Caramelized Onion & Gorgonzola Risotto

The original plan was gorgonzola polenta.  That plan went out the window when we got home from grocery shopping and I realized I was out of polenta...oops!  I had bought some fantastic cheese and was craving more, so I decided my carb-y side would have to include it.  Hence this new risotto recipe was born.  The caramelized onions add major flavor and their sweetness offsets the strong cheese beautifully.

At The Cheese Shop in West Side Market, I spent some time talking to Lisa, a veteran of the Cleveland food scene who started her career at Piccolo Mundo, working alongside many well-known Cleveland foodies, including Chef Michael Symon.  Lisa told my sister and I some great stories about the restaurant scene in Cleveland over the past quarter century while she fed us samples of fantastic cheeses.  We ended up choosing Buttermilk Blue.  Though Lisa helped us choose it as the perfect complement to our polenta, it also worked beautifully in the risotto we ended up with.


Caramelized Onion & Gorgonzola Risotto
serves 4 as a side dish


1 tbsp. butter
2 medium or 1 large onion, thinly sliced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 c. arborio rice
up to 1 tbsp. olive oil
1 c. white wine
3-4 c. chicken stock
1/3 c. gorgonzola (heap it in there!) plus more for the table
salt & pepper

You've seen my risotto technique a ton of times - I'll give you the basics here, but for step by step instructions and many other risotto recipes, click the "rice" tag. 

In a medium saucepan, bring chicken broth to a simmer.  Turn heat to medium-low and allow to stay warm on a back burner.

In a large skillet, heat butter over medium heat.  Add onions and stir to coat.  Cook the onions until they are caramelized to a nice dark brown color - don't worry about black/brown bits sticking to the pan, we'll take care of those later.  Add the garlic and cook for 2 minutes or so, then add the rice to the skillet.

Stir the rice, lightly toasting it in the pan.  If it is sticking, add a bit of olive oil to keep it moving.  Add the wine first, stirring to help the rice absorb the liquid.  Continue adding liquid and stirring until rice is creamy and slightly al dente in the center.

Add gorgonzola to the pan, stirring to melt throughout the risotto.  Plate and top with additional gorgonzola crumbles.

Beef with Broccoli

 I've been in the mood for Asian food lately, and in the town where we live, there aren't a ton of choices.  There are some great restaurants closer to Cleveland, but on a weeknight, that's not an option.  Andrew and I adore Chinese takeout, but that's not particularly healthy or cost-effective.  I found a great recipe for takeout-inspired Beef with Broccoli, and it was a huge hit with both Andrew and I.


Beef with Broccoli
adapted from Epicurious

1-1/2 tbsp. cornstarch
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
1 lb. beef tips
3 tbsp. vegetable oil
1 lb. frozen broccoli
3 cloves garlic, minced
3 tbsp. soy sauce
1/3 c. water
2 c. cooked white rice

Place broccoli into a bowl and defrost in the microwave 2-4 minutes.  Set aside.  In a large skillet over medium-high heat, heat 2 tbsp. vegetable oil until hot (but not smoking).

Meanwhile, put beef in a bowl and sprinkle the cornstarch, salt, and pepper over it.  Toss to coat throughly.

 Stir fry the beef, in batches if necessary, until cooked medium-well, about two minutes.  Remove with a slotted spoon and set aside in a bowl.

Heat the remaining tablespoon of oil in the skillet.  Add the broccoli and garlic, tossing over medium-high heat until broccoli is heated and garlic is golden brown.

Add the soy sauce and garlic to the pan and bring to a boil.  Add the meat and any juices back to the pan and cook until sauce has thickened.  I left mine over low with a cover on for about five minutes while I waited for the rice to finish cooking.

Serve over white rice.  As a salt junkie, I used additional soy sauce as a condiment, and my spice-loving husband opted for sriracha.

 

If you're a fan of takeout Beef with Broccoli, I think you'll love this recipe. It's quick, easy, and doesn't use any crazy ingredients you may not have on hand.  This is a great pick for a busy weeknight - you can make it in less time than it would take to order and wait for Chinese delivery.

Wild Rice Stuffed Onions

The recipe for these wild rice stuffed onions was passed to me by my friend Anna the last time I was complaining that I was bored of my usual side dishes.  I've made them twice since I got my hands on this recipe, and everyone who has tried them adores them!

After cooking the rice with a mirepoix (that classic combo of carrots, celery, and onions), you stuff partly-cooked, hollowed out onions with the rice mixture, then bake in the oven.  Served in its onion shell, this side dish is pretty enough to grace a holiday dinner table, but easy enough to serve on a weeknight when you've got some extra time.


Wild Rice Stuffed Onions
makes 6 servings

6 large onions  (Spanish or Vidalia work well)
1-1/2 c. long grain wild rice
3 c. water
2 tbsp. butter
2 carrots, finely chopped
2 celery stalks, finely chopped
dried sage & dried thyme
poultry seasoning
salt & pepper


Preheat oven to 425.

Slice a very small piece off the "bottom" of the onion - that would be the end with the stringy roots.  This will make the onion sit flat in its baking dish.  Slice off a slightly larger piece of the top (the part that comes to a papery point).  Remove the skin from the top piece and set it aside.  Remove the skin from the onion.  Repeat this with all six onions.

Using a knife, make a conical cut into the middle of the onion.  Be careful not to cut too far into it, as you want to preserve the sides and bottom as a shell.  You will want at least two rings of onion to remain so that it stays sturdy enough to hold the rice.  Remove the cone, then use a spoon to core the onion, taking care to leave at least 1/2" at the bottom.  Chop the onion that you removed from the cores, set aside.

Combine water and rice, bring to a boil.  Drop the heat to a simmer, stir, and cover the rice for approximately 25 minutes, stirring occasionally.

In the meantime, place the onions (without their tops) in a lightly greased baking dish.  Bake in the oven for 25 minutes.  Remove the onions and drop the oven heat to 375 degrees. 

While onions are baking and rice is cooking, heat the butter in a very large skillet over medium high heat.  Add the carrots, celery, and about 1/2 cup of the chopped onion.  Reserve the remaining onion for another use.  Season with herbs, poultry seasoning, and salt and pepper. 

When the rice is cooked, add it to the skillet.  Stir to combine the rice with the vegetables, then remove pan from the heat.

 

Using a large spoon, stuff the onions with the vegetable-rice mixture.  Mound up the tops slightly.

 

 

Place the reserved "tops" onto the onions and place them back in the oven (now at 375 degrees) for about 20 minutes.  

I think these would be really good filled with stuffing for Thanksgiving, or with orzo in pesto sauce...the possibilities are endless!  Thanks again to Anna for such a beautiful recipe!

Rice Pudding

This photo didn't come out that great, but rice pudding is so creamy and so...uncolorful...that it was tough to get a good picture!  What I love about this recipe is that you most likely have all the ingredients in your house - you'll just need to make your husband stop at the store for all that half-and-half!  The original recipe uses whole milk, so I subbed a combination of fat free half-and-half and skim milk.  The results were perfect - a creamy, delicious dessert with a lot less fat! 

I adore rice pudding, love risotto, and cook rice frequently, but for some reason I had never made my own rice pudding before.  I'm glad I tried it - this recipe was a nice change from chocolate at a time of year when people want warm, homey comfort food.  I brought this to my in-laws house for dinner along with some poached pears I had left over from Christmas.

Ann and I opted to eat it warm, Andrew and his father wanted it cold.  Not sure what this weird boy/girl divergence is all about, but to each their own.


Rice Pudding
adapted from Simply Recipes

4 c. fat free half-and-half
1 c. skim milk
2/3 c. uncooked short-grain white rice
pinch salt
2 eggs
1/2 c. brown sugar
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
2/3 c. raisins  (optional)


Combine rice, half-and-half, milk, and salt in a heavy-bottomed saucepan and bring to a boil over medium high heat.  Drop the heat to low and simmer 20-25 minutes, until rice is tender.  Keep an eye on the rice, stirring often, or it will stick to the bottom of the pan.

Combine eggs and brown sugar in a medium-sized bowl.  Slowly stir in one tablespoon of the rice mixture at a time (totaling about half a cup) to temper the eggs.

Add the egg mixture to the saucepan, reduce heat to low, and stir for about ten minutes.  Do not allow the mixture to return to a boil.

Remove from heat and stir in vanilla, cinnamon, and raisins, if using.  Serve immediately or chill and serve cold.  Serves 4-6.

Spicy Shrimp & Rice

This is one of those meals that, if I don't feel like cooking, Andrew can put together in 20 minutes.  If you don't care for spice, you can skip the red pepper all together - garlicky shrimp is a close runner-up to spicy garlicky shrimp!  I always keep a bag of shrimp in the freezer - they are a versatile, quick-thawing way to incorporate protein on nights that you forgot to thaw the meat, were too lazy to plan a meal, or had a recipe go awry.

Spicy Shrimp & Rice

20 medium frozen shrimp - thawed and peeled

5 cloves garlic, minced

1 small onion, chopped

olive oil

paprika

red pepper flakes

Heat olive oil over medium high heat.

  Lightly saute onions and garlic in butter and olive oil.

Add red pepper flakes, paprika, salt, and pepper. I used a pinch of flakes, about 1 tbsp of paprika, and salt and pepper to taste - but tailor this to your personal likes. Add shrimp, toss to coat, and heat through.

Though I'm typically not one for processed foods, I like to serve this over packaged Cajun-style rice with a salad on the side.  It makes for a super easy dinner that's delicious yet still relatively healthy.

Butternut Squash Risotto

I have been baking up a storm in the last week or so, and I'll be sharing more cookie posts with you very soon.  I wanted to start working through my huge backlog of dinners though, to show you some of the other things I've been doing in my kitchen.

While my mom and auntie were visiting in November, I made a delicious Butternut Squash Risotto for dinner one night.  Auntie Jody had never had risotto, and I hope I made her first experience with it a good one!  Risotto is such a comfort food for me - I love the creamy starchiness, the versatility, the richness.   I'll throw just about anything into risotto, and I'm always happy with the results.

I had never combined butternut squash and risotto, so I used an Ina Garten version of this recipe as a guide, but of course (per usual) made some changes that let the recipe work for me. 


Butternut Squash Risotto
adapted from Ina Garten's recipe

1 large butternut squash
2 tbsp. olive oil
6 c. chicken stock
6 tbsp. butter
1 medium onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
1-1/2 c. arborio rice
1/2 c. white wine
1 c. grated pecorino-romano cheese
1/4 c. fresh parsley


I've documented my risotto method before, and if you'd like step-by-step instructions with pictures, click here.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.  Peel and cube the butternut squash.  I find this a little easier to do if I pierce it with a fork and microwave it for five to ten minutes first.  Toss the cubed squash with the olive oil, and season liberally with salt and pepper.  Roast in the oven 25-30 minutes or until softened.

Place the chicken stock in a smaller pot over medium heat.  Once the stock begins to simmer, drop the heat to low.


In the meantime, melt the butter in a large saucepan.  Add the onions, salt them, and saute until they are translucent, then add the garlic and saute another minute or two.  Add the arborio rice and stir to coat in the butter.  Allow the rice to toast for three minutes or so.

Add the white wine to the pot, stirring to allow the rice to soak it up.  Once the liquid is gone, ladle about a cup of the chicken stock into the pot.  Stir, and when liquid has evaporated, add more.  Continue this process until all the liquid is absorbed.  The rice should be creamy with an al dente center. 

Turn off the heat and add the squash, cheese, and fresh parsley.  Season to taste with salt and pepper and serve.

Autumn Sausage Casserole

I made this recipe about a month ago, but it has been languishing in my "to post" file.  I'm not sure why I let it hang out so long, since Andrew and I both really enjoyed it, and it's such a seasonal recipe.

The flavors and colors of this "autumn inspired" dish meld beautifully for a comforting one pot meal.  I got the recipe from A Year of Slow Cooking - Stephanie had taken a recipe she found in A Taste of Home and adapted it for her crockpot.  Well I "unadapted" it back to a stove top recipe.  It's much simpler that way, and honestly, there's no reason to slow cook it.

I did still keep the recipe pulled up on my laptop while I cooked (and drank!)

Autumn Sausage Casserole
adapted from A Year of Slow Cooking

1 lb. spicy Italian sausage
1 large (or 2 small) apples, peeled and chopped
1 medium yellow onion, chopped
1/2 c. chopped carrots
1/2 c. raisins
3 c. cooked rice (I used brown basmati)
1 tbsp. dried parsley flakes
1 tbsp. brown sugar
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/3 c. chicken broth

Brown sausage in a large skillet until cooked through.  Drain in a colander - leave a little bit of the fat in the pan, let sausage rest in colander for now.

Add apples, onions, raisins, and carrots to saucepan.  Once carrots soften and onions are translucent, add the brown sugar, parsley, and cinnamon.  Next, mix in the rice, sausage, and chicken broth, stirring to combine all ingredients.  Serve in bowls.

As the Crockpot Lady advises, this is more of a fried rice than a casserole.  Since there isn't really a binder, the dish has the consistency of a stir fry.  I loved the substitution I made of spicy sausage - it makes for a great contrast to the sweetness of the apples, carrots, and onions.  This is a fun, easy weeknight dinner that celebrates the colors and flavors of fall. 

Spicy Chicken Stir Fry

Stir fry is such an easy meal to put together, and you can use whatever you've got on hand. I try to keep bags of frozen veggies to get started with - sliced peppers, broccoli, green beans, peas, etc. Then I can add whatever meat I have - frozen shrimp, leftover grilled chicken, roasted garlic pork, the list goes on.


Here are the basics:

1 medium onion, sliced
4-5 cloves of garlic, minced
1 tbsp. canola oil
veggies & meat of your choice
1/4 c. Szechuan-style stir fry sauce
green onion, sliced - optional
toasted sesame seeds - optional

I always start a stir fry with sliced onions in a bit of canola oil. Olive oil is too heavy for stir fry, as is butter, and canola oil is a good option both because it's light and because it's so good for you. You're not looking for carmelization, just soft onions, so salt them immediately.

If I have raw meat, I add it once the onion softens. While the meat is cooking, I put any frozen vegetables I'm using into a colander and run hot water over them to get rid of any ice and increase the temperature of the veggies.

Once the meat is cooked almost all the way, I add the thawed vegetables and the Szechuan sauce and put a lid on the pot. I let the frozen vegetables heat all the way through, then remove the lid, add any fresh vegetables, and put the top back on. If I'm using meat that is already cooked, I add it at this time.

Lastly, I spoon the stir-fry over a bowl of rice or stir into whole wheat spaghetti for an easy lo mein. Top with the green onions and sesame seeds, if desired.



This time, , when I added the onions, I added sliced carrots at the same time. I had grilled chicken from a previous nights dinner, so I cubed it and threw that in. I have a can of water chestnuts in my cupboard - it's been there for the past three stir fry nights, and I forget it every time. Yet again, I forgot, so the poor water chestnuts remain languishing with the Tupperware and crackers.

We do stir fry once or twice a month - it's never the same twice, but it's always delicious.

Creamy Corn & Shrimp Risotto

It's been quite some time since I made risotto, despite it being one of my favorite comfort foods. Tonight, I was definitely in the mood for some major comforting. Even though my menu plan read "Cream of Broccoli Soup" for tonight, I had to switch it up to make myself happy. I still made the soup, which Andrew ate for dinner, so now I have tons of leftovers!

Creamy Corn & Shrimp Risotto

1-1/4 c arborio rice

4 cloves garlic, chopped

1 medium yellow onion, chopped

1 tbsp. olive oil

1 tbsp. butter

4 c chicken stock

3/4 bag frozen corn (equals about 12 ounces)

1/2 c. cream (I used fat-free Half & Half)

12+ cooked cocktail shrimp, peeled and cut into thirds

fresh parsley, chopped

Heat olive oil in a large saucepan. Add chopped onions and cook until they begin to soften. Stir in garlic and butter. Salt onions and garlic and allow to cook until onions are translucent. Add rice to the pot and stir to coat in oil and butter. Toast approximately five minutes prior to adding any liquid - this really brings out the flavor of the rice.

In the meantime, bring 4 cups of chicken stock to a simmer on another burner:

I set my stove up as above, with the chicken stock behind the rice pot. Off to the right, I put my spoon rest. I use a 1/2 cup measuring cup to move stock from the back pot to the front, then set it on the spoon rest when I'm not using it.

Begin by ladling 1/2 cup of chicken stock into the rice. Stir the mixture, then allow the rice to absorb the liquid before ladling in the next 1/2 cup. If you have a good white wine on hand, feel free to substiute one cup of white wine for the first cup of chicken stock. The rice will absorb the wine and take on a more intense flavor.

When you have about a cup of stock left, stir in the frozen corn with the final cup of liquid. Once this round is fully absorbed, stir in cream and shrimp. Salt & pepper to taste, and garnish with fresh parsley.

This risotto came out soooo good. The rice was creamy, the corn was crunchy and delicious, the shrimp were perfectly cooked, and the parsley added a beautiful bright freshness to my bowl. I would definitely make this again. The only bummer was that I didn't have more shrimp! Risotto can easily become a main course when you add meat and vegetables to it, so don't be afraid to experiment.

Spinach and Goat Cheese Risotto

I love risotto, but Andrew is not a fan. An evening when he is out fishing is the perfect time for me to eat whatever I want, and tonight, I was in the mood for risotto! People think it takes a lot of work, effort, or skill, but this couldn't be any further from the truth. Of course, you can tweak my recipe to include whatever vegetables, herbs, cheeses, or other flavors you can think of.

You'll need:

1 cup arborio rice
2 cups chicken broth
1 small yellow onion, diced
5 cloves garlic, minced
3/4 box frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained
2-4 oz. goat cheese, crumbled



In a medium sized saucepan, saute garlic in about 1 tbsp olive oil until it begins to soften. Add the onion. Salt the contents of the pot lightly and cook until onions are translucent. You do not want to brown the onions or the garlic. In a separate, small saucepan, heat the chicken broth. You just want to warm it - you do not need it to boil or even simmer.

Add the rice to the pot and stir to combine. Toast the rice for 2-3 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add a 1/4 of the broth to the rice mixture. Allow the rice to absorb all the liquid, stirring occasionally, before adding more liquid. Continue to add liquid, allowing the rice to absorb it each time.



When you have added all the liquid to the rice, stir in the spinach. I did not use the entire box, more like 3/4.

Finally, add the goat cheese and stir to melt it into the risotto. The goat cheese I had on hand was purchased at the West Side Market down in Cleveland. It was a spectacular chevre goat's milk cheese...and I'm not gonna lie, I definitely ate some off my fingers!


This recipe takes 15-20 minutes from start to finish. If you wanted to stir in cooked chicken, that would be good too! I preferred it this way, but chicken, sausage, bacon, etc. would all be nice add-ins.

Risotto is so simple and delicious. Once you start making it, you will be amazed at the combinations that pop into your head - butternut squash and pancetta, poached pears and carmelized onions, and any other delicious flavor melds you can come up with.