Beet Risotto

Music: Joni Mitchell, Ladies of the Canyon.  This album was released just after Joni won her first Grammy and contains the popular songs, Big Yellow Taxi and Woodstock.  Great album. 

If you haven't noticed yet, we love risotto (check out other recent risotto recipes here and here).  If you haven't ever made risotto or you are not yet convinced as to why you should venture to the dark side. let me sum it up for you:

• One pot meal with endless possibilities for meat and veggie combos.
  
• It's different: it's not pasta or a casserole.
  
• Face it, it's fancy...oh so fancy.
  
• It's cheap.  I get Arborio rice for $3.99/lb. in the bulk section and I use better than bouillon for the chicken stock, which combines with plain ol' tap water.  That means the only thing costing you much is whatever you put into the risotto. 
  
• As BJ puts it: "It's one meal where it's all about the journey AND the destination."  

That was deep, BJ, but true.  If you are feeling like you need to cook and just stand at the stove top for a while, risotto is what you need to make.  It's not high maintenance, but it requires a little love.
 

Another recent obsession has been finding a good beet recipe (a good one here and an okay one here).  I think I have finally found my favorite beet recipe, as well as the best way to prepare them.  A lot of recipe call for roasting the beets whole and peeling and dicing them after wards, which leaves your kitchen looking like a murder scene, really.  So, what's worked for me is peeling and dicing the beets prior to roasting.  First, it cuts the cooking time down by almost half; and second, it's a little easier clean up.  I got the idea from this article.

White risotto...

Pink risotto...

Red risotto.  Really red risotto.

Beet Risotto

Adapted from here and here.

Ingredients:

• 1 bunch of beets, peeled and diced into 1/4 - 1/2 inch cubes
• EVOO
• S & P
• 4 large shallots, 2 halved and 2 chopped
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 tspn., dried thyme (if using fresh use 1 - 2 tspn.)
  
• 1 cup Arborio rice
• Glug of white wine
• 6 - 8 cups chicken stock
• 1/2 cup freshly grated parmesan, plus extra for garnish
  

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400. 
   
2. On a foiled, greased baking sheet toss diced beets with EVOO and S & P.  Drizzle the four shallot halves with EVOO and lightly S & P.  Roast beets and shallot for 15 - 20 minutes, until shallots are lightly browned and beets are fork tender. Chop shallots and set aside. 
   
3. In a large skillet, heat more EVOO.  Saute onion and chopped shallots until translucent. 
4. Add roasted shallots, garlic and seasonings.  Saute another 1 - 2 minutes until combined.  
5. Add rice to pan and cook for a good 2 minutes.  The rice will become opaque and smell slightly nutty.  
6. Deglaze the pan with the wine, scraping up any brown bits on the bottom of the pan.  Let the wine cook down until no liquid is left.  
7. Add about 1 - 1 1/2 cups of chicken stock and let the liquid cook down, stirring once in a while.  
8. Continue adding chicken stock after each previous addition cooks down.  
9. After the chicken stock is almost out and rice is almost done, add beets to pan.  Stir to combine and continue adding chicken stock until rice is tender and done.  
10. Turn off heat and add cheese.  Stir to combine and serve!
    

Seafood Spaghetti

Music: Jose Gonzalez, Veneer - His song Heartbeats is a popular one, but the rest of the album leaves you with the same feeling, a little tickle and the yearning to press "REPLAY".
Menu: Seafood spaghetti and garlic bread


First, I apologize if you got a little preview of the pics from this meal! I unfortunately have been couch ridden with some torn muscles is my back...yea, ouch. I have been sleeping about 4 hours each night, which means early mornings spent in front of the computer and I accidentally pressed the wrong button, whoops!


But my little back injury has not prevented me from cooking :) Quite the opposite, I have been in the kitchen non-stop with random yelling spurts to BJ when I can't reach something. Funny story: the doctor told me that in order to heal, I need to keep my arms within the "beach ball zone". So, picture that you are holding a beach ball just in front of your body...I'm not supposed to move my arms beyond this. This has lead BJ to his own yelling sprees! When he sees my reaching for something and my arms beyond the beach ball zone, he yells, "BEACH BALL!"


Anyways, this meal was great. There is definitely room for improvement and there will be a few changes next time we venture with a seafood spaghetti. But all in all it hit the spot. I crave seafood. The Florida girl stuck in the middle of the U.S...go figure. It's difficult to find quality seafood, but I thought this would be a safe bet with shrimp and clams. The clams were okay.


The first step of cooking was homemade oven dried tomatoes. Well worth the extra step instead of using the store bought oil packed sun dried tomatoes (I can't find the ones not packed in oil!). We had a bunch of romas and san marzanos from the garden and they were on the verge of going overboard, it was just meant to be. So, I drained the tomatoes well (salted and then pressed into paper towels for an hour or so) and threw them in a low heat oven for while. They burned a little on the edges, but had tons of flavor.

The clams and shrimp cooked in wine. This took a lot longer than I thought. The clams took over 10 minutes to open. The recipe I used said to put the shrimp and clams in at the same time, but this left the shrimp a little over cooked and me begging the clams to open...all but one did.

Tossed with whole wheat spaghetti, fresh spinach and topped with lots of parmesan and we felt like royalty eating this one...it was definitely the perfect meal for a romantic night with your honey.


On another note, I have recently been getting fresh batches of grown spinach as opposed to the baby spinach in the box from Costco and I must say we've been missing out. The spinach is usually pretty dirty, so washing and washing again in advance is a must. However, the final product is far better. The fresh spinach is more like thick hearty greens as opposed to the baby spinach, which is much more like lettuce.


I usually make a lot of dinner, so that we have leftovers for lunch for the week. But this time there were no leftovers...

Seafood Spaghetti
Adapted from Giada De Laurentiis

Ingredients:

• 1 lb. whole wheat spaghetti
• 1/4 cup EVOO
• 3 shallots, chopped (not minced, you want pieces for texture in the sauce)
• 3 - 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 3/4 cup oven dried tomatoes
• S & P
• Crushed red pepper
  
• 1 1/2 cup dry white wine, we used a light Chardonnay
• 1 lb. shrimp, deveined and peeled with tails left on
• Clams - I thought 3/person was good, but whatever you feel is best.
• 2 cups of tightly packed spinach or arugala
• Parmesan cheese and basil strips for garnish

Directions:

1. In a large stock pot, heat water and salt generously. Add pasta and cook until al dente, about 8 - 10 minutes. Drain pasta and set aside.
   
2. Heat EVOO in large pan. Add shallots and cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Add garlic, tomatoes, and seasonings. Cook for another minute.
   
3. Turn the heat to high and add wine. Place clams in the pan and scatter shrimp. Bring to a boil and turn heat down to simmer. Cover and let the seafood cook, until the shrimp are pick and clams open, 7 - 10 minutes.
   
4. Add spaghetti and spinach to pan and stir to combine.
   
5. Top with cheese and basil and serve!

PS - Garlic bread is great for soaking up the sauce :)

Breakfast at the Callahan house

Music: Weekend morning noise? Try ESPN, not music :)
Menu: Parmesan polenta squares with spinach and a fried egg


Breakfast? It's a meal that goes forgotten a lot. And we love breakfast, well BJ LOVES breakfast and I love grits. So here is a meal that we make a lot with many variations. I'll walk you thought it...

Start the grits or polenta (corn meal). If I'm making polenta, I like to use a little milk for creamier version. Grits and polenta should be cooked in a 4:1 ratio, with lots of salt. I usually start the water/stock/milk mixture over high heat and generously season with salt. Turn the heat down to simmer and stir grits.


While the grits cook, lightly saute a little garlic and toss a couple handfuls of spinach and wilt the greens.


Once the grits become fairly firm and no longer runny. Season with garlic powder, S & P, and parmesan cheese (about 1/2 cup). Put grits into a baking sheet that's been sprayed with cooking spray. Bake at 400 for about 20 - 25 minutes, until lightly browned on top. Once the grits are out, cut into squares.


Top with spinach mixture.


A fried egg, more parmesan, and fresh herbs.


And that's how we do breakfast :)

Poblano, Zucchini, and Corn Soup

Music: Jewel, Pieces of You - One of my favorite albums ever. And there is no substitute for one of the first cold days of the year, a hot soup, and relaxing music that brings you back to home.
Menu: Arugula salad and poblano and corn soup


I have mentioned that this was our first try at gardening, right? Although it turned out great, we definitely learned some lessons. One of them being, grow a variety of things. It feels like we just grew zucchini and peppers. And we love zucchini and peppers, but variety will be the theme of our garden next year.


We planted a late crop of lettuce - arugula and a mixed greens...so good. We planted spinach, mixed greens, and swiss chard early, but no spinach or lettuce came up and our chard was overrun with leaf miners...nasty little buggers. We got to enjoy one batch or wonderful lettuce before out landlord SPRAYED OUR GARDEN WITH WHITE SPRAY PAINT. Oh, the joys of renting.


Back to the soup! I can't believe it is fall in Denver already!! Fresh snow on mountain tops and boxes of summer clothes to the basement. So, a hearty soup is in order, naturally. Since I have massive amounts of zucchini and peppers, I thought this poblano and zucchini soup would be perfect. Sweet, but spicy and full of big chucks of veggies...can't go wrong with that. Top it with cheese and maybe a little lime sour cream. Yummmmmm.


Oh! And for those of you super observant people, you might have noticed the background of the pictures changing...you're right! We moved!!! And you know what that means?!? Housewarming party coming up :) I plan to feature all the recipes, time planning tips, and hosting ideas right here. So stay tuned that party is coming.

Poblano, Zucchini, and Corn Soup

Adapated from this recipe

Ingredients:

• EVOO
  
• 1 medium red onion, chopped
• 4 - 5 small poblanos or 2 big ones, chopped
• 2 small jalapenos, minced
• S & P
• 2 tspn. cumin
• 4 - 5 cloves of garlic, minced
  
• 2 medium zucchini or 1 large one, quartered and chopped
• 3 ears of corn, kernels scraped off and milked of juices
• 6 cups chicken stock or water*
• Toppings: shredded cheddar cheese, sour cream, lime wedges (or combine sour cream, lime juice, and zest for something a little different!), fresh chopped cilantro

Directions:

1. Heat 1 - 2 TB EVOO in large pot over medium-high heat. Add onion and saute until translucent. Add poblanos and jalapenos and cook for 2 -3 minutes. Season with S & P and cumin.
2. Add garlic and saute until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add zucchini and corn and stir to combine. Cover ingredients with chicken stock and water. increase heat to high and let it come to a boil. Turn heat down and let soup simmer gently for about 7 - 10 minutes.
   
3. With a hand immersion blender, blend soup slightly to thicken and provide some texture. We like our soup thick and chunky, but you can blend it all the way down, if you prefer it that way.
   
4. Top with your choice of toppings and serve :)

*We use "Better than Bouillon" chicken base.