#13 - Spring Break and Beer, Bacon & Smoked Gouda Risotto

Just got back from 10 days in AZ with The Fam. It was Spring Break for The One Still at Home, so we headed to Mesa for some R&R, to take in some Chicago Cubs Spring Training, and to spend some time with The One Who Left Me for Higher Learning.  We had a great time (except for Still at Home stuck in bed for 3-days with the flu)!  We ate at our favorite restaurants, laid out by the pool, watched a BUNCH of baseball, and celebrated The Hubs' 50th birthday!  I thought about posting all of our trip pictures here like an old school slideshow... remember when people used to do that when they'd return from a trip? ..."and this was Aunt Martha standing next to the giant buffalo.."  Anyway, fear not, I only posted a few pics (the rest are all on Instagram if you're a glutton for punishment).

 

After being away, it was good to get back in the kitchen! This week I came up with Beer, Bacon & Smoked Gouda Risotto.  I hadn't planned on eating much this week to make up for EVERYTHING I did eat last week, but knowing that I needed a recipe to post I just went for it.  I actually made it with stuff I already had in the kitchen... that was just pure dumb luck!  A quick shout-out to our friends Bill & Taffi for buying a case of Shock-Top beer, not loving it and passing it on to us! I don't love it either but I'll definitely use it for cooking!

 

PS. My 'Rents are headed down this week! Looking forward to cooking up a storm for them! Recipes to follow.... for now, here's the risotto:

 

 

Beer, Bacon & Smoked Gouda Risotto
Yield: 8 (1 cup) servings

 

Ingredients:

• 2 slices bacon
• 1 tablespoon butter
• ½ a small onion, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 cups uncooked Arborio rice
• 12 oz bottle of beer
• 5 cups chicken broth
• 1 ½ oz Parmesan cheese, freshly grated
• 1 cup shredded Smoked Gouda (I may have used a bit more than that)
• ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
• kosher salt and fresh cracked pepper

 

Directions:

1. Cook bacon is a large sauté pan. When bacon is crisp, remove from pan and set aside. 
2. Place the butter in sauté pan with remaining bacon grease and return to medium-low heat until butter is just melted. Add onions and cook 3-5 minutes until the onions are translucent. Add the garlic and cook for another minute until garlic is fragrant. Add the rice and stir to combine. Cook an additional 2 minutes, stirring throughout.
3. Pour in the beer and turn the heat up to high until the beer begins to simmer. Reduce heat back to medium-low and add ½ cup of the chicken broth. Stir until the liquid dissolves and then add another ½ cup. Repeat until all the broth has been added and the rice is creamy and al dente.
4. Remove the rice mixture from the heat and add the cheeses, bacon, cayenne pepper, salt and pepper to taste. Stir until thoroughly combined and serve.

 (Recipe #13 of 52)

#11/#12 Guinness Stew & Irish Soda Bread

It's St. Patrick's Day and I celebrated the way I know best... with Mumford & Son's playing on the iPad, I got busy heating up the kitchen.

 

Irish Soda Bread

Recipe adapted from Ina Garten

Ingredients:

4 cups all-purpose flour, plus extra for currants
4 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch dice
1 3/4 cups cold buttermilk*, shaken
1 extra-large egg, lightly beaten
1 cup dried currants (I used raisins instead)

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper.

Combine the flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Add the butter and mix on low speed until the butter is mixed into the flour.

With a fork, lightly beat the buttermilk and egg together in a measuring cup. With the mixer on low speed, slowly add the buttermilk mixture to the flour mixture. Combine the currants (or raisins) with 1 tablespoon of flour and mix into the dough. It will be very wet.

Dump the dough onto a well-floured board and knead it a few times into a round loaf. Place the loaf on the prepared sheet pan and lightly cut an X into the top of the bread with a serrated knife. Bake for 45 to 55 minutes, or until a cake tester comes out clean. When you tap the loaf, it will have a hollow sound.

Cool on a baking rack. Serve warm or at room temperature.

 
*I didn't have any buttermilk, so I made my own.  I used 2 cups whole milk and 2 tablespoons of lemon juice. Let it sit in the fridge for about 10 minutes. Stir before using.

Guinness Stew and Irish Mash

Recipe adapted from The Berroness

Ingredients
For Guinness Stew:

• 4 strips thick cut bacon
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1.5 lbs beef chuck, cut into cubes
• kosher salt and cracked pepper, to taste
• 1 medium yellow onion, thinly sliced
• 2 tablespoons all purpose flour
• ½ teaspoon smoked paprika
• 12 ounces stout beer
• 2 cups beef broth (or stock)
  1½ cups baby carrots 

For Irish Mash:

• 2 lbs russet potatoes, peeled and chopped
• 6 Tbsp unsalted butter
• 2 cups cabbage, chopped
• ½ cup green onions, chopped
• 1 cup whole milk
• kosher salt and cracked pepper, to taste

 

Directions

In a large pot over medium heat, cook the bacon.

Remove the bacon from the pot. Chop and set aside. Pour off bacon grease until about 2 Tbsp of bacon grease remain in the pot.

Add 2 Tbsp of olive oil to the pot.

Sprinkle the beef cubes with salt and pepper. Add to the pot, sear on all sides until browned, and remove from pot (beef will not be cooked through).

Add the onions. Cook until lightly caramelized, about ten minutes.

Sprinkle with flour, stir until flour has turned brown, about 1 minute.

Add the stout and stir, scraping to deglaze the pan. Pour in the broth.

Add the beef cubes and bacon back into the pot. Throw in carrots. Add the lid at a slight vent and reduce heat to maintain a low simmer. Allow to simmer until beef is fork tender, 1 ½ to 2 hours.

While the beef is cooking, make the potatoes: Add the potatoes to a pot of salted water, bring to a boil and allow to cook until potatoes are fork tender. Drain, remove potatoes from the pot and return the empty pot to heat. Melt the butter in the pot. Add the cabbage and cook until wilted, about 2 minutes. Stir in the green onions. Remove from heat, and add in the milk and the potatoes. Mash and stir until well combined. Add salt and pepper to taste.

(recipes #11 & #12 of 52)



#10 - Chicken Pot Pie

“I might be going out on a limb here, but this might be the best chicken pot pie I've ever had!”

That was the review my pot pie got from the Hubs!  The son that doesn't like pot pie loved it too.  They even warned that they were willing to fight over the extra pie sitting in the kitchen!

This was another one of those “experimental” recipes.  I looked up a few different recipes, pulled out things I liked from them and then did my thing.  The problem with that was that I didn't really write down everything as I went.  When it got such great reviews, I knew that I had better figure it out so I could make it again later!  So, here it is (as much as I could remember!):

Chicken Pot Pie
Makes 4 single-serve pies.

4 chicken breast halves

Salt and pepper

4 tablespoons cooking oil, divided

4 cups chicken stock

4-5 small red potatoes, diced

2 tablespoons minced garlic

1/2 small red onion, minced

1 cup chopped carrots

1 tablespoon fresh thyme, chopped

2 sprigs fresh sage

1/3 cup white wine (optional)

Frozen corn (about a cup)

Canned green beans (most of the can)

1/3 cup butter

2/3 cup all-purpose flour

2 cups whole milk

1 cup heavy cream

Pinch fresh grated nutmeg

2 sheets frozen puff pastry, thawed

Egg wash (lightly whisk together 1 whole egg and 1 teaspoon water)

Special equipment: 4 (2-cup) individual baking dishes

·        Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

·        In a medium saucepan, cook potatoes in chicken stock until just tender.  Remove from stock and set aside. (You could just cook them in water, but I think it added great flavor to do it this way.)

·        Season chicken with salt and pepper. Heat 2 tbsp. oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken and sauté until cooked through. Remove from heat and cut into chunks. (You could always use 2 cups of precooked chicken to save time.)

·        In the same skillet heat the other 2 tbsp. oil and sauté garlic, sage and onion 2-3 minutes. Add white wine, and simmer a minute or two and then add carrots.  Cook until carrots are tender. Remove sage sprigs and add thyme.

·        Add potatoes, corn, green beans and chicken to the carrot mixture.  Salt and pepper to taste.

·        In a large saucepan, melt butter and then slowly add flour, stirring until consistency of peanut butter, but don’t let it brown. Alternating, slowly add cream and milk. Keep stirring.

·        This is where I added some chicken stock.  Start with about ½ and stir well.  You don’t want the filling too thin, so don’t overdo it.  Bring the mixture to a boil, stirring constantly until the mixture thickens, about 4 minutes.

·        When the stock mixture has thickened, add nutmeg, salt & pepper and veg & chicken mixture. Stir well and remove from heat.

·        Cut puff pastry into 4 squares big enough to cover the tops of your baking dishes.

·        Fill 4 individual oven-proof bowls with chicken mixture and top each with puff pastry. Cut a few slits in the top of each pie to vent and brush with egg wash.

·        Place pies on a baking sheet and bake for 25-30 minutes or until pastry is golden brown.

·        Cool a few minutes before serving… if you can wait that long!

A couple of notes…

When making the base (butter, flour, milk, cream, chicken stock), I just kinda eyeballed it.  SLOWLY add the liquids in, stirring well in between.  Next time I’ll pay more attention to the amounts I put in!

There will be extra filling left over. YUM!  Eat it tomorrow for lunch!

There was no blood shed for the extra pie.  The Hubs ate it a couple of days later (reheated at 350 degrees for 30 minutes) and it was still super delish!

(Recipe #10 of 52)