Creamy Gorgonzola and Portobello Mushroom Risotto

From Nadia G's Bitchin' Kitchen via Cooking Channel



Ingredients:
3 cups organic chicken stock
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 clove garlic, minced
4 portobello mushrooms, diced
1 yellow onion, minced
Sea salt
2 cups Arborio rice
3/4 cup good white wine
1/2 cup crumbled gorgonzola
1/3 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
Freshly cracked pepper

Directions:
Bring the chicken stock to a bare simmer in a saucepan.

Meanwhile, heat the butter and olive oil in a medium pot over medium heat. Add the garlic and saute until golden, 1 minute. Add the mushrooms, onions and 1 teaspoon sea salt and saute for 8 minutes. Stir in the rice and cook for 2 minutes. Deglaze with the wine and cook until the wine has reduced completely. Ladle in the simmering broth, 1/2 cup at a time, stirring constantly until the rice absorbs all the broth before adding more. Repeat until all the broth has been added and the rice is al dente, about 20 minutes. Stir in the cheeses and a pinch of sea salt and pepper.

Comments:
Oh man, was this good. Now, I admit some recipe... alterations. I used boring white button mushrooms, skipped the wine and used some extra stock, and my gorgonzola looked sketchy so I just added some more parm. Boo. I bet it would have been even better with the blue cheese in it. Oh well. Next time. Risotto is always delicious, but I swear if I had to cook it for one minute longer my arm would have fallen off. What I wouldn't give to have a RoboStir!



Just kidding... I think.

Caramelized Onion Quiche

From Southern Living



Ingredients:
1 (14.1-oz.) package refrigerated piecrusts
3 large sweet onions, sliced (about 1 1/2 lb.)
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
6 cooked bacon slices, crumbled
2 cups (8 oz.) shredded Gruyere cheese
1 1/2 cups half-and-half
4 large eggs
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 425°. Unroll piecrusts; stack on a lightly greased surface. Roll stacked piecrusts into a 12-inch circle. Fit piecrust into a 10-inch deep-dish tart pan with removable bottom; press into fluted edges. Trim off excess piecrust along edges. Line piecrust with aluminum foil or parchment paper, and fill with pie weights or dried beans. Place pan on a foil-lined baking sheet. Bake 12 minutes. Remove weights and foil, and bake 8 more minutes. Cool completely on baking sheet on a wire rack (about 15 minutes). Reduce oven temperature to 350°.

2. Meanwhile, cook onions in hot oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat, stirring often, 15 to 20 minutes or until onions are caramel colored. Remove from heat, and stir in parsley and bacon. Place half of onion mixture in tart shell, and top with half of cheese; repeat with remaining onion mixture and cheese.

3. Whisk together half-and-half and next 4 ingredients; pour over cheese.

4. Bake at 350° for 40 to 45 minutes or until set. Cool on baking sheet on a wire rack 15 minutes before serving.

Comments:
I used Pioneer Woman's perfect pie crust again to make this. I firmly believe this is only the reason I was finally able to make a quiche that turned out right. I have terrible, horrible, no good, very bad luck with quiche so I was very proud of myself! Things set up nicely and it was delicious.

Adam Cooks: Ham and Cheddar Brunch Strata

From Crock-Pot Favorite Slow Cooker Recipes



Ingredients:
8 oz French bread, torn in small pieces
2 cups shredded sharp Cheddar cheese, divided
1 1/2 cups diced ham
1/2 cup finely chopped green onions, divided
4 large eggs
1 cup half & half or whole milk
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1/8 tsp ground red pepper

Directions:
1. Coat slow cooker with nonstick cooking spray. Cut parchment paper to fit bottom of stoneware and press into place. Spray paper lightly with nonstick cooking spray.

2. Layer in following order: bread, 1 1/2 cups cheese, ham, and all but 2 tbsp green onions.

3. Whisk eggs, half & half, Worcestershire sauce, and red pepper in small bowl. Pour evenly over layered ingredients in slow cooker. Cover; cook on low 3 1/2 hours or until knife inserted into center comes out clean. Turn off heat. Sprinkle evenly with reserved cheese and green onions. Let stand, covered, 10 minutes or until cheese has melted.

4. To serve, run a knife or spatula around the outer edges, lifting bottom slightly. Invert onto plate and peel off paper. Invert again onto serving plate.

Comments:
Adam made this so I can't speak of ease of preparation, but it tasted good. We skipped the inverting it part and just served it out of the slow cooker. Worked fine.

Sausage Pancakes-on-Sticks

From The Pioneer Woman via FoodNetwork



Ingredients:
16 breakfast sausage links
3 cups pancake mix
1 cup yellow cornmeal
Sprinkle of cinnamon
1 whole egg, slightly beaten
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
3 cups water
Canola oil, for frying
Warm pancake syrup, for serving

Directions:
Cook the breakfast sausage links in a cast-iron skillet, turning occasionally until done.

In a large bowl, combine the pancake mix, cornmeal and cinnamon. Stir to combine.

Add the eggs, vanilla and water, adding more water as needed for the batter to become slightly thick (but not overly gloopy.) Start out by adding 1 cup, then work your way up to 3 cups or more.

Heat some canola oil in a large pot over medium-high heat to about 350 degrees F. Drop in a bit of batter to see if it's ready; the batter should immediately start to sizzle but should not immediately brown/burn.

Insert chopsticks into the cooked breakfast sausages so that they're two-thirds of the way through. Dip the sausages into the batter and allow any excess to drip off for a couple of seconds. Carefully drop into the oil (stick and all) and use tongs or a spoon to make sure it doesn't hit the bottom of the pan and stick. Flip it here and there to ensure even browning, and remove it from the oil when the outside is deep golden brown, 2 to 3 minutes.

Serve with warm pancake syrup.

Comments:
I had some trouble with the batter and this recipe made about 10 times more batter that we needed. I used my deep fryer to cook these and it worked fine. They were good, but I don't know that we'd try them again. The batter threw the whole thing off I think...

Asian Chicken Sizzling Salad

From Kraft



Ingredients:
1 small boneless skinless chicken breast half (4 oz.)
1/2 tsp. oil
1/6 Kraft Sizzling Salads Asian Chicken Dinner Kit
3 cups tightly packed baby spinach leaves
1/4 cup drained canned mandarin oranges
1/4 cup shredded carrots
1/4 cup fresh bean sprouts
1/4 cup halved snow peas
1 green onion, sliced
1 Tbsp. sliced almonds

Directions:
Cook chicken in hot oil in skillet on medium-high heat 4 to 5 min. on each side or until done (165ºF).

Add 2 Tbsp. Cooking Sauce; cook on low heat 1 min., turning chicken after 30 sec.

Combine remaining ingredients. Add 2 Tbsp. Dressing; mix lightly. Serve with chicken.

Comments:
I skipped the spinach and the dressing since I'm not a fan of sesame oil, but I really liked the cooking sauce. Adam liked the whole thing. We picked this Sizzling Salad kit up for FREE because it was on sale and had a coupon that doubled. Can't beat that. We also got the Caesar kit and look forward to trying that one.