KG-Style Mushroom, Pea & Corn Risotto

Okay, my second post of the day. After a dry spell, I'm on a roll now, aren't I? ;) 

I made risotto last night and *I have pictures*! Yay!! I finally remembered to have my camera on-hand before consuming the food or packing it up in drab Tupperware, lol.

Okay, I just have to say one thing upfront. I don't know what it is with me but for some odd, unexplicable reason, I always find that I have to cook my risotto for about 4-5 times longer than what most recipes state. Case in point: last night, I cooked my risotto for over 1.5 hours! But anyway, they turned out well and my sister enjoyed them (even though she is not normally a fan of risotto).

So here is the recipe.

Mushroom, Pea & Corn Risotto

Serves: 2

Ingredients:

4 cups reduced sodium chicken stock

1 tbsp olive oil

1-1/2 cups white mushrooms, thinly sliced

1 tbsp margarine

1 small onion, coarsely chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 cup Arborio rice

1/2 cup white wine

1/2 tsp dried thyme

1/4 tsp dried parsley

1/3 cup frozen peas

1/2 cup corn kernels, frozen or fresh

Grated parmesan, optional
Salt & pepper, to taste

Directions:

1. In a saucepan, heat chicken stock. Cover and keep warm over low heat.

2. In a skillet over medium-high heat, add margarine and saute mushrooms and lightly browned, about 1-2 minutes. Set mushrooms, in their juice, aside.

3. In the same skillet, add oil and saute onions until translucent, about 1 minute. Add garlic and continue to cook.

4. Add rice; stir to allow oil to evenly coat rice. Turn heat on high and add wine. You should hear a crackling sound. Continue stirring mixture until wine is fully absorbed.

5. Add dried thyme and parsley. Mix well.

6. Add approximately 1/2 cup of the heated chicken stock. Stir continuously until liquid is fully absorbed - it is okay if you feel like you are almost toasting the rice. Continue adding stock and stirring until rice is fully cooked through (for me, this was approximately 1-1/2 hours). If by the time you have used up all your stock, and the rice is still not cooked through, try a bit of the rice. If it has enough flavour, use a bit of boiled water to cook further. If you feel it needs more flavour, heat some more chicken stock.

7. Add peas, corn and cooked mushrooms to risotto. Mix until well-blended.
8. Place in serving bowls. Top with grated parmesan. Serve immediately.

Tip: If you have a tendency to need to cook your risotto for a very long time, like myself, then I would suggest that you double the recipe.

I promise to post pictures soon. Enjoy!

-Kitchen Girl

KG's Beef Burritos

Hello again, my fellow chefs!

So it has been awhile since I blogged and I apologize. For a few weeks, I felt I'd lost my touch and that nothing I cooked was turning out. I think I was stressed. I still am, but I think it has eased down a bit.

Anyway, on Monday, I made burritos for my sister to bring to school for lunch the next day. They turned out really well and they were my own creation :) They really hit the spot if you enjoy Mexican food. The recipe is as follows:

Beef Burritos

Ingredients:

• 1 teaspoon vegetable oil

• 1/2 medium white onion, diced

• 1 clove garlic, minced

• 1 to 1-1/2 tablespoons taco seasoning, adjust to your liking (recipe to follow)

• 1 pound lean ground beef

• 1/3 cup corn kernels, fresh or frozen

• Salt & pepper, to taste

• Flour tortilla

The ingredients below are optional. Adjust all to your liking.

• Sour cream

• Shredded cheddar cheese

• Plum tomato, diced

• Black beans (if you feel like indulging or if your waistline can afford it, refried black beans taste a lot better, in my opinion!)

• Guacamole

Directions:

1. Heat oil in skillet over medium heat. Add onions and sauté and translucent, approximately 1 minute. Add garlic and cook for another minute. Add ground beef and taco seasoning; stir until almost fully cooked and drain excess oil. Add corn and continue stirring until fully cooked. Season with salt & pepper.

2. Spoon approximately 1/3 cup of the mixture onto a tortilla. Top with optional ingredients, if desired.

I made mine with everything listed in the "optional" list except guacamole and black beans. Don't get me wrong. I absolutely love guacamole but they're not in season and are rather expensive. Also, I strongly recommend the use of taco seasoning. If you don't have it, try to whip some up (it's super easy) or buy some at your local supermarket. I burrito just isn't the same without it.

Here is the recipe, courtesy of BILL ECHOLS from Allrecipes.com.

Taco Seasoning I (link)

Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon chili powder

• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

• 1/4 teaspoon onion powder

• 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

• 1/4 teaspoon dried oregano

• 1/2 teaspoon paprika

• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin

• 1 teaspoon sea salt

• 1 teaspoon black pepper

Directions:

1. In a small bowl, mix together chili powder, garlic powder, onion powder, red pepper flakes, oregano, paprika, cumin, salt and pepper. Store in an airtight.

If you made this recipe, I'd like to hear how yours turned out!

-Kitchen Girl

Some (very early) mornin' cookin'

A very early good morning to you all, folks!

I have a lot on my mind lately, and couldn't sleep. I've been up since 2:30 this morning! I listlessly laid in bed for about 2 hours and decided that I wasn't going to fall asleep, so I might as well do something productive, like make my lunch. 

I decided to make Poulet au Paprika (Food Network). I was trimming the fat and skin off the chicken legs for the Poulet au Paprika recipe when I thought to myself, Man, I never realized how smelly raw meat is! That was when it occurred to me to check the best before date, at which point I discovered the chicken had gone bad :'(

I then remembered that I still had some asparagus from when I made the Salmon Wellington. I also distinctly remember my sister saying that the asparagus was hard and tasted "not fresh", and me realizing that I forgot to trim them (doh!). Anyway, I hadn't trimmed the asparagus today and was about to throw the chopped up pieces on a skillet. I tried to justify not trimming them by saying to myself that I would be increasing my fiber intake, but I knew I was lying to myself; who was I kidding? I was just being lazy, haha. Also, I had never trimmed asparagus before. So, take note, my fellow aspiring cooks, if you have not trimmed asparagus before, because I have learned an easy way to do so! (Yet again, I should have taken pictures, but it's upstairs and everyone is still asleep. I promise to eventually take and post a picture of this because I'm not how well I can explain it!)

First, I held an asparagus stalk perpendicular to me. Using a steak knife as a fruit peeler, I peeled the husks but quickly realized how much 'meat' this took off the asparagus. I decided to try a different approach. I lay the asparagus stalk on a cutting board, and with the steak knife perpendicular to the axis of the stalk, I used the very end (sharp end) of the knife and applied light pressure, removing just the outer husks! I was so proud of myself. I self-taught myself how to trim asparagus, without the help of any Youtube video or guide. Haha!

So I just sauteed the asparagus with a few droplets of oil. No spices, seasonings or even salt. Nothing fancy, but healthy! (By the way, for those of you who don't know, it is good to eat your veggies with a bit of oil or oil-based salad dressing because there are some nutrients in veggies - and fruits, for that matter - that are fat-soluble. If something is fat-soluble, it means that it dissolves in fat. The health benefit of this is that our bodies will better absorb the nutrients! Examples of nutrients that are fat-soluble include vitamins D, E and K, to name a few).

Anyway, next, I made a crab and mushroom quesadilla. I was not following a recipe; I just threw this together. I chopped two white mushrooms into small pieces and sauteed with a teaspoon of oil in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Next, I added two teaspoons of drained canned crab meat and cooked for a minute. I then added a squirt of tartar sauce and a generous teaspoonful of mayo; I cooked for about 1 minute. I then removed the pan from the stove and added some chopped fresh dish. Now for the tortilla. In a skillet, I toasted a tortilla and added some shredded mozzarella cheese. (I also had cheddar but cheddar has a stronger taste and I didn't want the cheese to overpower the filling.) I topped with the crab mixture. Delicious!

Now that I know that I have enough to bring for lunch to work, I think I'm going to try to catch a little bit of shut-eye before work. I am actually quite sleepy now. Oh, it's going to be a long day!

Have a wonderful day!

-Kitchen Girl