Easy Brown Rice Risotto with Mushrooms and Fresh Oregano

Adapted from: Cookie and Kate

Yield: 4 to 6 servings

Ingredients

• 3 tablespoons olive oil and butter, some combination to taste
• 2 large shallots, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, pressed or minced
• 16 ounces sliced Cremini (baby portobello) mushrooms, sliced or coarsely chopped
• ½ cup dry white wine, optional
• 5 cups (40 ounces) vegetable broth, divided (I use Better than Boullion's "No Chicken" vegetable base to make 5 cups
• 1 ½ cups brown arborio or short-grain brown rice
• 4 sprigs fresh oregano, leaves removed from stems and larger leaves torn into small pieces
• Chopped fresh parsley to taste
• Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Instructions

1. Make sure your oven rack is in the middle position. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Heat 1-2 tablespoon olive oil/butter in a medium Dutch oven over medium heat until shimmering. Add shallots and mushrooms. Cook, stirring occasionally, for ten minutes, then add the minced garlic. Cook for another 2 to 4 minutes, until the shallots are well browned.
3. Add white wine and cook until evaporated.
4. Add rice and maybe a little more oil. Stir until all rice is coated with oil.
5. Add 5 cups broth, oregano, parsley, and cover, and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. 
6. Cover the pot and bake until rice is tender and cooked through, but still "poridgey." I set my timer for 50 minutes, took the lid off and then checked it every ten minutes. At 70 minutes, rice was al dente and poridgey.
7. Remove the pot from the oven. Add the Parmesan, and Gruyere, and pepper to taste.
8. Stir until the rice is thick and creamy and cheese is all melted.

Notes

Cookie and Kate say: Recipe adapted from my version of America’s Test Kitchen’s baked rice (recipe here) and Ina Garten, via Food Network.

To make arancini (risotto balls)

I made this to make arancini, so I very finely chopped the mushrooms and shallots in the food processor. After cooking the rice, I chilled in in the fridge until cool.

Then make balls, football shaped and set on wax paper. Roll in Panko, seasoned if you have it (Aldi's had whole wheat panko - whoda thunk?)

Place on parchment paper on cookie sheet and convection bake at 450, 15- 20 minutes. For a less healthy version, pan fry or deep fry.

Peanut Butter

Bag of Trader Joe's blister peanuts, bag of trader Joe's 50% less salt roared peanuts, place in food processor to desired smoothness. If you want chunky, hold back some of peanuts until almost smooth. It'll be warm so practically pours into a jar. Goes into fridge and never separates.

You're welcome.

Onion Dip

1 Pint Sour Cream (or yogurt, or some combination)
1 1/2 Tablespoons dehydrated onion flakes
1 tsp Penzey Shallot Pepper
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/4 tsp garlic powder/granulated garlic
Some cream, milk or buttermilk to thin (1-3 Tablespoons)

Mix all together and refrigerate for at least an hour or two.
Work in progress,
Will adjust as I go...

Suggestions from Costco Magazine:

Mayo

Worcestershire

mustard powder

black pepper

Saag Feta by Priya Krishna ( author of "Indian-ish")

You Love Saag Paneer, Now It’s Time to Try Saag Feta

Sauté 2 tablespoons of whole coriander seeds and two green cardamom pods in a quarter cup of ghee on medium heat until they start to brown.
[I stop here, let the spices cool and grind them up. Then place them back in the pan and continue.]
Add a diced onion, let that cook until translucent, and mix in a minced garlic clove, a tablespoon of chopped ginger, and a pound of fresh spinach.
Once the spinach has wilted, take the pan off the heat, add a chopped Serrano chile, a quarter tablespoon of lime juice [a whole lime], and a teaspoon of salt.
You can then throw everything in a blender [I use food processor if fresh spinach. If frozen and chopped, can skip this step.] and blitz into a chunky paste. 
Add that mixture back into your pan on low heat, along with a half cup of water, and fold in 6 ounces of feta cut into cubes.
[You can also do this with chicken chunks. I add them with the onions above. You can pull out if you are going to put in blender or processor, or just leave them if using frozen spinach.]
While that warms up, in a small pan or butter warmer, add two more tablespoons of ghee and a teaspoon of cumin seeds on medium-high heat. 
Once the cumin seeds start to brown, add a pinch of red chile powder, and pour the spice-oil mixture (that’s the chhonk!) over the top of the saag/paneer/feta/chicken.

Serve with rice or roti.

YouTube Link here.

Sicilian Pizza With Pepperoni and Spicy Tomato Sauce Recipe

Sicilian Pizza With Pepperoni and Spicy Tomato Sauce Recipe

Original recipe by J. KENJI LÓPEZ-ALT
Adjustments by me in italics.

"The Spicy Spring from Prince Street Pizza, with its thick, olive oil–infused crust; spicy tomato sauce; mozzarella and Pecorino Romano cheese; and crisp-edged pepperoni, is an insanely good pizza with only one real problem: It doesn't exist anywhere else. No longer. Here's how to make that pizza anywhere in the world."

[This really was excellent. Like a souped up DiCarlo's!]
[Best way to do this is to do two quick half recipes!]

Ingredients

·   

  "HALF" RECIPE (this is enough for one 13x9 pan's worth): 
       250 g 00 flour (did this with stone ground WW and increased water to 200 g, worked very well, except a bit spongy. Will add some gluten next time and see...)
       1 teaspoon salt
       1 teaspoon (scant) yeast
       1 or 2 tablespoons EVOO
       150 - 175 g water
       Use Food processor method and it is really easy to make two batches in no time!

• Other Option: use 300 g sourdough starter (100% hydration) and 100 g 00 flour and rest of ingredients.

·         For the Sauce:

·         2 4 tablespoons (30ml) extra-virgin olive oil

·         9 medium cloves garlic, roughly chopped

·         1 tablespoon (about 4g) dried oregano ( or less, maybe 1 teaspoon, for Karen)
·         1 - 2 teaspoons (about 3g) dried red pepper flakes, less or more to taste

·         1 (28-ounce; 800g) can whole peeled tomatoes

·         1 large can Cento whole Tomatoes (Costco  has them for under $4)
      Optional: Garlic powder to make it more "Detroit Style"

·         1 teaspoon (about 4g) sugar

·         Kosher salt

·         To Assemble and Bake:

·         1 pound (450g) sliced deli-style mozzarella cheese (whole milk mozzarella or provolone, even better!)
·         12 ounces (325g) natural-casing pepperoni, cut into 1/8-inch slices (I use Ezzo's cut 2 mm thick in the Cuisinart.)

·         4 ounces (115g) ground Pecorino Romano cheese

Directions

To Make the Dough in a Food Processor (recommended): Combine flour, salt, yeast, 0.35 ounce olive oil, and water in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the blade or dough blade attachment. Process until a dough that rides around the blade forms, then continue processing for 30 seconds. Continue with Step 4 below. [I did it this way. Painless!]

To Make the Dough in a Stand Mixer: See original recipe at link at top.

To Make the Dough Using the No-Knead Method: Ditto.

To make the pizzas: Pour remaining 1/4 cup 2 tablespoons olive oil into a 13- by 18-inch rimmed baking sheet (OR 2 13x9 heavy duty metal cake pans, like AllClad.) and spread over entire inner surface with your hands. Transfer dough to baking sheet and turn in oil until thoroughly coated. Spread gently with your hands. (It will not stretch to fill the pan; this is fine.) Cover baking sheet with plastic wrap and allow to rise at room temperature until dough has slackened and started to spread out toward the edges of the pan, 2 to 3 hours. Carefully remove plastic wrap from pizza dough. Using oiled hands, and working as gently as possible to maintain air bubbles, push and stretch dough into the corners of the pan by pressing out from the center, lifting each corner, and stretching it beyond the edge of the pan. It should pull back until pan is just filled with dough. Set aside for 20 to 30 minutes while you make the sauce.

For the Sauce: Heat olive oil in a large saucepan over medium heat until shimmering. Add garlic, oregano, and red pepper flakes and cook, stirring, until softened and aromatic, about 1 minute. Open can of tomatoes and start transferring the tomatoes and squishing them by hand and leaving the excess tomato juice behind. You can use a potato masher to finish breaking up tomatoes into fine chunks. Stir in sugar. [If I wanted sweet pizza, I'd add pineapple. Which is an abomination.] Bring to a bare simmer and allow to cook for about 15 30 minutes to let flavors meld. Season to taste with salt. Set aside and allow to cool slightly. (Using the big can from Cento will make enough to freeze for future pies...)

Thirty minutes before baking, adjust oven rack to lower position and preheat oven to 550°F. (I also put the pizza dough with JUST the sliced cheese in second oven on Bread Proof setting for a  half hour before adding the rest of toppings.)

To Assemble and Bake: Spread slices of mozzarella (I prefer provolone.) cheese evenly over surface of pizza. Spoon sauce on top of cheese and spread with the back of a spoon. (You will not need all the sauce; use as much as you like, but be sparing.) Spread pepperoni slices evenly over surface. Sprinkle with half of Romano cheese. Transfer to oven and bake until pepperoni is crisp and curled and bottom of pizza is golden brown when you peek by lifting the corner with a thin spatula, about 10 minutes. With some ovens, you may need to loosely tent the top of the pizza with aluminum foil and continue baking until the bottom is golden and crisp. [The foil tip was very helpful, as I had to bake closer to 18 - 20 minutes to get bottom crisp.]

Remove pizza from oven. Sprinkle with remaining half of Romano cheese,(and more shredded cheese, whole milk mozzarella if you can get it, or provolone.We are in Pittsburgh, after all.) use a pizza wheel to cut it into slices, and serve immediately.

Adding a link to King Arthur Flour Detroit Style Pizza Recipe.

Nordic Ware Christmas Tree Bundt Pan...Sour Cream Orange Chocolate Cake

Nordic Ware Christmas Tree Bundt Pan...Sour Cream Orange Chocolate Cake

Cake:

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

2 tsp. baking powder

3/4 tsp. baking soda

1/8 tsp. salt

1 cup unsalted butter

1 1/2 cups granulated sugar

4 eggs

2 tsp. vanilla extract

1/2-1 tsp orange oil, to taste

1 TBS grated orange zest

1 1/2 cups sour cream

6 oz. bittersweet chocolate, melted and cooled slightly

Topping:

Confectioners' sugar for dusting

Whipped cream/Ice Cream, Fruit Sauce, etc. for serving

Directions:

1. It is important to have all the ingredients at room temperature before you start.

2. Place a rack in the center of oven. Preheat to 325°F.

3. Grease and flour a 10-cup Bundt® pan and set aside. Melt chocolate and set aside.

4. Measure flour and place in a large bowl. Sift cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt on top of the flour. Using a large whisk, mix the dry ingredients until fully combined. about a minute or so:making sure flour and cocoa is completely mixed. OR sift all dry ingredients twice, using a sifter. Set aside.

5. In a mixing bowl, beat the butter on medium speed until smooth and creamy about 30 to 45 seconds.

6. Reduce the speed and gradually add the granulated sugar. Beat until blended. Increase the speed to medium-high and continue beating until the mixture is light and fluffy, 3 to 5 minutes. From time to time, scrape the bowl.

7. Add the eggs one at a time, until the mixture is thick and creamy, 1 to 2 minutes From time to time, scrape down the sides of the bowl. Beat in the vanilla, orange oil, and orange zest.

8. Fold in the flour mixture in three additions and alternate with the sour cream until just blended. Begin and end with flour.

9. Gently fold in the melted chocolate( I didn't melt my chocolate, but just added it as chocolate chips).

10. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean, 50-60 minutes. Don't overcook, or it will be dry. Check at the 50 minute mark. Cool the cake upright in the pan for 15 minutes. Remove from pan and cool completely.*

11. Let the cake cool to room temperature before dusting with confectioners' sugar. Top slices with a dollop of whipped cream, a scoop of ice cream, a drizzle of creme anglaise, or fruit sauce.

* you can add a glaze on the warm cake by placing 1 cup of sugar and 1/2 cup water in a sauce pan. Heat until sugar dissolves. Remove from heat and then add 2 TBS chocolate liqueur. Brush warm cake with the glaze.