Seafood and Asparagus Risotto

Yum!

Ingredients:

• 1 c arborio rice
• 5 c chicken or veggie stock
• 1/2 c white wine
• 4 cloves garlic, crushed
• zest of one unwaxed lemon
• juice of one lemon
• 1 T kosher salt
• 5 oz raw, peeled shrimp
• 4 oz large scallops
• 1/2 lb asparagus, chopped into 2" pieces

1. Combine lemon zest, garlic, and salt into a paste. Mix paste into seafood and set aside.














2. In a large sauce pan, using a wooden spoon, brown arborio rice over medium heat in olive oil for 2-3 minutes. Add white wine and stir continuously until absorbed.

3. Add one cup of stock, stir continuously until absorbed. Continue adding 1/2 c of stock at a time, each time stirring continuously until all liquid is absorbed. (This process will carry on for 20-30 minutes). Your end risotto product will be creamy and the rice will be tender.
4. In a saute pan with a light coating of olive oil- saute scallops (2-3 minutes on each side) and shrimp (turning occasionally until cooked). Once the seafood is cooked, set aside and deglaze the pan with small amount of chicken stock and lemon juice.
5. Add asparagus to the saute pan, and cook 1-2 minutes (just quickly, to warm it through).
6. Gently fold seafood and asparagus into risotto.

Lemon Risotto with Garlic Crab

Delish! I don't find myself cooking with lemon very often, but that may change after discovering this yummy risotto recipe. It would go great with chicken, fish (or any type of sea food) or fresh garden veggies :)

For your dining pleasure:


(From Oprah.com)
Ingredients-

•  1 lb lump crab meat
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 5 cups low sodium chicken or vegetable broth
• 3 T fresh lemon juice
• 2 T extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 shallots finely chopped
• 1 1/2 c arborio rice
• 1 T grated lemon zest
• 1 t fresh thyme leaves
• 2 t kosher salt
• 1/2 t freshly ground pepper

Directions-
1. Place crab meat in a medium bowl. pick through for any shells and discard. Add garlic and toss well. Refridgerate.

2. In a large sauce pan, bring broth and lemon juice to boil; reduce to simmer. Add lemon juice and keep warm on a back burner.

3. In a large, heavy-burner sauce pan over medium heat, add 1 T olive oil. When just smoking, add shallots and stir quickly with a wooden spoon until lightly golden brown and tender. Add rice and stir 1 minute to coat. Add 1/2 c broth. Continue cooking until almost all liquid is absorbed, then add another 1/2 c broth. Continue doing this until rice is tender and almost all broth has been used (25-30 min).

4. Remove from heat, add crab, stir until blended. Add 1/4 c broth and remaining 1 T olive oil, lemon zest, and thyme; stir to combine. Season with salt and pepper and serve.

Bacon-wrapped Stuffed Chicken over Mushroom Risotto

These two dishes were a good combo because once the chicken was in the oven, I could focus on the risotto, which is kind of a time-intensive dish to make. 

Chicken Ingredients:

• 4 chicken breasts
• 1/2 c ricotta cheese
• 1 package frozen spinach, thawed
• 4 strips thick cut bacon
• 4 toothpicks or 2 wooden skewers cut in half

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 F.
2. Place the spinach into a cloth, squeeze it until there's no liquid left in it. Butterfly cut the chicken breasts and lay them out opened on a cutting board. (To butterfly cut, stand the chicken breast up on its side and slice it almost all the way through. It will look like a heart-shape when you're done.)
3. Combine ricotta, spinach, salt, pepper and garlic powder. Add a heaping spoonful of the mixture to each chicken breast.
4. Fold the chicken breast around the stuffing and wrap it in bacon. Tuck in any loose ends and skewer it all together, then place on a baking tray.
5. Once you've wrapped up all of your chicken breasts, pop them in the oven for half an hour and get started on the risotto.

Risotto Ingredients:

• 1 c Arborio Rice
• 4 c chicken stock
• 1/2 c finely chopped onion
• 1 c chopped mushrooms
• 3 cloves garlic
• 3 T olive oil
• 3 T freshly ground parmesan cheese

Directions:

Browning the risotto

1. Add 1 T olive oil to a pan on medium heat. Saute mushrooms for 3-5 minutes, and set aside. 
2. Saute onion and garlic in the remaining oil for 3-5 minutes, then add the dry risotto to the pan and brown for 2-3 minutes. 
3. Add 1 c of chicken stock and stir constantly until the broth is absorbed. Then add 1/2 to 1 cup of broth at a time and stir constantly until the broth is again used up. This will take about 20 minutes. It's important to keep stirring and not just let it boil to allow the starch in the rice to break down and spread out.
4. Once all broth is absorbed, add the mushrooms and parmesan cheese.
5.  Layer the chicken over the risotto and enjoy!

 

Now this kind of math, I like!

I stopped at the grocery store on my way home from work- so I didn't have a chance to check Casey's recipe for Giada's Dirty Risotto before shopping. Relying on my memory (risky), I ended up buying the ingredients for TWO of Casey's delicious risotto dishes (dirty risotto & shrimp, mushroom, and spinach risotto). I was too torn about which to make, so I combined both recipes.

Dirty Risotto + Garlic Lovers Shrimp, Mushroom, and Spinach Risotto = yowza!

 

 

I tip my hat to you twice, Case!

Garlic Lovers Shrimp, Spinach, and Mushroom Barley Risotto

This dish is for Garlic Lovers Only. However you can adapt the dish by boiling the shrimp in water instead of sauteing them in butter, garlic, and white wine. But I suggest the alcoholic butter and garlic shrimp bath. The barley in this recipes is cooked like risotto, low and slow, adding chicken broth half cups at a time. Like risotto, if you don't have 20 to 25 minutes to stand in the kitchen stirring this barley then don't make this dish.

Ingredients

1 pound large fresh shrimp, peeled and deveined

2 tsp flour

1 T butter

4 cloves garlic, grated

2T white wine

1 8oz package baby bella mushrooms, quartered

1/2 cup chopped onion

1/2t salt, divided

1 cup slow cook pearl barley

1/2 c. white wine

3 cups chicken broth

4 cups fresh baby spinach

1/2 cup shredded parmesan cheese

2T fresh lemon juice

1/4t ground black pepper

Directions

Coat shrimp in flour. In a cast iron or saute pan heat the butter until melted over low, add the garlic and stir until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add the shrimp and white wine. Saute shrimp on medium-low until pink, about 3 to 4 minutes. Remove and set aside including all pan juices.

In the same pan add mushrooms, onion, garlic and 1/4 tsp salt; cook for 5 minutes or until vegetables are browned and tender. Add a little EVOO if necessary. Remove mushroom mixture from pan; set aside and keep warm. Add barley to pan, and cook for 1 minute, stirring constantly. Add wine and remaining 1/4 tsp salt; cook for about 4 minutes or until liquid is absorbed. Add broth, 1/2 cup at a time, allowing liquid to be absorbed after each addition, stirring constantly. Stir in shrimp with juices, cheese, lemon juice, and pepper. Serve immediately.

Chicken Marsala

This came out fantastic! I layered Tyler Florence's recipe for chicken marsala over creamy mushroom risotto and the result was perfect (to pat my on self on the back).

Chicken Marsala Ingredients:

• 6 skinless boneless chicken breasts
• all-pupose flour, for dredging
• salt and freshly ground pepper
• 1/4 c extra virgin olive oil
• 4 oz prociutto, thinly sliced
• 8 oz porcini or crimini mushrooms (I used baby bellas)
• 1/2 c sweet marsala wine
• 1/2 c chicken stock
• 2 T unsalted butter
• 1/2 c chopped flat-leaf parsley

Directions:

Put the chicken breasts side by side on a cutting board and lay a piece of plastic wrap over them pound whit a flat meat mallet, until they are about 1/4 inch thick. Put some flour in a shallow platter and season with a fair amount of salt and pepper; mix with a fork to distribute evenly.

Heat the oil over medium-high flame in a large skillet. When the oil is nice and hot, dredge both sides of the chicken cutlets in the seasoned flour, shaking off the excess. Slip the cutlets into the pan and fry for 5 minutes on each side until golden, turning once – do this in batches if the pieces don't fit comfortably in the pan. Remove the chicken to a large platter in a single layer to keep warm.

Lower the heat to medium and add the prosciutto to the drippings in the pan, saute for 1 minute to render out some of the fat. Now, add the mushrooms and saute until they are nicely browned and their moisture has evaporated, about 5 minutes; season with salt and pepper. Pour the Marsala in the pan and boil down for a few seconds to cook out the alcohol. Add the chicken stock and simmer for a minute to reduce the sauce slightly. Stir in the butter and return the chicken to the pan; simmer gently for 1 minute to heat the chicken through. Season with salt and pepper and garnish with chopped parsley before serving.

Risotto Ingredients:

• 1 c Arborio Rice
• 4 c chicken stock
• 1/2 c finely chopped onion
• 1/2 c chopped mushrooms
• 3 cloves garlic
• 3 T olive oil
• 3 T freshly ground parmesan cheese

Directions:

Add 1 T olive oil to a pan on medium heat. Saute mushrooms for 3-5 minutes, and set aside. Saute onion and garlic in the remaining oil for 3-5 minutes, then add the dry risotto to the pan and brown for 2-3 minutes. Add 1 c of chicken stock and stir constantly until the broth is absorbed. Then add 1/2 to 1 cup of broth at a time and stir constantly until the broth is again used up. Once all broth is absorbed, add the mushrooms and parmesan cheese.

Layer the chicken and mushrooms over the risotto and enjoy :)

Giada's Dirty Risotto with Caprese Salad

If I am ever craving something and don't know a good recipe for it, I always go to www.foodnetwork.com. This recipe came from

celebrity chef Giada De Laurentiis. Risotto is a delicious, creamy Italian rice dish, however, it is a labor of love. If you don't have the time to stand around the kitchen for 30 minutes constantly stirring your rice then don't make this dish. Without constant attention and stirring the chicken broth will not absorb properly and your dish will not come out correctly. For the chopped pancetta I think the precubed pancetta you can get in the deli section of the grocery store is to expensive. I get one slice, or however much you need for your recipe, cut a 1/2 inch thick and cube it myself at home. I served the risotto with a fresh caprese salad (recipe below).

Ingredients

Serves 4 to 6

5 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth

2 tablespoons butter

2 ounces pancetta, chopped

1 link (about 6 ounces) spicy Italian sausage, casing removed

3/4 cup finely chopped onion

1 cup chopped red bell pepper

4 ounces button mushrooms, coarsely chopped

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 1/2 cups Arborio rice or medium-grain white rice

3/4 cup dry white wine

1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan

1 tablespoon chopped fresh Italian parsley leaves

Directions

In a medium saucepan, bring the broth to a simmer. Cover the broth and keep warm over low heat.

In a large heavy saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the pancett

a and sausage and saute until golden brown, about 5 minutes. Add the onion, bell pepper, and mushrooms and saute until tender, scraping up the browned bits on the bottom of the pan, about 8 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Add the rice and stir to coat. Add the wine and simmer until the wine has almost completely evaporated, about 1 minute. Add 1/2 cup of simmering broth and stir until almost completely absorbed, about 2 minutes. Continue cooking the rice, adding the broth 1/2 cup at a time, stirring constantly and allowing each addition of broth to absorb before adding the next (this is the key to risotto, you need to wait until all the liquid is absorbed before adding more broth) until the rice is tender but still firm to the bite and the mixture is creamy, about 25 to 30 minutes total. Remove from the heat. Stir in 3/4 of the Parmesan. Transfer the risotto to a serving bowl. Sprinkle with the parsley and remaining Parmesan and serve immediately.

Caprese Salad

Travis grows fresh bail on our porch which we used as a garnish for the salad. It was delicious!

Ingredients

Serves 2

2 large bib lettuce leaf (to serve salad on, optional)

1 ball of fresh mozzarella, sliced

2 tomatoes, one orange and one red for color, sliced

Fresh Basil

Salt and Pepper

Directions

Place 1 large bib lettuce leaf on each salad plate. Start with a slice of tomato, then a slice of mozzarella, then of tomato (interchanging tomato colors if you have more than 1), mozzarella, tomato, and so on until you have used all your cheese and tomatoes on both plates. Top with basil, and sprinkle with salt and pepper.