Thanks to Z’s Italian culinary background, I’ve learned that the work it takes to make risotto is deliciously worth it.  My favorite is Asparagus Risotto; we’ve also enjoyed a Risotto alla Milanese.   But one of the nice things about risotto is how different it tastes with different ingredients.  Below are two other risotto recipes we enjoy; one more of a winter risotto, butternut squash risotto (even though neither one of us really likes squash very much – in risotto it’s wonderful), and the other more of a summer risotto, corn harvest risotto.

Butternut Squash Risotto
from Williams Sonoma Savoring Pasta & Rice, one of their Tuscany recipes (we’ve enjoyed a lot of great recipes from this book)

• 5 cups (40 fl oz) chicken stock
• 1¼ lb. piece orange-fleshed winter squash, peeled and seeded
• 4 T. unsalted butter (I’m sure I used salted, I rarely have unsalted on hand)
• 4 T. extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 yellow onion, finely chopped (we use shallots in place of onions)
• 2 oz. pancetta or bacon, finely cubed
• pinch of salt, plus salt to taste
• 2 cups Arborio rice
• ¼ c. dry white wine
• 1/3 c. grated Parmesan cheese (we use cheese that’s been aged for 2 years so lactose isn’t a problem)
• white pepper to taste

In a saucepan over medium heat, bring the stock to a gentle simmer.  Adjust the heat to maintain a bare simmer.

Cut the squash into finger-sized strips.  In a saucepan over low heat, melt 2 tablespoons of the butter with 2 tablespoons of the olive oil.  Add half of the onion and all of the pancetta or bacon and sauté until it begins to sweat its fat and the onion begins to soften, about 5 minutes.  Add the squash, stir to coat with the onion, and sauté gently for a couple of minutes.  Add ½ broth and a generous pinch of salt and cook over low heat for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.  The squash will take on the consistency of a chunky purée.  Remove from the heat and set aside.

In a large, heavy saucepan over medium heat, warm the remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil.  Add the remaining onion and sauté until soft, about 5 minutes.  Add the rice, mixing well with the other ingredients to coat the grains with the oil.  Cook and stir for 1-2 minutes to toast the grains lightly.  Pour in the wine and cook, stirring until the rice absorbs most of the liquid, about 3 minutes.

Add a ladleful (about ½ c.) of the stock, reduce the heat to low, and stir continuously as the rice absorbs the liquid.  Continue adding the liquid in ½-cup increments, stirring after each addition, until the rice has absorbed most of the liquid.

When the rice has cooked for 12 minutes, stir in the squash and continue adding the liquid in small increments and stirring continuously.  When the grains are tender yet firm to the bite and the risotto has a creamy consistency (after about 16-18 minutes total - it seems to take longer for me), remove from the heat and stir in the remaining 2 tablespoons butter and the cheese.  Season with salt and white pepper.

Remove the risotto from the heat and let rest for a couple of minutes before serving.

Corn Harvest Risotto
adapted from a recipe in another book we’ve enjoyed often, 366 Delicious Ways to Cook Rice, Beans, and Grains

• 5 c. water
• 3 c. fresh or frozen corn kernels
• 1 c. dry white wine
• 1 tes. salt
• 1 T. extra-virgin olive oil
• 1¾ c. uncooked Arborio rice
• 2 shallots, minced
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 T. chopped fresh basil, plus extra for garnish
• 1 ripe tomato, diced (slimy insides removed)
• salt & freshly ground black pepper

In a medium saucepan, bring 1 cup of the water to a boil.  Add the corn, cover, and cook for 4 minutes.  Pour into a blender and purée.  Return the puréed corn to the saucepan.  Add the remaining 4 cups water, the wine, salt, and heat to mild simmering.

In a large nonstick skillet, heat the olive oil over medium heat.  Add the rice, shallots, garlic (I wait until the shallots are almost cooked before adding the garlic because it can burn quickly) and toss to coat with the oil.  Sauté for 3-5 minutes, until the rice appears toasted.

Add 1 cup of the simmering corn broth to the rice and reduce the heat to medium.   Stir until most of the liquid has been absorbed.  Continue adding more corn broth, 1 cup at a time, cooking and stirring as the liquid is absorbed.  When half the corn broth has been absorbed, stir in the basil.  It will take between 18 and 35 minutes for the liquid to be absorbed and the rice to become tender and creamy.  Stir in the tomato.  Season to taste with salt and pepper, if needed.  Serve immediately, garnish with fresh basil leaves, if desired.

Another recipe from my mom that I’ve been enjoying for as long as I can remember.  This dough recipe is what she uses for both her cinnamon rolls and her cinnamon swirl bread.   I always look forward to cinnamon swirl bread at Christmas time – slightly toasted and buttered is my favorite.  When I make cinnamon swirl bread I usually make it and give it away as a gift; it makes a great gift and it’s one of those special treats that, for me, really should be enjoyed at home (my parent’s house).   This past Christmas was no exception; I ate my (very generous) share of cinnamon swirl bread!

Cinnamon Rolls/Swirl Bread
This recipe can be made in a bread maker or by hand…

• 1 c. milk, heat in the microwave for 1½ minutes
• ½ c. butter cut into pieces
• 1 tes. salt
• ½ c. sugar
• 2 eggs, slightly beaten
• 4½ c. flour
• 1½ tes. yeast

“Filling” for the dough:

• melted butter
• cinnamon
• powdered sugar

Mix all but the “filling” ingredients above to make your dough.  Either let the bread machine do the work for you, let the Kitchen Aid mixer help you out, or be hardcore and mix and knead the dough by hand until it’s smooth and elastic.  Let it rise in an oiled bowl or in the bread machine for a couple of hours until it’s doubled in size.

For cinnamon rolls:
Roll the dough into a large rectangle and brush with melted butter.  Sprinkle with cinnamon (heavy handed) and powdered sugar (we sift the powdered sugar as we put it on to cover the cinnamon evenly).  From the longer side, roll up.  Cut into 1-1½ inch rounds.  Place in a buttered 9×13 in. baking dish and bake at 350º for 20-25 minutes, or until golden.  Let cool completely before glazing or frosting.  I usually just do a simple milk and powdered sugar glaze.

For cinnamon swirl bread:
Roll the dough into a rectangle, the width of your loaf pan and a little longer.  Brush with melted butter.  Sprinkle with cinnamon (heavy handed) and powdered sugar (we sift the powdered sugar as we put it on to cover the cinnamon evenly).  From the longer side, roll up and place in a buttered loaf pan.  Cover with a dish towel and let rise until about doubled – 1-2 hours.  Bake at 350º for about 25 minutes or until internal temperature reaches 185º-190º.  When it’s done, brush the top with a little more butter.

A great gift idea: buy small ceramic loaf pans (I’ve found them at craft stores, especially at Christmas time) and make mini loaves.  You can bake and cool them in the cute loaf  “pan,” cover them with saran wrap, and voila – a cute homemade Christmas gift!

The best pizza we had in Rome was this amaizng Potato Pizza.  The recipe below is the closest we’ve gotten to reproducing it.  Thanks for asking for it, Jackie, I’ve been needing to post it here, and thanks Z for your help putting this recipe together – some of it’s what he wrote and some is what I wrote.

Potato Pizza

Using Mom’s pizza dough…

• Enough potatoes for however large your pizza is or however many you’re making (we’ve used a variety of potatoes before, whatever is on hand, Z thinks the ladies in Rome used something like a Yukon)
• Olive oil
• Salt
• Fresh garlic, crushed
• Italian parsley
• Fontina cheese
• Parmesan cheese

Most of the above ingredients are to taste, go with your instinct and how it looks and smells to make a good potato pizza!

Cut the potatoes into small cubes and toss them in some olive oil, salt, a little bit of pepper, fresh garlic and Italian parsley.  Let them sit for a few minutes to get to know each other and share their flavors.

Then saute them in a hot frying pan until they are almost completely soft and a little crispy on the outside.  Not only does this integrate some of the flavors nicely, but it seems to seal the diced potatoes so they cook better in the oven and don’t get dry.

Then you put all that wonderful stuff on your pizza dough. Use your judgment as to whether to put the fontina on first-thing or after it’s baked a little. I think we put it on right after the potato mixture and it works great.  After it’s done, you can sprinkle some parmigiano reggiano for a little extra umph if you want.

Easy to make and truly wonderful to eat.  Godspeed.

Swedish Pancakes have been a staple in my life for as long as I can remember.  These pancakes were often a requested birthday “dinner” growing up, requested by me and by my siblings.  And now when my brother and my youngest sister come home from college, he usually manages to talk her into making him some for breakfast one morning just because they’re “home.”

I made these to enjoy with friends this last Sunday as part of a Christmas brunch we were sharing.  I made a double batch and I think there was one leftover pancake.  Since they do make great leftovers, and since I hadn’t had them for a while and really enjoyed them that morning, I came home that night and made another batch for dinner (and for leftovers for future breakfasts).

My mom has made these so many times that her recipe card has the quantities for a single batch as well as for double or triple batches!  I love that she’s already done the math for me, thanks Mom.

Swedish Pancakes

Single	Double	Triple
3 eggs	6 eggs	9 eggs
¾ c. flour	1 ½ c. flour	2 ¼ c. flour
1 T. sugar	2 T. sugar	3 T sugar
½ tes. salt	1 tes. salt	1 ½ tes. salt
1¼ c. milk	2 ½ c. milk	3 ¾ c. milk

Beat eggs, add dry ingredients and mix.  Lastly, add milk.  Beat until smooth.

Cook on an ungreased griddle (or a non-stick frying pan if you don’t have a griddle) until slightly brown, flip and cook on the other side briefly.  Griddle should be HOT. Pancakes should be very thin.

To keep the cooked pancakes warm while the rest cook (as long as there’s not someone standing there eating them as you make them, which may happen) we warm the oven with a plate inside.  As the pancakes are done, we fold them in half and stack them on the plate.

Traditionally Swedish pancakes are topped with lingoberry jam, but we never did that growing up.  The best part of Swedish pancakes is that everyone can personalize them.  Some favorite toppings at our house are: butter (always start with a little butter), cinnamon & sugar, powdered sugar, brown sugar, or any of Mom’s homemade jams (raspberry, boysenberry, blackberry – yum!).

Single	Double	Triple
3 eggs	6 eggs	9 eggs
¾ c. flour	1 ½ c. flour	2 ¼ c. flour
1 T. sugar	2 T. sugar	3 T sugar
½ tes. Salt	1 tes. Salt	1 ½ tes. Salt
1¼ c. milk	2 ½ c. milk	3 ¾ c. milk

I had a request recently for these amazing brownies.  The picture is of our Thanksgiving desserts a my mom’s house this year.  My sister was in charge of desserts and she went all out (as our family typically does with desserts).  My sister-in-law was with us this year and was amazed that she ended up eating more dessert than dinner.

Clockwise from the top left: pumpkin cheesecake, raspberry pie, apple crisp pie, cherry pie (with extra almond flavoring), chocolate silk pie, and last, but not least, chocolate mint brownies.  What you can’t see is that under the hard chocolate top is beautiful green mint frosting between the chocolate and the brownies.

Chocolate Mint Brownies

Brownies:

• 1 c. sugar
• ½ c. butter
• 4 eggs
• 1 c. flour
• 1 (16 oz.) can chocolate syrup
• 1 tes. Vanilla

Bake at 350 in 9×13 pan for 30 minutes. (Shortcut: you could use a boxed plain brownie mix instead of making them from scratch, but these are quite good and don’t really take that long to make.)

Frosting:

• 2 c. powdered sugar
• ½ c. butter
• 2 T. milk
• ½ tes. Peppermint flavoring (a little more if you like a strong mint flavor)
• 6 drops green food coloring

Mix together and spread over cooled brownies.

Glaze:

• 1 c. scant chocolate chips
• 6 T. butter

Melt together and pour over frosted brownies, let set in refrigerator.  I like keeping them in the refrigerator and serving them cold, that way the chocolate gaze on top stays hard.

I love shortbread.  Dad always enjoyed butter cookies, especially during Christmas, so perhaps my love of shortbread is thanks to him.   I found this recipe for “Elfin Shortbread Bites” in the “Holiday Treats & Gifts” section of my Better Homes and Gardens cookbook a few Christmases ago.  I made the little bites for Christmas gifts that year, and everyone enjoyed them.  Since then I’ve used the recipe to make shortbread cookies as well.  It’s less labor intensive to make larger shortbread cookies, but it’s fun to eat the the bite-sized ones – they’re so addicting!

Elfin Shortbread Bites

• 1 ¼ c. all-purpose flour
• 3 T sugar
• ½ c. butter
• 2 T colored sprinkles (optional, but lots of fun!)

In a medium bowl stir together flour and sugar.  using a pastry blender, cut in butter until mixture resembles fine crumbs and starts to cling.  Stir in sprinkles.  Form mixture into a ball and knead until smooth.

Roll or pat dough on an ungreased cookie sheet into an 8×5-inch rectangle.  Cut into ½-inch squares.  Separate the squares on the cookie sheet. (I rolled mine out on the counter, cut, and transferred them to the cookie sheet; it was easier to roll them out and I didn’t have to worry about the knife leaving marks on the cookie sheet.)

Bake at 325º for 12-14 minutes or until the bottoms just start to brown.  Transfer cookies to wire racks covered with waxed paper and let cool.

I recently found a wonderful granola bar recipe.  We’ve enjoyed loose granola quite a lot recently and have found room in our hearts to embrace some delicious homemade granola bars too.

I found this recipe on Smitten Kitchen, and we’ve shared some of our granola bars with several people now and they’ve been thoroughly enjoyed by all.  (I used her suggestion, and took some with us recently when were were house guests)

Both times I’ve made these, I doubled the recipe, and I’ve found that they hold together the best when the entire doubled recipe is baked in a 9×13 dish.

Granola Bars

Makes 12 to 16 granola bars

• (4) 2 cups old-fashioned oatmeal
• ( 2) 1 cup sliced almonds
• ( 2) 1 cup shredded coconut, loosely packed (I used unsweetened)
  • I already had sweetened coconut, so that’s what I used, but I think it would be better with unsweetened coconut; it seemed a little too sweet for my taste.
• (1) 1/2 cup toasted wheat germ
• (1 1/3) 2/3 cup honey
• (3) 1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract (my teaspoons were a little overflowing)
• (1/2) 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• (2) 1 1/2 cup dried fruit, or a mix of dried fruit (I used chopped apricots, cranberries and raisins) (I know 2 is not 1 1/2 doubled, but the first time I put in three cups, the granola was very sweet and didn’t hold together at all.  The second time, I put in less fruit and the bars held together and it was still plenty sweet for us.)
• (2) 1 tablespoon flax seed (this wasn’t in the recipe, but since it’s so good for you, I threw in a little more than two tablespoons of flax seed for a doubled recipe.)
  

Preheat your oven to 350°F. Butter an 8×12-inch baking dish (lacking this, I used a 9×13-inch) and line it with parchment paper. (I didn’t have parchment paper, so I just used a buttered dish and it worked fine.)

Toss the oatmeal, almonds, and coconut together on a sheet pan and bake for 10 to 12 minutes, stirring occasionally, until lightly browned. (Both times it took closer to 20-30 minutes in our oven.) Transfer the mixture to a large mixing bowl and stir in the wheat germ. Reduce the oven temperature to 300°F.

While the mixture is still warm, stir in the honey, vanilla and salt until the mixture is well coated, then the dried fruit. Pour the mixture into your prepared baking dish and press, press, press it in (wet fingers and/or a silicon spatula work great for this) until the mixture is packed as tightly as possible.

Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until light golden brown. Cool for 2 to 3 hours (I let it sit overnight) before cutting into squares — your best serrated knife is great for this.

You can store these in an airtight container at room temperature for a week or two, as you would cookies, however, I prefer to store mine in the freezer. I find that they stay the most crisp this way as all granola tends to soften at room temperature after a day or more.

Smitten Kitchen did not include 1/4 cup brown sugar (not needed at all, in our opinion) and 3 tablespoons of melted butter, which were in the original recipe that she was using.

I found this recipe for granola on a friend’s blog, thank you!  I made a great big double-batch of this in the spring, April maybe, and we’ve been enjoying it every since.  But we’re running low and soon we’ll be in need of more.  Hopefully in the next week or two I can make another batch.  I also want to give these granola bars a try too.

Granola

8 c. rolled oats
4 c. nuts or seeds (We used almonds, some chopped some whole, and sunflower seeds)
3/4 c. honey
1/4 c. oil
cinnamon and vanilla

Mix above ingredients in a large bowl (warm the honey and oil in the microwave first). Spread evenly on a cookie sheet and bake for 30-45 minutes at 325, checking/stirring every 15 minutes. Remove from oven when golden brown. While still warm, stir in:

1 c. dried fruit (We just did dried cranberries, but I’d like to try raisins and apricots too)

This is another recipe from The Pioneer Woman Cooks! She also has it here, on her new recipes sharing website, Tasty Kitchen.  These noodles were easy to make, we had everything on hand, and they were very tasty; Z had seconds or thirds?  I don’t remember exactly.  I think these may become a regular “quick, cheap dinner” around here.  Those recipes are always good to keep on hand.

Simple Sesame Noodles

12 ounces thin noodles, cooked and drained (angel hair, thin spaghetti, or Asian style) (Next time I think I’ll just cook the full 17 oz. package of spaghetti; it seemed like there would have been enough dressing or the dressing could have easily been increased a little if needed)
1/4 cup soy sauce
2 tablespoons sugar
3 to 4 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
2 to 3 tablespoons pure sesame oil
1/2 teaspoon hot chile oil (more to taste) (omitted)
4 to 5 tablespoons canola oil
2 tablespoons hot water
3 to 4 green onions, sliced thin

Whisk all ingredients (except noodles and green onions) together in a bowl. Taste and adjust ingredients as needed.
Pour sauce over warm noodles and toss to coat.
Sprinkle with green onions and toss.
Serve in a bowl with chopsticks. Yummy!

Thank you, Pioneer Woman, for another great recipe!

It’s been hot this week, and we live above a garage – without air conditioning.  At 4pm today it was 90º inside, and today’s a cooler than it has been for a while.  SO, we’ve not only been eating outside, but only cooking meals that can be “cooked” on the grill because the last thing we want to do right now is use the stove.  And the oven?  Since our apartment spends most of the day being an oven, we can hardly even imagine turning the actual oven on – but when I do imagine it, the picture I see is the paint actually melting off our walls.

This weekend we found a delicious way to make pizza using the grill (we also found a definite way not to make pizza on the grill, but that’s another, much sadder, story.)  I got the idea here.  For the dough, I used my artisan bread dough, with a little whole wheat flour.  I’ll share my pizza since Z’s pizza involves the sadder story already mentioned.

• I put some olive oil in the bottom of a disposable cake pan, just enough oil to cover the bottom of the pan.
• I broke off ½ pound of the dough and rolled it out to fit in the pan.
• Once the dough was in the pan,  I spread some crushed garlic over the dough, and then started in on my toppings:
  • basil leaves, grown on our patio
  • chopped prosciutto
  • sliced kalamata olives (made one with and one without, both were good)
  • slices of fresh tomato
  • topped with Brie goat cheese from Trader Joe’s – yummy and lactose-intolerant-friendly.
• Then I drizzled the top with olive oil and let it sit in the hot apartment for 20-30 minutes

Our grill gets very hot, changing the setting from “high” to “low” doesn’t seem to effect the flame at all – it’s just hot everywhere these days.  So I didn’t pre-heat our grill much before sliding the pie pan right onto the grill.  Even though it was set on low, it cooked in about 15 minutes.   And when I slid it out of the pan, I had a deep-dish-focaccia-style pizza.  One edge was a little blackened on the bottom, so next time I’m going to try to turn the pan once or twice while it’s cooking.  I’d also like to try the olive oil dough recipe the next time around.

It was a delicious pizza, and we’re happy that we don’t have to give up our weekly pizza because of the heat. Yay!