Butternut Squash Risotto with Asparagus

Last nights dinner was a home run. I'm not even going to mess around telling you all the little things about this dish, trying to persuade you of how awesome it is. It needs no real introduction. A couple hours after dinner as Al and I were chillin' on the couch, he started to talk about the risotto. He said something to the effect of: if I were offered a bowl of ice cream, even my favorite flavor, or another bowl of that risotto....I'd choose the risotto. That says it all folks.

Learning more fun facts about me: I don't drink. This is a choice that has evolved from, in my teenage years...it's wrong, to my early twenties...I can't stand the smell, to today...I don't really see the point and don't really have any desire to. Al has an affection towards scotch. He's not all that into drinking but once in a blue moon he'll break out one of the double old fashion glasses and sip a bit.

Why am I talking about drinking? Well you see, in cooking, there are often times when a recipe calls for wine. Found often in things like cream sauces or in instances when you need to deglaze the pan. Couple the fact that we don't drink wine with me not really having the desire to have some in the house simply for cooking not knowing when and if I'll use it and you'll find we never have it. Last night when preparing to make the risotto-which called for dry white wine-I found the alternative! This person suggested that you water down a bit of juice and use a splash of vinegar. Fun fact, I have all those things!! So instead of the 1/2 cup of dry white wine that this recipe called for...I used 1/4 cup water, 1/4 cup apple juice, and a splash of apple cider vinegar. Worked great for this dish! And now I have a go to for those instances. Rather than finding a whole new recipe like I have been.

INGREDIENTS:
1 small/medium butternut squash, chopped 1/4" pieces
7 cups broth(veg or chicken) divided
4 tbls butter divided
2 teas dried sage
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1 1/2 cups arborio rice
1/2 cup dry white wine(or sub 1/4 juice, 1/4 water, splash vinegar)
1/4 cup grated parmesan
2 strips bacon
1 bunch asparagus, ends trimmed
olive oil
salt and pepper

*In a medium stock pot, simmer the squash pieces in 1 to 2 cups of broth until tender, about 7-8 minutes. Strain liquid from squash and place the squash in a bowl and set aside. Add the rest of the broth to the pot with remaining liquid and keep at a low simmer.
*In a large stock pot, over medium heat, melt 3 tbls of the butter. Sprinkle in sage and let it wake up for a couple minutes. Add in the onion and cook until the onion is translucent, 5 minutes. Stir in the wine, and let it be absorbed before adding any broth. Might need to turn down the temp a bit, medium to medium-low.
*Add hot broth in batches, 1/2 - 2/3 cups at a time. Making sure the liquid is still being absorbed. Repeat this until all the broth is added. This process should talk about half an hour.
*While broth is being added, fry up the bacon until crisp. Remove from heat and chop into small pieces, mix in with squash you previously set aside.
*About 10 minutes before risotto is ready, drizzle olive oil over asparagus. Salt and pepper to taste. Grill on a george foreman, takes about 7 minutes.
*Once all liquid is used and absorbed into rice, add in the squash, bacon, and parmesan cheese. Stir in until well combined. After about 5 minutes add in the last tbls of butter. Once everything is melted and heated through plate up with asparagus on top. Top with parmesan cheese if desired.
*Enjoy!

Six Veggie Stir-Fry

Lets just say, I'm writing this with remnants of this meal in my mouth and I'm contemplating not brushing my teeth for a couple days. I make stir-fry type dishes about once a week. Its fun to experiment with the basic concept of a stir-fry and make it different each time. Broccoli is a must. Peppers...always. The rest really depends on what looked tasty when I got the groceries last. Also, I finally remembered to get some chinese five spice seasoning...and I'm glad I did. Its a simple mix of a few spices...five, go figure. But the levels of flavor are complex and satisfying. Worth a purchase if you plan on making chinese food regularly. Anyways, here's my latest meal...hope it's inspiring you to try something new perhaps!

INGREDIENTS:
sesame oil
1/2 onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbls crushed red pepper
8 stalks of asparagus, chopped
3 carrots, peeled and chopped
1 bell pepper, chopped
1 large head of broccoli, chopped
1 tbls chinese five spice
3 tbls lite soy sauce
2 tbls hoisin sauce
3 cups of spinach

*In a skillet, heat up oil over medium heat. Add onion, garlic, and crushed red pepper. Cook for 3 mins.  Then add in veggies, except for the spinach, and work in, getting all the veggies covered in a bit of oil. cook for about 5 mins.
*Put in the five spice, soy sauce, and hoisin. Make sure all veggies are again, covered in the sauce. Cook for another couple minutes. When veggies reach desired tenderness, throw in the spinach. Stir until it wilts. Serve with brown rice.

Asparagus & Egg Lefse Sandwich

Al and I got to enjoy a relaxing weekend, spent mostly at home. We lounged around and did loads and loads of laundry. Sunday morning we decided we were going to splurge and go out for breakfast, a treat and a rarity these days. So we headed off to one of our favs, Takk For Maten. Picked out a few items and enjoyed them family style. There were forks and knives everywhere for the 8 minutes it took us to scarf down every last morsel. My personal favorite was the lefse sandwich I had. Ooooh! It was sooo good. This morning, I decided to recreate it for us. And I'd say it turned out stellar.

INGREDIENTS:
lefse
asparagus, chopped into pieces
eggs, scrambled or hard boiled&crushed
Jarlsberg cheese

*All depends on the lefse you have and how you want to fold it together. But its basically lefse with egg in the middle topped with asparagus pieces and then covered in some Jarlsberg. Fold the lefse over the top and fry. I cooked the asparagus a bit before putting it in the sandwich and it worked well. I would have used a panini press...had I had one.

Asparagus Stir-Fry

Day 1! Pretty sure I wont be counting everyday off like this, but the first day is kind of exciting, I gotta admit. Most of these posts will be dinner meals, with the occasional snack and dessert mixed in. Well, I guess I take it back, I put no parameters or limitations on this food blog. But for today, it was dinner. And it was smashing!!! I adore asian style food and this fit in the category of stir-fry for sure. I got the inspiration from here, and made a few minor changes based on what I had in my kitchen. Not to mention bumping up the recipe so that it would suffice for the needs of our family....aka dinner for myself and Al with leftovers for Al's lunch the next day, at least. I made some basic brown rice to go along with this dish. I am honestly considering it as one of my top five meals that ever cooked. It had so many levels of flavor and great textures. Al was also a fan. There was only enough left overs for one, and I am graciously giving it to him for his lunch...he should honestly give me a really good foot rub or do the dishes for that kind of treatment. This was a wicked awesome meal, will for sure make again.

INGREDIENTS:

3(or so) tbls sesame oil

1 14oz pack of extra firm tofu, cut into pieces

2 shallots, chopped

1 inch of ginger, finely chopped

1 teas crushed red pepper

1 bunch of asparagus, cut into 1 inch pieces

pinch of salt

3 cloves of garlic, minced

1/2 cup toasted cashews

2 cups spinach

zest and juice from a lime

3 tbls hoisin sauce

mint

basil

*Heat the oil in a skillet or wok over med-high. When oil is hot drop in the tofu and cook until golden brown on both sides. Remove tofu and set aside. 

*Add some more oil into the pan and once its hot add shallots, ginger, red pepper, asparagus, and salt. Cook for 2 minutes and then add the garlic, cashews and spinach. Once the spinach wilts, add the tofu back in. Then zest the lime and add its juice. After that stir in the hoisin sauce and let it all come together for a couple minutes.

*Take off the heat and add in the mint and basil to your liking. Stir & serve.