Friends Food Family

Chicken and Mushroom Risotto with Fresh Tarragon

 

Yes, we survived Hurricane Irene. Having lost power for three days, unloading the refrigerator and freezer, cooking on the grill, playing games by candlelight and showering with cold water, this experience was tolerable. Nothing we would want to be doing on a regular basis, thank you!

Since last weekend, the mornings and evenings have been slightly cool. We have written about comfort food and our love for many different types of risotto. Jeff made it home first the other night and decided to blend a few different risotto recipes with some ingredients that needed to be used up. We had some fresh celery and tarragon from the garden and some dried porcini mushroom that needed to be used.

With a little bit of tweaking and our comfort with mixing and matching our ingredients for risotto, he came up with this chicken and mushroom risotto with fresh tarragon. One of the interesting things he did was use a different type of risotto rice. There are three types of risotto rice: 1. arborio, which we use all the time. 2. carnaroli, which we used in this recipe and 3. vialone nano. These are the best rices for risotto because they absorb liquids better, release more starch and can give the dish a creamier consistency.

We always use arborio which tends to give you a creamier consistency with this rice. The carnaroli is not as creamy, but definitely worked with this dish. The risotto was loaded with chicken and mushrooms and the slight taste of tarragon was a great combination, slightly licorish...so delicious.

It was nice to have some comfort food this week. It made us feel like home again and with eating out and cooking with minimal resources, this was a perfect dish to celebrate electricity and a need for some good old fashioned home cooking!

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon of olive oil

4 tablespoons of butter, separated into 2 tablespoons/2 tablespoons

2 shallots, finely chopped

2 garlic, chopped 

1 stalk of celery, chopped into 1/4 inch pieces

2 cups of carnaroli rice

1 -1/4 cups of white wine

1 - 6 ounce package of dried porcini mushrooms

6-7 cups of chicken broth, placed in a medium sauce pan and heated to a slight simmer

1 - 3 pound roaster chicken (cooked, store bought), loosely chopped or pulled into pieces

1 cup of grated parmesan cheese

2 tablespoons of butter

2 teaspoons of freshly chopped tarragon

salt and pepper to taste

Preparation:

1. Place 7 cups of chicken broth in a medium sauce pan on medium heat. Once the broth is heated, place on a slow simmer.

2. In a large heavy sauce pan, over medium heat, melt 2 tablespoons of butter with the olive oil. Add the scallions, garlic and celery and saute until the onions are soft and translucent, about 10 minutes.

3. Add the rice and dried porcini mushrooms and cook for about 1 minute, allowing the mixture to become incorporated. Add the wine and allow the mixture to boil off.

4. Start adding chicken broth by the ladle full. We normally begin with 2, allowing the mixture to be covered slightly with broth. Stir to mix the broth into the mixture. Reduce the heat to low and continue to add ladle fulls of broth as the mixture becomes less moist and the broth is absorbed.

5. Stir periodically to keep the rice from sticking and mixing the additional chicken broth. This process will take about 15-20 minutes. As you get near the last few ladle fulls of chicken broth, test the rice. You want it to be creamy but still have slight firmness. Add the chicken and tarragon, once incorporated add the last 2 tablespoons of butter and parmesan cheese. Add salt and pepper to taste.

6. Take off the heat. The mixture may get a little sticky, just add a little of the chicken broth. You may have 1/2 to 1 cup left. When I package the remaining risotto for leftovers, I add a little chicken broth to the top to keep it slightly moist and easier to reheat.

Epicurious' Fontina Risotto Cakes with Fresh Chives

 
(plain)

 

(with a tomato dipping sauce)

Before the devastating New England Patriots loss, Jeff and I were heading to the Jaegar's house to watch "the big game". I never like to go anywhere empty handed so I found this recipe on the Epicurious website. I was looking for an appetizer and this seemed pretty good - Fontina Risotto Cakes with Fresh Chives - especially since risotto is a favorite of ours and very easy to make.

This is where the story goes a little...blank. I was at a baby shower and didn't have time to put this together so Jeff was in charge. I came back to finish the tomato dipping sauce. I can't really tell you how easy or hard it was to put together but I can tell you this...they were delicious. I was the official taster and the rice cakes were cheesy (Parmesan and Fontina) but the chives gave them a great (but slight) onion flavor. We decided that as much as they tasted great without a dipping sauce, we figured we'd create one and then see whether it worked.

Off to work I went...

Tomato Dipping Sauce

        2 - 8 ounce packages of cherry or grape tomatoes (sliced in half)

        4 cloves of garlic, thinly sliced

        1/2 cup of olive oil

        12-16 fresh basil leaves, chopped

        2-3 tablespoons of freshly chopped chives

        salt and pepper to taste

Preheat a medium saute pan on medium high heat. Once the pan is hot, add the olive oil. Add the sliced garlic and saute until slightly golden. Remove from oil and throw away. Add the tomatoes, and cook for 5 minutes Add the basil, chives and a pinch of salt and pepper. Cook for an additional 5 minutes. Remove from the heat, the sauce is ready.

We put the risotto cakes on top of the sauce and it was perfect. Most times when you are served risotto cakes or Arancini Rice Balls, there is usually a tomato sauce mixture for dipping. As much as we used this for the risotto cakes, it's actually a great sauce for pasta or bruscetta. 

If you are looking for a different type of appetizer or even as a light luncheon idea, try this. It will be an event to remember! 

Ingredients

3 cups (about) low-salt chicken broth
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons arborio rice
1/4 cup dry white wine
6 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
2 tablespoons (1/4 stick) butter

1 1/2 cups panko (Japanese breadcrumbs), divided
1/2 cup (packed) coarsely grated Fontina cheese (about 2 ounces)
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
3 tablespoons chopped fresh chives
1 large egg yolk

2 large eggs
Canola oil (for frying)

Additional grated Parmesan cheese
Fresh chives

Preparation

Bring 3 cups broth to simmer in small saucepan. Reduce heat to very low; cover and keep warm. Heat olive oil in heavy medium saucepan over medium heat. Add onion; sauté until translucent, about 5 minutes. Add rice; stir 1 minute. Add wine; stir until absorbed, about 30 seconds. Add broth, 1/3 cup at a time, and simmer until rice is just tender and risotto is creamy, allowing broth to be absorbed before adding more, and stirring often, about 18 minutes. Remove from heat. Mix in 6 tablespoons Parmesan and butter. Season generously with salt and pepper. Spread risotto in 13x9x2-inch pan and cool completely.

Mix 1/2 cup panko, Fontina cheese, parsley, chopped chives, and 1 egg yolk into risotto. Shape into 1 1/4-inch balls; flatten to 2-inch rounds. Arrange on rimmed baking sheet. (Can be made 2 days ahead. Cover and refrigerate.)

Preheat oven to 250°F. Set another rimmed baking sheet in oven. Beat 2 eggs in shallow bowl to blend. Place 1 cup panko in another shallow bowl. Dip risotto cakes into beaten egg, then into panko to coat. Pour enough canola oil into large skillet to coat bottom; heat oil over medium-high heat. Working in batches, sauté risotto cakes until crisp and brown, about 2 1/2 minutes per side. Transfer to baking sheet in oven.

Serve risotto cakes sprinkled with cheese and garnished with chives.

Sausage Risotto with Tomatoes and Basil

 

Happy New Year Everyone! It's time to get back to some hearty meals...and they are probably a little more nutritious than my favorite 12 Cookies of Christmas. As I've mentioned before, we are a risotto family. Every other week we make a batch of recipe inspired or "everything but the kitchen sink" risotto.

This week was "everything but the kitchen sink". I had a pound of sweet sausage and an onion. I wasn't sure what I could do with it. I kept trying to think of what would go great with it but peppers kept popping into my head (sausages, peppers and onions) and I didn't have any.  So, I grabbed the risotto and figured I'd make it up as I went along.

Follow me as I make sausage risotto with tomatoes and basil.

I started with:

1 yellow onion chopped

1 pound of sweet sausage with the casings removed

8 cups of chicken broth

Put chicken broth in a sauce pan and heat to a simmer.

Heat a large dutch oven over medium heat. Once it is hot, add 2 tablespoons of olive oil then add the onions. Cook for 5 minutes or until the onions are translucent, add the sausage in pieces to the onions. As it cooks, further break the pieces into bite-size form. Cook until the sausage is no longer pink.

Add 2-1/2 cups of arborio rice. Saute for two minutes until the rice is slightly translucent.

Stir in 1 cup of white wine. Once the wine has been absorbed start adding the chicken broth two large ladles at a time. As the broth is absorbed, add more ladles of broth to the rice, keeping them moist and avoid sticking to the bottom of the pan.  After four ladles have been used, add 

1 14 ounce can of diced tomatoes with it's juice to the chicken broth.

Add 1/4 cup of fresh basil, chopped to the rice mixture.

Continue adding ladles of chicken broth until the rice is soft with a slight bite. You will probably use about 7-8 cups of broth. Add 4 tablespoons of cream cheese and 1/2 cup of shredded parmesan cheese. Remove from heat and place in a serving dish to stop the cooking process.

This serves 6-8 people (comfortably).

It was delicious! And everyone went back for seconds. It had a hearty sausage taste with pieces of tomato. Creamy, Mmm, Mmm good! Take advantage of an easy meal which you can change up at any time. Maybe chicken with broccoli or shrimp with peas and lemon rind. Throw in everything but your kitchen sink!

 

Emeril's Shrimp Risotto with Peas

 

Over the past few weeks, I have been going through the archives of my draft file. This is where I place my recipes and pictures prior to posting them on the website. I have decided that I am going to purging these recipes. If I am going to use them, you will see them in the next few days, otherwise they will sadly fall into delete.

The first one I came across was Emeril's Ruby Red Shrimp Risotto with English Peas, Basil Lemon and Pecorino. When we made this dish, not only was it good to eat but it became one of my pictures in the Friends Food Family logo. Sadly, it got caught amongst the cookie recipes of Christmas and never made its way out.

As I have written before, risotto is a basic staple at our house. I would say once every other week we enjoy risotto for dinner and usually a few leftovers for lunch. It's one of those staples that you can mix with anything. The shrimp and peas with the lemon zest made for a refreshing flavorful combination. The creaminess to the dish was enhanced with the cream and Pecorino cheese.

This was a delicious choice for dnner with a few additional ingredients compared to our basic risotto dishes but well worth trying!

Ingredients:

• 4 1/2 cup shrimp stock, chicken stock or water
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 3/4 cup finely chopped yellow onion
• 2 tablespoons minced shallots
• 1 teaspoon minced garlic
• 1 1/2 cups Arborio rice
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 cup dry white wine
• 1 cup shelled English peas (we used frozen baby peas)
• 1 pound ruby red shrimp, shelled and deveined (we used medium sized shrimp)
• 2 teaspoons lemon zest
• 1/4 cup heavy cream 
• 3/4 cup grated Pecorino Romano, plus more for garnishing if desired
• 2 tablespoons chopped basil leaves

Preparation:

Heat the stock in a 2-quart saucepan over medium heat until it comes to a bare simmer. Set a 3-quart saucepan over medium-high heat and add the olive oil and butter to the pan. Once the butter is melted, add the onions to the pan and cook, stirring often until soft and translucent, 4 to 5 minutes. Add the shallots and garlic to the pan and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add the Arborio rice to the pan and toast, stirring occasionally, until slightly nutty in aroma and lightly caramelized, about 3 minutes. Stir in the salt and pepper. Add the wine to the pan and cook until nearly evaporated, about 30 seconds. Add 1 1/2 cups of the stock as well as the peas, and cook, stirring continuously, until the rice has absorbed the stock. Add another 1 1/2 cups of the stock, still continuing to stir constantly, and cook until the rice has absorbed the liquid, about 8 to 9 minutes. Add the remainder of the stock to the pan and cook, again stirring continuously until the rice has absorbed the liquid, about 8 to 9 minutes longer. During the last 5 minutes of cooking, add the shrimp and lemon zest. Once the risotto is cooked, add the heavy cream, and Pecorino Romano and fold gently to combine. Serve immediately, garnished with basil and more Pecorino Romano, if desired

La Cucina Italiana's Sausage Risotto with Cranberry Beans

 

Risotto is a staple at our house. Similar to having pasta, we eat risotto almost once a week. We found this recipe in La Cucina Italiana. We love this magazine so much we won't cut out any recipes, we keep the entire booklet intact. The recipes are authentic Italian, real comfort food. 

Many people feel risotto is difficult to make, but once you get the technique down, it is easy.

Here are a few quick tips when making risotto:

- heat the stock and keeping it at a slow simmer

- keep the heat of the pan consistent, as much as it says to keep on medium heat, once you add the rice, we cook our risotto on medium low

- risotto cooks slowly, don't rush the process

We liked this Sausage Risotto with Cranberry Beans because it had beans in it. Most risottos have meats and/or vegetables but very rarely beans. It was a perfect dish, the chunky pieces of sausage brought a nice balance to the beans and rice. Try making a risotto recipe, you'll realize your time is worth the end result.

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
• ½ medium onion, chopped
• 8 ounces Italian sausage, casings removed, cut into ½-inch pieces
• 1¼ cups arborio rice
• ¼ cup dry white wine
• 6 ounces canned cranberry beans, drained and rinsed (or small red pinto beans)
• 4 cups vegetable stock, boiling  
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• ½ cup freshly grated paramigiano-reggiano
• Salt and freshly ground pepper

Preparation

In a heavy-bottomed pot over medium heat, warm the olive oil. Add the onion and sausage, and sauté until the onion is translucent and the sausage is cooked through, about 8 to 10 minutes.

Add the rice, and sauté for 3 minutes, stirring frequently. Deglaze with the wine, and stir well, scraping any browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Add the cranberry beans and ½ cup stock, stirring until the liquid is absorbed before adding more. Continue adding stock in ½-cup increments, stirring frequently, until the rice is fully cooked but still al dente, about 15 minutes. (You may not have to use all of the stock.)

Remove from the heat, and stir in the butter and grated Parmigiano. Season with salt and pepper to taste, and let rest for 2 minutes before serving.