Risotto with Spring Vegetables

Risotto is such an interesting dish. I always find it somewhat fascinating that adding liquid slowly and constantly stirring can turn rice into a creamy dish. Not only that, but I find it delicious!

This risotto was was very fresh and summery with all the vegetables. If you can get past the fairly constant stirring, it really is easy to make. I really enjoyed the crunch from the asparagus in between creamy rice bites in this. Such an interesting contrast! I liked this just fine the day I made it, but loved it even more the second day!

Risotto with Spring Vegetables
Adapted from Cooking Light May 2010

1 cup frozen green peas
4 cups low-sodium chicken broth
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 cup chopped shallots
1 cup chopped carrot
1 cup uncooked Carnaroli or Arborio rice or other medium grain rice
½ cup white wine
1 cup grated fresh Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
½ cup fresh parsley
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon ground black pepper

Cook peas in boiling water 2 minutes. Drain and rinse with cold water; drain well.

Bring chicken stock to a simmer in a small saucepan (do not boil). Keep warm over low heat.

Heat oil in a large dutch oven over medium heat. Add shallots and carrot to pan; cook 4 minutes or until tender, stirring occasionally. Add rice; cook 1 minute, stirring constantly. Stir in wine; cook 30 seconds or until the liquid is nearly absorbed, stirring constantly. Add 1 cup stock; cook 4 minutes or until liquid is nearly absorbed, stirring constantly. Add remaining stock, ½ cup at a time, stirring constantly until each portion of stock is absorbed before adding the next (about 25 minutes total).

Stir in peas and asparagus with last addition of stock. Remove from heat; stir in cheese, parsley, salt and pepper.

Cupcakes are soooo last year...

That is all I have been hearing, cupcakes are over, ca-put, finished, washed up. I took this news as any food enthusiast would, I sat in my room and cried while shoving delicious Crumbs cupcakes into my mouth, and we are not talking the mini ones my friends. For months I have been refusing to acknowledge the new trend, macarons. They seemed too little and airy to be delicious and dessert worthy. But after reading countless recipes and seeing them EVERYWHERE I figured I owed it to you and to my belly to see what all the fuss is about.

I must admit after doing a little macaron research I was a little intimidated. Almost every post I read about the little guys said I had no hope of getting them right on the first try. There were so many rules to follow exactly or my little puffs wouldn't get the feet they need to be considered true macarons.  I found a recipe that seemed relatively easy and followed it exactly as Annie's Eats said.  The only change I made was to make sure that the egg whites were aged for 48 hours before using.



And look at these babies! After baking and tasting the final product, I have to admit cupcakes are so last year...

Chocolate Macarons with Espresso Ganache Filling

from: Annie's Eats



Ingredients:
For the macarons:
110 gm blanched slivered almonds
200 gm minus 2 tbsp. confectioners’ sugar
2 tbsp. cocoa powder (Dutch-process preferred)
100 gm egg whites (from about 3 eggs), aged at room temperature for 12-24 hours
50 gm granulated sugar

For the espresso ganache:
½ cup heavy cream
1 tbsp. unsalted butter
1 tbsp. granulated sugar
4 tbsp. bittersweet chocolate
1½ tsp. espresso powder

Directions:

Pulse the almonds in the bowl of a food processor until finely ground. This takes longer than you would think. You want to make sure the almonds and the confectioner's sugar blend well. Add the confectioners’ sugar and cocoa powder to the bowl and process until blended. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whip the egg whites on medium-high speed until foamy.

Gradually add the granulated sugar and continue beating until a smooth, shiny meringue with stiff peaks forms.
Add the almond mixture to the bowl with the meringue and  gently fold together until no streaks remain.  The batter will be on the thick side, but it should still flow off the end of the spatula.

Line two baking sheets with silicone baking mats or greased parchment paper.  Transfer the batter to a piping bag fitted with a plain wide round tip.  Pipe into  rounds on the prepared baking sheets, you can make these guys any size you want I made some big ones and some babies just make sure you have a match for each cookie.  Let sit at room temperature for about an hour to develop a shell.

Preheat the oven to 300˚F.  Bake for 8-10 minutes, depending on size.  Transfer the pans to a wire cooling rack and let cool completely before moving the cookies. It took my cookies about an hour before I was able to move them.

While the cookies are cooling, make the ganache.  Combine the cream, butter and sugar in a small saucepan over medium-high heat.   Bring the cream mixture to a simmer, remove from the heat and add chocolate.  Let stand 2 minutes, then whisk gently until the ganache forms.  Blend in the espresso powder.  Stick the bowl to the freezer or refrigerator and let cool, stirring every 10 minutes until thickened.

Once the cookies are totally cooled, match them up by size.  Pipe a layer of ganache onto the flat side of one cookie of each pair.  Sandwich together with the remaining cookie, pushing the filling to the edges.  Store in an airtight container in the fridge if they last that long!

No-Bake Brownies

No bake. In a brownie. What a genius concept! Martha people, you amaze me everyday!

Its been hard this summer to motivate myself to turn on our oven. So I have been searching high and low for no-bake "baking" approaches. Enter the brownie. I wasn't expecting a miracle on these, but I was pleasantly surprised! These were fudgy and very chocolatey. You definitely need to chill them for awhile before biting into one, but they taste just like a regular brownie!

No-Bake Fudge Brownies
Martha Stewart Living August 2010

 12 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped
1 ¼ cups evaporated milk (from one 12-oz can)
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
3 cups finely ground chocolate wafer cookies (from 2 9-oz packages)
2 cups plus 2 tablespoons sweetened shredded coconut
½ cup confectioners’ sugar
Salt

Line a 9-inch square baking dish with plastic wrap, leaving a 1-inch overhang on all sides.

Heat chocolate and evaporated milk in a saucepan over medium heat, stirring, until chocolate melts and is smooth. Remove from heat. Stir in vanilla. Set aside 1/3 cup.

Combine cookies, 2 cups coconut, the sugar and ½ teaspoon salt in a bowl. Pour in chocolate mixture; stir until combined.

Spread mixture evenly into dish. Spread reserved 1/3 cup chocolate over top. Finely chop remaining 2 tablespoons coconut and sprinkle evenly over chocolate.

Refrigerate until set, about 2 hours. Remove brownies from pan by lifting plastic wrap. Remove plastic, and cut into 24 brownies.

Grilled Swordfish Kabobs

As a kid, I was the epitome of a picky eater. And it didn't end there. My picky eating carried itself all the way through my college years. Thankfully, common sense prevailed and I have since become quite an adventurous eater!

I called my family while we were making these swordfish kabobs and they thought it was the funniest thing that I was eating swordfish! And I have to say, I have been begging Spice for months to help me make it!

Luckily, last weekend, after a lovely day at the beach, we went to the seafood store and picked out some perfect swordfish steaks to help us usher in Shark Week on The Discovery Channel.



These were very easy to make. I made the dip in about 3 minutes, and the only prep for the swordfish was to cut it into cubs and stick it on a skewer with a little salt and pepper. Spice used her grill pan and these were on there for about 10 or 15 minutes until they were perfectly cooked.

I can't wait to make this again. Next time, to make it even easier, I think I'll just stick the steaks themselves on the grill and then top it with the sauce when they come off!



Swordfish Kebabs with Orange Basil Sauce
Cooking Light June 2010

 1 orange
2 cups basil leaves
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 garlic cloves
1 ½ pounds swordfish, cut into 1-inch pieces

Prepare grill (or grill pan) or medium-high heat. Squeeze orange juice to extract ¼ cup juice. Combine orange juice, basil leaves, olive oil and garlic cloves in a mini chopper; add ¼ teaspoon salt. Process basil leaf mixture until finely chopped. Sprinkle ¼ teaspoon salt and 1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper evenly over fish; thread fish onto 4 (12-inch) skewers leaving a little space between the swordfish pieces for even cooking. Grill fish 10 minutes or until fish flakes easily when tested with a fork or until desired degree of doneness, turning occasionally. Drizzle fish with sauce, or serve sauce separately.

Summer Berry Pie

Even in New York City, the Concrete Jungle, there are individuals and organizations devoted to bringing residents fresh, local produce. The Union Square Greenmarket is such a place. It is located on Union Square West between 15th and 17th streets from Broadway to Park Avenue South. I had the pleasure of shopping here one lovely Saturday several weeks ago (the market is open Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays).



It was fun wandering through, talking to the vedors and picking out things to buy. So much fresh fruits and vegetables I didn't even know where to start! I ended up with some cherry tomatoes that were just about to burst in the hot shade they were set up under.



There were flowers everywhere as well! I specifically enjoyed the ginormous sunflowers! They were so large and vibrant!



I wasn't really there for flowers, however. I had another motive: Berry Pie! So of course, I headed straight for the berries which were lined up in several tents, row upon row!



For this berry pie, I wanted an assortment of blueberries, blackberries and raspberries. I found all of them at the market! My reasons for choosing a berry pie are pretty obvious: the rancid heat in the city makes me want to throw our oven down the stairs and squish it with the jaws of life. The only part of this pie you need the oven for is the crust, and even then its only for a few minutes. Saved!

This pie turned out great! I really enjoyed the jelly layer set up below all the berries. It contributed to the tang and the graham cracker crust worked itself in beautifully!

Summer Berry Pie

The New Best Recipe

 9 graham crackers (5-ounces), broken into rough pieces
2 tablespoons sugar
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and kept warm

2 cups (about 9 ounces) raspberries
2 cups (about 11 ounces) blackberries
2 cups (about 10 ounces) blueberries
½ cup (3 ½ ounces) sugar
3 tablespoons cornstarch
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon juice from 1 lemon
2 tablespoons red currant jelly (I used strawberry jelly)

For the crust: Adjust an oven rack to the middle position and heat the oven to 325 degrees.

In a food processor, process the graham crackers until evenly fine, about 30 seconds. Add the sugar and pulse to combine. Continue to pulse while adding the warm melted butter in a steady stream; pulse until the mixture resembles wet sand. Transfer the crumbs to a 9-inch glass pie plate. Use the bottom of a ramekin or measuring cup to press the crumbs evenly into the bottom and up the sides, forming a crust. Bake the crust until it is fragrant and beginning to brown, 15 to 18 minutes; transfer to a wire rack and cool completely while making the filling.

For the Filling: Combine the berries in a large colander and gently rinse; spread the berries on a paper towel=lined rimmed baking sheet and gently pat dry with additional paper towels.

In a food processor, puree 2 ½ cups of the mixed berries until smooth and fully pureed, about 1 minute. Strain the puree through a mesh strainer into a small non-reactive saucepan, scraping and pressing on the seeds to extract as much puree as possible (you should have 1 ¼ to 1 ½ cups). Whisk the sugar, cornstarch and salt in a small bowl to combine, then whisk the mixture into the puree. Bring the puree to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon; when the mixture reaches a boil and is thickened to the consistency of pudding, remove from the heat, stir in the lemon juice, and set aside to cool slightly.

While the puree is cooling, place the remaining berries in a medium bowl. Heat the jelly in a second small saucepan over low heat until fully melted. Combine the jelly with the berries, pour the berry puree into the cooled crust, and distribute the glazed berries over the puree. Loosely cover the pie with plastic wrap; refrigerate until chilled and the puree has set, about 3 hours up to 1 day. Cut the pie into wedges and serve with whipped cream.