Mushroom Risotto

I make a mean mushroom risotto. (I don't mean mean as in will punch you in the face and shove you in a locker mean, but this certainly will knock your socks off.)

It's creamy and filling and surprisingly low fat. I posted it on this blog awhile back and it's one of the recipes I come back to most. But the photo and directions were so terrible on my previous post, I need to redo it. Hopefully this one is clearer. Either way it's delicious. 

1 cup arborio rice

1 pkg mushrooms

2 cans chicken stock

1 tablespoon butter

1 tablespoon olive oil

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese 

1 cup white wine

Tyme 

Salt and pepper 

1/2 onion chopped 

Dice 1/2 of an onion. 

Put a large skillet over medium heat and melt 1 tablespoon of butter and 1 tablespoon of olive oil in the pan. 

Add your onion and sauté for a couple of minutes. 

Then add 1 cup arborio rice to the pan and sauté a couple more minutes. As you do this start your timer for 22 minutes. 

Add 1 cup white wine and cook on high until the liquid is absorbed. Stir frequently. 

While this cooks chop up 1 pkg of portobello mushrooms. (Or whatever type of mushroom you like.) In a separate pan cook your mushrooms in some olive oil, salt, and pepper. Cook the mushrooms down until nice and tender. Set aside. 

Back to the rice. You will now add 2 cans of WARM chicken broth in 1/2 cup increments. (I pop mine in the microwave to heat it up.) Keep stirring the risotto frequently and only add the next 1/2 cup when the previous liquid has been absorbed. Your goal is to get all of the stock absorbed by the time the timer says 22 minutes. You may need to turn up or down the heat based on how much time is left. I usually keep mine on high the whole time and just stir it constantly. 

Then stir in 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese. 

Add 6 or 7 sprigs of Tyme. 

Add in your mushrooms and salt and pepper to taste. 

This should give you a very creamy and rich tasting dish! 

Ranch burgers with hand cut sweet potato fries

Tonight I made ranch burgers. They were delicious. I am always so disappointed in home made burgers because they just don't live up to what you can get in restaurants. But this burger makes the cut when it comes to satisfaction at home. 

Mix 1 pound ground beef (I used 80% lean) with a packet of hidden valley ranch dressing mix. Form into 4 patties 

Grill on a George Forman grill until outside is properly browned. 

While the burger is cooking melt a small pat of butter in a skillet and toast the inside of your hamburger buns. 

As soon as your hamburgers are cooked, top with sharp cheddar cheese so it can melt while the meat is super hot. 

Add fresh tomatoes, arugula, and your toasted bun and you have an amazing burger. 

As far as the fries go, I had some fresh local sweet potatoes I wanted to use. Wash and peel your sweet potatoes. Cut width wise into skinny disks, then cut length wise into fries. Coat with a fair amount of olive oil, sea salt, and rosemary. Bake on a cookie sheet for 10 minutes at 450 then if they need a little added crispness, broil for an added 5 minutes. Enjoy! 

Broccoli Mac and Cheese

I recently got this wonderful organic broccoli. So naturally I decided to make it into a fattening unhealthy Mac and Cheese. Mac and I are in a long term no good for you relationship. I love him so much, I want him everyday, but deep down I know he's no good for me. But on the days I give in, Wowzas. 

I made this gorgeous baked macaroni and cheese, but my husband dove into it before I remembered to take a photograph. So all I got was a shot of a few noodles on my kids high chair. If you want professional blog photos, I am not your gal. 

Boil 8 oz of macaroni noodles in salted water until al dente. You could use rotini or penne noodles as well. Just something that clings to the sauce. 

Boil or steam 1 head of broccoli that has been chopped into bite sized peices.

While that boils make a bechamel sauce. That is a fancy name for a white sauce. This recipe will make 2 cups of bechamel. 

Melt 4 tablespoons of butter in a saucepan. 

Whisk in tablespoon by tablespoon a total of 4 tablespoons of flour. 

Remove from heat and slowly whisk in 2 cups milk. 

Return to heat and bring to a simmer, whisking constantly to prevent lumps. Continue cooking until thickened (about 2 minutes.) 

Add salt and pepper to taste

Add 1/4 tsp nutmeg 

Add 1/4 tsp sweet paprika 

Then add 2 bay leaves and stir

Then add 1/2 a finely diced onion and stir

Set sauce aside until broccoli and noodles are done boiling. 

Preheat oven to 375

Grate 2 cups of cheddar cheese set aside

Remove the bay leaves from the sauce and mix with the noodles and broccoli with the sauce and cheese. 

Salt and pepper as needed.

Dump mixture in greased 9x13 pan 

Top with 1/2 cup bread crumbs

Then spray top with olive oil spray so it will get nice and golden. 

Bake until bread crumbs are browned, about 30 minutes. 

This is the hard part, you can't eat it for 5 minutes after so it can set up and cool! 

This macaroni is the bomb dot com. It's not good for you by any means but hey, at least we added broccoli, right? 

Shepards Pie ala Man Made

My first guest post! Dinner was made by my husband tonight. He made Shepards Pie and it was so much better than the one I usually make! So I made him post his recipe here. Enjoy! 

12 oz ground beef (85-90% lean)

1/2 pound fresh green beens, chopped

1/2 large onion, diced

1/2 bag of frozen peas corn and carrots

1 package of a good brown gravy mix

1 3/4 cup of water

1/2 cup red wine

3-4 pounds of potatoes

Fresh rosemary

1-3 bay leaves

and dried thyme

Rosemary mashed potatoes:

Boil and mash 3-4 pounds of potatoes.  Add 1/2 stick of butter and about a cup of milk.  You want to make these potatoes slightly on the wet side so add however much more milk you need to. Add 1 tbs finely diced fresh rosemary and salt and pepper to taste.

Filling:

Add 3 tbs of olive oil to a hot pan.  Add 1/2 dice onion and cook for a few minutes.  Add ground beef and brown thououghly.  Add red wine and reduce for a few minutes and then add the water.  Add the gravey mix and the fresh green beans and the frozen veggies.  Add the bay leaves and thyme and bring to a simmer. Summer down until green beans are cooked perfectly and the gravey has thickeners up-20 to 25 minutes.

Add the cooked filling to a 9x13 casserole pan and add the mashed potatoes to the top. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes.  Turn oven to broil and broil for 3 minutes to add a little color to the dish. 

Roasted Balsamic Beet Salad

Ok ladies and gents, I'm warning you in advance that this salad is high maintenance. You have to roast things, use aluminum foil, dirty several bowls, etc. But it's a lovely diversion from a typical salad. You get a nice earthiness from the beets, creaminess from the goat cheese, and crunch from the almonds. Definitely a good "I'm bored from the norm" salad. 

Get about 2-3 beets per person you are going to serve. You want the beets to all be relatively the same size. I had a few large ones but mostly small ones, so I cut the large ones to match the size of the small ones so they all roast evenly. 

Trim the tops and foot off your beets and peel your beets. The outsides of beets are very dirty tasting, so peeling them helps cure that. Then wrap each individually in tin foil. 

Line a baking sheet with tin foil and heat your oven to 400 degrees. Put your beets  on the baking sheet and bake for 1 hour. 

Then make your dressing. 1/2 cup olive oil, 1/2 cup balsamic, 2 tsp yellow mustard, salt and pepper to taste. Whisk together. 

When beets are done (fork tender in center) unwrap them and cut into bite sized wedges. Cover beets with 1/3 of the dressing so they are well coated and can soak it up. 

Plate each plate with a bunch of spinach. Then crumble goat cheese on top, sprinkle with toasted almonds, add the beets, then add extra dressing on top.