Leftovers

Yes, we eat leftovers.

More times than not, Victor has them for lunch, but once in a while we start getting a bit of a backlog and it's time to go to work.

I've been craving the pasta dish Victor made Saturday and there was still risotto from Friday.  Throwing food away is not an option at our house.

The pasta was easy.  I heated it up just as Victor did originally.  Sauce in the pan, laid out the slices, a bit more sauce on top, cover, and into the oven.

The risotto took a bit more work.

I knew I wanted risotto cakes but they can be a pain to make.  Risotto doesn't necessarily cooperate when one tries to form it into patties.  I used a scoop and formed the patties, dredged them in flour, dipped in egg, and then coated in bread crumbs.

True to form, they didn't react well to the initial flour, but handled the subsequent egg-dip and bread crumbs like a pro.

I then sauteed them ("sauteed" sounds so much nicer than "fried") in olive oil in a nice, hot skillet.  When they were done I put them into a nice hot oven to make sure they were nicely heated through.

It was just what I wanted.  I could eat that pasta seven days a week, and the risotto cakes were perfectly crunchy on the outside and perfectly creamy on the inside.

Perfect for what has been a cold, damp day.

Risotto cakes make a great side dish and really aren't that difficult to make.  I purposely didn't add anything to the flour or the bread crumbs.  I just wanted the crunch on the outside - I didn't want to take away or compete with the risotto filling.

Give 'em a try next time you have some leftover risotto!

 

 

 


The Ultimate Burger

I pulled a small piece of top round steak out of the freezer this morning without a clear idea of what I wanted to do.  By 9am I knew I wanted a burger - a chopped beef burger. The weather has been frightful,  pouring rain, hail, wind... Perfect for a barbecue.  (We got your weather, Kate!!)

Chopping beef - as in using a food processor - really creates a different taste and texture from a traditional ground beef.  And chopping a round steak means it's virtually fat-free.

I fried up some sweet red peppers and a couple of slices of bacon and they added just the right amount of necessary greasiness.  Not to mention a ton of flavor.  A burger without a little bit of grease just isn't any fun at all!

It was way-bigger than I could finish.  Cybil was very happy.

I really would like to see a bit more warmth from Mother Nature.  I have a bazillion warm-weather menu ideas floating aound in my head, but I can't get motivated on anything when the weather sucks.

Maybe I'll just start planning Easter and not worry about anything else.  There are Peeps to figure out what to do with!


Pork Ribs and Peach BBQ Sauce

It was 75° today.  Overcast, but warm.  I could wear shorts. I'll take it.

It was also the perfect day to start the BBQ Sauce of the Week.

I've been wanting to try a peach bbq sauce for a while and thought I'd start there.  Peaches aren't exactly in season right now, so I went for the next best thing - frozen slices.  I actually like frozen fruits and vegetables.  With produce being grown all over the world with the prime concern being shipping and not flavor, frozen can ofttimes be your best bet.  Unlike it's fresh counterpart, it's picked and processed when it's ripe and ready to eat.

So, armed with a 1-pound bag of frozen peaches, I went to work.

Peach BBQ Sauce

  • 1 pound peaches, peeled
  • 1/2 cup onion, chopped
  • 1/2 cup bell pepper, chopped
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 3 dried New Mexico Chilis, broken up
  • 1/4 cup whiskey or bourbon
  • 1 can diced tomatoes with juice
  • 2 tbsp brown sugar
  • 2 tbsp molasses
  • 1/4 cup white vinegar
  • 2 tsp paprika
  • 2 tsp smoked paprika
  • 1 tsp cayenne pepper
  • salt and pepper

Saute onion and bell pepper until translucent.  Add garlic and quickly saute. Add chilis and dried spiced and cook until fragrant - about 3 minutes.

Add whiskey and mix well.  Add tomatoes and continue cooking until thick.

Use an immersion blender and puree.

When it's as smooth as you can get it, strain through mesh strainer, discarding solids.

Taste for seasoning and add salt and pepper-  or more cayenne - as desired.

This came out pretty good.  It had a nice peach flavor, the whiskey gave it a nice balance, and it was just smoky-spicy enough.

If I hadn't been making Phoebe's baked beans - that call for chipotles in adobo - I probably would have made this with chopotles.  I think the smoky chipotle would work just a bit better than the smoked paprika.  Regardless, this worked well!

Speaking of little sister's baked beans...  here's the recipe for those.  The only baked beans I ever make, anymore.

Phoebe's Baked Beans

  • 1/2  cup minced shallots
  • 1  tablespoon ground cumin
  • 1  tablespoon minced garlic
  • 1/2  cup tomato puree (I use tomato paste – I never have puree in the house!)
  • 1  tablespoon canola oil
  • 1/4  cup honey
  • 1/4  cup cider vinegar
  • 2  tablespoons molasses
  • 1  tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
  • 1/4  teaspoon salt
  • 2  chipotle chiles, canned in adobo sauce, seeded and chopped
  • 2  (28-ounce) cans baked beans

Preheat oven to 300°.

Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add shallots; sauté 4 minutes or until golden. Add cumin and garlic; sauté for 1 minute. Add tomato puree and oil, and cook for 2 minutes or until thick, stirring constantly. Add remaining ingredients (except beans.). Reduce heat; simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Combine beans and shallot mixture in a 2-quart baking dish. Bake at 300° for 1 hour or until thick and bubbly.

They are so easy and just soooooo good!

I was on a BBQ roll, so I also made a three-bean salad - with five beans.  I mean, who's counting, right?!?

Bean Salad

  • 1 cup green beans, trimmed, blanched, and cooled
  • 1 cups green and wax Italian beans, blanched and cooled
  • 1 can garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
  • 1 can canellini beans, rinsed and drained
  • 1/2 red onion, sliced in sticks
  • 1/4 cup parsley, chopped
  • 1/4 cup olive oil
  • 3 tbsp tarragon vinegar
  • 1 tsp herbs d'Provence
  • salt and pepper, to taste

Mix it.  Chill it.  Eat it.

I need to think about what I want to do next.  Maybe something with a pulled pork...

The wheels are turning...


Ricotta Rollatini

It is so nice being married to a man who loves to cook!  As much as I like being in the kitchen, it truly is great to come home to a delicious homemade meal.

And tonight's homemade meal really was a show-stopper!

The recipe concept came from Giada De Laurentis.  The result is pure Victor!

Giada's recipe is a spinach and ricotta roll that she puts under a broiler and serves with a marinara dipping sauce as an appetizer.

Victor reworked it to a baked entree.  A much better idea, if ya ask me.  Granted, I'm just a bit biased as I was the recipient of the entree, but... that's just the way of it!

Giada's recipe calls for the pasta to be made in a  food processor.  Victor made his by hand because he has totally mastered the art of pasta making.  Like bread making or anything else, recipes give you quantities of ingredients, but it's the feel of the dough that makes it work.  It's why your grandmother could never tell you exactly how she made a pie crust or a rolled dumpling - she just did it and knew when it was right.

Ricotta Rollatini

Pasta:

  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 egg yolks
  • 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
  • water, if needed

Filling:

  • 4 oz diced prosciutto
  • 4  cups whole milk ricotta cheese
  • 1/2 cup grated Locatelli
  • 2 eggs
  • 1/2 minced flat-leaf parsley
  • freshly ground black pepper

Make pasta.

Mound flour on counter and make well.  Add eggs and yolks and gradually work in the flour to make a firm but pliable dough, adding a few drops of water, if necessary.  Divide into two pieces, cover, and let rest about 30 minutes.

Make filling:

Fry prosciutto until crisp.  Drain and set aside.

Mix ricotta, eggs, cheese, pepper, and parsley.  Stir in cooled prosciutto.  Set aside.

Roll pasta to a 15" x 7" rectangle.  If you have a pasta roller, bring it through to about 15" on level three and then roll it width-wise to about 7".

Spread half of filling on pasta sheet and brush ends and edge with egg.  Roll jelly-roll style and seal ends and edge.

Repeat with second roll.

Wrap each pasta log in cheesecloth and tie ends with kitchen twine.

Lower into barely-boiling water and cook for 15 minutes.

Remove from water and place on racks to cool.

Remove cheesecloth and slice each roll into 3/4" slices.

Cover bottom of baking dish with marinara sauce and lay out slices.  Drizzle with marinara and sprinkle with additional grated Locatelli.

Cover with foil and bake until heated though - about 30 minutes at 350°.

Serve with additional sauce, if desired.

This is one of those creations that just works on every level.  Rich, creamy, just-salty-enough from the cheese and the prosciutto.  Victor didn't add any salt to the filling, at all.  The pasta was perfectly al dente.

Cooking hint:  If you have a fish poacher (thank you, Ruth!) it will make cooking them much easier.  Victor actually forgot about it and slightly curved them to fit in a large pot.  When we make these for Easter, we'll be using the poacher, for sure!

Spicy Italian sausage went well with these, but it was actually a bit of over-kill.  They weren't necessary.  The pasta was so good, they were almost a distraction.

I can't wait to have this one, again!


Shrimp Risotto and Poached Eggs

Mother Nature played a great April Fool joke on us today.  Snow.

I was not amused.

I am totally over cold weather.  I am ready for open windows and the gentle warmth of Spring.  And today it snowed.

It eventually turned to rain - and it's still raining as I type - but it's still cold.

Time for risotto.

The risotto idea came as I watched the snow falling this morning.  We needed something a bit substantial for dinner and I had a box of carnaroli rice at home that I wanted to try.  Carnaroli is a short-grain rice from the Lombardy and Piedmont areas of Italy.  It makes a really fine, creamy risotto. It's only been grown for about 60 years - a relative newcomer - but it's a popular rice because it's quite forgiving.  It keeps its creaminess just a bit longer before turning to paste.

Risotto is a pretty easy - albeit time-consuming - process.  I generally don't follow a recipe (you're shocked, right?!?) but I went looking through some old Bon Appetite magazines for ideas and found one that is topped with a fried egg.  That caught my attention.  Victor still has a pasta dish he wants to make that is topped with a fried egg.

I decided it was worth looking into - but poaching the eggs, instead.  Timing is everything and it's easier to poach four eggs than fry four eggs simultaneously.

A basic rule-of-thumb with risotto rices - arborio, carnaroli, or vialone nano - is four cups of liquid to 1 cup of rice.  The liquid is heated and added slowly to slowly pull the starch out of the rice and make it creamy while still holding its shape. Any number of foods, herbs, and spices can be added.

This easily makes dinner for four people.  We have a goodly amount of leftovers!

Shrimp Risotto with Poached Eggs

  • 2 cups chopped mushrooms
  • 2 carrots, diced
  • 1 cup Italian beans (cut asparagus will also work)
  • 1/2 cup chopped onion
  • 2 garlic cloves, minced
  • 2 cups arborio rice
  • 1 cup white wine
  • 7 cups chicken broth, hot
  • 1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
  • 1  cup peas
  • 1 pound shrimp
  • 1-2 eggs per person

Saute mushrooms and carrots until barely done.  Stir in beans.  Se aside.

Melt 2 tbsp butter and 2 tbsp olive oil in heavy risotto pan or heavy skillet. Add onion and sauté until beginning to soften. Add garlic.  Add rice and stir until translucent at edges, about 3 minutes. Add wine. Stir until liquid is absorbed.  Add 1/2 cup hot broth, stirring until broth is absorbed. Continue to add remaining broth, 1/2 cup at a time, until rice is just tender and mixture is creamy, stirring often and letting almost all liquid be absorbed after each addition - 25 to 30 minutes total.

Add shrimp. Stir in 1 cup cheese, peas, and mushroom mixture.  Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Mound onto plates, create indentation with spoon and top with eggs - poached or fried.

Drizzle with additional olive oil and sprinkle with cheese.

This was really fun and a perfect cold-weather dish.  It was warm and filling.

I also baked the last of my bread dough - fresh bread finished the meal.