Roasted Asparagus Risotto

Asparagus, round 2.  I'm going to give it another shot.  I love risotto, so let's see how this goes.

Ingredients

Roasted Asparagus
20 fresh asparagus spears, ends trimmed.
2 tbs olive oil
Pinch of salt
Fresh grated Parmesan

Risotto
3 tbs olive oil
1/4 tsp salt
1 clove garlic, minced (I used black garlic)
1 c arborio rice
1/2 c dry white wine
4 cups chicken broth
1/4 c freshly grated Parmesan

To roast the asparagus, place the stalks, 2 tbs of olive oil, and a pinch of sale on a baking sheet.  Roll the spears through the oil and salt to coat.  Bake in the oven at 350 for 15 minutes.  Set aside.

For the risotto, heat chicken broth in a saucepan over medium heat; reduce heat to simmer throughout cooking.  Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat.  Stir in minced garlic and salt.  Add arborio rice and stir until lightly toasted (about 5 minutes).

Pour white wine into rice, stirring constantly, until the liquid is evaporated, about another 5 minutes or so.  Stir chicken broth in, one ladleful at a time, allowing liquid to absorb completely before adding more while stirring constantly, about 20 minutes.  Turn off heat, and grate parmesan onto hot rice.  Top with roasted asparagus spears.

Hmm...this was ok.  The risotto was good, but the asparagus was just ok.  I still don't love it, but it was better than the last one.  I think it was better because the asparagus spears were thinner, so there was less to taste.  The kids loved it, so it will stay in the rotation, at least occasionally.  One more way to get my veggies!

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Sopapilla Cheesecake

Ready for an easy dessert the whole family will love? Thanks to Pillsbury, you can have this in your oven in about 10 minutes. It's like a cheesecake, but like a bar, and filled with cinnamon sugary goodness. Pillsbury has this recipe on their site and I basically made it "as is" but added extra vanilla and cinnamon sugar topping.

Ingredients

16 oz cream cheese, softened

2 cans of Pillsbury crescent rolls

1 cup sugar

1 1/2 tsp vanilla

1/2 cup butter, melted

3/4 cup cinnamon sugar

Preheat oven to 350. In a 9 x 13 greased baking pan, unroll one package of crescent rolls and line the bottom of the pan.

Mix together cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla. I used a whisk, but it would have been faster and easier to use a mixer. I was just too lazy to break it out. When smooth, spread over the crescent rolls.

Unroll the other can of crescent roll dough and place on top of cream cheese mixture.

Pour one stick of melted butter over the top and sprinkle the cinnamon sugar mixture on top. Be as generous as you'd like. It will form a yummy crust of goodness.

Bake at 350 for 30 minutes. Chill in the fridge, then cut and serve. It's tasty while it's warm, but it's gooey and really should be allowed to set up before cutting. If you don't mind it gooey, dive right in. Enjoy!

 

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Cream cheese grits with bacon

I love grits. Grits for breakfast, grits with chicken, cheesy, sweet. So versatile! Here's an easy, quick recipe that might just make a believer out of you grit naysayers. Serve it with broiled pork chops or fried chicken and you might just think you have gone to heaven. I adapted my recipe from Country Roads magazine, with some special additions like bacon.

Ingredients

2 cups heavy cream

2 cups whole milk

1 cup stone-ground grits

1/3 cup cream cheese, softened

1 cup chicken broth

Bacon pieces

Salt to taste

In a medium saucepan, bring heavy cream and milk to a simmer over moderately low heat. Whisk in grits and cook, stirring often, 25 minutes. Slowly incorporate chicken broth as grits thicken, stirring them through completely. Reduce heat to low and stir in cream cheese until melted throughout and season with salt to taste. Top with bacon pieces.

Easy and delicious. So good with any meal! Let me know how you serve your cheesy grits--I love new ideas.

 

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Yogurt Waffles

Strawberry banana yogurt waffles

Ah, waffles! I love waffles. You can make them so many different ways, and they always are yummy. Here is an easy recipe that you can adapt to whatever kind of yogurt you prefer. I adapted the recipe from a basic waffle recipe from Alton Brown, who is great. Thanks, Alton! xoxo

Ingredients

9 oz of all-purpose flour, approximately 2 cups

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

3 tbsp sugar

1 tsp vanilla

1 tsp salt

2 whole eggs, beaten

2 oz unsalted butter, melted

3/4 c whole milk

1 1/2 c yogurt (I used 2 containers of strawberry banana)



Preheat waffle iron and spray with non-stick cooking spray. In a small bowl, combine dry ingredients of flour, baking soda, baking powder, sugar, and salt. In a large bowl, combine vanilla, beaten eggs, butter, milk, and yogurt. Add in dry ingredients and whisk until incorporated. You'll have some lumps, but it is ok.

Ladle batter onto waffle maker. Mine comes out perfect with just under a cup per waffle, but yours may be different. Close the iron and toast until golden brown. Top with butter, syrup, or fresh fruit. It's your breakfast, so do whatever you love!

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Cheesy Zucchini

I am a picky eater. My husband and kids will eat most anything, but nearly all green or orange foods are not on my "like to eat" list. As an effort to eat healthier, I am trying to find new ways to eat my veggies. Here is one of my attempts to enjoy zucchini. With cheese. Which makes everything better.

Ingredients

3 zucchinis, grated in the food processor

Olive oil

1 c shredded Colby jack cheese

Salt

Cut off end of zucchini and grate in food processor. Feel free to use a hand grater if you don't have a food processor, it will just take longer.

Heat a skillet over medium heat. Add olive oil and heat for approximately 30 seconds until warm. Add zucchini to pan and stir occasionally until heated through.

Add 1 c shredded cheese, stirring it in as it melts. Salt to taste.

 

Well, this recipe was simple and fast, but I'm not sure that I like zucchini yet. A couple of learns: the zucchini was watery and I had to drain it before adding cheese. A quick search on the Internet yielded a great tip--squeeze out the excess water before cooking by wrapping the shredded zucchini in paper towels to blot moisture. This should help. It also seemed very mushy, so I may have over cooked it, although zucchini may just be a mushy vegetable. I have a few more recipes pinned for zucchini so I'll be posting more recipe attempts soon in the hope of finding a winner.

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Crispy Chicken with Gravy

I love fried chicken, but I would never make it. My awesome husband makes the world's very best fried chicken with mashed potatoes and gravy, so luckily I will never have to do without. But I do try to contribute the occasional meal, and I search the internet for new ideas that seem simple and yummy. Tonight's delicious recipe is one I found on Pinterest, courtesy of Jaime Cooks It Up, with my substitutions (of course). It is very similar to the recipe on the Livestrong website, but with the cream gravy addition.

Ingredients

4 chicken breasts

1 sleeve of Ritz crackers, crushed into fine crumbs

1 c chicken broth

4 tbs butter

1 c + 2 tbs half and half (I just used whole milk)

2 tbs cornstarch

Salt (season to taste)

 

Cut chicken into pieces with kitchen shears (I cut them into thirds), then put the pieces into a gallon ziplock bag and seal. Pound the chicken flat with a meat mallet. I don't have one, so I used our rolling pin. It worked out fine.

Grind the Ritz crackers into crumbs. The recipe suggested a food processor, but I just put them into a ziplock bag and crushed them with back of a wooden spoon. The meat mallet would also work well here. Put the crumbs in a shallow pan.

Dredge each piece of the chicken in the bread crumbs, coating both sides generously. Most of the other Ritz chicken recipes suggested first dipping the pieces in egg first. I may try this next time so the crackers stick better.

Heat a large skillet over medium high heat. Pour in about 5 tbs of olive oil and let the oil heat up around 30 seconds, then add the chicken to the pan carefully. It may take 2 or 3 batches, depending upon skillet size. Cook until golden brown on bottom, around 3-4 minutes. Turn each piece and cook until golden brown on the other side. Cook until the internal temp is 160 degrees or chicken is no longer pink inside. My husband has an awesome digital temperature probe that made it easy for me.

Remove chicken to a separate plate and set aside. I put mine inside the microwave to hold the heat, but you could probably cover it in aluminum foil as well. Do not clean out your pan, as you want all of the crispy, chickeny goodness left behind for your gravy.

Add 4 tbs of butter and 1 c chicken broth to the pan on medium heat. As the butter melts, whisk the liquid around, scraping the bottom and sidesof the pan to incorporate the crispy chicken remains. Add 1 c of half and half (or whole milk, if you are me) and whisk it around to add it in. Return heat to medium high and allow it to come to a full boil, whisking it so it doesn't burn, then reduce heat to low.

In a small bowl, combine 2 tbs of half and half (or milk) and 2 tbs cornstarch, stirring until smooth. Pour the cornstarch mixture slowly into your pan, whisking as you go, then return heat to medium high and allow the liquid to return to a boil. It will thicken into gravy as you slowly whisk it.

Remove from heat, and add salt and any other seasonings you like to taste. I just added salt, because pepper is disgusting. Serve over your crispy chicken. It is delicious.

This recipe was pretty easy, but it took longer than I expected. We served ours with my husband's baked green beans with bacon and grated parmesan, which is the ONLY way to eat green beans. An all-around good meal, and the kids absolutely loved it.

 

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Cream Cheese Banana Bread

Cream cheese. I love it. It makes so many dishes better. Once again, I found we had some bananas on the verge of turning bad. Then I remembered a great recipe from Southern Living that combines bread, bananas, and cream cheese. The recipe seemed pretty simple, so why not give it a shot?

These bananas are ripe and ready for my bread.

Ingredients

1/2 c butter, softened

8 oz. cream cheese, softened

2 c sugar (I used baker's sugar)

2 large eggs

3 c all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

4 medium ripe bananas, mashed

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1 c chopped pecans (optional)

And we're off! Beat butter and cream cheese at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy. Gradually add sugar, beating until light and fluffy. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating just until blended after each one.

Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a separate bowl; gradually add to batter mixture, beating at low speed just until blended. Stir in bananas, vanilla, and pecans. Spoon batter into 2 greased and floured 8x4 loaf pans.

And...here is why my blog is named "Foods I attempt to cook". I realized I had skipped flouring the loaf pans after I had already spooned it up. I guess we will see if that step is truly necessary.

I didn't add pecans because I didn't have any on hand, I hate going to the store more than almost anything, and my son doesn't like nuts of any kind. So I skipped it, but pecans or walnuts would probably be yummy. Maybe next time.

Bake at 350 for 1 hour. The sides will start to pull away and a toothpick or knife should come out clean. The recipe said to shield the bread with aluminum foil for the last 15 minutes to prevent browning if necessary. I didn't do this, but mine seems fine. Cool bread in pans for 10 minutes. Remove from pans, and cool 30 minutes on wire rack before slicing. Or don't. We made it almost 5 minutes before digging in.

Oh, cream cheese banana bread, I love you so! Delicious. As it turns out, skipping the floured pan made no difference. The bread popped right out. Good stuff. This one is a keeper.

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Potato Soup with Cheese and Bacon

I love soup. I can eat it all year long. It was 110 degrees today in Vegas, and the kids still wanted potato soup. And why not? The air conditioning makes soup a great idea any day.

My potato soup is quick and easy, and it makes a tasty lunch at work the next day if you have any leftovers. Plus, did I mention it is topped with cheese and bacon? So good!

Ingredients

6-8 large potatoes

1 block cream cheese

32 oz chicken stock

1 1/2 c milk

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp salt

1 1/2 c shredded cheese. I prefer Colby jack, but your choice.

1 pound of bacon, cooked and crumbled

Additional shredded cheese for topping

Wash the potatoes and cut into slices, skin on. Put the potatoes, garlic, salt and chicken stock into a pot and boil until soft. Do not drain. Remove from heat.

Add cream cheese and milk. Using your immersion blender*, blend well. Return to low heat, adding shredded cheese and stirring until blended throughout. Be sure to watch the heat and stir occasionally so your cheese doesn't burn to the bottom of the pan.

Cut bacon into small chunks and fry in a separate skillet. Drain and set aside. When soup is bubbling and cheese is blended in, serve with bacon and shredded cheese topping. Crackers optional.

Serves 6-8

* If you don't have an immersion blender, you can get the same smooth results with your regular blender. Add equal parts of the potato / stock mixture with cream cheese and milk (probably 3 separate batches), blend until smooth and return to the pan to simmer with the shredded cheese. It just saves steps to use the immersion blender. So easy!

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Banana bread waffles

My kids will be the first to tell you I don't cook. I'm blessed with a husband who is an amazing cook and spoils me rotten with my picky eating habits, so I haven't really had to expand my culinary repertoire. But I love breakfast. I could eat breakfast foods every meal of the day. Brunch is my favorite! I've gotten more than my money's worth from our $20 Oster waffle maker from Target. Today I experiment with the waffle recipe on the Bisquick box that has my own additions.

Ever find yourself with one lone banana ready to turn black? Today I found a use for it, and it was yummy.


Ingredients

2 cups Bisquick

1 1/3 c. milk (I use whole, but whatever you like)

2 tbsp coconut oil

1 egg

1 overripe banana

1 tbsp sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

 

Preheat waffle iron and spray lightly with Pam. Stir all ingredients together until blended. Pour onto center of hot waffle iron, close lid. I found that 3/4 cup of batter worked perfectly for an iron my size. Bake on high about 2 minutes or until "ready" light turns on. Open lid and carefully remove waffle, lifting edges with a fork.

Makes 6 waffles.

These turned out great! The banana flavor was subtle and worked well with the vanilla and sugar. You could add more banana to the batter for a stronger flavor, but you may need to add more milk if it gets too thick. I ate mine with butter and syrup, and it was delicious. I'd love to hear your favorite kinds of waffles so I can try those too!

 

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Soft Breadsticks with Dipping Sauce

My husband is making homemade pizzas tonight on his Big Green Egg, so I'm attempting soft, no-yeast breadsticks with dipping sauce on the side. This seems easy enough.

Soft Breadsticks Ingredients

1 1/4 cups flour

2 tsp sugar

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

2/3 c milk

3 tbsp melted butter

Garlic salt

Grated Parmesan cheese



Combine dry ingredients and stir in milk in small amounts until a soft dough forms. Knead 3 or 4 times on a floured cutting board, the roll out into a rectangle and cut into 12 sticks.

Pour melted butter into a 13 x 9 baking pan, adding breadsticks. Turn each breadstick to coat with melted butter. Top with garlic salt and grated Parmesan cheese.



Bake at 400 for 15 to 18 minutes.

Dipping Sauce Ingredients

10 oz tomato sauce

1 tbsp sugar

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp oregano



Simmer the tomato sauce with the seasonings for about 20 minutes over medium-low heat.

Serve with breadsticks and pizza.



Hey...not too shabby! This was an all-around good meal. The breadsticks didn't rise as much as I expected them too, but I suspect it was a baking powder issue since it was a bit past its date. I'll be trying this one again with different toppings in the future. It might be good with cinnamon sugar. Yum.

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Asparagus Gratin

 

Tonight I am cooking asparagus gratin. I don't think I like asparagus, but anything covered in cheese and bacon crumbles can't be all bad, right? Plus, it's a recipe from America's Test Kitchen, so it's probably good.

Ingredients

2 lbs thin asparagus

3c water

1/4 tsp salt

2 tbls unsalted butter

2 tbls flour

3/4 c parmesan cheese, grated and divided

1/2 c Monterey jack cheese, shredded (I used cheddar jack)

1/2 lb bacon, cut into pieces and fried

Directions

Adjust oven rack to upper-middle position and pre-heat broiler. Line broiler safe baking dish with paper towels or a lint free kitchen cloth. Snap the woody ends off the asparagus and set both stalks and ends aside.

 

Bring water to a boil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add asparagus ends and ¼ teaspoon salt and cook covered, for 5 minutes.

Pour asparagus water into liquid measuring cup. If liquid does not read 1-cup mark, add water until it does. Mine was the perfect amount.

Melt butter in now empty skillet over medium heat. Add flour and cook, stirring constantly until golden, about 1 minute. Whisk in reserved asparagus water and bring to boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer until thickened, 3-4 minutes. Remove from heat and whisk in ½ cup Parmesan and Monterey jack until smooth. Cover and let stand for 5 minutes.

Remove paper towels from baking dish, blotting any excess water remaining. Drizzle sauce over center of asparagus and top with remaining Parmesan. Top with bacon pieces. Broil until cheese is golden and asparagus is tender, 4-8 minutes.

 

Serves 6-8.

Well...I was right. I'm not a fan of asparagus. But the sauce was wonderful. I will try to find other vegetables to use with this amazing cheese and bacon sauce. We paired the asparagus with sirloins on the grill and the sirloins turned out perfect. Anyone who likes asparagus and cheese should love this dish.

 

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