Green Risotto

A friend of mine was coming over to dinner tonight with her daughters and I knew I wanted to make a risotto -- I like to do the one-dish meal when we're having the dinner-playdate.  I wanted to make something different than my normal repertoire of risottos, so I was poking around the internet for some ideas when I came across a recipe for risotto with fava beans.   Given that it's the middle of March, I knew that it was probably too early to find favas.  I tried three places, including our farmers' market, and discovered I was correct:  I need to wait a couple more weeks.  Instead, I found some English peas and decided to use them instead.   Since I like the sweetness of fresh peas, I thought that it might be nice to use scallions in addition to yellow onion.  I also figured that a touch of lemon would work too, so when I pureed the peas, I used the meyer lemon olive oil that I love.  If you don't have access to lemon-infused oil, you can always use regular extra virgin olive oil and add freshly-squeezed lemon juice.  

Green Risotto

(4-6 servings)

1/2 lb fresh English peas

1/4 cup lemon-infused olive oil

4 tablespoons butter

1/2 yellow onion, finely chopped 

3-4 scallions, white and light green parts only

5 cups chicken broth

1 1/2 cups arborio rice

1/2 cup white wine

1/3 cup fresh grated Parmigiano cheese, plus more to taste

-- Add shelled peas to boiling salted water.  Blanch for 1 minute, then drain and submerge in ice water to stop cooking process (and keep peas bright green).

-- When cool, puree peas with olive oil and set aside.

-- In saucepan, bring broth to a simmer and keep hot.

-- In a separate large saucepan, melt 2 tablespoons of butter in medium heat.

-- Add onions and scallions and cook until soft, about 5 minutes.

-- Reduce heat to medium-low, and add rice.  Toast rice until opaque and it starts to release a nutty aroma, about 2 minutes, stirring the entire time.

-- Add wine and stir until liquid is mostly absorbed, and then add one ladle of broth.  

-- Continue to stir until broth is absorbed and add another ladle of broth. Stir frequently.  Repeat this process until rice is al dente and has a creamy consistency, about 2o minutes.   

-- Add pea puree to risotto, and stir until well-blended.   

-- Remove from heat, add remaining butter and Parmigiano cheese, and stir to incorporate. 

-- Serve immediately with more cheese to taste.  

The color of the pureed peas is so pretty -- a bright celery green color.  When you add it to the rice, it gives the entire dish a lovely light green hue.  I wish I had taken a photo of it, but since the meal was for guests, I didn't want to bring out the camera and start taking pictures of my meal.  Next time I make it, I'll take a picture.  Oh, and there will be a next time.  My 4-year-old (my toughest critic) loved it, and even had two helpings, consuming green veggies without even realizing it.  Another thing I could have done was to have reserved some of the peas before I pureed them, and then added the whole peas to the risotto when I added the puree.  But, knowing that I was going to be feeding four children under the age of 5, I figure that calling attention to the presence of vegetables would be a mistake.   In addition, I served the risotto with a simple arugula salad (which my 2-year old gobbled up).

I haven't given up on the fava beans.  Once they're in season, I am going to try this one again with the favas.  

Fig and Pecorino Crostini

A couple of weeks ago I made this appetizer for a dinner party.   Ordinarily I spend so much of my effort on the main course that I often feel like starters are an afterthought.  This time I planned ahead of time and found this recipe from Giada de Laurentiis.   It was a hit and may become my go-to starter in the future. 

Pecorino Romano with Apples and Fig Jam

Courtesy of Giada De Laurentiis, Food Network

(4-6 servings)

6 dried figs, halved

1/2 cup simple syrup*

2 tablespoons brandy

1/4 chopped toasted hazelnuts

24 baguette slices

Olive oil for drizzling

1/2 cup grated Pecorino Romano 

1 large apple (Granny Smith or Braeburn), thinly sliced into 24 slices

1/4 pound chunk Pecorino Romano, for shaving 24 pieces

-- Preheat oven to 375F

-- Place a small saucepan over medium heat.  Add the figs, simple syrup, and brandy.  

-- Bring mixture to a simmer then turn off heat and let sit for 10 minutes.  

-- Place the fig mixture and hazelnuts in food processor and blend until pureed.  Then set aside. 

-- Place baguette slices on a heavy baking sheet.  Drizzle each slice with olive oil.

-- Top each slice with 1 teaspoon of grated Pecorino Romano cheese.
-- Bake until the cheese is melted and golden, about 7 minutes. 

-- Top each slice of toast with 2 teaspoons of fig jam, a slice of apple, and a slice of shaved Pecorino Romano.  

-- Transfer toasts to a serving platter and serve.  

*Simple Syrup

1/2 cup water

1 cup sugar

-- In a saucepan combine water and sugar over medium heat. 

-- Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer for 5 minutes, until the sugar has dissolved. 

-- Take pan off of heat and let cool.  Any extra cooled syrup can be saved in an airtight container in the refrigerator.  

Just a couple of notes:

-- I didn't bother to toast the hazelnuts:  I was too lazy.  I am sure that if I had, the flavor would have been even better, but I honestly have burned so many nuts in the past, that I always skip this step in recipes now.   The hazelnuts I used were so yummy that the jam came out lovely without toasting them.

-- Hazelnuts are also called "filberts", so try looking for them under either name at your grocery store.  

-- I suggest that you add only about 3/4 of the simple syrup to the food processor.  See how thick it comes out first.  It's a lot easier to make it thinner, if you need to, than to thicken it up again.  Also note that as the jam cools, it thickens up.  Remember, the consistency should be that of a jam.  

-- I used a Granny Smith apple; they're my favorite anyway, and just really lend themselves in both sweetness and crispness to this recipe.

This appetizer was so good that my guests gobbled up every single one of them.  I also made extra jam which I've been using on toast in the morning as well as on our pork chops the other night (I used it on my Figgy Pork recipe).   I think I might even make a batch of this at Christmas time, put it in a pretty jar, and use it as my hostess gift when attending holiday parties.  

Chicken Paillard with Lemon and Shallot Sauce Served Two Ways

I threw a dinner party on Saturday night that required a few trips to Whole Foods as well as our neighborhood mom-and-pop grocery store. As a result, I have been unmotivated to see the inside of either place for a couple of days.  Tonight I figured I would slap together whatever I could find in the refrigerator.  I normally have at least one chicken breast in my freezer, and tonight I happend to have two.  I also had some shallot left over from the other night, and about two dozen meyer lemons from my tree in the back yard.   I decided this was enough to make some kind of chicken cutlets and a sauce.  

The organic chicken breasts that I buy are always very thick, and I almost never use them whole.  In most cases, I slice them through the middle -- I am just too impatient to wait for the thick ones to cook.  I am also lazy, so in most cases I won't even pound the chicken breast to create a uniform thickness.  I guess that means that my recipe isn't a true pailliard, but what the hell -- it's my blog, I'll call it what I want.  

Since I essentially made this up as I was going along, the ingredient amounts aren't exact, but are probably a pretty good estimation.  

Chicken Paillard with Lemon and Shallot Sauce

(serves 2-4)

4 chicken breasts, about 1/2 inch thick

2-3 tablespoons canola oil

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

1-2 tablespoons minced shallot 

3 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons flour

1 cup chicken broth

Juice of 1/2 lemon

Salt to taste

-- Pat dry chicken breasts and sprinkle with salt and pepper

-- Heat canola oil in skillet over med-high heat

-- When oil is hot, add chicken and sear about 2-3 minutes per side

-- Remove chicken when just opaque, tent with foil, and set aside

-- Reduce heat and add shallot, cooking until soft and fragrant, less than 2 minutes

-- Add butter and let melt

-- Add flour and wisk to incorporate it into butter

-- Add chicken broth, then increase heat to allow sauce to reduce

-- When reduced by almost half, add lemon juice

-- Let reduce a little more, add salt to taste

-- Return chicken to pan to rest in sauce for about a minute 

-- Serve breasts with sauce spooned over top

I served the chicken to my husband and kids with quartered potatoes and peas -- a solid, balanced weeknight meal.  For me, I had some arugula I wanted to use, so I shredded a breast, and served it over a little salad I made with the arugula, thinly sliced red onion, kalamata olives, and thinly shaved slices of parmigiano cheese.  Instead of a dressing, I just drizzed a couple of teaspoons of the sauce over my salad.  The combination of the arugula with the sauce was really tasty.  I think that I will also use this sauce on fish in the future.