Parmesan Risotto with Asparagus and Lemon

I absolutely love risotto!  I cooked risotto for the first time a few weeks ago and I think I have made it at least 6 different ways already.  Risotto is a technique that involves cooking rice in broth until it reaches an amazing creamy consistency through constant stirring.  It is a bit labor intensive but DEFINITELY worth it.

You can cook risotto in most pots.  I have made it in my stainless steel sauce pan and saute pan but I have had the best results making it in my Le Crueset dutch oven.  I like the large cooking surface with the high walls so it is harder to lose the rice while stirring constantly.

Saute the shallot for a few minutes and add the garlic in at the last minute since garlic can burn a lot faster than shallot.  You can use an onion if you have that on hand, I prefer the mellower flavor of shallot so I almost always have them in my kitchen.  Make sure you salt and pepper during this step to start building flavor early.  Continue to salt and pepper at each step to continue to build the flavor in this dish.

Add the rice, cook just long enough to toast the rice.  Be sure not to burn the rice

Add 1/2 cup white wine.  Begin stirring the rice, continue to cook until the wine has been absorbed.
Add 1/2 cup of stock, stir until mostly absorbed and add another 1/2 cup of stock and continue to cook until the rice reaches a creamy consistency.  One thing I learned after I cooked this dish for the 2nd time is the difference between stock and broth and its importance to this dish.  When you slowly add broth to the rice, the rice releases starches that give the rice the creamy texture that risotto is famous for.   The risotto is not quite to the desired consistency here since it is still liquidy.

 The first time I made risotto, I used broth and it turned out fine but the 2nd time, I used stock and the consistency of the rice was so much better.  The reason: stock is made from the bony parts of the chicken which adds a richer flavor as well as provides more of a thicker, creamier consistency.

Add the asparagus in with the last 1/2 of broth.  When I last made this, I added  zest since I had a lemon on hand.  The lemon flavor really brought out the rest of the flavors I think I will  use lemon when I make this variation going forward.  

Ingredient Count: 8 (I only had to buy 3)

Parmesan Risotto with lemon and Asparagus
2 Tbsp. olive oil
1 shallot, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 1/2 cups arborio rice
1/2 cup white wine
1 quart chicken stock
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
1 bunch asparagus, chopped into 1 in pieces
1 lemon, zested
Salt and pepper, to taste

In a large saucepan, heat olive oil over medium heat.  add the shallot, saute for about 2 minutes.  Once the shallot is translucent, add the garlic and saute for another minute.

Add the rice to the pan and stir.  Cook until there is a slightly nutty aroma.

Add the wine and cook until the liquid is fully absorbed.  Add 1/2 cup of stock at a time to the rice until fully absorbed.

Add the asparagus, lemon zest with the last 1/2 cup of stock , stir until the stock is absorbed.  Remove from heat, stir in 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese.  Serve immediately.

Variations

There are so many different ways to serve risotto.  I have added green beans, bell peppers, carrots, leeks, fennel, peas and list goes on and on...  You can even add chicken pieces and create a one pot meal which is even better :)


Risotto with chicken, bell peppers and green beans

Chicken Enchiladas

I am not usually one for New Years Resolutions but I figure I'd give it a try this year.  My resolution this year is to blog more so be prepared to hear from me a lot more than 2015.  One big perk of blogging more is I need to cook more and therefore EAT more!! :)  It also means I need to keep cooking a variety of different recipes so I'd figured I'd start this year out with a recipe I had never tried before: Chicken Enchiladas.  If you have read this blog or have seen my Instagram, you can tell I love Mexican food, but I have never made enchiladas before.  And to challenge myself even more I decided to make my own enchilada sauce as well instead of buying a can.  I can tell you, although there was little effort involved, it was well worth the effort.  The sauce added just the right amount of kick to the dish and my husband absolutely loved it (even though he had another pot to clean because of it).

One thing I really enjoyed about these enchiladas as opposed to others I have had in the past is their freshness.  Although in essence it is still a meat filled tortilla covered in sauce and cheese, using chicken (instead of beef) and adding the green pepper and corn provide the dish a good balance between light and heavy foods.  That being said, I was still only able to eat one enchilada for dinner.

You might think that making enchiladas is complicated, but it really is not as long as you remain organized and set up your prep station ahead of time.

 Flour and oil mixture

 Flour, oil, chili powder, garlic powder and cayenne

 Enchilada Sauce simmering

 Green pepper, corn, sour cream and chicken mixture

 One of my husband's enchiladas... he is not a fan of green peppers

Ingredient Count: 15  (I only had to buy 7)

Enchilada Sauce

• 3 Tbsp. vegetable oil 
• 1 Tbsp. flour 
• 1/8 cup chili powder 
• 1/2 Tbsp. garlic powder
• 1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
• 2 cups chicken broth 
• 5 oz. tomato paste 
• 1 tsp. dried oregano 
• 1 tsp. ground cumin 
• 1/2 tsp. salt 

In a medium saucepan heat oil, add flour. Cook for 1 minute. Add chili powder, garlic powder and cayenne pepper, cook for 30 seconds. Add stock, tomato paste, oregano, and cumin and salt. Stir to combine. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low and cook for 20 minutes, or until thick.

• 2 (6-oz) boneless skinless chicken breasts 
• 1 Tbsp olive oil 
• 1 green bell pepper, thinly sliced crosswise 
• 1 cup frozen corn kernels 
• 1/2 cup sour cream 
• 1 Tbsp. fresh cilantro, chopped 
• 2 ½ cups(s) Colby Jack cheese or taco blend cheese
• 3 Green onions, chopped
• 4 medium flour tortillas, microwaved on high until pliable 
• Salt and Pepper

Heat oven to 450°F. Fill a medium saucepan with water.  Bring to a boil and salt the water. Add the chicken, reduce heat and simmer until cooked through, 10 to 12 minutes. Transfer to a plate and let cool; shred.

Meanwhile, heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the green pepper, and 1/4 tsp  salt and pepper; cook,until tender, 5 to 6 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in the corn and sour cream. Add the chicken, cilantro, hot sauce 1/2 cup of the cheese.

Spread 1/2 of the enchilada sauce on the bottom of the baking dish. Roll the chicken mixture in the tortillas tightly and place seam side down in the dish. Continue to do this until the dish is full.  Top with the remaining sauce and cheese. Bake until beginning to brown, 8 to 10 minutes.  Garnish with remaining cilantro and green onions.  Serve on its own or over rice

Crispy Mustard Chicken courtesy of Ina Garten

This recipe is a rarity for me.  Usually after I try a recipe for the first time, I tweak something to better suit my tastes but this is one of the few recipes I have not made a single change to because it is absolutely perfect and I am giving Ina Garten, queen of the Hampton's and Chambray shirts, all the credit.  The only I do change is the proportions since I have no use for eight chicken pieces for 2 people.

I think what I love most about this dish is its simple elegance.  The recipe only calls for a few ingredients (most of which I keep in my kitchen) so it is a great go to dish for a last minute dinner party especially since it is very scalable and all of the cooking is done in the oven so you are not stuck in the kitchen until dinner is ready.

Ingredient Count: 7 (I only needed to buy 3)

Ingredients
2 cloves garlic
1/2 tbsp minced fresh thyme leaves
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 cups panko (Japanese bread flakes)
1/2 tbsp grated lemon zest (1 lemon)
1 ttbsp good olive oil
1 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
1/4 cup Dijon mustard, such as Grey Poupon
1/4 cup dry white wine
4 chicken thighs (You can use any skin on chicken pieces that you like)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Place the garlic, thyme, 2 teaspoons salt, and 1 teaspoon pepper in a food processor fitted with the steel blade and process until the garlic is finely minced. Add the panko, lemon zest, olive oil, and butter and pulse a few times to moisten the bread flakes. Pour the mixture onto a large plate. In a shallow bowl, whisk together the mustard and wine.

Pat the chicken dry with paper towels. Sprinkle generously all over with salt and pepper. Dip each piece in the mustard mixture to coat on all sides, and then place skin-side down only into the crumb mixture, pressing gently to make the crumbs adhere. Place the chicken on a sheet pan crumb-side up. Press the remaining crumbs on the chicken pieces.

Bake the chicken for 40 minutes. Raise the heat to 400 degrees F and bake for another 10 minutes, until the crumbs are browned and the chicken is cooked through.

The best thing about this chicken is it can be served with anything, rice, couscous, green beans, asparagus... it goes with anything.

Whether you are cooking this on a random weeknight or for guests, do as Ina does and pour yourself a glass of white wine pretend you are in your Hampton's beach house and enjoy.

Chicken with Rustic Apple Sauce

After an absolutely crazy summer, I am finally back to blogging.  While I have been cooking and trying new recipes throughout the summer, it has been very hard to find the time to write and I thought what better way to jump back into writing than sharing one of my favorite new fall recipes.  I developed this recipe from a combination of other recipes I have seen or have tried in the past.  I love apples and have cooked with them in past with pork but I have never paired them with chicken.  This recipe uses the same technique for cooking chicken thighs as the Garlic Chicken Thighs recipe but instead of a wine sauce, I substituted an apple sauce with fresh apples.

This recipe turned out amazing and tasted like Fall.  The chicken pairs perfectly with a white or brown rice.

So put on your chunky sweater and boots, drink a pumpkin spice latte while picking for apples for this perfect fall recipe. #whitegirlslovefall

Honeycrisp apples

4 chicken thighs, bone-in/skin on
2 Tbsp. olive oil
1/2 medium yellow onion
1/4 cup white wine
3/4 cup apple cider
3/4 cup chicken stock
2 apples, cored, quartered and sliced (I prefer honeycrisp apples)
1/2 tsp. fresh thyme leaves
1/4 cup heavy cream
1/2 tsp. dijon mustard
Salt and freshly ground pepper
1 cup white or brown rice

Preheat oven to 375 F

Dry chicken thighs well and season chicken with salt and pepper.  Heat olive oil over medium high heat in an ovenproof saute pan.  Once oil is hot, add the chicken skin side down (do not flip).  Once the skin is a golden brown color, about 4 minutes, remove from pan.

Turn the heat down to medium and add the onions and cook until they are lightly browned. Add the white wine.  Cook until reduced, about 1-2 minutes.  Add the apple juice, chicken stock, apples and thyme. Once at a boil, add the cream and dijon to the sauce.  Add the chicken back to the pan, skin side up.  Place lid on the pan and transfer to the oven.  Cook for about 30 minutes.

Place chicken on a large serving plate. Spoon sauce around chicken and serve.

Grilled Chicken Tacos with Mango Salsa

It has been a while since my last post so I figured I'd start up again with one of my favorite new recipes.  This recipe combines my two favorite things about cooking in warm weather, cooking with fresh produce and grilling.  Since I do not have an outdoor grill I use a grill pan for this recipe.  At first I was intimidated using my grill pan because it would always smoke up but once I learned the proper way to use it, I try to cook with it whenever I can.  I love fresh grill marks on chicken or steak, it just tastes so much better to me than sauteing or baking sometimes, nothing tastes more like summer than grilled meat.

Let me start by saying that I have the absolute worst kitchen to try to use a grill pan in, so I searched the internet for ways to stop my grill pan from smoking up so much and now I have finally found a technique that works.  First off, I pat the meat dry before putting it on the grill pan, this ensures the meat sears correctly and creates the beautiful grill marks on the meat :) .  Next I preheat the pan for at least 10 minutes on a medium high heat.  To test if the pan is hot enough, pour a few drops of water on the pan, if they evaporate immediately, the pan is hot enough.  If the water steams up, try the test again in a few minutes.  Once the pan is hot, coat the pan with a thin layer of canola oil.  I use canola since it has a high smoke point as compared to olive oil, never use olive oil on a grill pan unless you want a kitchen full of smoke (I have come very close to that before I researched the different smoke points for different oils).  Now I can finally use my grill pan as much as I want without fear of setting off the smoke alarms, although I still open all my windows to make sure the air is circulating because I worry too much.

Salsa

2 ripe mangoes, peeled, pitted and diced (about 3 cups)
1 small red onion, peeled and diced
1 green pepper, seeded and diced
juice of one lime

1 Tbsp olive oil

1/2 Tsp salt

Tacos

2 lbs boneless skinless chicken breasts

1 Tbsp ground cumin

1 Tsp onion powder

1 Tsp garlic powder

1/2 Tsp salt

1/4 Tsp pepper

8 flour or corn tortillas

In a bowl, combine the mango, pepper, onion salt, olive oil and lime juice.  Cover and let stand at room temperature for 30 minutes.

In a small bowl, combine the cumin, onion powder, garlic powder, salt and pepper.  Rub the mixture onto the chicken, set aside to marinate for at least 10 minutes.

Preheat the grill or grill pan.  Grill the chicken for 7 minutes on each side, or until cooked through.  Let the chicken rest and slice into strips

Divide the chicken between the tortillas and top with salsa.  Every so often to mix things up, I add avocado as well.

Better quality pictures to come

Garlicky Chicken Thighs

This is one of my favorite recipe, it is so simple to prepare but also very versatile to fit your tastes. The prep work is so easy, you do not even need to chop the garlic and the total active cook time is 10 to 12 minutes. The recipe can be used as an easy weeknight dinner or be served at a dinner party for guests  Since the prep work is so easy and the majority of the cooking time is baking the chicken in the oven, you can mingle with guests while the chicken is in the oven.  Just make sure you have the chicken in the oven before your guests arrive.

This recipe is also great for me because I already have most of the ingredients I need in the house so most days I just need to pick up chicken at the store but I usually buy garlic as well because this uses a lot, I use 10 cloves of garlic.  Before you think that is excessive, I leave the cloves whole and saute them up with the herbs to release their flavor into the white wine sauce.  When left whole, the garlic releases a mild sweet flavor into the sauce. 

Like I said before, the versatility is one of the best things about this dish, you could make it a different way every time you make it.  You can swap the thyme for another herb, such as rosemary or oregano (just be sure to go lighter on these herbs since the tend to have a more intense flavor.   You can also try a different type of wine for cooking, I have used both pinot grigio and chardonnay both of which turned out great and can change the flavor profile a bit.

Ingredient count: 8 (and I only had to buy 4)

 Season the chicken

 Add the chicken to the pan skin side down

 Cook chicken until skin is golden brown.  I do recommend using a splatter guard during this step.

 Remove chicken from the pan.  Turn the heat down, add herbs, garlic and bay leaves. 

 Add Chicken back to the pan

Cover, place in oven, cook for 40 minutes

Garlicky Chicken Thighs

2 lbs. bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs, patted dry
4 tsp. extra-virgin olive oil
5 garlic cloves, peeled but left whole
3 fresh thyme sprigs  or rosemary
1 bay leaf
1/4 cup dry white wine 
2 tsp. white wine vinegar
Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste  

Preheat oven to 325°

Season chicken with salt and pepper.  Heat olive oil over high heat in an ovenproof saute pan.  Once oil is hot, add the chicken skin side down.  Once the skin is a golden brown color, about 4 minutes, remove from pan.

Turn down to a medium heat, add garlic, herbs and bay leaves.  Saute, about 2 minutes, until the vegetables are just beginning to color.  Pour in the wine and vinegar.  Stir with a wooden spoon to dislodge and browned bits on the bottom of the pan.  Return the chicken to the pan skin side up, cover and place in the oven.  Cook until chicken is tender, about 40 minutes.  

Serve with braising sauce and garlic over chicken