Breakfast Risotto

I've been on a major risotto kick lately so, naturally, as soon as Elly posted this drool-inducing Breakfast Risotto on our cooking board I immediately added it to the meal plan.

I'm a sucker for runny eggs so topping risotto with a runny egg is right up my alley. Initially I was going to use bacon in this recipe but I needed pancetta for the salad I was going to serve with it so I figured I'd give the pancetta a shot. In the future I'll probably stick with bacon since half a pound of pancetta was more expensive than a pound of bacon, plus I missed the smokiness.

Either way, this is a great recipe. We all loved it - Baby Girl was popping the crispy pancetta into her mouth like candy.

Breakfast Risotto
As Seen on Elly Says Opa!

4-6 cups chicken broth
2 tablespoons butter, divided
3 oz. pancetta, chopped
1 shallot, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 1/4 cups arborio rice
1/3 cup dry white wine
1/2 cup grated Pecorino Romano or Parmesan cheese
Fresh chopped parsley, minced (optional)
Poached eggs for serving

Pour the broth into a saucepan and bring it to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce the heat so the broth is at a simmer.

In a heavy-bottomed skillet, melt 1 tablespoon of the butter. Add the pancetta and cook until it has crisped and rendered its fat. Remove with a slotted spoon and set aside.

Melt the remaining butter into the pan, and then add the shallot. Cook until tender, then stir in the garlic just until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Stir in the rice, coating with the butter and toasting the kernels until they are translucent, about 2 minutes.

Add the wine to the pan. Scrape up any browned bits and allow nearly all of the wine to be absorbed by the risotto. Add a ladle-full of warm chicken broth to the rice. Stir frequently and do not add another ladle of broth until the first is almost completely absorbed. Continue to stir frequently, adding broth by the ladle, until the rice is creamy and has just a slight bite in the center when you try it. This will take about 25 minutes.

Off the heat, stir in the cheese and pancetta. Season to taste with salt and pepper and serve immediately with poached eggs on top.

Penne with Sausage and Mushroom Ragu

Amy recently posted this recipe for Penne with Sausage and Mushroom Ragu that I knew would be right up our alley. Pasta is definitely my go-to for easy weeknight meals, SP loves mushrooms and Baby Girl loves sausage. Win-win.

This was a simple, delicious, hearty dinner that we all happily gobbled up.

Penne with Sausage and Mushroom Ragu
As seen on Very Culinary

1 pound penne pasta
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 small sweet onion, diced small
3 garlic cloves, minced
8 ounces baby bella mushrooms, sliced
salt and pepper
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 pound Italian sausage
1/3 cup white wine
1 can (28 ounce) diced tomatoes
4 cups baby spinach
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Bring a large pot of salted water to boil. Cook the pasta according to package directions.

In the meantime, heat the olive oil in a large nonstick pan over medium-high heat. Add the onion and cook until soft and translucent, about 3 minutes. Add in garlic and cook for about 20 seconds. Add in mushrooms and cook until softened, about 3 more minutes. Season with salt and pepper and the red pepper flakes. Add in sausage and cook, breaking up into small pieces until no pink remains, about 3 more minutes. Raise heat to high and pour in the wine; cook until evaporated. Add in tomatoes, along with their juice, and bring to a simmer.

Drain the pasta and add to the sauce, along with the spinach. Toss to coat and allow the leaves to wilt. Add in the Parmesan, taste, and season with salt and pepper if necessary.

Recipe Swap: Bang Bang Cauliflower

Time for another Recipe Swap! This month's theme was Super Bowl snacks/appetizers. I had a hard time narrowing down my choices from my friend Mary Ellen's blog. She has a ton of great appetizers and dips that I wanted to make, but since I didn't host a Super Bowl party I didn't want to make something that would yield too many leftovers. I finally settled on Bang Bang Cauliflower because (1) I'm on a cauliflower kick lately and (2) I love anything made in the Bang Bang style a la Bonefish Grill.

This was addictively good. I made it as a snack on Super Bowl Sunday and we had to stop ourselves from eating a whole (small) head of cauliflower in one sitting. This was incredibly easy to make, although I wish I'd made a double batch of the Bang Bang sauce. I thought using a small head of cauliflower I'd be OK with one batch but there wasn't enough of the sauce (for my tastes) to go around. This is best served piping out from the fryer so only make as much as you think you'll eat. I attempted to reheat leftovers and it was a big, fat fail.

SP told me if I was going to make this for a party he'd recommend cutting the cauliflower pieces into even smaller florets, just to make it easier for people to eat. I'm already thinking this would be a great dinner entree - you could batter and fry some other veggies like zucchini, onion, parboiled potatoes or sweet potatoes, or carrots to make it more of a complete meal.

The only change I made was to sub the Bang Bang sauce recipe I used for these Bang Bang chicken skewers since I had all the ingredients on hand (and knew we liked the flavor). This was a definite winner. Thanks for an awesome dish, Mary Ellen!

Bang Bang Cauliflower
As seen on Mary Ellen’s Cooking Creations

Batter
2 egg yolks
1 1/2 cup cold water
1 3/4 cup flour, sifted

Bang-Bang Sauce
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup Thai sweet chili sauce
2-4 teaspoons sriracha, or more to taste

1 small head cauliflower or half a regular head, cut into florets
vegetable or canola oil
2 scallions, chopped

Place the egg yolks in a large bowl. Add cold water gradually and blend well. Add the flour all at once and stir briefly so it's all mixed, but still has lumps and clumps. Make the batter as soon as you are ready to start cooking - you don't want it sitting around.

Whisk the sauce ingredients together in a large bowl big enough to toss all the cauliflower with it later.

Heat oil in a large pan about 1/4 inch deep. Dip cauliflower into the batter, and then drop it into very hot oil. Cook a few minutes per side until crispy and golden brown. Transfer to a cooling rack or paper towel-lined plate to drain. Toss with the sauce and top with the scallions.

To see what other Super Bowl snacks/appetizers were made for the swap click on the links below.

Portobello Pizza Burgers

This recipe for Portobello Pizzas started life as a low-carb dish. So what did I do? I slapped it between two buns and made it...not low carb. Oops.

The first night we ate these with a knife and fork and we were just meh about them. They weren't horrible but they just didn't do it for us. Not wanting to waste food, the next day I thought "how can I make these better" and instantly thought of a hamburger bun. The mushroom was the perfect size for the bun and after a quick spin in the mircowave and some new pepperoni slices (still getting the hang of my new broiler), lunch was served. And it was DELICIOUS. These were so awesome as a burger.

I wonder if I can get my family to give them another try. I'll definitely keep these in mind the next time I need a quick lunch. And the best part is you can make them completely vegetarian by leaving off the pepperoni or you could add other toppings. Olives would be great. I was also thinking about Italian sausage. Finely chopped sauteed peppers and onions would be good as well.

Portobello Pizza Burgers
Adapted from Lauren's Latest

4 portobello mushroom caps
salt and pepper
pizza sauce
1 cup grated mozzarella cheese
pepperoni slices
4 hamburger buns, toasted

Preheat indoor grill pan to medium heat and preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Remove mushroom stems and wipe off mushroom caps with a damp cloth to remove any dirt. Lightly spray each mushroom cap with nonstick cooking spray and sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Grill each mushroom for a few minutes per side until cooked through. Liquid will come out of the mushroom so be sure to pour it off before continuing with the next step. Remove the mushrooms to a baking sheet lined with foil.

Spoon 2 tablespoons of pizza sauce into each grilled mushroom cap. Top with cheese and pepperoni. Transfer to the oven and cook until the cheese melts. Place one mushroom on the bottom of each roll, add the tops and serve immediately.

Garlic Herb Pork

I was looking for a new recipe for pork tenderloin when Nichole posted this recipe for Garlic Herb Pork.



The fresh herbs and garlic made a nice paste to rub over the pork. I think next time I might let the rub sit on the pork for a few hours so the flavors could infuse into the meat a bit.



Garlic Herb Pork
As seen on The Cookaholic Wife, from Once a Month Mom

2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon fresh sage, chopped
1 tablespoon fresh rosemary, chopped
1 tablespoon fresh thyme, chopped
1 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
2 lbs. pork tenderloin, trimmed

In a small bowl, combine 1 tablespoon of the olive oil with the garlic, fresh herbs, salt and pepper. Rub over the pork.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Heat the remaining tablespoon of olive oil in an oven-safe skillet over medium-high heat,

Add the pork to the skillet and brown on all sides, then place in the oven for 20-25 minutes, turning the pork over every 5 minutes.

Remove the pork from the oven and allow to rest, tented with foil for 5 minutes before slicing.

January Re-Make Recap

Anyone else over winter? Between the Polar Vortex and the snow I'm ready for spring. Truth be told, I've never been a fan of winter, but this year has been particularly brutal. For the first time since I started these monthly recaps I won't be saying "can you believe it's already the end of XXX month" because I'm actually happy January is almost over. That means we're 1/3 of the way through winter and spring is coming!

We did eat very well this month, though. I certainly had plenty of time to cook with all the snow days.

I love making a big batch of eggplant rollatini to keep in the freezer. This made three pans - one we ate that night and the other two are tucked away in the freezer for another time. It's going to be so awesome just popping them in the oven one night when I don't feel like cooking.

I'm not sure if I should keep including the Texas Roadhouse salads in this recap because it's the only side salad I make anymore. It's simple to make, tastes great and is Baby Girl's favorite salad. She knows all the ingredients that go into making it and will remind me if I forget anything.

I'm getting back into big dinner salads and this chopped chicken taco salad with cheese quesadilla strips was such a hit a few months ago that I thought we should have it again. My favorite part of this salad is the quesadilla pieces. There's just something about a gooey, cheesy quesadilla.

It might not be grilling weather but I had a craving for a Shake Shack burger that couldn't be ignored. The sauce really makes these burgers special.

This is now my go-to recipe for roasted potatoes. They come out perfect every single time and we all love them. I haven't been adding the cheese lately and they're still awesome.

I dug way back in my archives for the ever-popular Philly cheesesteak sloppy Joe's this month after wanting something different to make with ground beef. Always a winner.

We rarely do breakfast for dinner but I saw these bacon and egg quesadillas on my blog while searching for something else and needed to make them ASAP.

I served the quesadillas with refried beans, of course. It was a great Saturday night meal.

This grilled chicken and potatoes with roasted garlic-oregano vinaigrette was another dish I saw on my blog while looking for something else and had to make it ASAP. It was just as delicious as we remembered.

This is another one of our favorite dinner salads - the CPK BBQ chicken chopped salad. All the different components that go into this salad are what makes it so incredible.

I had to restock our freezer stash or chorizo and egg burritos because SP kept eating them when he was home due to the snow. I still need to try making my own chorizo. I was thwarted a few weeks ago when my supermarket was out of ground pork.

I also needed to make more sausage and spinach egg bake. This is still my favorite weekday breakfast with a little mayo mixed with hot sauce.

I made these banana chocolate chip muffins twice this month. The first time we had 6 bananas that needed to be used so I made a double batch of the muffins for the freezer. A few weeks later we had 3 ripe bananas so since we already had so many of these in the freezer I thought I'd make them for Baby Girl to share with her school friends. I used my new mini muffin tin and they were the perfect size for the kiddos (plus we got three regular size muffins with the extra batter that didn't fit in the mini pan).

This taco rice is one of my favorite recipes to make with ground beef. It's so satisfying and comforting.

These crispy fish sandwiches are my new favorite sandwich and my new favorite way to eat fish. I love the crispy coating so much and the fish is so flaky and moist.

I made this cauliflower bacon mac and cheese, which originally called for broccoli, again this month and I think I definitely prefer it with cauliflower. Bonus is Baby Girl loves cauliflower both raw and cooked.

Broccoli Cheddar Risotto

I'm on a serious risotto kick these days. When one of the ladies on my cooking board sang the praises of this Broccoli-Cheddar Oven Risotto I couldn't wait to try it.



While I'm sure the oven method is easier, I prefer to cook risotto on the stove top because I have more control. The cooking method is the only change I made to the recipe.



We all loved this, even if I ended up with more broccoli than rice. The flavor was great and the rice was nice and creamy. I also like that this was an all-in-one starch and veggie side dish.

Broccoli Cheddar Risotto
Adapted from Food Network Magazine

4-6 cups low-sodium chicken broth
2 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil, divided
2 broccoli crowns, cut into small florets
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 1/4 cups arborio rice
1/4 cup dry white wine
1 cup grated sharp cheddar cheese (about 4 ounces)

Bring the chicken broth to a low simmer in a saucepan. Heat 1 tablespoon of the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the broccoli and season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring every so often, until the broccoli is tender and browning in spots, about 15 minutes. Remove the broccoli from the skillet.

Melt 1 tablespoon oil and 1 tablespoon butter in the now-empty skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until slightly softened, about 2 minutes. Add the rice and stir to coat. Pour in the wine and cook until evaporated, about 1 minute.

Start adding the chicken broth one ladle-full at a time, letting it fully absorb before adding more. This process takes anywhere from 17-25 minutes.

Before you add the final ladle of broth, add the broccoli back in. Add the final ladle of broth and once it's absorbed, taste some of the rice to make sure it's cooked through. Turn off the heat and add the grated cheese and 2 tablespoons of butter. Adjust seasoning, if necessary.