Lemon Risotto (How to prepare in advance)

Creamy, delicious, comfort food!

Risotto is the perfect side when you are craving something tasty AND want to impress! Plus it's not as difficult to prepare as some believe.

We served this lemony risotto with blackened grouper and roasted asparagus...it was outstanding! Impressed our guests, that's for sure. Special thank you to Mariah for providing and preparing the amazing "FRESH" grouper!

I prepared (aka par-cooked) the risotto about 2 hours before dinner was served...this saved me SO MUCH time and work...I didn't have to stand over the pot stirring for 20 minutes while my guests were here. Once we were ready to eat - I finished cooking the risotto and the end result was perfection! *This is what restaurants do!

Lemon Risotto Recipe 
(when you want to make it in advance- up to two hours before serving)

Ingredients:

• 1 quart chicken stock
• 1 cup water
• 1.5 cups Arborio rice
• 2 tbsp butter
• 1/4 cup pre-grated parmesan cheese OR 1 cup of fresh grated parmesan or pecorino (the latter is preferred)
• Zest of 1 lemon
• Juice of 1 lemon
• Salt & pepper
• EVOO
• 1 medium onion (white or sweet)
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 1/2 cup of white wine (cooking)
• Casserole dish for cooling the par-cooked risotto 

Steps:

1. Heat a splash of EVOO over medium-high heat in a round pot.
2. In a separate sauce pan, heat and simmer the stock + water...keep hot/warm. 
3. Saute the diced onion in the olive oil for 3 minutes then add the crushed garlic the last 30 seconds.
4. Add the rice and lemon zest to the onion/garlic, stirring constantly, and cook for 1 minute. 
5. Pour in the white wine and cook until absorbed. 
6. For the next 16 minutes, ladle in the hot chicken stock, one cup at a time, waiting for it to absorb, before adding more (STIRRING CONSTANTLY). Do this with about 3.5 cups of the stock. You will need to reserve around 1-1.5 cups when you finish cooking. 
7. After the 16 minutes, when your 3.5 cups of stock have been absorbed by the rice, immediately remove the pan from the heat and pour the rice into a casserole dish - spreading the risotto out evenly to help it cool down and stop cooking. The rice should be undercooked. Once cooled off a bit - cover with plastic wrap and keep on the counter until you're almost ready to plate your dinner.

****When you're ready to finish cooking the risotto**** (right before plating your meal)

1. Heat the reserved stock/water over medium-high heat in the larger pot that the risotto was originally in.
2. Add the risotto back into the large pot with the stock.
3. Stir quickly and constantly until the stock has been absorbed.
4. Add butter, parmesan cheese, lemon juice, and stir to combine. 
5. Add salt/pepper to taste.
6. Continue stirring until the rice has fully cooked and is al dente. 

I can't wait to try more risotto recipes!

Bon apetit!

Creamy Penne Chicken Marsala

Creamy Penne Chicken Marsala

About 6 servings

Ingredients:

2 plump chicken breasts

Flour (for dredging the chicken)

1 stick of unsalted butter

1 lb of sliced mushrooms

1 onion (sliced or diced)

5 cloves of garlic (diced)

2.5 cups of marsala wine

1 cup of beef broth (or chicken broth)

1 cup of heavy whipping cream

1 packet of mushroom gravy/sauce

1 lb of penne pasta

6 oz container of freshly shaved parmesan cheese

1/2 tbsp of cornstarch

Steps: 

1. Cut each (2) chicken breast in half, pound out thin, and season with salt and pepper, then dredge in flour. 

2. Melt 2 tbsp of butter (medium low) in a pan and brown the chicken on each side (until cooked thru). Remove the chicken from the pan, dice, and set aside. 

3. Add 1 tbsp of butter into the same pan and saute the onion until cooked/softened. 

4. Add another tbsp of butter and mushrooms (1lb) - cook together with onion until the onion is caramelized and mushrooms are cooked. Add diced garlic the last 2 minutes. Do not overcook the garlic. 

5. Remove onion/garlic/mushroom mixture from the pan and set aside. 

6. Add the marsala (1.5 cups) to the same pan, bring to a boil and scrape the browned bits from the bottom of the pan. After a few minutes add the beef broth (1 cup) and heavy cream (1 cup) and bring back to a boil, then reduce to a simmer and let it reduce for about 20 minutes. Add 1/2 tbsp of cornstarch (dissolved in cold water) and bring the mixture back to a boil once more (for a minute) and return back down to simmer - helps thicken the sauce.

7. Cook pasta according to package and drain. 

8. In a separate sauce pan, make your mushroom gravy (packet), but instead of water, use marsala (1 cup). Once the gravy is beginning to thicken - add to the marsala sauce. 

9. Add the chicken and onion/mush mixture into the marsala sauce. Add 6 oz. of shaved parmesan cheese and stir. 

***Don't forget to taste the marsala sauce at this point and season with salt and pepper to taste!

10. Add the drained pasta back into the pot (over LOW heat) with 3 tbsp of butter....then add the marsala mixture to the pasta, stir and cook for a minute until the pasta absorbs some of the sauce. 

Enjoy!

Creamy Chicken Jalapeño Supreme

This recipe was adapted from: http://busycooks.about.com/od/chickenrecipe1/r/chixsupreme.htm.

Servings: 3

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 5-6 hours in crock pot

Ingredients:

3 hearty chicken breasts (fat trimmed)

7-8 pieces of cooked bacon, crumbled

½ onion, diced

4 jalapenos, sliced into rings with seeds

4 slices of your favorite spicy cheese (I suggest jalapeno havarti; we used Monterey Jack with jalapenos this first time)

1-2 sliced portabello mushrooms

2 cans of condensed cream of chicken (I will be switching it up and using one cream of mushroom and one cream of chicken next time)

Egg noodles (or rice)

Salt, pepper and garlic salt

Steps:

1.       Cook bacon until crispy and refrigerate until 10 minutes before serving dinner.

2.       Brown the chicken breast in the bacon grease on medium high heat, about 10 minutes.

3.       Dice onion, slice jalapenos, and chop mushrooms.

4.     Warm soup on the stove, add salt, pepper and garlic salt to taste (it's ok if its a bit salty, the juices from the chicken help with this).

5.       Place chicken, soups, onion and mushroom in crockpot, cover, and cook on low for 5 hours (there is no need to drain the juices from the chicken).

6.       After five hours, add jalapenos (if you submerge them in the soup they will cook faster) for 10  minutes.

7.       Once jalapenos have softened to your liking, cover each piece of chicken with cheese and top with bacon pieces.

8.       Cover and cook on high for about 10 minutes until cheese has melted.

9.       Scoop chicken with sauce over egg noodles and enjoy this delicious creation.

Browned chicken in crockpot.

Chicken, soup, mushroom, onion in crockpot.

Added jalapenos after 5 hours.

Cheese and bacon topped over chicken.

After 10 minutes of melting!

Bon Apetit

-SS

Creamy chicken Enchiladas

Cream Cheese Chicken Enchiladas...heavenly!

So it was our PRE-Cinco de Mayo party and I found this amazing recipe on FOODGAWKER.COM while at work...

http://bunsinmyoven.com/2010/08/20/cream-cheese-chicken-enchiladas/

Doesn't that picture look incredible?

So I decided to try it! My first attempt at making enchiladas, EVER!

I don't normally follow recipes....at all.

And someone (Trey) has been "bustin' mah coconuts" for a while about that, SO I decided to follow it perfectly, which ended up in an awesome success! Check that out...

*The recipe does not tell you how to prepare your chicken...so here's what I did:

1. Marinate chicken breasts in Mojo* Seasoning (similar to Italian dressing) for an 1hr+

2. Grill it to perfection

3. SHREAD!!!

*Mojo can be found by the marinades at Publix and it is extremely cheap & delicious! My aunt Ela introduced me to this!

I suggest you ALL try this recipe on one of those Taco nights. We paired it with "Mexican Rice" (made by Mama Pam) and refried beans! Very enjoyable :)