Butternut Squash Risotto, and bonus brussels!

There's a part of me that loves fall.  It feels like the pace slows down a bit.  Instead of trying to cram every possible activity you can into our short sunny season, fall's rainy weather gives us permission to ease up our pace.  When it's pouring outside, I don't feel guilty about curling up with a book in front of the fire.  And I feel downright proud when I'm doing crafts while watching TV in the evening, whereas in the summer I want to be getting outside and doing something!  Fall's darkness, its rain, its quiet, leave me feeling relaxed.

I really enjoy the meditative aspects of making risotto (stirring as an exercise in mindfulness can be really powerful!).  I know some people are frightened off by risotto, but give it a try.  It's really very inexpensive to make, and you can think of it both as an upper-body workout and a chance to practice your mindfulness.  This week I made butternut squash risotto, which both of my boys devoured.  I served it with balsamic glazed brussel sprouts, which only one of my boys devoured.  But seriously, they're amazing, so if you like brussel sprouts, I highly recommend this method.

Let's get started!

First cut up your squash (I used half a large squash, or you could use a whole small one), and saute it in butter until it starts to brown and the edges soften

Then add your rice and stir for a minute or two.  Then add wine.  The rest of the bottle is reserved for the chef to sip while continuing to stir (heightening the meditative experience). 

After the wine is absorbed, continue to add hot broth in half cup doses, stirring until the liquid is absorbed after each addition.  Knowing when "the liquid is absorbed" is an aspect of making risotto that used to strike fear in my heart.  Maybe I wouldn't know!  Maybe I would do it wrong!  Here's my advice:  the liquid is "absorbed" when you can run your spoon across the bottom of the pan and it leaves a clear path of exposed pan.  That looks something like this:

It will take 30-45 minutes of adding broth and stirring to get all your broth absorbed and your rice fully cooked.  Don't worry.  You'll be drinking wine and meditating.  Once the liquid is all absorbed and you've tasted the risotto to make sure the rice is fully cooked (I occasionally end up adding more broth/water because it's not done), you'll stir in rice and parmesan cheese.  And that's it!  Enjoy with brussel sprouts and a beer (if the chef used up all the wine while cooking):

Yummy!  (and yes, that is a math shirt)

Butternut Squash Risotto

More or less from Martha Stewart 

1 Tbs butter

1 1/2 lb butternut squash, peeled, seeded, and cut in 1/2 inch chunks

course salt and pepper

1 cup Arborio Rice

1/2 cup dry white wine

About 4 cups vegetable stock (or chicken if you're not vegetarian), heated (just keep it on an adjacent burner)

1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese

1 Tbs chopped fresh sage (you could use a different herb, maybe Basil or thyme if you don't love sage).

Melt butter over medium heat in a big pot.  Add squash, season with salt and pepper, and cook for 6 to 8 minutes, or until the edges soften and the squash is beginning to brown.

Add rice and stir to coat.  Add wine and cook until almost all the liquid has evaporated (this will depend on how hot your pot is, it could take anywhere from 1-5 minutes I think).

Reduce heat to medium (Martha recommends medium-low--I think that would be easier if you have a gas stove, which sadly, I do not).  Add 1/2 cup hot broth to the mixture.  Cook, stirring, until almost all the liquid is absorbed.  Continue adding broth, 1/2 cup at a time, stirring until liquid is absorbed before adding more.  This will take 35-45 minutes.  Taste your risotto when all the broth is gone to make sure rice is fully cooked.  If not, you can add another 1/2 cup of hot tap water (or stock).

Stir in parmesan, sage, and season with salt to taste.  Serve immediately. 

Bonus Brussels!  (or Balsamic Glazed Brussels)

I'm sure I must have read a recipe like this sometime, but this time I was just winging it.

Brussel sprouts, cut in half (as many as you can fit, cut side down, in your pan)

olive oil, to lightly coat the bottom of your pan

1/3-1/2 cup Balsamic vinegar

salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 400.  Heat olive oil over medium-high heat in a large, oven safe pan.  Place the brussel sprouts, cut side down, in the pan.  Leave them alone to develop a nice brown crust.  This will help bring out their flavor.  And if you're busy stirring risotto, you can just ignore them for about 8-10 minutes.

Once the bottoms are browned, pop them in your hot oven to finish cooking through.  This will take 5-8 minutes depending on how big/thick your sprouts are.  

Return to the top of your stove (remember the handle of your pan will be extremely hot when you take it out of the hot oven---BE CAREFUL!).  Flip over your sprouts, so the cut side is up.  Pour on balsamic vinegar.  Shake the sprouts around in the pan.  The vinegar will start to evaporate and reduce.  If your pan has cooled off too much (for example if you got distracted after drinking too much wine), feel free to turn the heat back up on the burner to assist the vinegar.  This should only take about a minute.  And they're done!  Season with salt and pepper.  See if you can avoid eating the whole pan while waiting for the risotto to finish.  

Pocket Pies

Last night the temperature dropped dramatically, and we woke up wondering if it had snowed in the night. We had to wait until around 11, when the snow started coming down!  Even though it's a little early, it inspired our family to break out the Christmas music, and figure out something to make for dinner that would be the ultimate comfort food.  Enter Pocket Pies.

I first heard of this recipe from Tracy over at Shutterbean.  It comes from a book she highly recommends "Mad Hungry: Feeding Men and Boys" by Lucinda Quinn.















I'll admit that I'm a bit skeptical on the whole men eat differently than women idea.  But I love this recipe.  And this book seems to be all about comfort food.  Perfect for a snowy sunday!  At any rate, here's what I did:

First, mix up a WONDERFUL pastry crust in your food processor.  Then leave it in the fridge to chill while you make your filling.

Next cut up your veggies and chicken:

Then simmer the chicken in broth while you cook the veggies up into a tasty filling.  I added thyme and oregano to my filling because that just sounded like the right thing to do.  Add the chicken to the filling along with some cheese.  Man, this is looking yummier by the second.

Have you decided to make this yet?  You really should.  Final step is to roll out the dough and add your filling.  The dough is really dreamy to work with.  I used a quaker oatmeal lid to cut out my circle.  You could also trace a small plate.

After assembling the pies, I left all 15 of them (Yum!) on foil lined cookie sheets and stuck them in the freezer.  Give 'em time to freeze up, and then you can bake up as many as you want to dinner and throw the rest in a freezer bag to pull out whenever you need an easy dinner.  BRILLIANT.

Final verdict?  AWESOME.  As you can see, one of mine leaked, but it was still incredibly tasty.  I am planning on making a bunch of these and freezing them for easy weeknight meals.  The dough is great, and the filling would be really easy to vary.  I'm thinking a vegetarian version with sweet potatoes, blackbeans and goats cheese would be wonderful.  

Here's the recipe:

Savory Chicken Pot Pie

recipe from Mad Hungry: Feeding Men & Boys

• 1 heaping cup shredded chicken
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1/2 cup chopped onion
• 1/3 cup chopped celery
• 1/3 cup chopped carrot (1 carrot)
• 1/2 cup frozen peas (my addition)
• 1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 cups chicken broth
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme (my addition)
• 1/2 teaspoon tried oregano (my addition)
• 1 recipe (2 disks) Cream Cheese Pastry (recipe below)
• 1 large egg, for egg wash  (I saved time and didn't do this)

To make the filling, in a medium hot skillet, melt the butter and add the onion, celery, and carrot. Sauté over medium heat for 2 to 3 minutes.  Add the peas, and stir for a minute or two.  Stir in the salt, thyme, oregano and flour and cook for 1 minute more.  Add the chicken broth and stir until thickened, about 2 minutes. Stir in 1 heaping cup shredded chicken and the Parmesan cheese. Cool in the fridge.  It will get thick by the time you use it as a filling.
If you are making these today, Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Butter or line a baking sheet.

To form the pocket pies, work with half of a disk of dough at a time, rolling it out on a floured surface to about 12 inches in diameter. Using an overturned bowl (about 5 inches across--or use the quaker oats lid, see above), cut out about 3 circles from each piece of dough. After cutting out all your circles, gather all dough scraps, reroll, and cut out a final time. Place 1/4 cup filling on one side of a dough circle. Wet the edges of the dough with water. Fold the dough over to form a half-circle. Pinch the edges of the dough together. Crimp the edges with a fork. Repeat the process until all the filling is used. The pocket pies can be frozen at this point.

Place the pocket pies on the prepared baking sheet and chill for a few minutes. Prick each pie on top twice with a fork. When ready to bake, beat the egg with 1 tablespoon water. Brush the egg wash over each pocket pie. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until golden brown (you may need to bake an additional 5 minutes if they've been frozen). Let rest for 5 minutes before serving. The pies can be cooled and frozen to reheat in the microwave.

Cream Cheese Pastry

• 8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
• 4 ounces cream cheese, softened
• 1/4 cup heavy whipping cream
• 1 1/2 cups plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour, plus more for rolling out dough
• 1/2 teaspoon coarse salt

In a food processor or using an electric mixer or by hand, process the butter, cream cheese and heavy whipping cream.

Add the flour and salt; process just until combined and the dough holds together in a ball. Turn the dough out onto a well-floured surface and divide in 2 pieces. Flatten into disks and wrap each in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes before rolling out. If the dough is chilled overnight, take it out 15 minutes before rolling out.

Rub flour all over a rolling pin. Working with one disk at a time, place the disk on a clean, well-floured surface. Roll gently from the center of the dough to the top and bottom edges. Rotate the disk, and roll to the top and bottom edges again. Reflour the work surface and rolling pin, turn the dough over and continue to roll the dough from the center out to the edges. Turn over and roll again, rotating the disk to ensure even rolling until the dough is about 12 inches in diameter, thin but not transparent.

Oh, and here are the "man and boy" in my household enjoying the snow.  Now if it would only snow enough that school gets canceled and we could all enjoy another day home together!

Dinner Tonight!

OK, so you may have noticed on my meal planning board that we eat at home most every night.  And I cook about 90% of the time.  So last night I made Balsamic-glazed Pork Chops with Polenta, and Blasted Broccoli.  I found the recipe in the "budget cooking" section of Cooking Light.  Pete could not stop talking about this food!  Apparently this is the tastiest meal I've made in quite some time.  And it was really easy and inexpensive, so I thought I'd share it with you!  Not to mention, I took a picture of the finished product on a bit of a whim, and it actually turned out decent.  Enjoy!

Balsamic-Glazed Pork Chops with Polenta and Blasted Broccoli
adapated from Cooking Light.  Broccoli inspired by Black Bottle

Ingredients

• 2  cups  whole milk  (I used 2%)
• 1  cup  fat-free, lower-sodium chicken broth  (I used "Better than Bouillon")
• 3/4  cup  uncooked polenta
• 3  ounces  1/3-less-fat cream cheese, softened
• 6  tablespoons  balsamic vinegar
• 1 1/2  teaspoons  chopped fresh rosemary
• 1/4  teaspoon  kosher salt
• 1/2  teaspoon  freshly ground black pepper
• 2  large garlic cloves, minced
• 4  (4-ounce) boneless center-cut pork chops, trimmed

Preparation

1. Bring 2 cups milk and broth to a simmer in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Gradually add polenta. Cook for 20 minutes or until thick and bubbly, stirring frequently with a whisk; remove from heat. Stir in cream cheese. Keep warm.

2. Place vinegar in a small saucepan over medium-high heat. Bring to a boil, and cook until reduced by half (about 5 minutes).

3. Place a grill pan over medium-high heat. Combine rosemary, salt, pepper, and garlic; rub mixture over pork. Place pork in pan; cook for 5 minutes on each side or until desired degree of doneness, basting with vinegar. Let stand 5 minutes before slicing. Serve with polenta.  I used the leftover balsamic sauce to decorate our plates.  

Blasted Broccoli

Preheat oven to 450.  Cut broccoli into large-ish bite size pieces.  Toss with olive oil and salt.  If you have a little leftover rosemary from the Pork, that would probably be a nice addition.  Roast in hot oven for 15-20 minutes, or until the broccoli starts to char.   

Company Waffles

I've been trying to eat more seasonally lately.  Dana, over at MADE, made these tasty looking pumpkin waffles earlier this week, so I decided to whip up a batch for breakfast this morning.  But then I discovered I was missing half the ingredients, so after a quick internet search, I settled on Deb's recipe from Smitten Kitchen.  We loved these!  It's not the simplest recipe, so I recommend saving it for a weekend, or when you have company.  Good news is, you should have all the ingredients already (see my substitution for buttermilk if you're like me and don't keep that one stalked), so it is economical.

Pumpkin Waffles
adapted from Smitten Kitchen
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup packed light brown sugar
2 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
4 large eggs, separated
2 cups well-shaken buttermilk (I subbed 2Tbs vinegar added to 2 cups milk--mix and let sit 5 min)
1 cup canned solid-pack pumpkin
3/4 stick (6 tablespoons) unsalted butter, melted
Vegetable oil for brushing waffle iron or cooking spray


First, sift together flour, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger and cloves

In a separate bowl, whisk together egg yolks, buttermilk, pumpkin and melted butter.

Whisk in dry ingredients until just combined.

Next use another bowl, or your kitchen aid to whisk up the egg whites until soft peaks form and then gently fold it into your batter.

Don't overmix.  The egg whites add air to your batter, and will make your waffles light and fluffy.  

Then brush your waffle iron with some oil, pour in an appropriate amount of batter, and bake according to the directions for your particular waffle iron.  This recipe made about 20 waffles (we have a small iron, but it should feed 6-8 hungry adults), so you may want to keep waffles warm in the oven until all your waffles are cooked.  I recommend wrapping leftovers in plastic wrap, and popping them in the toaster oven or toaster for a quick weekday breakfast.  Yum!