Asparagus and Shrimp Risotto

Apparently the new things I've been making lately require a lot of reductions. I didn't notice until I posted 3 of them on one day. Hmm.

1/4 teaspoon ground white pepper
3 cups water
2 cups chicken broth
3 tablespoons butter or margarine, divided
1 pound fresh asparagus spears, diagonally sliced into 1-inch pieces
1 lb shrimp, cooked and peeled
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 cup uncooked Arborio Rice (I used jasmine, it's my rice of choice)
1/3 cup dry white wine
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 teaspoon salt

Heat water and broth in 2-quart saucepan over medium heat until it comes to a simmer. Reduce heat to low and keep warm.
Meanwhile, melt 2 tablespoons butter in large saucepan over medium heat; add asparagus and cook until tender crisp. Remove asparagus; set aside.










In same saucepan, cook onion in remaining 1 tablespoon butter until soft. Add rice and stir 2 to 3 minutes. Add wine; stir until absorbed. Increase heat to medium-high; stir in 1 cup water-broth mixture.











Cook uncovered, stirring frequently, until liquid is absorbed. Continue stirring and adding remaining water-broth mixture 1 cup at a time, allowing each cup to be absorbed before adding another. Cook until rice is tender and mixture has a creamy consistency, approximately 25 to 30 minutes.










Stir in shrimp, asparagus, cream, cheese, salt and pepper. Stir until mixture is creamy, about 2 to 3 minutes. Serve immediately.

I didn't find this all that fabulous. I was at the stove reducing for almost an hour, and it came out with very little flavor. I could have just put rice and asparagus and shrimp together. Anthony ended up smothering his in hot sauce.
So if you're looking for something that LOOKS impressive, but if for some stodgy English family who don't like spices, this is the recipe for you. Otherwise, not worth the effort.

Shrimp Scampi

This recipe is supposed to be for appetizers, but we had little baby shrimps, so I just put it on top of some rice.

2 lbs shrimp, peeled and deveined
1/3 cup olive oil
1.3 cup vermouth
2 large cloves garlic, crushed
3/4 tsp salt
1.2 tsp fresh ground pepper
3 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
3 tbsp fresh lemon juice, about 1 large lemon



Heat oil over medium low heat in a large skillet. Sauté shrimp; add vermouth, garlic, salt, and pepper; simmer until liquid is almost evaporated.
Ha ha, you're supposed to put the parsley in later, but I don't read so good. It turned out good anyway.











Sprinkle with parsley and lemon juice. Gently stir and serve with toothpicks as an appetizer. Or over delicious fluffy jasmine rice. Thanks rice cooker!

Make Your Own Pasta Sauce pt 1

The ingredients in this recipe are approximations.
2 tbsp butter
1 clove minced garlic
1 tbsp Worchestershire sauce
Basil
Parsley
1/2 cup white wine, mine was pretty sweet, but you can use anything
1 tbsp hot sauce, I used sriracha because it's nice and hot
1 cup milk or 3/4 cup cream
1/4 cup parmesan cheese
2 tbsp lemon juice (optional)

I was bored one day and decided to rummage around in my fridge and use up some ingredients to make my own pasta sauce. What could possibly go wrong, right?


I started with the butter and garlic. Let the garlic brown for a minute and the butter get a little bubbly and frothy.













Then I added Worchestershire sauce, a little handful of both basil and parsley, and white wine. Let that simmer a couple of minutes, until it comes to a rolling boil.












Add hot sauce and let the sauce cook for a few minutes. Everything should be melding together, except the butter tends to skim along the top, but that's fine.












I added the milk, but cream would have been better, probably. This isn't about going out to buy things, though. So there.
Also, you can add lemon juice at this point, too. DON'T ADD LEMON JUICE BEFORE MILK. If you do, it'll congeal and be a giant mess and you'll have to pour it down the sink, like I did on my first batch.
I threw in parmesan too. Do what you feel like.
The key to reducing a sauce with milk or cream in it is to watch for the color to change. It takes a long time to boil down milk, but if you just keep whisking, it'll happen. When the color actually changes to a kind of yellowy-er color, it's almost done. Take it off the heat immediately when it's thick enough for your liking.




This sauce was good. I didn't stray too far from what I knew would be good in a pasta sauce, but the hot sauce in there was just enough to give it a little kick.

Donairs

Everyone from Canada knows that donairs are delicious, but they are super bad for you. Well, the home made version is probably a lot better, especially if you use ground round, like we do :) Enjoy!

1 lb ground beef or 1 pkg ground round
1 heaping tbsp cayenne
4 tbsp garlic
salt & pepper, to taste
1 1/2 tbsp Italian seasoning or oregano
1/2 cup evaporated milk
1/2 cup white sugar
1 tsp white vinegar
1 tsp garlic or 1/2 tsp garlic powder
lettuce, chopped
tomato, chopped
onion, chopped
cheese, shredded
pitas

Mix beef, garlic, salt, pepper and oregano and cook 1 1/2 hours on 350, or cook ground round for 1/2 hour on 350.













Chop up your onion, lettuce, tomato and cheese














Mix milk, sugar, garlic and vinegar with an electric mixer until thickened.













I found that the pitas wanted to tear when I put the stuff in them, so I made a hilarious steamer of a sieve and a pot of boiling water, then throw them in there for about a minute with the lid on and -wallah- easy to work with.


Anyway, thrown beef, cheese, onion, lettuce, tomato and a lot of sweet sauce in the middle of the pita and wrap up. Eat. Yum.

Creamy Beef & Potato Bake

1/4 cup butter, divided
2 tbsp vegetable oil
3 potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced
2 zucchini, sliced OR
2 cups peppers, sliced
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 onion, finely chopped
1 tsp dried Italian seasoning
1/2 cup prepared tomato pasta sauce
2 cups milk, divided
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/4 cups grated cheddar cheese


Preheat oven to 375
In a skillet, melt 2 tsp butter and oil. Add potatoes and cook over medium-low heat, stirring frequently until almost cooked through.
Seriously, I didn't cook mine long enough, thinking they would cook in the oven, but they were hard in the middle. Boo.
Add peppers or zucchini, salt and pepper. Cook until tender








Spoon vegetable mixture into a 9'x13' baking dish. Set aside.













In skillet, cook onion and Italian seasoning until onion is tender. Add ground beef, cook and stir until meat is cooked through. Stir in tomato sauce and 1/2 cup of milk. Spoon meat mixture over vegetable layer in the dish.












Melt remaining butter, stir and cook for one minute. Gradually whisk in remaining milk. Cook and stir until sauce comes to a boil and thickens. Stir in cheese.












Pour sauce over meat layer. Cook 20 to 25 minutes or until golden brown.













Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

Yorkshire Pudding

1 cup milk
2 eggs
1 cup flour
1 tsp salt










Heat oven to 400.
Melt a little bit of butter or bacon fat in muffin tins in the oven, and mix other ingredients together in a blender. I suppose a hand mixer would also be fine for this. Pour batter into muffin tins and bake for 30 mins.

It's really that easy. I was expecting a trick here, but you can impress your friends with minimal work by making them Yorkshire pudding. Plus, if you pour a little syrup or honey on them, they're a good dessert, too.

Indonesian Chicken

1 cup cooked rice
1 lb fresh green beans, trimmed and snapped
2 tsp canola oil
1 lb chicken breast, cubed
3/4 cup chicken broth
1/3 cup smooth peanut butter
2 tsp honey
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp red chile paste
2 tbsp lemon juice
3 green onions, thinly sliced
2 tbsp peanuts, chopped


Cook green beans until crisp tender. Heat the oil in a skillet and cook chicken 5 minutes on a side, or until juices run clear.













Mix chicken broth, peanut butter, honey, soy sauce, chile paste and lemon juice in a saucepan over medium heat. Cook and stir 5 minutes, until slightly thickened.














Mix chicken, sauce and green beans and serve over rice.