Prosciutto & Asparagus Risotto

Courtesy of Plated Perfection

Risotto is a little intimidating at first (well, to me at least), but it's actually pretty simple -- it's just a bit time consuming. You must stand at the stove during all of the cooking time, but it's so worth it :) The best thing about risotto is you can start with a generic base and add whatever ingredients you want! Tonight I was in the mood for prosciutto and asparagus...mmmm.

Ingredients:
1/2 cup arborio rice
1/2 cup dry white wine (I prefer Pinot Grigio)
1 shallot, diced (or small onion)
3 cups chicken broth
2 tsp olive oil
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1/4 pound asparagus, cut into 3/4 inch pieces
3 slices prosciutto, cut into strips about 3/4 inch
1/4 cup freshly grated parmesan

Bring the broth to a simmer in a medium saucepan. Heat the oil in a heavy saucepan over moderately low heat and cook the shallot, stirring occasionally, until soft, 3 to 5 minutes. Add the rice and cook, stirring constantly, 1 minute. Add wine and simmer, stirring constantly, until absorbed, about 1 minute. Add 3/4 cup of the hot broth, the salt and a few grinds of fresh pepper and simmer, stirring constantly, until broth is absorbed. Continue simmering and adding hot broth, about 3/4 cup at a time, stirring constantly and allowing the broth to be absorbed before adding more, until rice is almost tender and creamy-looking, about 18 minutes.

Add the asparagus and cook just until the vegetables are hot. Stir in the prosciutto and parmesan.

*Note: If the risotto is too thick, add more broth to thin it out...or wine :)

Good Ole' Meatloaf & Mashed Potatoes

Courtesy of Plated Perfection (and my Mom)

You've probably noticed that I was blessed with great women cooking great food all of my life! I've posted a few of my Mom's recipes that were some of my favorites as a kid (and as an adult). This meatloaf is another one of hers :) And yes, I got her permission to post it! I must say, the best part about this dish is the sauce that goes with it. I could put it on many things, and I actually put it on stuffed peppers, whenever I make those. But back to the point, this recipe is for the meatloaf and the delicious sauce that goes with it. What goes best with meatloaf? Mashed potatoes! These are my own recipe, but I top them with Mom's sauce :) I highly recommend it.

Meatloaf + Sauce
1.5 pounds ground beef (I used 85/15 but will probably go with something leaner next time)
1/2 diced green pepper
1/2 diced red pepper
1 small onion
1 egg
8 oz. tomato sauce (you'll use half in the meatloaf, half for the sauce)
1 tsp salt and dash of pepper
2 slices bread (crumbs) or 3/4 cup oatmeal
1/2 cup water
2 tb vinegar
2 tb mustard
4 tb brown sugar
3 tb tomato paste (optional -- something I added to thicken the sauce a bit)

In a bowl, mix together the ground beef, salt, pepper, red peppers, green peppers, onion, egg, half the can of tomato sauce, and the bread crumbs/oatmeal. If using bread, pulse the slices in a food processor to get good sized bread crumbs. Mold the mixture into a greased loaf pan (ideally). Bake at 375 for 1 hour. Top with some of the sauce (recipe below) and bake an additional 15 minutes.

In a saucepan, combine the rest of the tomato sauce, water, vinegar, mustard, brown sugar, and tomato paste. Bring to a simmer and serve on top of the meatloaf and mashed potatoes (recipe below).

Mashed Potatoes

6 russet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1 inch cubes
2 tb butter
1/3 cup sour cream
1/4 cup chicken broth
1 tsp salt and pepper
2-3 tb fresh chives

Boil the potatoes for approximately 15-20 minutes, or until tender. Drain. Combine the butter, sour cream, chicken broth, salt and pepper. Either blend in a mixer until smooth or mash until you reach your desired consistency. Top with chives and the meatloaf sauce!

BBQ Spare Ribs

Courtesy of Plated Perfection

This recipe evolved because my good friend Tim (aka T-Pain), bought me his favorite BBQ marinade from Buffalo :) It's called Chiavetta's Barbeque Marinade. I decided to marinade some spare ribs with this and some other things and then bake it off in the oven...since I lack the summer weather and grill outdoors. These only took about 1 hour to cook (I only had about 1.75 pounds). This was kind of a "throw random things together" type of thing, but they came out pretty good! I served these with some seasoned potatoes and a dipping sauce (leftover marinade). Please Note: This is based on a pretty small recipe. Make sure to increase if need be.

• 1.5-2 pounds of spare ribs
• 1 tb brown sugar
• 1 cup Chiavetta's BBQ Marinade
• few dashes of garlic salt, onion powder, salt, pepper, meat tenderizer (change at your discretion)

Line a baking dish with foil, big enough to create a tent over the ribs. About 2 hours prior to cooking, place the ribs on the foil and season with the garlic salt, onion powder, salt, pepper, and brown sugar. Pour the marinade over the ribs. When ready to cook, season with meat tenderizer and poke a few holes in the meat. Pour enough water in the baking dish to where it's about 1/4 inch. This will help create steam. Fold the foil over to create a tent over the meat, but do not vacuum seal as this will give it no room to breathe.  Cook for 45 minutes at 375 degrees. Take the ribs out, flip them, baste it with some more sauce, and cover. Continue cooking for 15 minutes. Take out of the oven and continue covering with the foil to keep warm. Serve with dipping sauce (recipe below).

Dipping Sauce

• 1 cup Chiavetti's BBQ marinade
• 1 tb honey
• few dashes of onion powder and garlic salt
• 1 tb brown sugar
• 1 tb cajun marinade

Breakfast Buttercups

Courtesy of Cook's Country

I follow a lot of cooking blogs and this was something I stumbled across on The Bitten Word. Originally, the recipe is from Cook's Country. I made just a few modifications.

I'm always looking for ways to spice up breakfast and these just looked fun to make :) Who doesn't love ham, egg, and cheese?

• 10 medium eggs
• 10 slices thin white sandwich bread, crusts removed (I used Pepperidge Farm Very Thinly Sliced White Bread)
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
• 10 thin slices cheddar cheese (about 5 ounces)
• 5 thin slices deli Black Forest ham (about 5 ounces), halved crosswise
• Salt and pepper

1. Adjust oven rack to upper-middle position and heat oven to 375 degrees. Place eggs in large bowl and cover with hot tap water. Let sit 10 minutes. Grease muffin tin with some of the melted butter.
2. Meanwhile, roll bread as thin as possible with rolling pin and press into cups of 12-cup muffin tin, leaving 2 center cups empty.
3. Layer the bread with ham and cheese. Crack 1 egg into each cup and season with salt and pepper.
4. Return muffin tin to oven and bake until egg whites are barely set and still appear slightly moist, 14 to 18 minutes. Transfer pan to wire rack and cover tightly with aluminum foil. Let sit 5 minutes. Serve immediately.

Bacon Wrapped Scallops -- Seafood Extravaganza II

I absolutely love seafood, and thankfully, so does my boyfriend. We cooked up a seafood extravaganza a few months back, so we decided to do the same thing for dinner last night! This go around, I made bacon wrapped scallops, steamed shrimp, and steamed crab legs.  All of these things are very easy because there isn't a lot of prep work, and they don't take very long to cook. I got too excited about the crab legs being ready and forgot to take a picture, but I did manage to get pictures of the rest :)

Bacon Wrapped Scallops
1 pound of scallops (I prefer the larger sea scallops) 
Strips of bacon (cut in half, enough for each scallop)
Lemon Pepper Seasoning
Salt and pepper
Olive oil
Toothpicks/kitchen twine/skewers
Lemon wedges

These can be cooked in multiple ways. This go around, I decided to cook them in a skillet. Pat the scallops dry with a paper towel and season each side with the lemon pepper, salt and pepper. Wrap each scallop with a piece of bacon (make sure it fits all around the scallop). Pin the bacon so that it stays in place with either a toothpick, kitchen swine or skewers (I have wooden skewers on hand). If using wooden skewers, make sure you soak them first so they will not burn. Heat the olive oil and saute the scallops a few minutes per side. I try to rotate them so that all 4 sides get cooked. Squeeze a little lemon over scallops and serve.

Steamed Shrimp
1 pound of shrimp (I prefer medium - large)
2 tb Old Bay Seasoning
1/2 cup vinegar
1/2 cup water
Lemon Wedges

Mix together the water, vinegar, and old bay. Bring to a rapid boil. Dump in the shrimp, cover, and reduce heat. Boil for approximately 3-4 minutes (depending on size of shrimp). The center should be opaque. Serve with lemon wedges and cocktail sauce.

Parmesan Crusted Pork Chops

Courtesy of Giada de Laurentiis

As you may or may not be able to tell, I love Giada. I've made a lot of her recipes and am usually very satisfied! This is a great recipe for breaded pork chops and I decided to throw in something healthy and just heated up some green beans (yes, all I did was heat those up). This is a fairly easy recipe - the only downside is that you use a lot of dishes in the process :)

• 2 large eggs
• 1 cup dried Italian-style bread crumbs
• 3/4 cups freshly grated Parmesan
• 4 (1/2 to 3/4-inch thick) center-cut pork loin chops (each about 10 to 12 ounces)
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 6 tablespoons olive oil 

Whisk the eggs in a pie plate/bowl to blend. Place the bread crumbs in another pie plate/blend. Place the cheese in a third pie plate/bowl. Sprinkle the pork chops generously with salt and pepper. Coat the chops completely with the cheese, patting to adhere. Dip the chops into the eggs, then coat completely with the bread crumbs, patting to adhere. Heat 3 tablespoons of oil in a very large skillet over medium heat. Add pork chops, in batches if necessary, and cook until golden brown and the center reaches 150 degrees, about 6 minutes per side.

Note: For my first batch, I accidentally mixed the cheese and bread crumbs together in one pie plate. I dipped the chops in the egg and then the bread crumb/cheese mixture. I actually found these cooked better than having everything separate, as in the recipe.  The chops burnt more easily following the recipe's instructions.

Italian Breakfast Sandwich

Adapted from Giada de Laurentiis

This is a new take on your typical breakfast sandwich, one in which I welcome :) It's super fast and easy! I made a few variations from the original recipe and spiced it up a bit!

• 2 teaspoons olive oil
• 1 large egg
• Salt and pepper
• 1 slice fresh bread (I used jalapeno cheddar -- sourdough is also delicious)
• 1 garlic clove
• 1 slice of prosciutto
• 1/4 cup warm tomato sauce/pizza sauce
• parmesan (optional for topping)

Heat 2 teaspoons of oil in a heavy small skillet over medium heat. Crack the egg into the skillet. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Cover and cook until the white is firm and the yolk is almost set, about 4 minutes. Season with salt. Meanwhile, toast the bread until golden brown. Rub the garlic over the toast. Sprinkle with the Parmesan. Spoon the marinara sauce over the Parmesan. Top with a slice of prosciutto and the egg. Serve open faced.