Mushrooms, Celery and Chicken Risotto

Since it was quite miserable outside I just felt for something comforting but light and some kind risotto filled the bill. I had one chicken breast, celery and Cremini mushrooms on hand so recipe was born. It is very similar to Chicken and Mushroom Risotto that I have posted earlier. It may seem like lot of mushrooms but the shrink to about 1/4 of its volume.

Risotto is very versatile meal. This time I cooked enough of it to have a lot for leftover. Next day I prepared Risotto Cakes and whit what was left I cooked risotto soup. I just used 1 part of risotto for 2 parts of chicken stock by volume. It tasted fantastic and the soup was done in 15 minutes! After all, everything was cooked already.

Ingredients
2 tsp. olive oil
2 Tbs. butter
2 1/2 cups fresh mushrooms, sliced
2 stalks of celery
2 skinless chicken breasts
3 shallots
4 garlic cloves, crushed
1-1/2 cups Arborio rice
1/2 cup dry white wine
Pinch of Saffron
4-1/2cups chicken stock (heated)
1/2 cup of freshly grated Parmigiano cheese
2 Tbs. chopped fresh parsley
Oil
Salt & pepper

 Directions

Slice the celery diagonally across into 1/8” slices. Chop the chicken breast into 3/8” pieces, sprinkle with sea salt and pepper and coat with 1 Tbs. of olive oil.

Heat up the chicken stock and keep hot.

Heat 1 tsp. of oil and 1 Tbs. of butter in skillet. Add mushrooms and toss to coat all slices. Cook till mushrooms show nice color (do not move them too much). Add celery and cook until it softens, about 3 minutes. Add the chicken pieces and cook for 5 – 7 minutes or until the chicken is almost cooked. Remove chicken, mushrooms and celery to a bowl and keep warm.

In the same skillet that you cooked mushrooms and chicken, sauté shallots and garlic in remaining butter and oil until shallots are translucent. Add the rice and stir until the rice turns opaque, about two minutes.

Add the wine to the rice and stir frequently until the wine has been absorbed into the rice.

Add 1/2 cup of the heated chicken stock and stir until absorbed. The rice and stock should bubble gently.

Continue to cook the rice, adding chicken stock 1/2 cup at a time, scraping the bottom of skillet continuously, and allowing the rice to absorb the stock before adding the next 1/2 cup. Taste for seasoning and adjust.

With the last addition of stock return chicken, mushrooms and celery to the skillet and sprinkle with half of Parmigiano cheese.

Cook rice, scraping the bottom of skillet continuously, until al dente, about 25-30 minutes. Remove from heat when the risotto is thick and creamy.

Serve on pre-heated plate or bowl and garnish with freshly grated Parmigiano and parsley. Serve immediately.

Chicken and Mushroom Risotto

Last few days I had craving for nice creamy risotto so I checked my posts to see what kind I cooked last time. I was very surprised that I didn’t post any regular rise risotto recipe, none at all!

Risotto is so versatile. You can prepare it with so many different meats and vegetables and mix them right in risotto at the end of cooking or serve them on top. Since I bought King Oyster Mushrooms and farm fresh chicken breasts I wanted to use these two ingredients as a main topping. I just love these mushrooms for their taste and texture. Also, since I do have saffron on hand at all times, the risotto I have made was classical “Risotto alla Milanese”.

Ingredients

3 tsp. olive oil

3 Tbs. butter

2 1/2 cups fresh mushrooms, sliced

2 skinless chicken breasts

1-1/2 cups Arborio rice

3 shallots

4 garlic cloves, crushed

1/2 cup dry white wine

Pinch of Saffron

4-1/2cups chicken stock (heated)

1/2 cup of freshly grated Parmigiano cheese

2 Tbs. chopped fresh parsley

Oil

Salt & pepper

Directions

Heat 1 tsp. of oil and 1 Tbs. of butter in skillet. Add mushrooms and toss to coat all slices. Cook till mushrooms show nice color (do not move them too much). When done, remove to bowl and keep warm.

Preheat oven or toaster-oven to 375 °F. In the same skillet where you cooked mushrooms, add 1 Tbs. butter and 1 tsp. oil and cook chicken breast for about 3 minutes on each side or until both sides are golden brown. Sprinkle both sides with salt and pepper, place in baking dish (I use steel pie plate) and roast in oven for about 15 minutes or till juices run clear when pierced with sharp pointed knife. Do not overcook! Remove from oven, cover with foil and let the breasts rest but keep warm.

In the same skillet that you cooked mushrooms and chicken, sauté shallots and garlic in remaining butter and oil until shallots are translucent. Add the rice and stir until the rice turns opaque, about two minutes.

Add the wine to the rice and stir frequently until the wine has been absorbed into the rice.

Add 1/2 cup of the heated chicken stock and stir until absorbed. The rice and stock should bubble gently.

Continue to cook the rice, adding chicken stock 1/2 cup at a time and allowing the rice to absorb it before adding the next 1/2 cup. Taste for seasoning and adjust.

Cook rice until al dente, about 25-30 minutes.

With the addition of last batch of stock add the grated parmesan cheese and 2 Tbs. of butter and stir thoroughly.

Remove from heat when the risotto is thick and creamy.

Serve on pre-heated plate or bowl, top with mushrooms and slices of chicken breast and garnish with freshly grated Parmigiano and parsley.  

Serve immediately.

Italian Style Stir Fried Chicken Breast

This is my version of typically Italian pasta dish eaten with chopsticks. Yes, very weird but tasty and practical.

We just love wide egg noodles, especially the short twisted ones, but they are so difficult to eat with knife and fork so now we always use chopsticks and since there is no knife with table setting all ingredients have to be cut into bite sized pieces. It is that simple, just like any Chinese stir fry. I used chunky and thick tomato sauce with chopped zucchini, onions, garlic and roasted peppers.

First, cook noodles of your choice, drain and toss with little butter and olive oil. Set aside and keep warm.

While the noodles are boiling heat up non-stick skillet, add little olive oil and stir fry chicken breast that was cut into small, bite sized strips, together with julienned zucchini, sliced onion and sliced cremini mushrooms. At same time add the sauce, mix and cook till chicken is done, about 2 minutes.

Serve noodles on preheated plate, top with chicken, sauce and veggies.

That’s it. If you have a sauce ready it takes well under half an hour total.

Spaghettini with Clams and Cream Sauce

Another in series of comfort food recipes. This one is basically Spaghetti con Vongole recipe but without the shrimps.

Ingredients:

1 Tbs. olive oil

3 or 4 shallots, finally chopped

3 Tbs. chopped parsley

1 can of baby clams, drained and separated

1 c. of white wine

1/2 cup 35% cream or whipping cream

Nutmeg, pinch

Hot pepper flakes, to taste

1/2 tsp. white pepper

1/4 tsp. dried tarragon

Truffle oil, dash (optional)

Process:

Cook spaghettini till al dente, drain, foss with 1 tsp of olive oil and keep warm.

Heat frying pan and when hot add olive oil and then shallots. Sauté for few minutes but don’t allow to brown. Pour in wine and cook off. Add clam juice and cook till only about 1/4 cup remains. Add clams and sauté for about 2 minutes. Add cream and cook under medium heat till sauce starts to thicken. Add parsley, tarragon, nutmeg, white pepper, chili pepper flakes and optional truffle oil.

When pasta is cooked al dente, drain and toss with the cream sauce.

Lasagna

Made with No-Cook Noodles

I didn’t bake Lasagna for at least 4 years! I don’t know why, but I just didn’t. We both love lasagna but I guess that with only two people at the table it is a bit too much. So, I got a smaller Pyrex pan and made one. I bought No-cook lasagna noodles to make it a bit easier but then made meat sauce and béchamel sauce from scratch. For meat sauce I used ground veal because that’s what I had in freezer. I also used my own frozen tomato sauce and four-cheeses shredded cheese mix. It turned out really well and I am glad that there are leftovers! As a bonus, I ended up with a lot of meat sauce that we had next day with spaghettini.

One note: If you use no-cook noodles make the sauce little bit thinner because the noodles need it. They will soak it up like a sponge and are much better then noodles cooked in plain, salted water. I will never use regular dry pasta again but I will use fresh pasta, of course. Also, for diet’s sake I had only one layer of cheese – on the top – instead my usual 3 layers and we didn’t miss it one bit.

Recipe is quite simple. For 9-1/2” X 6” X 2” deep baking pan you will need:

9 no-boil 2” wide lasagna noodles

1/2 cup thin tomato sauce

1-1/2 cups meat sauce of your choice mixed with 1/2 cup thin tomato sauce

2 cups Béchamel sauce

1-1/2 cups shredded melting cheese (Mozzarella, Provolone, Swiss etc.)

Preheat oven to 350 °F.

Butter or spray the bottom and sides of baking pan with cooking oil.

Put down thin layer of tomato sauce then noodles. Layer of meat sauce topped with Béchamel sauce. Repeat with noodle/meat sauce/Béchamel sauce and again noodle/meat sauce/Béchamel sauce and topped with cheese.

Cover loosely with aluminum foil making sure it doesn’t touch the cheese and bake on middle rack in oven for 45 minutes.

Remove foil and bake another 20 – 30 minutes or till sauce is bubbling and cheese is golden brown.

Let rest for 10 minutes and serve with lettuce salad and garlic bread.

Bolognese Sauce (Meat Sauce)

Ingredients:

2 medium onions, finely chopped

4 celery ribs, finely chopped

2 medium carrots, finely chopped

5 garlic cloves, thinly sliced

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

1/4 pound chopped bacon

1 pound ground veal

1 pound ground pork (not lean)

1 (6-ounce) can tomato paste

1 cup whole milk

1 cup dry white wine

1 cup water

1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves

1 1/4 teaspoons kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

Direction:

Cook onions, celery, carrot, and garlic in oil in a 6 to 8 quart heavy pot over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 5 minutes.

Add bacon, veal, and pork and cook over moderately high heat, stirring and breaking up lumps, until no longer pink, about 6 minutes.

Stir in tomato paste, milk, wine, water, and thyme and gently simmer, partially covered, until sauce is thickened, 1 to 1 1/2 hours. Add salt and pepper and remove from heat.

Sauce may be made 2 days ahead and cooled, uncovered, before chilling, covered. Frozen, it keeps for 1 month.

Based on recipe from Epicurious.com

Veal Shoulder Chops – Osso Buco Style

It has been such a long time since we had Osso Buco, meal that we both love. Reason is simple. We just can’t get 3” thick veal shanks here. Acceptable solution for us is to use thick veal shoulder chop instead. Of course the favorite part of Osso Buco is the marrow, a part that we will have to do without but taste should be similar.

Ingredients:

1/2 tablespoons olive oil

2 pounds bone-in veal shoulder chops

Salt and pepper

2 medium carrots, chopped

2 medium stalks celery, thinly sliced

1 medium onions, chopped

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

1 cup canned whole tomatoes in juice

1/2 cup dry white wine

1 cup chicken broth

1 bay leaf

1 Tbs. lemon juice

1 teaspoon grated fresh lemon peel plus additional for garnish

Gremolata:

1 Tbs. grated lemon peel

1 tsp. finely chopped garlic

3 Tbs. finely chopped parsley

Mix till well combined.

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In wide-bottom Dutch oven, heat oil on medium-high until very hot. Sprinkle veal chops with 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper to season both sides. Add veal chops to Dutch oven and cook 8 to 9 minutes per batch or until veal is browned on both sides, turning over once. Transfer veal to plate once it is browned.

After all veal is browned, add carrots, celery, onions, and garlic to Dutch oven, and cook on medium 12 minutes or until vegetables are lightly browned and tender, stirring occasionally.

Return veal, and any juices from plate, to Dutch oven. Stir in tomatoes with their juice, wine, broth, and bay leaf. Heat mixture to boiling on high, stirring and breaking up tomatoes with side of spoon.

Cover Dutch oven and place in oven. Braise 2 hours or until veal is very tender when pierced with fork. Transfer veal to platter. Skim off fat from liquid in Dutch oven.

Place Dutch oven on burner on top of range, and cook sauce on medium-high about 10 minutes or until slightly thickened, stirring occasionally. Add lemon peel and lemon juice and cook 2 minutes.

Meanwhile, cook noodles till al dente and keep warm.

To serve, pour little sauce on bottom of preheated plates, then noodles, more sauce and then meat. Spoon sauce over veal and place tablespoon of gremolata on top for garnish.

Trippa alla Romana

Roman style Tripe with Penne Rigate

Last Sunday I bought package of beautiful super white beef tripe already blanched and cut into strips so I had to make a decision as to how I will cook them: as usual in a soup (my favorite) or do I try Italian, French or Chinese recipe. Since I wanted my wife to finally try and taste tripe dish I have decided on Roman style where the tripe almost disappears because they are chopped into small pieces and blended with thick tomato sauce. Did she eat it? Yes, and not only that, she wants me to make it again. She really liked it but she would have preferred not to know what she was eating. North Americans have this mental block when it comes to offal, I guess.

This dish is very easy to make but it does take time.

One note to anybody that never cooked tripe before: the tripe shrinks a lot when it is cooked or boiled. See the pictures of before and after boiling. My guess is that volume of cooked tripe is less then half of fresh ones.

Ingredients:

1 lb cleaned and blanched honeycomb beef tripe

1 Tbs. olive oil

3 cloves garlic

1 tsp. dried rosemary or 2 tsp. fresh, chopped

1 cup Dry Marsala wine

2 cups chopped or crushed tomatoes

1 Tbs. Balsamic vinegar

2 Tbs. chopped parsley

3 bay leaves

6 whole cloves

6 whole allspice berries

Penne Rigate

1/2 cup freshly grated Pecorino Romano or Parmigiano

Process:

You have three options to cook the tripe: on the stove in regular pot, slow cooker or pressure cooker. In all cases use salted water and small muslin bag or tee egg with bay leaves, allspice and cloves. On stove top bring to boil, lower the heat and simmer for 2-1/2 hours. Slow cooker low 6 hours and pressure cooker 1 hour.

When soft, let cool so you can handle the tripe and chop into pieces about the size of dime and reserve.

In a frying pan or sauce pan heat olive oil and sauté garlic and rosemary till fragrant.

Pour in Marsala and reduce to 1 Tbs.

Add tomatoes and chopped tripe and simmer for 45 minutes.

10 minutes before serving add balsamic vinegar and parsley and mix till well combined.

Cook penne in salted water till al dente, strain and place on individual preheated serving plates. Pour sauce over pasta, sprinkle with cheese and serve.

Cannelloni

Made with Fresh Egg Pasta

What I have seen personally, Fresh egg pasta cannelloni is an Italian wedding favorite. If everything is done from scratch, like Italian banquette halls usually do, it is job for good part of a day and very labor intensive but worth every step and every minute put into producing this meal.

It is not important if you do pasta or filling first but it is more time saving to make the dough first and while it is resting in a fridge, as it must for at least 30 minutes, you start on filling. As I have previously posted recipe for Fresh Egg Pasta, I will not repeat it here. This post is long enough as it is.

Cannelloni Pasta:

To cook pasta, trim fresh pasta sheet into 4” wide sheets and then cut into 4” squares. Save trimmings in a plastic bag with 1 Tbs flour for soup or pasta and sauce dish.

Bring large pot of salted water to boil. Meanwhile, place large steel bowl with cold water next to pot for cooling down cooked pasta. Have a large tea towel ready.

When water is boiling drop in pasta squares one by one and stir to separate them. Boil for 4 minutes and remove to bowl with cold water with slotted spoon. Immediately straighten the sheets and place them flat on towel. Cook rest of pasta same way. Cover pasta with another wet towel and reserve.

To make the filling that can also be used in Ravioli you will need:

Ingredients for Filling:

3/4 lb. ground veal

1 medium carrots, chopped

1/2 stalk celery, chopped

1/4 cup chopped onion

Frozen spinach (10 ounce package), thawed, excess moisture squeezed out

1 teaspoons salt

1 teaspoons white pepper

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1 cup dry white wine

1/4 cup heavy cream

3/4 cup smooth ricotta cheese

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

2 eggs, beaten

2 teaspoons dry Italian herbs

2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil

Preparation:

In a medium hot frying pan add 1 Tbs. of olive oil and sauté onions, carrots and celery until soft and then add spinach. Add salt and pepper and mix well. Remove to large mixing bowl.

In same frying pan add another tablespoon of oil, then the meat and brown lightly. Break apart any clumps that will form. Add wine and cook till all liquid cooks away. Stir frequently.

Remove to bowl with spinach mixture and combine. Add cream, Parmesan cheese, ricotta cheese, beaten eggs and dry herbs and basil. Mix till well combined. You should be able to form a cylinder with the meat mixture.

Fresh Tomato Sauce:

Place 1 can (about 15 ounces) tomatoes and their juice in food processor; process until smooth.

Heat 2 tablespoons virgin olive oil over medium heat in a large skillet. Add 2 cloves minced garlic and 1/2 cup chopped onion; cook until soft. Add the processed tomatoes, 1 teaspoon each salt and pepper, and cook 5 to 10 minutes or until liquid is no longer watery. Add four chopped fresh basil leaves or a little dried leaf basil, and cook 1 minute longer.

Assembly:

Cooked pasta sheets

Meat and Spinach filling

Béchamel sauce

Tomato sauce

Grated Mozzarella cheese

Place enough filling at front edge of pasta sheet to form about 1 ½” diameter cylinder and make a tight roll. When all are done, set aside.

Preheat oven to 350°.

In a bottom of ovenproof serving dish or baking pan pour tomato sauce and then thin layer of Béchamel sauce. Place rolled cannelloni on top and repeat with layers of tomato and Béchamel sauces. Top with grated Mozzarella or Provolone cheese. Bake for 20 minutes or until sauce is bubbly and cheese has melted.

Minestra di Pane & Ribollita

Minestra di Pane is a fresh bean and vegetable soup and Ribollita is same soup reheated and slices of bread added. Actually, this is my take on this classical Tuscan peasant soup. Mind you, even in Tuscany they can’t agree what is a true Ribollita but one thing they do have in common is that it is best when reheated. I used whatever root vegetables I had on hand and since I was out of dry navy beans but had one can I run with that. Also, no Italian bread on hand except Ciabatta so decision was made to toast slices and rub both sides with garlic and serve along side instead in soup itself.

Minestra di Pane.

1 leak, light green and white parts, chopped

1 small onion, peeled and chopped

1 stalk celery, chopped

1 small carrot, peeled and chopped

1/4 small Savoy cabbage, chopped

1 Russet or Yukon Gold potato

3 Roma tomatoes or small can chopped tomatoes

1 small parsnip, peeled and chopped

3 cloves garlic, chopped

1 can white beans, drained and liquid reserved

6 cups chicken stock

2 Tbs. olive oil

Sprig of rosemary

In a heavy pan or Dutch oven sauté leak, onions, carrots, celery and parsnip in olive oil till soft but not discolored. Add stock and liquid from beans and simmer for about 15 minutes.

Add cabbage, potatoes, tomatoes and garlic and simmer additional 15 minutes and then add beans and rosemary. Simmer to warm up the beans.  Now it is ready to be served as Minestra di Pane.

To serve as Ribollita add stale rustic Italian bread cut into cubes and place into serving bowls. Pour reheated Minestra di Pane on top and it is ready to serve. You can grate Parmigiano-Reggiano on top if you wish.

Spaghetti con Vongole

Spaghettini with Clams and Shrimps.

More detailed description would read:

“Spaghettini with Clams and Shrimps in a wine, clam juice and cream sauce and finished with a dash of truffle oil, tarragon and nutmeg”. Basically, that’s the whole recipe and I make it in all seasons even though it does look like a comfort food. This is my version of “Spaghetti con Vongole”.

Ingredients:

1 Tbs. olive oil

3 or 4 shallots, finally chopped

3 Tbs. chopped parsley

1 can of baby clams, drained and separated

1/3 cup shrimps, chopped

1 c. of white wine

1/2 cup 35% cream or whipping cream

Nutmeg, pinch

Hot pepper flakes, to taste

1/2 tsp. white pepper

1/4 tsp. dried tarragon

Truffle oil, dash (optional)

Process:

Start your pot for spaghettini.

Heat frying pan and when hot add olive oil and then shallots. Sauté for few minutes but don’t allow to brown. Pour in wine and cook off. Add clam juice and cook till only about 1/4 cup remains. Add clams and shrimps and sauté for about 2 minutes. Add cream and cook under medium heat till sauce starts to thicken. Add parsley, tarragon, nutmeg, white pepper, chili pepper flakes and truffle oil.

When spaghettini are cooked al dente, drain and toss with the cream sauce.

Serve on preheated plates. I do not grate cheese over seafood pasta but if you want to, go ahead.