Porcini, Caramelized Onion and Sage Risotto

I really wanted to try making risotto since I had never made it before. I came across this recipe on the William Sonoma website. It's pretty good! It's kind of a pain to make, but worth it! WARNING: This recipe makes way more than enough for 2 people....It makes like 6-8 servings....so if it's just 1 or 2 of you, cut it down in size.


Ingredients:

• 3/4 oz. dried porcini mushrooms (i only had 1/2 oz and i think it was fine)
  
• 1 cup hot water
• 5 1/2 cups chicken or vegetable stock (i used chicken)
  
• 2 Tbs. unsalted butter
  
• 2 Tbs. olive oil
• 2 yellow onions, quartered lengthwise and sliced crosswise
• 2 cups Arborio or medium-grain rice
• 3/4 cup dry white wine
• 1 Tbs. finely chopped fresh sage or 1 tsp. dried
• 1 1/2 cups freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese (I used asiago since thats what i had)
  
• Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
• Fresh sage leaves for garnish (didnt use this)
  

Directions:

• In a small bowl, combine the mushrooms and hot water.
  
• Soak for 30 minutes to soften.
  
• Drain the mushrooms, reserving the soaking liquid, and chop the mushrooms.

• In a small saucepan over high heat, bring the stock to a simmer.
  
• Reduce the heat to low and keep the liquid hot.

• In another heavy saucepan over medium-high heat, melt the butter with the olive oil.
  
• Add the onions and sauté, stirring frequently, until brown, about 10 minutes.
  
• Add the rice and mushrooms and stir until a white dot appears in the center of the grains, about 1 minute.
  
• Add the wine and stir until it is absorbed, about 2 minutes.

• Add the chopped sage, reserved mushroom soaking liquid (discarding any sediment at the bottom) and 3/4 cup of the stock.
  
• Adjust the heat under the rice to a simmer, if needed, so that the liquid bubbles and is absorbed slowly.
  
• Stir until the liquid is absorbed.
  
• Continue cooking, adding the liquid 3/4 cup at a time and stirring almost constantly, until the rice starts to soften, about 10 minutes.
  
• Continue cooking, adding the liquid 1/2 cup at a time and stirring almost constantly, until the rice is just tender to the bite but slightly firm in the center and looks creamy, about 10 minutes more.

• Add the cheese and season with salt and pepper. Stir to mix well.
  

• To serve, spoon the risotto into a shallow serving bowl. Garnish with the sage leaves. Serves 6.

Mac and Cheese Lorraine

This came from the new Rachael Ray cookbook "Just in Time". I really liked it! Of course I changed some things up and will make note.

Ingredients:

• salt
• 1 lb gemelli pasta (or whatever pasta you want)
• 1/2 lb bacon, chopped
• 1 TBL EVOO
• 2 onions, quartered and thinly sliced (I only used 1 onion and chopped it into tiny pieces)
• 1/2 cup dry white wine
• 2 TBL butter
• 2 TBL all purpose flour
• 1 c. chicken stock
• 1 c. whole milk (I used skim milk)
• black pepper
• 2 cups shredded Gruyere (I used 1 c. Gruyere and 1 c. cheddar)
• nutmeg, to taste (i skipped the nutmeg)
• 1 rounded TBL dijon mustard

Directions

• Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Salt the water, add pasta and cook al dente. Drain
• Cook the bacon in the EVOO in a deep skillet over medium-high heat. When crisp remove to a paper-towel-lined plate. Drain out all but 2-3 TBL of the fat. Add the onions and cook about 10 minutes, or until they begin to caramelize. Add the wine and cook for another minute.
• While the onions cook, melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Whisk in the flour (when i did this it just kind of lumped together...) Cook for 1 minute, then whisk in the stock and milk and bring to a bubble. Cook for a few minutes to thicken, then season with salt and pepper. Stir in the cheese, then add the nutmeg, mustard, and salt and pepper.
• Toss the pasta with the onions, then stir in the cheese sauce. Top each serving with some of the crispy bacon.
  

Chicken Ala Beth....

I don't really know what to call this, as I just kind of made it up as I went along. It wasn't the greatest thing I've made...but it wasn't bad either. I got the thumbs up from Jake. I'm not really sure on measurements, so I'll write what I put in it and guesstimate as I go along.

3 boneless skinless chicken breasts cut in half (to make 2 thinner pieces)
dill
flour
lemon pepper
2 lemons
mushrooms
onion
white wine
egg
garlic
butter (i use i cant believe its not butter spray--0 calories)
vegetable oil

Ok, so I had to defrost the chicken, so while that was going on I chopped the mushrooms, onions and garlic then set them aside.

Once the chicken was defrosted, I cut them in half to make 6 thin pieces of chicken.

In a large bowl, mix together flour, dill, and lemon pepper. Scramble 1-2 eggs in a separate bowl. Take each piece of chicken and put it in the egg, then the flour mixture, then back in egg and back in flour mixture.

In a deep skillet, melt the butter on medium heat. After dipping the chicken in the egg/flour, brown each side it in the skillet. You may want to add some vegetable oil. I did this b/c my butter kept drying up fast. I ended up cooking the chicken all the way and then taking it out of the skillet and setting it aside.

In the same skillet, add the wine. After all was said and done, I probably had about 2 cups in there. Then I added the juice of 2 lemons. I let this simmer for a while

In a separate skillet, I sauteed the mushrooms, onions and garlic in some butter. Once they were sauteed to my liking, I added them to the wine mixture.

Once everything was added together, I put the chicken back in the skillet. I let it simmer for about 1/2 hour.

My problem was that every time I tasted it, it was either too lemony or too winey. I settled with a tad bit too winey. I made brown rice with it and drizzled some of the wine sauce over the rice. All in all it wasn't bad....but like I said, not one of my best.

Shrimp Scampi

I found this recipe on allrecipes.com. I did, however, tweak it a little and will post to how I made it.

What you need:
1/2 cup butter
1 lb cooked shrimp (de-veined/de-shelled)
8 cloves garlic- minced (more or less depending on your taste)
3/4 cup white wine
1/4 cup chicken broth
pinch of red pepper flakes
Whatever pasta you enjoy (I used linguine)

Melt the butter in a pan on medium heat. Once the butter has melted, add in the shrimp and the garlic. Heat this for about 5 minutes, then add the wine and chicken broth. Bring to a boil for 2-3 minutes while stirring occasionally. Add in a dash of red pepper flakes and you're done! I put it over pasta as I liked. I don't mix the whole batch into pasta because some people may like more or less sauce.

Enjoy!