely.

Now you could eat this the night you make it. But if you do, you’ll think “what’s the big deal? it’s good but not THAT great.” If you leave it in your fridge over night, you’ll be truly wowed when you finally dig in.

Shrimp Pata Salad

Ingredients

• White wine vinegar
• Olive oil
• Crushed garlic in a jar
• salt
• pepper
• 1-2 shallots or 2 bunches of green onions
• 1 bunch of parsley
• 6 roma tomatoes
• Parmesan cheese
• 2 lbs shrimp
• 3/4 lb short cut pasta

 

Braised Chicken Thighs with 40 Cloves of Garlic

 

 

Ingredients

• 40 large cloves garlic, unpeeled
• 8 large skin-on, bone-in chicken thighs
• Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
• 2 tablespoons EVOO
• 1 pound cremini mushrooms, thinly sliced
• 2 teaspoons dried or ground thyme
• 1/2 cup Marsala wine
• 3 to 4 cups chicken stock 
• 1 small bunch Tuscan kale or spinach, stemmed (if using kale, thinly slice)
• Ciabatta bread or sourdough, for mopping

 

The first ingredient to turn your attention to is the garlic. It is the star of this dish. Take 3 heads of garlic (I know, it’s a lot. Just trust me) and separate the cloves. Don’t bother peeling them or counting them. This should be about 40 cloves (hence the name). Place them in a small sauce pot and cover them with water. Bring the whole thing to a boil and let it bubble away for ten minutes. After ten minutes, pour off the water so your garlic can cool enough so you can handle it. I’ve been known to put mine in the freezer. Now, for the chicken.

Take 8 bone in, skin on chicken thighs (or four if you don’t want leftovers). Rinse and pat them dry. Lay them skin side up on a paper towel or cutting board and sprinkle generously with salt and pepper. Heat a thin coating of olive oil in an oven safe cast iron skillet over medium high heat. Oh, and preheat your oven to 400. Now, when the oil starts to ripple, it’s ready to give some love to your chicken. So lay it in, skin side down. I highly recommend using a pair of kitchen tongs for this. A spatula just isn’t gonna do it for ya. So, if you lay the first one down and it doesn’t start sizzling and spattering, take it out and wait for the oil to get hotter. Now sprinkle the side that’s facing up with salt and pepper. Not quite as generously as you did the first side.

So you’re going to let these hang for 7-8 minutes until the skin gets brown and a little crispy. When you try to move them with your tongs and they stick, they’re not ready. When they move easily, they’re telling you they’re ready. Yup, your chicken thighs are talking to you. So flip them over and brown the other side, about 5 minutes. Remember, you’re not cooking these all the way through. Just trying to get some good color on both sides.

Once side #2 is brown, remove all thighs to a plate. If there’s now a ton of fat in your skillet, pour a little out, but make sure you still have a nice coating on the bottom of your skillet. Add in at least a pound of sliced mushrooms. You can use plain white button mushrooms, but I recommend criminis (baby bellas). I’m sure you could also use fancier mushrooms, but I’ve never tried that. Do not salt them yet, but add in a teaspoon or so of dried or ground thyme. Poultry seasoning or an Italian seasoning blend will also work.

While those are browning, put the garlic cloves out of their jackets. This should be fairly easy since they’ve boiled and are nice and soft. The garlicy-ness has also mellowed, so your hands won’t smell like garlic for the next couple days. If some of them squish, don’t worry about it.

Once your mushrooms have browned, add just a little sprinkle of salt. Now deglaze with about a half a cup of marsala wine. I use cooking marsala, but if you want to use the real thing, go right ahead. Now scrape up all the yummy brown chicken and mushroom bits with a wooden spoon (or your tongs if you don’t want to clean another utensil). Let the marsala cook out and reduce a bit. Add in your garlic cloves.

Slide your chicken thighs back in to the skillet crispy skin side up, nestling them into the mushrooms a little. Now pour in some reduced sodium chicken stock (from a box or homemade) in between the thighs, being careful not to pour it over your chicken skin and make it soggy. Fill your skillet, leaving the chicken skin exposed.

Move the entire skillet into the oven, uncovered, for 35 to 40 minutes. Enjoy a glass of wine. With about 15 minutes of cooking time left, throw some sourdough bread in the oven.

Once the chicken has cooked through, take it out of the oven. Remove your thighs to a (clean) plate and cover loosely with foil. Place the skillet back on the stove on medium heat and let the sauce reduce. Just for about five minutes. Now, you could wilt in some spinach or kale into the sauce. Or not. Either way, this will be delicious.

I recommend serving in a shallow bowl with plenty of sauce and a couple of slices of bread to mop up all those delicious juices. Yum yum! Enjoy!

 

Pizza Burgers

I haven’t been doing a great job of keep up with this blog. However, when I posted on Facebook and Instagram that I was making Pizza Burgers, I got a few requests for the recipe. I’m so happy to tell you that these are SO easy! You can go all out making your own pizza dough and marinara sauce or buy both at the store.

This creation was inspired by my “friend” Jeff Mauro, The Sandwich King when he made Pepperoni Pizza Burger Bombas on his show a couple of weeks ago.

So here we go! Are you ready for how easy this is?

So while your dough is rising and resting (you can use the recipe below or buy pre-made dough), make your burgers. Lots of flexibility for fun and creativity with the actual burgers. You can really do whatever you like. Start with ground turkey, ground pork, ground beef, whatever floats your boat. You can add Worcestershire sauce, grated onion, garlic, spices, pesto, the sky is the limit! Just start out with 1 pound of ground meat and make four equally sized burgers. Now grill them. Or cook them up in a skillet. Just make sure they are cooked very close to the temperature you want them. Remember, if you’re using ground turkey or chicken, cook them all the way through so you don’t get salmonella and die. Once they’re cooked, put them on a paper towel to soak up some of that extra juice so your crust doesn’t get soggy in the oven, which should be preheating to 550 degrees WITH your baking sheet or pizza stone inside. This is important for a crispy crust.

Cut your one pound of dough in half, then half again so you have four equal pieces. Please note: if you use my recipe below, you’ll have enough for eight of these. So either half the dough recipe, or use twice the amount of ground meat for 8 burger patties, or freeze half the dough to use for pizza or calzones within about two weeks. I use bread flour for crispy crust, but all purpose flour or whole wheat flour work just as well, but you’ll get a chewier crust.

Okay, so either roll each dough ball into a circle of doughy goodness or shape it with your hands. I just shaped it with my hands, kind of like turning a very fragile steering wheel. You want each circle to be about an inch or so wider on all sides than your burger patty.

Now to build these little guys. Start with a slice of your cheese. Any cheese you like. I used mozzarella but anything could work.  Cheese on the bottom? Isn’t that backwards? A little, but it will protect the bottom of the crust from getting soggy. Next, add a thin layer of your topping. I used four to five slices of turkey pepperoni, but you could do sauteed mushrooms with carmelized onions and blue cheese, or anything really. Just nothing too wet. Have I mentioned you don’t want soggy dough?

Put your burger patty on top of that. Now put about a tablespoon or so of marinara sauce on that. Or pesto, or garlic sauce. Again, be creative. Just don’t use too much sauce. Avoid the sogginess.

And now, another layer of cheese and toppings. Don’t over stuff these. As much as you don’t want soggy crust, you don’t want the crust to break and spill its insides when in the oven.

Lastly, carefully wrap the dough around the whole shootin’ match as though you were making a dumpling. I know, I’ve never made a dumpling either, but you can see from the picture that you want to gather the dough on the top of the burger, completely enveloping it. Brush the tops with a little olive oil and into the oven they go! Just about 8 minutes until the cheese is melted (since you can’t see the cheese, just trust that it’s melting in there) and the crust is nice and golden (you should be able to tell by looking at it, unlike the cheese situation).

When you take these out of the oven, let them rest for a good 20 minutes. It’ll be tough, but you a) don’t want to burn your tongue and b) you want the cheese to firm up a little bit so it’s not a super gooey mess when you bite in.

You might want to consider serving these with extra sauce on the side, since you didn’t use much inside the burger.

And enjoy!

Pizza Dough Recipe

Ingredients3 1/2 to 4 cups bread flour, plus more for rolling
1 teaspoon sugar
1 tablespoon instant dry yeast (or one packet if you don’t buy it in bulk like I do)
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 1/2 cups warm water
2 tablespoons olive oil, plus more for coating your bowl

Directions

Combine the bread flour, sugar, yeast and kosher salt in the bowl of a stand mixer and combine. While the mixer is running, add the water and 2 tablespoons of the oil and beat until the dough forms into a ball. If the dough is sticky, add additional flour, 1 tablespoon at a time, until the dough comes together in a solid ball. If the dough is too dry, add additional water, 1 tablespoon at a time. Scrape the dough onto a lightly floured surface and gently knead into a smooth, firm ball. Alternately, you can use your dough hook to knead the dough, which is what I do.

Grease the mixing bowl with olive oil, add the dough back in, and cover with plastic wrap or a clean kitchen towel. Put this in a warm area to let it double in size, about 1 hour. When in doubt, let it rise longer. Better to slightly over rise than under rise. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and divide it into 2 equal pieces. Cover each with a clean kitchen towel or plastic wrap and let them rest for 10 minutes.

As I mentioned, if you’re making four 1/4 pound burgers, freeze half the dough. Just make sure you use it within two weeks. Or make eight burgers using 2 pounds total of ground meat.

Breakfast Cupcakes

I saw a similar recipe for these on Pinterest awhile back and was reminded that I wanted to try it out last week. My wonderful husband gets up at 4:30 in the morning for his new job (okay, we’re almost three months in, but it still feels new) and so obviously doesn’t have the time for a leisurely breakfast. And his days are usually so hectic that he frequently doesn’t even have time to stop for lunch and arrives home cranky and hungry.

So wonderful wife that I am, I set out to make him an nice, portable. make-ahead breakfast that doesn’t need to be warmed up that he can eat on the drive to work. and BAM, breakfast cupcakes were born.

 

These were super easy. Here’s how it goes:

Take a muffin tin and spray it with non-stick cooking spray. Or buy a non-stick muffin tin, which is what I did. Place two slices of ham in each little cup and form an adorable little bowl. Or you can use turkey, or chicken, or any cold cuts really. I’ve seen my friend Pioneer Woman do this with hash browns, but I feel like those would be a bit more messy to try to eat behind the wheel.

Now sautee some veggies for some nutrients and fiber. I wouldn’t recommend using tomatoes, too watery. But hey, do what you feel. I used onions and an assortment of bell peppers. And I think next time I’ll surprise him with some raw jalapenos. That’ll wake him up!

Now, while those are cooling, crack a bunch of eggs in a bowl and season with salt and pepper. and other things if that floats your boat. I did 12 cupcakes and 9 eggs were plenty. So you can do that algebra based on how many cupcakes you’re making.

Hint: 9/12 = number of eggs/number of cupcakes

Better hint: multiply your number of cupcakes by .75 and that’s how many eggs you’ll use. I recommend you round up to the nearest whole number.

Okay, so beat your eggs like you’re making scrambled eggs (the right way, not by cracking the eggs into a frying pan and then scrambling them with your spatula. Not that I ever do that…) I supposed you can add milk if you want to stretch your egg budget. I’m not going to do that math for you though. I recommend you do this in a large measuring cup or other vessel with a pour spout.

Once your veggies have cooled, add a little to the bottom of each little ham bowl. then pour your eggs over that, filling each little ham bowl. Don’t let them overflow, you want the eggs contained in the little ham bowl. And leave room for cheese if you plan on adding it. I sprinkled just a bit on top of each one.

Now bake at 350* for 20 minutes. Have a glass of wine and hang out with your friend Rachael watch an episode of 30 Minute Meals to reward yourself for being such an awesome wife. Or clean up with kitchen. Whichever sounds better to you.

Once they’ve baked and you have a nice buzz goin’ on from that wine, let them cool a bit in the muffin tin. Maybe 5-7 minutes. And then move them to a platter, plate, or your hopefully clean counter top to cool completely before popping two each in sandwich sized Ziplock bags for your hubby. Or for yourself. Or your kids. Or you dog. This is important. If they are still warm when you seal up those baggies and put them in the fridge, the steam will condense back into water and make your cupcakes soggy. And no one wants that.

 

Mexican Chicken Pot Pie

Let’s face it, we can only do so much with chicken. At least I can only do so much with it. I’m not the most creative person. But in trying to plan a menu for the week that will not require a trip to the grocery store, I discovered a treasure trove of chicken in various forms in the depths of my freezer. “Hmm,” I said to myself, “what can I do with chicken that’s not the same old same old boring thing?”  “Well,” I responded to myself, “my friend Rachael Ray is always making various versions of pot pies. That could be good.” So I set out to find a recipe on the interwebs. I found your standard recipes, celery, carrots, onions, chicken, gravy. Blah. How do I spice this up? Hmm, let’s make it spicy with a Tex-Mexy twist. More googling happened. I found several yummy recipes, took them apart and put the pieces I liked together to create this yummy Southwest Chicken Pot Pie!

 

Fair warning, this will require some clean up. Lots of different components that will need different pots, bowls, etc. Now, of course you can go the easy route and buy a rotisserie chicken, strip it of its meat and use boxed chicken stock or even a gravy mix. And had it been a weeknight, that’s the road I would have taken. But it was a lazy Sunday with little else to do so I went all out.

 

So first you’re going to take two large chicken breasts, bone-in and skin-on and poach them. In plain water? No no, we’re making our own chicken stock for this dish! In a pot large enough to hold all of this goodness, throw in one medium onion, halved with the hairy root end in tact for easy removal, two bay leaves, one carrot and one rib of celery, each cut into big chunks, one jalapeno, halved (remove the seeds or leave out completely if you like it more mild) and one lime, halved. Oh and a smashed garlic clove and some salt and peppercorns. Nestle your chicken in there and fill with water until just covered. Bring to a boil and then reduce the heat to a lower simmer. Let it all hang out on your stove for about 40 minutes.

 

Remove your chicken breasts and strain the solids out of your stock. I did all this mid-morning and put the stock in the fridge so the fat would rise to the top and I could easily skim it off. Once your chicken breasts have cooled, remove the skin and all the bones, cut or tear the meat up into bite sized pieces.

 

Meanwhile, chop some potatoes into bite sized pieces, cover in a pot with salted water, boil. Until they are fork tender. Drain and set aside.

 

Now it’s veggie time. In your largest skillet, heat some olive oil or butter and add the following: one diced medium onion, two chopped carrots, two ribs of chopped celery, two or three cloves of minced, crushed or grated garlic, and the kernels of one ear of corn (or a cup and a half of frozen corn). Season with salt and pepper and sautee until soft. These aren’t going to cook much in the oven, so make sure they’re cooked to your liking. I like soft veggies, so I let them hang out quite a bit. At this point, I added my potatoes and hit the whole shootin’ match with a little white wine. I don’t think this made a difference in flavor, but who knows.

 

Okay, gravy time. You can either do this right in the skillet with your veggies or in a separate pot. I did a separate pot because I always either end up with lumps or watery gravy. So, in a sauce pan, melt 4 tablespoons of butter and whisk in four tablespoons of flour. Let this cook a bit, you know the drill. Then whisk in a little milk. I probably used a quarter of a cup since we aren’t big on dairy heavy sauces at Casa Garcia. Then whisk in about two cups of your homemade stock. Sound like boring ol’ gravy? Wait, there’s more! Add a few spoonfulls  of the adobo sauce from a can of chipotle in adobo and one or two of the peppers, chopped of course. Now, do this to your level of spiciness. You can play around with seeding the peppers, using just the sauce, whatever you need to do.

 

Pour the gravy over your veggies, add the chicken and mix it until it’s all combined. You could stop here if you wanted to. It would be a delicious meal. But this is not where I recommend you stop. Pour this mixture into a big casserole dish and set it aside.

 

In a medium sized bowl, combine two cups of Bisquick with a cup of milk and a cup of grated cheese. I used Monterey Jack but I think cheddar would also be good. Whatever you think would be delicious. Or you could skip the cheese (but why would you skip cheese??). Stir this together until it resembles biscuit dough. Now dot the top of your casserole with the dough. You could try using two spoons, but I found it really worked best with my (clean) fingers. Make sure to get an even coating on top, not too thick or it will take forever to cook.

 

Pop this into a 425 degree oven for about twenty minutes until the biscuits on top are cooked. We leave ours a little on the under done side because we like the extra gooeyness. But do what you feel is best.

 

And serve! Now some variations for your consideration:

• individual servings in little ramekins
• use puff pastry instead of biscuit dough
• anything else you can think of!

 

 

 (Photo courtesy of Rachael Ray and Food Network)

Poached Chicken

 

• 3 pieces chicken breast, bone-in, skin on
• 1 medium onion, halved
• 1 carrot,  cut into thick pieces
• 1 rib celery, coarsely chopped
• 1 jalapeno pepper, halved
• 1 lime, sliced
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 clove garlic, smashed
• Salt
• Pepper corns

Vegetables

• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 2 carrots, peeled and chopped
• 2 ribs celery, coarsely chopped
• 1 cup corn scraped from cob or defrosted kernels
• 1-2 potatoes, chopped
• White wine

 

Gravy

• 4 tablespoons butter
• 4 tablespoons flour
• Splash of milk, half and half, or cream
• Chicken stock from poaching
• Chipotle in adobo sauce

Biscuit Topping

• 2 cups Bisquick
• 1 cup milk
• ½ – 1 cup cheese of your choice

 

 

---

 

Preparation

Place chicken in a pot with halved onion, carrot chunks, celery, jalapeno, lime slices, bay leaves, crushed garlic, salt and peppercorns and just enough water to cover. Bring to a boil then reduce heat to a low simmer and poach 40 minutes. Remove solids and reduce stock over high heat for 10 minutes.

Preheat oven to 425ºF.

Remove skin and bones from chicken and slice or pull into bite-sized pieces.

Cut potatoes into bite sized pieces, cover in a stock pot with water. Boil until fork tender, drain and set aside.

Heat butter or olive oil in large skillet over medium high heat, add chopped onions, carrots, garlic and corn, and cook to tender, 10 minutes or so.  Add potatoes and white wine. Cook until wine reduces.

Melt 4 tablespoons of butter in a separate sauce pan, Add flour and stir 1-2 minutes. Whisk in about 2 cups of the reduced stock then add milk and chipotle. Taste and adjust the chipotle, salt and pepper. Pour over vegetables, add chicken and mix to combine. Transfer to a large casserole dish.

Combine Bisquick, milk and cheese and dot the top of the casserole with the dough in an even, thin layer.

Bake at 425 for twenty minutes until biscuit topping is cooked through.

Enjoy!

 

 

Italian Sausage, Mushroom and Red Bell Pepper Risotto

Risotto is one of those things that sounds scary, like it would be a lot of work and take a lot of time. At least that’s how I felt until I tried it. I’m not gonna lie, my first attempt was a total failure. The rice had almost no flavor, was still a little crunchy al dente, and not at all creamy. What did I do wrong? Well, problem number one was that I chose a recipe that called for saffron. I had no saffron so I left it out. Bad move. Problem number two – I didn’t stir enough.

A couple of weeks ago, I took a deep breath, chose a different recipe (one that I had all the ingredients for) and tried again. Success! But being the good scientist that I am, I knew I would need to repeat these results in order to declare permanent victory over risotto. And I did last night. Here’s how it went:

Start by browning half a pound of sausage. You can choose what you like best. I found that using hot Italian sausage made for a super spicy final product, so I will probably tone it down by using a sweet sausage next time.  I drained most of the fat once the meat was browned, but if you like greasy, fatty food, by all means, leave it in. Throw in chopped onion, a good amount of garlic, sliced mushrooms and a diced bell pepper. Salt and pepper of course. Be careful with your salt though, sausage has a good amount, so be sparing with it until you know what you’re dealing with.

Side note: this little contraption is a BIG helper in the kitchen when lots of chopping needs to happen. For this, I knew I was going to be standing at the stove for about 30 minutes stirring this stuff, so I didn’t want to spend even more time at the counter chopping. Get one. Immediately.

Once the veggies were nice and tender, it’s time to add in your rice. Now, when shopping for rice for risotto you might notice you can’t find anything labeled “risotto” in the grocery store. That’s because technically risotto is the cooking method, not the name of the rice. So get Arborio rice. It’s a short grain rice that does especially well when cooked this way. Stir the rice around, getting it nice a coated with the fat from the sausage and to toast up a bit. Then it’s time to hit it with some wine. No one’s ever explained to me why this is the first step, but I think it’s to get the rice a little drunk before you whip the bejesus out of it for the next half hour. Or for flavor. Who really knows? So stir and stir while the wine reduced, until it’s almost gone.

Now, this part gets repetitive and tiring. From a pot of simmering chicken stock (stock MUST be warm, do not cheat and use cold stock straight from the box), add a few ladles of stock and stir. And stir and stir and stir until the stock is almost gone. And repeat again and again and again. About two thirds of the way through, I had my sous chef husband take over the stirring. Under careful supervision of course. So you’re going to do this until the rice is cooked. About thirty minutes. When I think it’s done, I taste a little bit to be sure. I’m never right on the first try. Or the second.

So now your rice is cooked and delicious and it’s gotten pretty creamy looking, even though you didn’t add any dairy products. Weird right? Nope, this is from all the yummy starches from the rice. All that stirring is what made this happen. Think you’re done now? NOPE!

This last step is key. Sure what you have in the pot right now tastes delicious and you think “what difference is this last step really going to make?” The answer: a big one. Because we’re going to add butter and cheese. Just a tablespoon of two of butter, cut into little cubes and a handful of parmesan. And then stir really fast and with renewed vigor. This is called “mantecare,” which means “whip.”

Now you’re done! Serve in a shallow bowl with some chopped parsley to garnish and enjoy!

 

Italian Sausage, Mushroom and Red Bell Pepper Risotto

Ingredients

• 8 oz sausage (bulk or with casings removed)
• ½ onion, chopped
• 12 oz mushrooms, sliced (your favorite variety)
• 1 red bell pepper, seeded and diced
• 1-2 cloves garlic, grated or crushed
• 1 ½ cup Arborio rice
• ¾ cup white wine
• 5-6 cups chicken stock, warmed
• 2 tablespoons butter
• Handful parmesan cheese
• Salt, pepper and parsley to taste

Brown sausage in a large stock pot, drain excess grease. Add onion, garlic, bell pepper and mushrooms and sauté until tender. Add salt and pepper to taste. Add in rice and stir to coat, approximately 5 minutes until rice is toasted.

Add in wine and stir until mostly evaporated. Add stock, half a cup or so at a time, stirring until it is almost gone each time. Repeat until rice is cooked and tender. Stir very frequently, if not constantly. Lastly, add in butter and parmesan and stir vigorously until melted.

Serve in shallow bowls, garnish with chopped parsley (optional)

Sausage and Pepper Burgers

I have a great recipe for sausage and peppers, but it’s really heavy. So to lighten it up, I made burgers that taste like sausage and peppers.

Now, most people would start this process with ground meat. This is a mistake. Start with an onion and a couple of cloves of garlic. Using a hand held grater or zester, grate them into your burger mixing bowl, 2-3 cloves of garlic and a few tablespoons worth of onion. Okay, I suppose you could put the meat in the bowl first and grate these in on top. But for me, meat is the last thing to arrive at this party.

It’s important to hold your grater directly over the bowl so all those yummy oniony juices end up in your burger and not on your cutting board. Now, do the same with a bell pepper (take the seeds out first). This photo was taken before my genius epiphany about the pepper, but you get the point.

 

Then we’re going to add some spice to make this burger taste like a sausage, but with way less fat. Toss in some oregano, chili powder, paprika, dried sage and ground fennel. It’s up to you how much of each depending on your tastes, but I use 2-3 tsps of each. And kosher salt and ground black pepper of course. Now, I can never find ground fennel so…

Now to make the burger nice and airy, add in some panko. Or not. It’s really up to you. And add in your meat. I use ground beef with a relatively low fat content. And mix it up. With your hands. You know that’s the best way to combine everything properly. Make sure everything is distributed evenly throughout your meat, but try not to over work it.

Now form some patties, drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle a little kosher salt and grill them up!

Think we’re done? Oh no no, we still need to top these babies. Slice the rest of the onion you grated, and possibly one more, depending on how much you want on your burger and how many burgers you’re making. Do the same with bell pepper (your choice of color). Or if you’re feeling crazy, you can use an anaheim chile or cubanelle pepper. Saute until they are done to your liking. Top your burger with them, followed by a slice of cheese. Provolone, mozerella, whatever you have.

And no, there are no pictures of the later steps in the game. Because I was hungry and they were delicious.

 

 

Shrimp Scampi

So last week (yes, I’ve been sitting on this post for a while), I made Shrimp Scampi from a recipe I saw on 30 Minute Meals with my friend Rachael Ray. And yes, I timed myself. Because I always think “Sure Rachael, you can do this in 30 minutes because you have a crew and commercial breaks to hide things that take up more time” But it took 24 minutes, start to finish. That’s right, a delicious carby meal that was easy, not a lot of chopping, and is ready in half an hour.

In your pasta pot (oh yeah, it’s a one pot meal, easy clean up!), heat two to three tablespoons of olive oil. Now, stay with me here. Add in some anchovies. Not a lot, just six or so. I know, you don’t like anchovies. They gross you out. They’re fishy and sliming and weird. I felt the same way but decided to try them once in a different recipe. Here’s the thing, they dissolve in hot olive oil. Not completely, you can see that there’s something there. But when you cook them up this way, they don’t taste fishy anymore, just salty with an intriguing nutty flavor. Or you could skip them. Wuss.

So when your anchovies have dissolved, turn the heat down a little (or just warm up some plain boring oil) and add in red pepper flakes and a ton of garlic. Cook until fragrant. The garlic, not the anchovies (which by the way I conveniently forget to tell my husband about). Add in some fresh parsley and oregano, I usually use dried but if you have fresh that’s even better.

Next add some dry white wine and let it reduce. Throw in some butter. Cuz it’s scampi

Pour in some chicken stock and about half as much water. You don’t want this too chicken-y, you know. And bring it to a boil. Once it’s boiling, add in your pasta. I used whole wheat linguini, but do what you feel is right. Cook with the lid off so it can reduce and get yummy. When your pasta is about half way cooked, add in your shrimp. You want these cleaned (obviously) and shelled and I prefer mine with their tails off. Cook until the shrimpies are firm and have just turned opaque. Do not overcook these guys because they get tough and chewy.

Now throw in the zest and juice of one lemon. Or more if you’re like me and love that lemony flavor. And some freshly torn basil, salt and pepper.

I recommend serving this with tongs, straight from the pot to a shallow bowl. You don’t want to drain it because that broth is so good, but you don’t want soup in your bowl either. And that’s it. You can also have some bread on hand to soak up the broth in the bottom of your bowl if that’s how you roll. Do what you feel is right.

 

Ingredients

• 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 6 anchovies
• 6 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• 2 stems oregano, leaves stripped and finely chopped
• A generous handful flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
• 1 cup dry white wine
• 3 tablespoons butter, cut into small pieces
• 1 quart chicken stock
• 2 cups water
• 2 1/2 pounds large shrimp, peeled and deveined
• 1 pound linguini
• 1 lemon
• 1 cup basil leaves, about 20, torn
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper

 

Directions

Heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add anchovies, garlic and crushed pepper to the pan and cook until anchovies melt into oil, a couple of minutes. Add herbs and wine and reduce for 1 minute then melt butter into sauce. Add stock and water to the pan and bring to a boil. Stir in the shrimp and pasta and reduce heat to medium. Simmer uncovered for 7 to 8 minutes until pasta is al dente and shrimp are firm. Stir in zest and juice of 1 lemon and basil, season with salt and pepper to your taste. Serve directly from pan with hot, crusty bread.

Teriyaki Steak with Green Beans and Mushrooms

Sorry in advance to you non-meat eaters and mushroom haters. You know who you are…

Last night was a special treat in Layla’s Kitchen. It was steak night. We very rarely eat red meat for cholesterol and budget reasons, but it was on sale and we decided to splurge! Having lived in Asia for four years, my mom is a practically a professional at making teriyaki marinade and taught me and my sister how at a very young age. It’s bascially second nature to us all at this point. Here’s how I make it, it’s a very scientific process, so pay close attention and take notes.

I start with a tupperware large enough to fit the meat and I pour enough soy sauce in to cover the beautiful beast. You can slightly health this up by using low sodium soy sauce or using half soy sauce half water, or both if you’re feeling crazy. Then I pour in lemon juice and lime juice until I feel limey and lemony enough for my liking. Next, I throw in a huge scoop of crushed ginger from a jar (but you can grate your own if you’re feeling fancy) and a huge scoop of minced garlic from a jar (but you can mince up actual garlic if you’re feeling extra fancy). Now, here’s the really tricky part. Ready? Chop up an onion. My preference is a red onion, but if we don’t have any a yellow one works just as well. Even green onions have been known to make it into my teriyaki sauce.

Now some people put honey or pineapple or brown sugar into their teriyaki sauce for some sweetness to offset the saltiness. Feel free to do that, but it’s not how I roll.

And that’s it. Stir it up little darlin’ stir it up and stick your meat in. Let it hang out for a few hours, a few days, whatever you have time for. Obviously the longer it sets the better it gets (or so my friend Rachael Ray says). My husband grilled this one, but you can cook yours however you like.

This looks rarer than it actually was. Must be the lighting

To go along with this beauty, I cooked up some green beans with mushrooms. It was super easy and not fancy. I chopped up a few handfuls of green beans into bite size pieces since I don’t like to leave them long, that’s just craziness. I threw them into a skillet on medium high with a little olive oil and let them cook for a minute, then I added half a contrainer of sliced crimini mushrooms. Salt and pepper people, season every layer. Then I chopped up an onion and threw that in as well. I then sprinkled in a little garlic powder, dried basil, dried oregano and a pinch of red pepper flakes for kick. Then I let the whole shootin’ match hang out covered on relatively low heat. I like my veggies really cooked, but you can go a little al dente if that’s more your style. My plan was to get a picture of the leftovers but…