Red Pepper Risotto with Grilled Chicken

Red Pepper Risotto
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 tablespoons butter, divided
1/2 onion, diced
2 red bell peppers, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
1 1/2 cups arborio rice (risotto rice)
1 quart chicken broth (4 cups)
1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley
juice of 1/2 lemon
1/2 cup parmesan cheese
4 chicken breasts, grilled (optional)

Melt 1 tablespoon of the butter with the olive oil in a large skillet. Add the onion and peppers and cook until translucent.

In a separate pot, heat the chicken broth.

Add the remaining 1 tablespoon butter and the rice to the onion and peppers. Stir and cook just until the rice is coated in butter and begins to be translucent.

Add two ladles of hot broth. Stirring constantly, cook the risotto over medium heat, adding a ladle of broth just before the rice gets dry. If you run out of broth, add hot water until the rice is cooked and creamy.

 Remove from heat and stir in the parsley, lemon juice and cheese. Serve immediately with grilled chicken (4 servings) or as a side dish (6-8 servings).

Loaded Baked Potato Salad

Loaded Baked Potato Salad

This recipe is based off one from Mommysavers. I'm adding my version here because I've made it several times and I really like it. 

Cook potatoes. Toss with olive oil and apple cider vinegar. 

Stir in:

1/3 c. cheddar cheese

1/3 c. sour cream

2 green onions, sliced

3 pieces of bacon, cooked and crumbled

Thanksgiving 2013

Here is the recipe round-up for this year's Thanksgiving.  We also had Simply Lemonade (blueberry flavor).

Brussels Spouts - halved, seasoned with olive oil, smoked sea salt and pepper, and roasted at 400* for 45 minutes.

Turkey - Honeybaked Ham

Stuffing - Stove Top

Cranberry Sauce - Ocean Spray

(This is not very impressive so far!)

Mashed Potatoes - I did make these. I used whole milk, butter, and lots of salt.

Sweet Potato Casserole - Susan's recipe per John's request. Everyone liked it.

Rolls - Jamie's recipe

Simple Apple Tart

Pumpkin Roll

Gravy - 1 T. butter, 1 T. flour, 1 c. chicken broth. Nothing fancy.

And a turkey cheese ball for appetizer.

Jamie's Rolls

My goal these days is to only put tried and true recipes on this blog, mostly so I can find them again! This roll recipe is from my sister-in-law Jamie.


Jamie's Rolls
1 t. sugar
2 T. yeast
2 c. warm water

Dissolve and set aside 5 minutes before use.

In Kitchen Aid add:
3 c. flour
1/2 c. sugar
2 t. salt

Beat with mixer.  Add yeast mixture.  Then add:

1 egg
1/4 c. oil
2 1/2 c. flour
more flour until the dough isn't sticky (I added nearly a cup this time).

Knead with Kitchen Aid 3-5 minutes. Let rest 5-10 minutes. Knead with mixer 5 minutes more.

Place in a greased bowl Coat top with oil—place a greased plastic lid (do not seal shut) or damp cloth over bowl. Let rise 2 hours or more.

Punch down. Form into balls.  Place on jelly roll pan—6 rows of 4 Let rise 45 minutes to 1 hour (or longer).   Bake 350 degrees for 10-15 minutes.   Makes 24 rolls

Turkey Cheeseball

Here's the turkey cheeseball we made this year. My original idea!

It's just my regular cheese ball recipe, covered in nuts with carrots, Craisins and Wilton candy eyes for a face/feet.

We also made one for Halloween that was covered in crushed Doritos and had an olive jack-o-lantern face.

Dipped Marshmallows for Roasting

John had the idea to start a new tradition of roasting marshmallows on Thanksgiving. He made these special marshmallows for roasting. They are actually pretty easy.  Just get the marshmallow wet, then press it in the crumbs.  He used:

• graham cracker crumbs and shaved chocolate
• peppermint crumbs and shaved chocolate
• Oreo crumbs
• graham cracker crumbs
• peppermint crumbs
• and more Oreos

We don't have a BBQ, so we went to the park with some charcoal and roasted them in the grate.  Yum! My favorite was the Oreo.  John liked the peppermint with chocolate shavings. The kids liked them all.

Simple Apple Tart

Every year I try to recreate the apple tart Leonard has made, but my recipe sources always disappear.  So, here is the simple apple tart I made this year.



Simple Apple Tart

Sweet Pastry Dough
1 1/3 c. flour
1/4 c. sugar
1/2 c. butter
1 egg
1 T. cold water

Filling
2 pounds apples, peeled and sliced
2 T. melted butter
3 T. sugar

Glaze
1/2 c. sugar

Make the dough and cool in the refrigerator 1/2 hour.  Press into tart pan.  Fill with apples and fold the dough over the edges of the apples. Brush melted butter over the tart edges and the apples.  Sprinkle the sugar over the apples and tart edges. Bake at 400 for 45 minutes (I over cooked mine with that time) rotating every 15 minutes.

Make a glaze by boiling the apple cores and peels with 1/2 c. sugar and a small amount of water. (I think this could really be cut down. I'll try one apple peel/core and 2 T. sugar next time.)  Let the tart cool 15 minutes, then brush on the glaze.

I had a helper brushing the glaze on the tart.

Source: Smitten Kitchen