Pumpkin Risotto

My fellow Modern Baker, Phyl, who happens to be the founder/organizer of the Modern Baker group, decided to do a Pumpkin Round-up over at his blog Of Cabbages and King Cakes. I volunteered to make a Pumpkin Risotto, and as has become the case with me on many occasions lately, I left it until the eleventh hour to whip it up. We had an unusually chaotic couple of weeks, making it impossible to experiment in the kitchen until tonight.

I've never actually had Pumpkin Risotto but I've heard about it on several occasions and figured it would be relatively easy to incorporate some pumpkin puree into my basic go-to risotto recipe. I also decided to add some fresh nutmeg and finish it with a dash of truffle oil, but if you don't have truffle oil, it's definitely not necessary. (Although it really added a great element of flavour!)

When I did my 'research', via google, for recipes, I couldn't find one that used canned pumpkin. I did have some leftover pumpkin puree in my fridge though, and was eager to use it up. I was a little skeptical about taking this shortcut, but, given my time constraints, there was simply no way I could roast fresh pumpkin and make a puree so it was going to have to do.

I was pleasantly surprised at how amazing this risotto turned out. The pumpkin, while noticeable, was pleasantly subtle but it added a gorgeous hue of orange. I loved how the nutmeg complemented this dish. Even my husband, who is not a fan of risotto, really liked this. This is a wonderful fall side dish, when you want to try something new.

So, without further ado, here's the recipe.

Pumpkin Risotto

(Source: A Tease-spoon of Sugar creation)

1 small onion, diced

2 Tbsp. butter

1 cup arborio rice

1 cup of white wine

4 cups of warmed chicken stock

3/4 cup canned pumpkin puree (NOT pumpkin pie filling)

1 cup finely grated parmesan cheese

1 tsp. kosher salt

freshly grated pepper to taste

freshly grated nutmeg to taste

1 tsp. truffle oil (optional)

2 Tbsp. toasted pine nuts for garnish (optional)

Melt 2 Tbsp. of butter in large skillet. Add onion and sautee until soft. Add arborio rice and allow to absorb some of the butter (about 1 to 2 minutes). Add wine and cook until evaporated. Add 1/2 cup of the warmed chicken stock. (I simply pour all the stock into a large pyrex measuring cup and heat it in the microwave, and add it by using a soup ladle.) Allow to cook slowly, and continue to add more stock 1/2 cup at a time, as it is absorbed by the rice. Once you have about 1 cup of stock remaining, add the pumpkin, salt and parmesan cheese. Mix until incorporated on the heat. Add the remaining stock, and seasonings, along with the truffle oil (if using). Cook until the rice has the right consistency (should spread on your plate like thick lava); and until the rice is tender to your liking. 

Ladle onto your plates and finish with the pine nuts and a final sprinkling of parmesan cheese. Enjoy!

Bourbon Glazed Baby Back Ribs

This one gets filed under my new "Weeknight Dinners" category, my long-overdue and very neglected project for the New Year. 

Bear with me. 

So, these ribs are fantastic. IF you like bourbon. Now, you don't have to like bourbon enough to drink it in order to appreciate these ribs. I would never be able to drink a glass of it.  But flavor my dessert with it? Use it in a marinade for chicken or a glaze for ribs? Sign me up - I'm totally in. I don't know what it is about bourbon when it's used with meat, but I'm a fan. Having said that, you could always cut the bourbon in half if you want it to be a little more subtle. Nothing wrong with that - subtle is good too.

Recipe for Bourbon-Glaze

(adapted from Bon Appetit)

-makes enough for 2 to 4 racks of ribs - depending on saucy you like your ribs-

1/2 cup, plus 2 Tbsp. honey

1/4 cup bourbon 

3 Tbsp. hoisin sauce

2 Tbsp. dijon mustard

2 Tbsp. plum sauce

1 Tbsp. molasses

1 Tbsp. soy sauce

1 Tbsp. Worchestershire sauce

1 tsp. sambal oelek (hot chili paste found in Asian isle)

1/3 cup brown sugar

1/2 tsp. garlic powder

1 tsp. kosher salt

1/2 tsp. freshly ground pepper to taste

2 to 4 racks of ribs

salt and pepper to taste

1 cup of unsweetened pineapple juice

For the glaze: Whisk the first 13 ingredients together and set aside. Can be made 1 day ahead, cover and refrigerate.

For the ribs: Preheat oven to 275 degrees F. Remove the silver skin from the back of the ribs. Season generously with Hy's seasoning salt and pepper. (Regular kosher salt is fine too.) Place ribs in a shallow roasting. Pour 1 cup of pineapple juice over the ribs. Cover with foil. Bake for 1 1/2 to 2 hours, until the meat is tender.

Remove from oven. Generously slather the ribs with the glaze. Finish on the barbeque on medium heat, basting the ribs with the glaze, and allowing the glaze to bake into the ribs, creating a crust (10 to 15 minutes). Serve.

Easy Chicken Tacos

One of my...ahem...New Year's Resolutions was to start blogging about simple weeknight dinners. I know, procrastinate much? Yeah.

I'm not particularly inspired in the kitchen when it comes to regular dinners and, more often than not, I'm at a loss as to what to make. So this resolution of mine was nothing more than an attempt to start recording some of the dinners that I make that were successful so that I can remember to make them again. And by 'successful' I mean merely having fed at least 3 of the 4 members of my family. Not exactly shooting for the stars here.There's always someone who's going to turn their nose up at it in my house, which probably accounts for the reason why I'm feeling less than inspired. 

So bear with me. I'm posting these dinners because I just need a point of reference for the days when I can't come up with something new or I can't remember how I made that one meal last month that was a 'success'. 

If someone else happens to find something here that inspires them in their daily struggle to feed their family, then that's a major bonus.  

This recipe for Easy Chicken Tacos was in the America's Test Kitchen magazine. I'd have to say that it was very well received, all things considered. My husband always turns his nose up when I make anything with chicken breast but even he loved this. He opted to make his into a chicken salad because he's out with carbs. Sigh. My daughter ate the shredded chicken quite happily, but I gave it to her before I added the reduced poaching liquid because it would have been too spicy otherwise. Just a note for those of you feeding children who don't have a love for anything spicy.

Recipe for Easy Chicken Tacos

(Source: The Best of America's Test Kitchen 2011)

3 Tbsp. unsalted butter

4 garlic cloves, minced

2 tsp. minced canned chipotle chile in adobo sauce (use sparingly unless you like spice!)

3/4 cup fresh cilantro

1/2 cup orange juice

1 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce 

1 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breast (roughly 3 large breasts)

1 tsp. yellow mustard

salt and pepper

12 (6 inch) flour tortillas, warmed

Melt butter in a 12 inch skillet over medium-high heat until foaming. Add garlic and chipotles and cook till fragrant, about 30 seconds. Stir in 1/2 cup of cilantro, the orange juice and Worcestershire and bring to a boil. Add the chicken and simmer, covered until the chicken registers 160 to 165 degrees, 10 to 15 minutes, flipping the chicken halfway through. 

Transfer to a plate and tent with foil.

Increase the heat to medium-high and cook until liquid is reduced to 

1/4 cup, about 5 minutes. 

Off the heat, whisk in the mustard. 

Shred the chicken into bite size pieces and return it to the skillet. 

Add remaining cilantro and toss till combined. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve with warm tortillas and toppings. 

*For toppings, I used a diced avocado mixed with fresh lime juice and seasoned with salt, diced tomatoes, grated cheese and sour cream.

Petit Croque Monsieurs

Happy New Year! Remember me? I'd like to say I've been busy post holidays but I haven't. Not really. Lazy is a word that comes to mind. It should be a verb. I do lazy a lot lately.


Since we're all sick of holiday cookies and cakes, I'm posting a savory appetizer that I made for New Year's Eve. It's true, sometimes I make things without sugar. 


I concocted this little appetizer in my head one night when I was up late watching a movie wherein Meryl Streep made a Croque Monsieur sandwich for Steve Martin. I hate when I watch TV late at night and they eat food that I suddenly must have. Annoyed and very hungry, I became inspired. I googled Croque Monsieur and found a recipe by Ina Garten. Since she does everything right, and I love her food, I felt no need to look any further. I based this on her recipe but I assembled them into bite-size appetizers and instead of a sandwich, I skipped the second piece of bread and made it open-faced.  


They were delicious. Perfect with a glass of white wine while we waited for the kids to go to bed so we could eat dinner. Here's the step by step. 


I used Country Italian bread for the base.

 Cut it with a round cookie cutter

 buttered both sides to ensure it was flavourful and would brown nicely

 and then toasted in the oven at 350 degrees, until it felt firm and crisp. It didn't turn the golden brown I was expecting but it was crispy enough so I pulled it out. This can be done several hours ahead of time and left out at room temperature until you're ready to assemble.

 For the Bechamel sauce, I melted 2 Tablespoons of butter,

 added 3 Tablespoons of flour

 and cooked until golden brown, about 2 or 3 minutes.

Whisk the milk in slowly,

 and cook until thickened.  

 Once thick, remove from heat and add the gruyere and parmesan cheeses. Once melted, add the spices and set aside.

 For the ham, I used a Tuscan Rosemary ham and I cut it with a cookie cutter that was one size smaller than the one I used for the bread. I'm not sure why, it just felt right at the time. Do what you want.

 Spread dijon mustard on the already toasted bread. I'm not a huge fan of mustard and I wasn't sure I'd like it, figuring it might be too strong. So I made some without mustard and was surprised to discover that the ones with the mustard tasted better. 

 Place a slice of ham on the bread with the mustard,

 spread a dollop of the Bechamel sauce on top,

 and then add a healthy sprinkling of grated gruyere.

 Bake in the oven at 400 degrees for 2 minutes then turn your broiler on and broil for another minute or two, or until the cheese is melted and bubbly and a golden brown. Watch closely though - they'll burn quickly. You didn't need me to tell you that - it's the mother in me. Sorry.

Remove from oven and try your hardest to allow to cool for a minute before taking a bite. Alternatively, you can go ahead and throw one in your mouth while still bubbling. It will hurt though, don't say I didn't warn you.

Recipe for Croque Monsieur

(adapted from Ina Garten)

Yield: Approximately 40-50 depending on the size

2 tablespoons of butter

3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 cups hot milk
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Pinch nutmeg
12 ounces Gruyere, grated (5 cups)
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan
16 slices white sandwich bread, crusts removed
Dijon mustard
8 ounces baked Virginia ham, sliced but not paper thin

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Cut bread into small circular pieces using a cookie cutter. Lightly butter and place on a baking sheet and bake for 5-10  minutes or until slightly crispy. Set aside. (Can be made several hours ahead and stored at room temperature.)

To make the Bechamel:

Melt the butter over low heat in a small saucepan and add the flour all at once, stirring with a wooden spoon for 2 minutes. Slowly pour the hot milk into the butter–flour mixture and cook, whisking constantly, until the sauce is thickened. Off the heat add the salt, pepper, nutmeg, 1/2 cup grated Gruyere, and the Parmesan and set aside.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Lightly brush the toasted breads with mustard, add a slice of ham to each, and spread about a generous spoonful of sauce on top. Sprinkle with grated gruyere and bake for 2 to 3 minutes. Turn on the broiler and broil for 2 to 3 minutes until bubbly and lightly browned. Serve hot. 

Grilled Shrimp Tacos

I had an idea in my head for weeks. Maybe it was more of a craving. It involved grilled shrimp, fresh tomatoes, avocado, corn, black beans.  A nice sauce would be necessary too. And heck, why not wrap the whole thing in a flour tortilla?


I had the pleasure of experiencing a real fish taco in San Diego years ago. It was sublime. I loved it. And I've been thinking about it ever since. The crispy, deep fried fish with fresh salsa, cabbage and that sauce. What is that sauce? All I know for sure is that it's good. Real good. Eventually I will tackle the feat of trying to replicate it but, truthfully, it's a bit daunting. Having had the real deal I'm know that anything I come up with won't compare. So, instead of disappointing myself, I figured I'd do an entirely different version. Besides, I wasn't in the mood to pull out my deep fryer. So messy, and the smell it leaves behind...no, I'm not ready for that just yet.

If you google fish tacos or shrimp tacos on the internet, you will find a plethora or recipes and ideas that inspire, so narrowing it down is the hard part. 

I started with the 'salsa'. I used two Roma tomatoes, an avocado, fresh corn, the juice of 2 limes, 1/2 cup of black beans, minced garlic and jalapeno, and generous handful of fresh cilantro. Seasoned with salt and pepper to taste and then, on a whim, I threw in a dash of sugar. Happy with my salsa, I moved on to the shrimp.

Using more of what I already had chopped, I tossed the shrimp with some oil, lime juice, garlic, jalapeno, salt and pepper. I left it to sit for about an hour to marinate.

Next up, the sauce. I found a recipe on the Our Best Bites blog that intrigued me. It was called "Creamy Lime Cilantro Dressing" - it used a package of Ranch seasoning, 1 cup of mayo, 1/2 cup of milk, 1/4 cup of green salsa, a clove of garlic, cilantro and a dash of hot sauce. You throw all this in your blender and then chill it. This sounded like the perfect sauce to accompany my shrimp because it needed something to balance out the heat of the jalapenos that I used to flavor both the shrimp and the salsa. 

The final component to this taco: fresh chopped cabbage. While it might not offer much in the way of flavor, its crisp texture complimented the rest of the ingredients.

Since my husband was out for the night, I invited my 'BFF' over for dinner. We brought the circus of kids and dogs out onto the deck while we grilled the shrimp on the BBQ and assembled our dinner.

Never one to shy away from a culinary adventure, she was the perfect guest. There she is, opening the wine. Yes, it's red wine. No, I'm quite certain that it probably isn't the right wine to 'pair' with our dinner. But we didn't care - we don't know our wines. We don't pretend to. Sometimes ignorance is bliss.

Once the shrimp were grilled - to perfection I might add - we began assembling. Warmed flour tortilla, handful of shredded cabbage, salsa, shrimp and then sauce. 

It was nothing like the San Diego fish taco, but that was okay. This was an entirely different type of fish taco. Probably much healthier too. It was delicious and perfect for the summer. I will definitely be making these again. And you should too. 

Tomato, Avocado & Shrimp Bruschetta

We had 2 of our favorite foodie friends over for dinner on the weekend and I served this bruschetta as our pre-dinner hors d'oeuvres.  Fresh, simple and super easy to throw together...it was a hit. I always struggle with what to serve for starters...I spend too much time focussing on dinner and dessert, it always feel like an after-thought.  I got the idea from Grazing by Julie Van Rosendaal, but then modified it to my liking.  If you're looking for a quick, summery appetizer that you can throw together either last minute (like me) or ahead of time, try this one.  It's a keeper.

One of the challenges of blogging about food you make for friends is that, if it's assembled when they're over, you have to try to get a good picture when you should be entertaining your guests.  I always feel like a loser when I pull out my camera and take pictures of my food in front of people...maybe it's because I'm not very good at it and so it takes several shots to get one decent picture.  Or perhaps it has something to do with the wine that is consumed... Anyway, needless to say, my pictures are less than inspired, but here's a close-up.  I do love to take close-ups.

Recipe for Tomato, Avocado & Shrimp Bruschetta

1/2 lb cooked shrimp (I cooked mine in chicken broth)

2 - 3 ripe tomatoes, seeded and chopped

1 ripe avocado, chopped

juice of one lime

handful of chopped fresh basil

2 cloves of garlic, minced

1 T. olive oil

kosher salt and pepper to taste

Combine ingredients and mix gently.  Spoon on top of crostini. 

*Note - next time I will add chopped jalapenos for some extra heat

Green Goddess Dressing

Last year when I hosted my family's Easter dinner, I made a Green Goddess dressing for one of my salads. It was great. Even I really enjoyed it, and that's saying something because, unfortunately, I'm not a big fan of salads.  I wish I was but I view salad as nothing more than a vehicle for dressing.  Unless, of course, the salad is studded with goodies like toasted almonds, bacon bits, cheese and croutons.  Now that's a salad I can get excited about but it's not exactly healthy. 

I don't remember what magazine I found last year's Green Goddess dressing in (geez, I wish I was blogging back then) and so, when I decided to make it again, I had to settle for a recipe I found on Epicurious.  It was not the same, I knew this because the list of ingredients was much shorter than I recalled and the end result was good, but not as good as last year's. I would make this one again, I may just make a few adjustments, unless of course, I found the 'lost recipe'. 

For the salad, I really wanted a simple affair, fresh and crisp iceberg lettuce, radishes, carrots and, of course, yummy bacon bits...

and toasted almonds...

It's for Easter dinner, afterall, so flavor trumped health.  All the herbs in the dressing, of course, have to be fresh not dried.  Flat leaf parsley...

chives...

and tarragon...

When I ran the ingredients through my food processor, it wasn't very green.  It was more of a light yellow color with specks of green.  (This was not a problem with my 'lost recipe').  So I pulled out my neglected and under-used VitaMix blender, which I should have used in the first place and Voila!  A beautiful pale green creamy dressing in less than 5 seconds.  I will definitely be making better use of that piece of equipment in the future.  So, if you're interested in trying this close second, here's the recipe. 

Green Goddess Dressing

(Source: Epicurious - Gourmet Magazine)

1 cup mayo

3 anchovie fillets, minced

1 chopped scallion (I used a shallot)

2 T. chopped parsley

2 T. chopped chives

1 T. tarragon vinegar (I used white Balsamic)

1 t. chopped tarragon

salt and pepper to taste

Throw all the ingredients in your food processor and blend.  Add salt and pepper at the end to taste.