Summer Squash Risotto (Yum!)

Risotto is yummy and easy to make as long as you watch it and follow the instructions of the recipe. It also makes for great comfort food.

I'm not a professional chef or an expert at making risotto (last time I made it the rice was too mushy), but I can make risotto that tastes good.

2 -3 yellow squash, roasted and pureed
1 - 2 tbsps olive oil
1 small onion, minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup short grain rice
1/2 cup white wine
3 cups chicken stock
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
1 tbsp unsalted butter
1/2 tsp pepper

Place chicken stock in meduim sauce pan and heat.

Heat onions, garlic and olive oil in a large pan on medium heat. Cook until onions are translucent. Pour rice into pan and toast until the edges of the rice are also translucent (2 - 3 minutes). Grab a spoon and pour your wine in with the rice mixture. Stir (not constantly but enough so that the rice doesn't stick to the bottom of the pan and burn) until the wine is absorbed by the rice.

Add one ladle-ful of chick stock to the rice mixture. Stir until the stock is absorbed by the rice, again stirring as needed so the rice won't stick. Repeat, checking the rice after 2 cups of chicken stock are added. Risotto is done when the rice is cooked al dente (for me, mostly soft but with a slight bite). Continue adding stock and stirring until the stock is absorbed until the rice reaches this point.

Take the rice off the heat and add cheese, butter and pepper.

Serve immediately.

Risotto Information -> http://italianfood.about.com/od/tipstricks1/a/aa091697.htm
                                   http://culinaryarts.about.com/od/ricegrains/ss/risotto.htm

Lasagna Night!

Veggie Lasagna
12 servings
1 yellow squash, chopped
1/2 green pepper, chopped
1/2 cup carrots, shredded
1/2 cup of onion, minced
1 garlic clove, minced
1/2 large tomato, chopped
1 - 2 tbsp olive oil
1 cup marinara sauce
9 wheat lasagna noodles
16 oz fat free cottage cheese
2 cups mozzarella cheese (2%)
Parmesan Cheese
Salt and Pepper to taste

In a saute pan on medium heat, place olive oil, squash, pepper, carrots, onion, garlic and tomato. Season with salt and pepper. Cook until vegetables are just soft. Add marinara sauce and bring to a boil.

Heat oven to 375 degrees.

In a large pot, bring water to a boil and cook lasagna noodles. Drain water and let noodles cool.

In a 13 x 9 pan, put a layer of 3 noodles in the pan. Layer 1/2 of sauce/vegetable mix. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Layer with 1/2 of cottage cheese and 1/3 mozzarella cheese. Repeat a second time with noodles, sauce and cheese. Layer the remaining noodles and remaining mozzarella cheese.

Bake in oven for 30 minutes. Once complete, let stand for 20 minutes before serving.

Back to work, but a cake before I go...

My son was baptized this weekend and in his honor, I made a cake. I am not responsible for the recipes involved, but I did put everything together. It was quite yummy, although rich. The filing can be swapped out for something a bit different, perhaps a strawberry filing, or chocolate.

1 vanilla cake mix
3 cups (more or less depending on taste) Buttercream Frosting
1/3 cup raspberry jam (seedless)
1/4 cup lemon custard

Make cake per instructions for 13x9 pan. Once the cake has cooled, remove from pan and slice cake in half like a sandwich bun. On the bottom half of the cake, spread jam and custard (warm jam for easier spreading). Take a portion of buttercream frosting and spread on top of jam and custard. Place top half of cake on bottom. Frost with the remaining buttercream to your taste.

Mmmm, Salad

I'm on vacation this week so I have time to think about something other than work. I've been thinking about cooking (and cleaning and grocery shopping and catching up on everything I haven't done in the past 3 months). So, here is my latest creation, a simple salad.

A couple of handfuls of fresh lettuce (a spring mix is the best)
A tablespoon of feta cheese
3 oz of cooked chicken (grilled, fried, baked...however you like it)
A teaspoon of olive oil
A half a teaspoon of lemon juice
Salt and Pepper to taste

Dress the lettuce with the salt, pepper, olive oil and lemon juice. Toss, then add the chicken and feta cheese.

Cooking to relieve my poor aching brain...

Cooking is a huge creative release for me. And because my job is so technical in nature, I desperately need that release sometimes. So, on the days when it feels like my brain is going to explode or when I'm so stressed out I can't think straight, I turn to cooking or baking or sewing to give myself a little break.

I had a pot roast and a half empty jar of spaghetti sauce sitting in the fridge that was going to go bad. From that, came this.

Pot Roast and Carrots
6 to 8 lb pot roast
2 tsp oil
1 medium yellow onion
1, 8 oz can tomato sauce
1/2 jar traditional spaghetti or marinara sauce
1 lb carrots
Salt and Pepper to taste


Heat oil in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add pot roast to pan. Sear on first side 3-5 minutes, then flip to do the same on the other side. Once the roast has been seared, add onion, tomato sauce, spaghetti sauce, and salt and pepper to the pan. Thin the tomato sauce with as much water as desired. The sauce will thicken as it cooks. Once the sauce has been thinned, add the carrots. Cover the pot and continue to cook for 2-3 hours, until the meat is tender. A good tip to keep the fat content down is to skim the fat from the pot with a large spoon towards the end of the cooking window. The resulting cooking liquid (grease free) can be used to make gravy for mashed potatoes.

Most of the pot roast recipes I've seen cook the roast in either the oven or a crock pot. This recipe could be cooked in either of those ways. This just seemed to work well for me.