Risotto.

Mmm, risotto. So creamy, so yummy, and I can make it up as I go. Those really are the best recipes! For this risotto, I used brown rice, broccoli, cauliflower, and the requisite onion. Yum!

Risotto

Ingredients:

1/2 to 1 onion, chopped small

3 cups brown or white rice (cook time is about twice as long for regular brown rice, about 1 to 1 1/3 hours...)

1/4 cup wine or water

pinch of salt and pepper

4 to 6 cups broth, chicken, vegetable, or beef, you choose. (See, isn't this fun?)

4 to 6 T. Butter

Various veggies, chopped small and steamed

Nuts of any variety (I like walnuts or pine nuts)

1/2 to 1 c. shredded cheese (I used mozzarella)

Directions:

Heat broth on low in a small saucepan.

Sauté onion in 2 T. of butter. When soft, about 2-3 minutes, add rice and stir. Once rice is fully coated in butter, and butter is nearly gone, add the wine/water. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Stir, and stir every minute or so until wine is nearly cooked out, then add about a half cup of the broth. The mixture should never be soupy or too dry. Stir each time you add more broth, and otherwise continue to stir at 1 minute intervals. After about 20 minutes for white rice, and 40 minutes for brown rice, you can begin tasting the rice to see if it's nearly cooked. It should be soft when cooked, but still have a faint crunch in the center of the grain.

When rice is done, stir in vegetables and/or nuts until veggies are heated through. Stir in a handful or two of cheese and last 2-4 T. of butter (depends how creamy and, inversely, healthy, you want this...) and serve with a sprinkling of cheese on top. Enjoy!

Pacific Rim Stir-Fry.

The first time we had this recipe, it was a disaster. Don't get me wrong, it tasted great. No, the disaster was that I managed to dump my entire plate on our new cream colored carpet. I was trying to multi-task, dealing with Jonathan in his swing while moving my plate. It didn't work. A bit slid off, and as I tried to catch it, the rest slid off the other side of the plate! Now, because this dish contains turmeric, it stained the carpet in that spot a deep golden yellow. A lovely color, if it's not in only one spot on the floor.  Needless to say, I avoided this recipe for awhile, due to the 'trauma' I'd suffered before because of it. That was almost a year ago, and I wish I hadn't waited this long. This really is a delicious dish, especially when there is no drama surrounding it. (We did get the carpet stain out, by the way. It took me scrubbing it, Chris steam-cleaning it, me trimming the spot with tiny scissors, and finally calling in a professional to finish the job.) I hope you enjoy this as much as I have, without all the drama!

Pacific Rim Stir-Fry, Recipe from Easy Everyday Cooking, from Better Homes and Gardens

Ingredients:

3 oz. rice sticks (also called rice noodles), or dried vermicelli, broken

12 oz. skinless boneless chicken thighs or breast halves

1/2 c. chicken broth

2 T snippd fresh basil or 2 t. dried basil, crushed

2 T. soy sauce

2 t. cornstarch

1 t. chile oil

-or-

1/2 t. crushed red pepper (we used this)

1/2 t. ground turmeric

1 T. cooking oil (peanut oil works best, but other will do)

2 med. carrots, cut into julienne strips

2 c. broccoli florets

1 red or green sweet pepper, cut into lengthwise strips

1 bunch green onions, chopped small, opt.

1/4 c. cashew halves or peanuts

Directions:

In a saucepan cook rice sticks in boiling water for 3 minutes, or cook vermicelli according to package directions. Drain, keep warm. (We did this at the end, so we didn't have to worry about keeping them warm, and it worked just as well.)

Meanwhile, rinse chicken; pat dry with paper towels. Cut chicken thighs or breasts into thin, bite-size strips; set aside.

For sauce, in a small bowl combine chicken broth, basil, soy sauce, cornstarch, chile oil or crushed red pepper, and turmeric; set aside.

Add cooking oil to a wok or 12-in. skillet. Preheat over medium-high heat (add more oil if necessary during cooking). Stir-fry carrot strips in hot oil for 1 minute. Add broccoli; stir-fry for 1 1/2 to 3 minutes more or until crisp-tender. Add green onions, if using, cook one minute more. Remove from wok. Add the chicken to wok; stir-fry for 2 to 3 minutes or until tender and no longer pink. Push from center of wok.

Stir sauce; add to center of wok. Cook and stir until thickened and bubbly. Return cooked vegetables to wok. Stir all ingredients together to coat. Cook and stir about 2 minutes more or until heated through.  Serve immediately over hot rice sticks or vermicelli. Top with cashews or peanuts. Makes 4 servings.

Lasagna, Pt. 2 (How to make lasagna/spaghetti sauce).

I love this meat sauce. When we have it atop spaghetti, I look forward to it all day, if not all week. This is another family recipe, this time handed down from my aunt Katy to my mom to me. Enjoy!

Spaghetti/Lasagna sauce, Recipe from Katy Lyren (my aunt)

Makes: plenty for spaghetti or an 8x8 pan of lasagna, double recipe for a 9x13 pan of lasagna

Ingredients:

1 lb. ground beef

1/4 t. garlic powder

1/2 to 1 t. oregano

2 t. sugar

1 pkg. onion soup mix

1 6 oz. can tomato paste

1 8 oz. can tomato sauce

1 1/4 c. hot water

Directions:

Brown beef and garlic powder together.

When beef is browned, add rest of the ingredients, and simmer till slightly thickened, or until desired consistency.

For Lasagna:

Ingredients for 8x8 pan, double for 9x13

(Note: since writing this, I've found that I don't need to double the meat sauce, and only increase the pasta dough to 1 1/2 recipe. I still get a large container of ricotta or cottage cheese for a 9x13. I prefer a mixture of the two cheeses.)

1 recipe pasta dough

1 recipe lasagna sauce

1 small container cottage cheese and/or ricotta cheese

Shredded cheese of your choice, opt.

Assembly:

Layer 1 row of noodles, 1 layer of cheese, one layer of sauce. Repeat. Top with one layer noodles, and one layer of cheese. Top with shredded cheese, if desired.

Bake for 45-50 minutes at 350°. (Bake up to 1 hr if using 9x13.)

Lasagna, Pt. 1: How to make your own Pasta Dough.

There is nothing better on a cold winter night than a fresh-from-the-oven homemade meal. Comfort food, by its very nature, is required on those nights. Chili, meatloaf, lasagna. Now, I realize that people are busy, that spending an afternoon making dinner is not desirable. HOWEVER. This recipe is completely worth it. I promise. It doesn't have to take forever, but it will take a bit as you're learning the recipe.  Once you've got it down, it'll only take about 20 minutes, tops, start to finish. Add in making the sauce, and you've got another 20 or so, plus oven time. Your family will love you for this. YOU will love you for this. Your hips may not, but even they can be placated by portion control. Without further ado, part one of how to make lasagna from scratch.

Homemade Noodles, Recipe from Gayle Van Camp (my mom)

Makes: Enough dough for an 8x8 pan of lasagna. (Mom says she can get a 9x13 out of this recipe...I double it for that.)

Ingredients:

 2 eggs

4 T. (1/4 c.) milk

2 c. all-purpose flour (can use up to 3/4 c. whole wheat flour)

1 t. salt

Directions:

Beat eggs in mixer a little.

Add milk, mix.

Beat 1 c. flour in at a time, alternating with salt.

 

Let mixer form it to a ball, (you may have to lock it in place if you can do that). 

Here's where my mom and I differ...she says grease the counter, I say flour it. Basically, if you want to let the dough dry completely and store it, greasing works, but it takes a long time. If you want to use the dough right away, flour the counter.

Flour your counter. :) Your dough will be a bit sticky now, so flip it around on the counter a bit so it collects some extra flour.  

Roll out your dough as thin as possible (check out these little rolling pin spacers! They work great if I need a precise thickness - I ended up just putting on the thinnest set, which simply kept me from rolling the dough too thin) and cut the dough to size.

If you choose to grease the counter, roll the dough out as thin as possible, let dry some, then cut to width desired. Let dry more, then flip with a spatula so the back side can dry too. Once completely dry, you can store in the fridge or freezer until needed.

These noodles work famously for soups, to eat as regular pasta (though I usually can't get them thin enough for that...) or, my favorite use for them, in homemade lasagna.  My meat sauce recipe for this is upcoming, so check back soon!

Baked/Shirred Egg.

I love this recipe because it's super simple, quick, and can be infinitely increased to feed however many people you need to feed, limited only by the number of ramekins or small baking dishes you have on hand. It also is easily varied, since you can throw in leftover veggies or meat, or fresh or dried herbs with the cream.

These are the basic ingredients. Like I said, add anything extra you want, though it is good simple too.

Butter the ramekin.

Add the cream. (A couple of teaspoons is plenty, though by all means add more if you wish.) Now is the time to add any extras you want.

Crack the egg in. I recommend separating the egg for this, so the yolk and white mix easier with the cream when baking. I didn't do that this time though, and it still turned out great, so again, you decide. (Don't you feel powerful? YOU control the recipe!)

Place on a baking sheet and bake in a 375°F oven for 10-15 minutes. (If your oven is normal, it should take about 12.) Don't overcook! When you pull it out, it will look a little runny, though the white should be cooked and the yolk set. It will continue to cook a bit, as the ramekin retains some heat.

Salt and Pepper to taste, then enjoy!

Thank you to Mark Bittman and his cookbook, How To Cook Everything, for the recipe.