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Engaging stories of love, joy, comfort and friendship with proven scrumptious, healthy recipes, we celebrate LOVE as the secret ingredient for wonderful food!

Asparagus Risotto

June 8, 2014 by Mary 48 Comments

 

With spring finally here and beautiful asparagus plentiful, I always want to make this dish: Asparagus Risotto. Years ago I never liked risotto, I actually never wanted to try it. Soupy rice? No way. My mother used to make this Polish meal of a hot soup made with milk and rice (gag – I hated it), potato pancakes and applesauce. Oh I thought it was AWFUL!!! My father loved it and even one of my brothers, David, asked for the rice soup once for his birthday. Fortunately I had left town by then. So this is why I never ordered risotto in a restaurant, thinking it was too close to that soup. But no, not at all.

And then there are the asparagus stories in my family. My father loved, loved, LOVED asparagus. And in those days when I was young, it was really only available in the spring and early summer. But it was still relatively expensive and we were a family of eight with six kids. So my father would buy two to three bunches, and actually count the spears and divide by eight as to how many spears each person got. This ran between five and eight, depending on how expensive they were. We would always tease him as he counted, while lovingly serving them to each of us. He liked asparagus so much, he even liked the canned white stuff (gag).

My father never cooked much, but he always made the asparagus. He would take each spear, hold it at each end and bend it until it broke at the point of tenderness, all the while, explaining to me what he was doing. Breaking at the point of tenderness was so important to him. After washing, he would then pile them all up with the ends together forming a flat bottom, and tie up the bundle with white kitchen string.

Using the double boiler, he would fill the bottom pan with about an inch and a half of water and stand the bundle of asparagus upright in it and then take the top pan and turn it upside down, covering the top portion and tips. He would then steam them for about 8 – 10 minutes, testing the tenderness of the stems with a fork. When they were done, he would carefully lift out the whole bundle and place it in one of my mom’s square Pyrex pans, cut loose and remove the white string, and proceed to put probably too many pats of butter on top. He would move those pats around, making sure all spears were covered, from stem to tip, and then count to serve. This is how I grew up on asparagus!

But back to risotto, this recipe is based on combination of Mario Batali’s and Mark Bittman’s recipes and was first printed in The New York Times back in 2007. I have changed it a bit. It is a family favorite in our household, the kind of dish you can just sink right into – real comfort food – with the spring accent of asparagus. You can even throw in some peeled raw shrimp at the end, (stir until done) to dress it up even more if you’d like. Serve as a first course or with your meal as shown here with broiled lamb chops. I hope you like this. Maybe it will become a family favorite in your house too!Asparagus risotto with lamb chops.

Asparagus Risotto – Adapted from Mario Batali and Mark Bittman – serves 4 as a main course or 8 as a side

1+ lbs. asparagus, no less than ¼” thick, snapped at the point of tenderness, washed and cut into one-inch-long pieces, tips reserved
5 to 6 cups chicken or vegetable stock, preferably homemade
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
3 tablespoons butter
1/2 medium red onion, diced
1 1/2 cups Arborio rice
1/2 cup dry white wine
Salt to taste
1/2 cup, heaping, grated Parmesan cheese.

Bring a small pot of water to a boil. Add half the asparagus stalks and cook until quite soft, at least 5 minutes. Rinse quickly under cold water. Drain. Put cooked asparagus in a food processor and add just enough water to allow machine to puree until smooth; set aside.

Put stock in a medium saucepan over low heat. Put oil and 1 tablespoon butter in a large, deep nonstick skillet over medium heat. When it is hot, add onion, stirring occasionally until it softens, 3 to 5 minutes.

Add rice and cook, stirring occasionally, until it is glossy, about 2 to 3 minutes. Add white wine, stir, and let liquid bubble away. Add a large pinch of salt. Add warmed stock, 3/4 cup or so at a time, stirring occasionally. Each time the stock has just about evaporated, add more. You need to stir no more than occasionally. For example, stir after each addition of liquid and then once or twice more before that liquid evaporates.

After about 15 minutes, add remaining asparagus pieces and tips, continuing to add stock when necessary. In 5 minutes, begin tasting rice. You want it to be tender but with a bit of crunch; it could take as long as 30 minutes total to reach this stage. When it does, stir in the asparagus puree. Remove skillet from heat, add remaining butter and stir briskly. Add Parmesan and stir briskly, then taste and adjust seasoning. Risotto should be slightly soupy. Serve immediately.

 

Filed Under: First Course, Sides Tagged With: asparagus recipes, asparagus risotto, asparagus risotto recipe, Mario Batali, Mark Bittman, risotto recipes, The New York Times

Mother’s Day Dinner with Cornish Hens and Sauerkraut  

May 28, 2014 by Mary 32 Comments

We have had a consistent thread running through our celebrations lately, and that is not celebrating on the exact day – but boy do we celebrate! We’ve got our own calendar going! We celebrated Easter Sunday on the Saturday before, Zach’s birthday (which is July 10th – but he’ll be in Europe for the summer) on May 10th and Mother’s Day for us was a week later as we had to travel to Boston for business on the actual holiday. My boys, with the help of one girlfriend, once again made a spectacular meal using recipes from Jamie Oliver, Mark Bittman, and the Chocolate Covered Katie blog. Not too shabby, right?! The standout main dish, unusual but terrific, was Bittman’s Cornish Hens and Sauerkraut recipe.

My boys always ask what I want and I promptly say, “Surprise me!” I like/love nearly everything except processed food and of course they’re not going to go there because after all, they were raised by me. When the older one texted me to ask if I had juniper berries at the apartment, I knew I was in for something great. I LOVE juniper berries – as I love my gin martinis on a Friday night!roasted tomato bread soup

They started with a Jaime Oliver roasted tomato bread soup. It was different (I can always count on that from them) and delicious but was supposed to have used day-old bread which may have been better to add a bit more substance instead of the bread being so fresh as to soak everything up. No matter – that was a texture issue – the taste was fabulous! And since I was really hungry, it was substantial and great! Here’s the recipe – cute name! http://www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/bread-recipes/bread-and-tomato-soup-pappa-al-pomodoro

The next course (yes, we have courses!) was this amazing salad of really unusual ingredients – fennel, red onion, cucumber, radishes and oranges. Yes oranges! They provided a wonderful refreshing burst of flavor!Fennel cucumber red onion and orange salad

Here’s the complete recipe – they did not use the ice cubes.

 INSALATA AMALFITANA Amalfi Salad – Adapted from Jamie’s Italy.

1 bulb of fennel, washed
1 red onion, peeled
1 cucumber
a large handful of radishes, washed
2 tablespoons good-quality herb or red wine vinegar
good-quality extra virgin olive oil
sea salt and freshly ground black peper
4 oranges, peeled, segmented, and seeds removed

Optional: a small handful of ice cubes

Remove the herb-like tops from the fennel and set them aside. Then trim the fennel at both ends and take off the outer layer. Split the fennel in half and slice lengthwise as finely as possible. Put into a large bowl. Remove both ends of the onion, then halve it and slice it as finely as possible. Slice the cucumber finely into disk shapes. Leave the stems on the radishes as a grip. Then slice a little bit out of the side of the radish so it will be stable on the counter. Slice as finely as possible into disks.

Throw a few ice cubes in the bowl and toss the salad with them for a few minutes. Jamie says that this makes the vegetables get crunchier. I’m not sure why it works, but it really does.

Remove the ice cubes. In a bowl, mix together 2 tablespoons of good herb or red wine vinegar and about 6 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil. Mix well, and taste. If your oranges are super sweet, you may want some extra vinegar. Add salt and pepper to taste. Toss the salad with the dressing, then add the orange segments with their juices. Sprinkle the reserved fennel tops over the salad right before serving.

And then we had the amazing main course of the Cornish hens with sauerkraut served with some sliced, crispy roasted Yukon gold potatoes.Roasted Cornish hens with sauerkraut and sliced roasted potatoes

CORNISH HENS AND SAUERKRAUT – By Mark Bittman
From the How to Cook Everything Essentials® app

An elegant but straightforward dish and an excellent introduction to sauerkraut. But steer clear of the canned stuff; instead, look for a bottled brand that contains no more than cabbage, salt, and water. This preparation also works well with pheasant, chicken, and duck.

4 Cornish hens, about 1 pound each
4 slices bacon, diced, or 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 pounds sauerkraut
2 cloves garlic
1 teaspoon juniper berries, crushed with the side of a knife
1 sprig fresh thyme or a pinch dried thyme
1 bay leaf
1 cup dry white wine
Stock or water as needed
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Remove the backbone of the hens by cutting along their length on each side. Separate breast and leg quarters. Cook the bacon over medium heat in a large, deep ovenproof skillet until crisp, about 10 minutes, or heat the oil until it shimmers. Remove the bacon with a slotted spoon and reserve. Add the hen pieces to the bacon fat or olive oil and brown them on all sides. Meanwhile, rinse the sauerkraut in a colander and heat the oven to 300°F.

When the bird is nicely browned, add the sauerkraut, cloves, juniper berries, thyme, bay leaf, and white wine to the skillet. Cook over medium heat until about half of the liquid has evaporated, about 10 minutes; move the skillet into the oven.

Bake for about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally and adding liquid as needed to keep the sauerkraut just moist, until the legs are tender and the sauerkraut is slightly browned. Remove the skillet from the oven, then remove the cloves and bay leaf. Taste the sauce, adjust the seasoning, garnish with the bacon pieces (oops – they forgot that) and serve hot or warm.Chocolate mousse garnished with raspberries and strawberries

And for dessert, they made this amazingly rich, decadent chocolate mousse topped with fresh raspberries and strawberries, that had this secret surprise ingredient that not one of us could guess – it was tofu!!! Yes tofu was used instead of cream. Can you imagine?

It was delicious – and no doubt a whole lot healthier for you!

Here it is from the Chocolate Covered Katie blog. She apparently specializes in healthy chocolate desserts. How cool is that?!

http://chocolatecoveredkatie.com/2012/02/06/chocolate-chocolate-chocolate-mousse/

Chocolate mousse with raspberries and strawberries half eaten

I couldn’t eat the whole thing!

 I know I’m lucky. Hope all you moms out there enjoyed a fantastic Mother’s Day, filled with LOVE too!

Filed Under: Desserts, Dinner, First Course, Poultry, Salads, Soups Tagged With: chocolate mousse with tofu, Cornish hens with sauerkraut, insalada almalfitana, Jaime Oliver tomato soup, Mark Bittman, pappa al pomodoro soup, salad with fennel onion cucumber and oranges

Sauteed Zucchini with Onions and Radishes, topped with Feta and Oil-cured Moroccan Olives

December 15, 2013 by Mary Frances 26 Comments

More and more people are asking me for vegetable recipes. For myself, I am forever on the quest to find new and interesting combinations. With the holidays coming and all the rich food that is starting to show up at parties, I thought a new and unusual vegetable dish could do everybody a little good. I had this beautiful bunch of multicolored radishes, some zucchini and a sweet Spanish onion. So I put together this dish, Sauteed Zucchini with Onions and Radishes, topped with Feta and Oil-cured Moroccan Olives.

Radishes are usually eaten cold and crisp, by themselves, with a touch of salt or used as dipping instrument. But ever since Mark Bittman published an article several years ago on grilling radishes in the summer, I have been eating them grilled or sautéed. I love them cooked! Now when you grill them, the smokey taste addition is wonderful, but they lose their color and do not look so pretty. They sort of look like anemic radishes. But, when you sauté them, they somehow hold their color better. Or at least these radishes did.Raw zucchini, multi-colored radishes and a sweet Spanish onion on a black granite countertop.

These multi-colored radishes in my fridge needed to be used, along with the zucchini. My mother used to make a dish of sautéed onions and zucchini topped with grated parmesan and sharp cheddar cheese. My husband still asks for that dish every so often, so I know the combo of onions, zucchini and cheese is good. But I had some feta that needed to be used and then these oil-cured Moroccan olives were hanging around too and the dish needed a punctuation of color. So there you have it. That’s how I created this dish – really using my skillet as a palette as I do when I paint.

I think you will LOVE this!Sauteed zucchini with onions and radishes topped with feta cheese and oil-cured Moroccan olives.

SAUTEED ZUCCHINI WITH ONIONS AND RADISHES, TOPPED WITH FETA AND OIL-CURED MOROCCAN OLIVES – serves 4 – 5

3 medium zucchini – washed and thickly sliced in 1/4” slices
1 sweet Spanish onion – peeled and trimmed and sliced into 1/4” slices
6 multi-colored or red radishes – washed, trimmed and quartered
2 tbs. olive oil
1 tbs. unsalted butter
Salt
Pepper
1/4 – 1/3 cup crumbled feta cheese
1/4 cup of pitted oil-cured Moroccan olives

Warm the oil in a large skillet on medium heat, add the butter to melt. Add the sliced onions, cover and stir often, cooking for 10 – 15 minutes. Add the zucchini and radishes and toss until crisp tender. Lower heat to low. Season very lightly with salt and pepper. (remember the feta and olives are salty) Sprinkle the feta cheese and olives on top. Cover for 3 – 5 minutes to warm the cheese and olives. Serve right away using a large pancake turner to pick up a section and keep it pretty. Enjoy!

Filed Under: Dinner, Sides, Vegetables Tagged With: cooked radishes, feta cheese, grilled radishes, Mark Bittman, oil-cured Moroccan olives, sauteed radishes, sauteed zucchini with onions and radishes

It could always be worse

February 19, 2013 by Mary Frances 12 Comments

HA! This post (which Mark Bittman recently shared) is full of the grossest, funniest cooking projects gone awry. Most of them were doomed before they started, clearly! I was laughing so hard I cried. Take a look at these and remember, it could always be worse!!

http://www.buzzfeed.com/rachelysanders/people-worse-at-cooking-than-you-food-fails

this pizza_buzzfeed

Photo courtesy Buzzfeed via malsfoodporn.blogspot.com

To clarify, this is not my mess! I’ve made messes, but not quite like this. Credit noted above.

Filed Under: Dinner Tagged With: cooking, disaster, Mark Bittman, mess, quotes

Labor Day weekend!

September 4, 2012 by Mary Frances 2 Comments

Eggplant Parmigiano and farm stand salad on a white plate.

Margaret’s Eggplant Parmigiano with a farm stand mesclun salad

Ah, the end of summer. Sad to say good-bye, but beautiful autumn is just around the corner. I love every season and I am glad I live in a place that experiences all four of them.

How was your holiday weekend? Ours, upstate, was filled with gorgeous weather with some sprinkles of rain just as we were driving back to Manhattan in the early evening on Monday.

This time also celebrates our one-year birthday for this blog! LOVE now has close to 3000 followers with additional monthly exposure across the globe in South Africa via Spice4Life.

On Saturday, we got together with our dear friends, Margaret and Wayne. They had us over to their house and Margaret made a fantastic dinner. Starting with delicious fresh summer corn crab cakes – a recipe from Mark Bittman – she moved us into Fall with the most amazing Eggplant Parmigiano with a beautiful mixed green salad. She used farm stand organic mesclun with scallions, heirloom tomatoes and avocado. But the Eggplant Parmigiano, oh my, was divine!!! The eggplant was not breaded beforehand, but sautéed on its own, the mozzarella was dreamy and the tomato sauce (homemade) was perfect. It was scrumptious pure heaven. She has promised the recipe, an old one from The New York Times, that she had lost but put back together from memory.

We need that recipe soon, Margaret!!!

Here’s her beautiful meal.

Filed Under: Dinner Tagged With: corn crab cakes, Eggplant Parmigiano, heirloom tomatoes, Mark Bittman, mesclun salad, mozzerella cheese, The New York Times

Father’s Day!

June 19, 2012 by Mary Frances 4 Comments

Hope all you Dads out there had a great day!! Because our youngest left on Friday for a seven week vacation in Poland and Eastern Europe, our Father’s Day came early. They surprised my husband on Thursday evening, He came home from work to a beautifully set dining room table and both boys busy in the kitchen. I made cocktails for all and we had a grand time.

Here’s what they made. They started with a salad of arugula, topped with thinly sliced radishes and carrots, followed with avocado and a white wine and olive oil vinagrette. The meal was scaloppini of veal poached in a homemade vegetable broth with tarragon, dill and parsley, (a Mark Bittman recipe), served over parboiled broccoli rabe that was then flash broiled, and finished with a tossing of olive oil and chopped garlic, with mandoline sliced potatoes, coated in clarified butter and baked, (a French Laundry recipe). I am not making this up. They did it all and it was amazing and delicious!!!
Arugula salads with radishes on red places.Making an arugula salad with radishes, carrots, avocado, and white wine and olive oil vinaigrette.Arugula salads with radishes, carrots, avocado, and white wine and olive oil vinaigrette on red plates.Veal with parsley.

Mark Bittman's recipe of veal poached in  vegetable broth on red and white plates.

Father’s Day finished plates

Filed Under: Dinner Tagged With: avocado, broccoli rabe, clarified butter, dill, French Laundry, mandoline, Mark Bittman, parsley, potatoes, tarragon, Thomas Keller, veal scaloppini

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