Dirrrrty risotto

On a recommendation from Miss Mo, I prepared Giada's Dirty Risotto last night. I used bacon instead of pancetta, because our Kroger is totally jacked up both physically (they are doing construction) and stock-wise (they had bresaola, I think, the ever popular prosciuotto, but not pancetta. Wtf?) I used Italian sausage from this random sausage store R and I passed on our ill-fated trip to Waldo, Ohio looking for a new couch. Mom Wilson's Country Sausage. It was interesting, they had a lot of different types of sausage . But my heart remains with Schmidt's (you'll see why).

anyways - it was fine. Kind of meh for me. R enjoyed it. I think part of my issue is the damn crap wine I used (again, the same wine that prob ruined that horrific casserole a while back). Another big part was the v. blah Italian sausage. It had virtually no flavor. Had I known it would be SO very mild, I'd have gotten the hot sausage. Those nasty pink breakfast sausages they serve in Ireland were spicier. But I think the biggest problem was that when I want risotto, I just want rich, creamy goodness. There are some variations I will tolerate - for example, the addition of some roasted butternut squash and sage - boo ya - I'll eat that all day long. But I don't really look to risotto for "spice" and "palate interest." I want comfort - creaminess - luxury. I want to taste the mushrooms I put in. The flavorless sausage and bacon kind of masked all that creaminess and then I got weirded out by the whole "meat tube" issue, so I started getting slightly gaggy...all in all, not a great experience. HOWEVER, I repeat, R did enjoy it. And with better sausage ,maybe I would too. However, Giada's attempt to take on the South's dirty rice did not work as I'd hoped.

FOOTBALL! GRR! and wine?

YES! The ultimate combo...pizza and a nice glass (or four) of a "meh" Zin. YES!

Greek burgers

On Elle's suggestion, I made fancy poultry burgers with a Greek flair. Ground chicken, tons of Greek seasoning, feta, sundried tomatoes. Mix. Grill up. Eat on buns with mayo mixed with some sundried oil and a tiny dash of Greek seasoning. Also some roasted potato wedges. I enjoyed them, maybe not enough to make again give Mr. R's apprehension of the ground chicken. He did eat it, and said it was better than he anticipated - but given that he rolled his eyes and sighed when I told him what we were having that is a rather low bar. I would suggest them though, especially if you were looking for something to do with ground poultry. No pics, they weren't particularly pretty - kind of gray.

Chicken dish pie

I didn't make it in a pot, it's chicken dish pie. Cook chicken. Cook onions, carrots, celery in butter . Add flour. Add hot chicken broth. Add frozen peas and onions. Add a splash of cream. Meanwhile, bake the bottom crust - a sheet of rolled out puff pastry in a 9x13 - at 400 degrees for about 8-10 minutes. Pour chicken mix over top. Top with another sheet of puff pastry - this one, you brush with an egg wash. Bake again, until puffed and golden - 10-15 minutes, longer if needed. Yum-o.

Fried food Saturday

R and I whipped up some gameday goodness on Saturday - fried pretzels with homemade honey mustard and lovely disgusting Velveeta dip with tortilla chips.

For the pretzels - take a box of frozen soft pretzels - fry in shallow pan with oil. Salt.

For honey mustard - mix a large dollop of mayo with several squirts of yellow mustard and Dijon mustard. Add about 1 tbsp honey, some salt, and some pepper. Keep tasting until it meets your taste standards.


For the Velveeta dip, in its tiny crockpot, fry up a pound of breakfast sausage, with onions if you'd like, or peppers. Throw in a can of Ro-Tel tomatoes. Cube up a big brick of Velveeta. Throw in some salsa. Add chili beans if desired. Once the 'veeta is melted, add in cheddar cheese, for a touch of authenticity. Slam with chips.

Brownie goodness

Ok, I made some seriously delicious brownies this weekend. I was motivated, again, by a post at Baking Bites, which linked me to a recipe for Peanut Butter Brownies And fabulously easy. And to at Smitten Kitchen. Supposedly (the B-lo crew will have to confirm) this recipe mimics a recipe served at the fab Butterwood bakery. These were FABULOUS. be honest, cut them into little tiny squares, and you have a perfectly presentable nibble for a party or dinner gathering. I mean, these were so good. They weren't greasy. The chocolate was just right. It was so tasty. The only tweaking I made to the recipe was to (similar to the picture) add a heaping handful of chocolate chips to the actual batter (I'd skip it next time, didn't add anything) AND I used mostly dark chocolate chips for the ganache. I threw in about 1/4 c of semisweet because R was getting concerned that it would be too bitter, but I knew it wouldn't be, so I told him to go away. Here are pictures of the pan both sans ganache and fully ganached.

I will try to get a cross section photo of my own brownies, but sadly, they are rapidly dwindling due to our own gluttony and my (i'd like to think) generosity at handing them out to a few peeps.

Sauerkraut Fest

Some of you have seen these lovely photos from our trip to the Sauerkraut Festival this past weekend. A polish sausage with kraut. A "German Sundae" - potatoes, kraut, cheese, sour cream, and an olive.




We also had our first " apple flappin" which were slices of apple battered and fried. Then powdered with sugar. Also, sauerkraut balls, which are balls of...sauerkraut and something else, breaded and...you got it, fried.

Mmm...apples

So, it's apple time in Ohio. I'm too lazy to make pastry (peeling and cutting up a half dozen apples is work enough) so an apple crisp is the route for me. For said lusciousness, peel and thinly slice 6-8 GRANNY SMITH apples (I don't care what anyone else says, you need MOSTLY grannies...you can toss in a Gala, Honeycrisp, Jonahgold, whatever else or TWO, but MOSTLY GS) and toss in a large mixing bowl with about 2 tbsp cinnamon, 1/2 c white sugar, a handful of brown sugar, some vanilla, and about a 1/3 c flour. Layer in a 9x13 dish. In the same mixing bowl, mix 2 c oats, 1/2 c flour, a large pinch of salt, 1/3 c white sugar, 1/3 c brown sugar, 1-2 tbsp cinnamon, some nutmeg (to taste) and 1 room temp stick of butter. Mix well, until mix is crumbly. Use hands. Press on top of apples - there's a LOT of topping, use it all, it's the best. Bake in a 375 deg oven for, oh, say 45-55 minutes, until the top is lightly browned and the apples are v. bubbly. Serve, obviously, with vanilla ice cream.