Bacon and Leek Risotto

Dad: What are you making for dinner tonight?
Julie: Risotto.
Dad: Oh so what type of wine are you drinking?
Julie: Haha. I'm using a Sauvignon Blanc for the risotto.

Okay, okay. I admit it. I like to make risotto because it gives me an excuse to open a bottle of wine. What else would you do while you are standing over the stove stirring for 30 minutes instead of drinking a glass of wine?

And this bottle of wine risotto is as good as it sounds. I mean, bacon and leeks! What really puts it over the top though is the lemon juice. Do not forget the lemon juice.

Bacon and Leek Risotto (adapted from Cooking Light January 2014)
Ingredients:
3 cups vegetable broth (homemade or low sodium store-bought)
3 bacon slices
2 cups thinly sliced leek
1 small onion, diced
1 large garlic clove, minced
1 cup uncooked arborio rice
1/2 cup white wine
juice of 1/2 lemon
1 tbsp unsalted butter
1/4 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
kosher salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
chopped fresh parsley, for serving

Directions:
Heat the stock to a simmer in a medium saucepan. Cover and keep warm over a low heat.

Cut the bacon into pieces and then cook over medium high heat until crisp. Remove the bacon pieces from the pan, leaving behind about 1 tbsp bacon grease. Add the leek, onion, and garlic and saute about 4 minutes until tender. Stir in the rice and cook about 2 minutes to toast. Stir in the white wine and cook for about 5 minutes while stirring until the liquid is absorbed. Add the broth about 1/2 cup at a time stirring constantly until the liquid is absorbed before adding more. Cook until the rice is at your desired consistency. Stir in the lemon juice, butter and parmesan cheese. Season with salt and pepper to your taste.

Serve topped with the reserved bacon pieces and parsley.

Serves 4.

Lemon Cheesecake Bites

Let's talk sports for a little bit.

My favorite sport (to watch) is college basketball. Obviously my favorite team is Duke, but I can (and do) spend Saturday afternoons and evenings watching back-to-back excellent college basketball games. For the most part it can be fast-paced and exciting. I love love love a close, nail-biting, ending to the game. It just makes me happy.

The weekend before last I spent all of Saturday watching my favorite sport and prepping food for that other game on Sunday. You know which one I'm talking about. The "Super" Bowl. Can I just say it? There was nothing super about that game. It was just terrible. I do enjoy football on fall weekend, but that game. Nah, bro, nah.

Needless to say, I was ready for basketball again. Good thing we've still got almost two full months left. Bring on the madness! :)

Oh and if you are watching again sporting event, you should probably have some snacks. Like these delicious lemon cheesecake bites. Perfect for sharing with all of your friends. The gingersnap crust adds enough spice that complements the lemon creamy filling.

They are just the cutest little bites. So yummy!

Lemon Cheesecake Bites (adapted from Baking Bites)
Ingredients:
For crust:
1 cup crushed gingersnap cookies
2 tbsp sugar
zest of 1 lemon
pinch of kosher salt
2 1/2 tbsp butter, melted

For filling:
16 oz cream cheese, softened (I used 1/3 less fat)
1/4 cup sour cream
2/3 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp lemon extract
zest of two lemons

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 F. Line mini-muffin tin with paper liners.

Mix the crushed cookies, sugar, zest of 1 lemon and salt in a medium bowl. Drizzle in the melted butter and stir with a fork until it is moistened. Scoop about 1 tsp crumb mixture into each muffin liner and pack down with your fingers.

In the bowl of your stand mixer (or large bowl), cream together the cream cheese, sour cream, and sugar until smooth. Beat in the eggs and extracts. Fold in the lemon zest. Top the crust with the filling, about 1 tbsp per cake. Bake for 15 minutes until the cheesecakes are set.

Allow to cool completely before refrigerating.

Makes 48 mini-muffin cheesecakes.

Italian Stuffed Peppers

When I was a little girl, I was a figure skater. I would spend early mornings before school at the rink. And evenings for team practice. Saturdays I would volunteer to teach even littler kids. It was great.

I think I need to dust off my skates. Our weather warmed on Saturday afternoon resulting in freezing rain and a whole lot of melted snow. Of course when it refroze Saturday night, we got an ice rink on every surface. Like an inch of frozen solid ice on the parking lots and sidewalks. That makes walking (even in boots) difficult. Hence the need for ice skates.

These stuffed peppers are hearty and delicious for the cold weather. They may not protect you from the inevitable slipping and falling on your behind, but they will make you feel safe and warm at your kitchen table.

Italian Stuffed Peppers
Ingredients:
1/3 lb ground beef
1 medium tomato
1/4 cup chopped red onion
1/4 cup chopped peppers (red, banana, green, etc)
1 baby eggplant, chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
handful of basil, roughly chopped
1/3 cup tomato juice
1/3 cup bread crumbs
handful of shredded mozzarella cheese
2 whole green bell peppers, tops removed, cored and seeded

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 F.

Brown the ground beef in a pan over medium heat until no longer pink, about 4-5 minutes. Drain fat. Add the tomato, onion, chopped peppers, eggplant, and garlic. Cook until the veggies are softened, about 4-5 minutes. Add the basil and tomato juice and stir to combine. Stir in the bread crumbs. Remove from the heat.

Place the whole green peppers in a baking sheet sitting up. Fill with the beef mixture. Top with shredded cheese. Bake for 40 minutes.

Serves 2.

Lentil Veggie Mac and Cheese

Do you want to know another thing that I learned about myself when I was traveling so much?

I cannot iron.

Well, I guess I can iron, but cannot iron well.

In many ways I could excel at a homemaker-- I love to make home cooked meals (obviously). I have being doing my own laundry since high school (thanks, Mom, for instilling this in me). I like to knit (yes, sometimes I'm an old lady). But I fail at the ironing. Probably because since high school my outfit of choice has been jeans and a tshirt. Every now and then I'll dress it up with a sweater. Maybe a dress here or there if I'm attending a wedding. But my day-to-day wardrobe has never required an iron. During my job interviews I was wearing some new professional clothes which certainly do require an iron. You should have seen me trying to iron out the creases I had just ironed into the blouses. And those pesky dress pants and jackets. Don't even get me started. I suppose this is a skill I should learn before I start my career this fall.... but I've got a few months yet.

Until then (or while I'm practicing), I'll stick with home cooked meals. How about some garden fresh mac and cheese with lentils. Aren't the colors beautiful? This is perfect for a meatless Monday especially when it is cold outside. Comfort food.

Now who's up for an ironing lesson? I'll pay with yummy food. :)

Lentil Veggie Mac and Cheese (adapted from The Lean Green Bean)
Ingredients:
1 cup chopped bell peppers (I used a combination of red and yellow)
1 cup chopped broccoli
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups torn kale
1 cup dry mini ziti noodles
3/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese
2 oz goat cheese
1 cup skim milk
2 tbsp butter
2 tbsp flour
1 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper
2 cups cooked lentils

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400F. Coat an 8-in round baking dish with cooking spray.

Cook the pasta according to the package directions. Drain.

Heat the peppers, broccoli and garlic in a saucepan over medium high heat for about 3 minutes until starting to turn tender. Add the kale and continue to cook until everything is tender, about 6-7 minutes. Remove from the pan.

Melt the butter in the pan. Whisk in the flour. Slowly add in the milk whisking constantly. Add the cheeses and spices and continue to whisk until melted completely. Stir in the veggies, lentils, and pasta and toss to coat completely. Transfer to the baking dish.

Cover with foil and bake for about 15 minutes.

Serves 3-4.

Mini Buffalo Chicken Muffins

I told you that I was traveling a lot this fall for job interviews. And I started 2014 with another trip. This one for a scientific conference. Traveling can completely exhaust you because you are not on your normal schedule and you are living out of suitcases and you are not sleeping in your own bed.

I have concluded the thing that will make or break my travel is not the delayed flights, nor the eating out so often, nor the lack of a DVR for my normal TV shows. No, it is the heater or air conditioner in the hotel room. I LOVE a new hotel that has renovated and installed real thermostats. The ones that you can set at a temperature and they will only kick the heat on if necessary. I HATE the old heaters that are either on or off with no real control of the temperature, hot or hotter or cold or colder. When I was on this last trip, this was completely cemented in my mind. It was cold in the mountains of New Mexico so I turned on the heater in my room (low and towards the hot). I fell asleep for a few hours to awake in a completely dry heat where I couldn't breathe. So I flipped the heat off, chugged some water, and climbed back into bed. I awake after another hour or so completely freezing! I tried and tried to adjust the temperature to get a happy medium but to no avail; I was stuck every night jumping up to either turn on or off (multiple times) the stupid heater.

Ah well. It just makes you appreciate your own home so much more. I am thankful that I do not travel all of the time. I love my comfy pillow top bed and thermostat that keeps it a perfect 66F so I can cuddle under my blankets and sleep.

Enough of the story time, Julie; get on to the food! Today we are making and eating delicious mini buffalo chicken muffins. Technically I made them for a party a few months ago, but give me a break okay? I just told you had been traveling a lot. But really, you need to make these. Like today. Or maybe on February 2nd for the Super Bowl. They are perfect buffalo chicken bites--- loaded with buffalo sauce, blue cheese, and green onions. Make sure you follow the instructions and wait until they have rested for at least 15 minutes before you try to remove them from the pan. They need to set otherwise you will make a disaster in your kitchen. And I'm not volunteering for clean-up duty!

Mini Buffalo Chicken Muffins (adapted from The Noble Pig)
Ingredients:
3 skinless, boneless chicken thighs, finely diced
3/4 cup buffalo sauce
1/4 cup ranch dressing
8 oz cream cheese, softened
4 oz blue cheese crumbles
1 celery stick, minced
3 cups panko breadcrumbs
1 1/2 cups freshly grated parmesan cheese
4 tbsp chopped green onion (just green part)
1 cup unsalted butter, melted

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350F. Spray mini muffin pan(s) with cooking spray.

Mix together the chicken, buffalo sauce, ranch dressing, cream cheese, blue cheese, and celery until completely combined. Note: this will be easiest if the cream cheese is at room temperature.

Mix together the panko, parmesan cheese, and green onion. Drizzle in the melted butter and mix with a fork until all of the breadcrumbs are moistened.

Scoop rounded tbsp of the panko mixture into the bottom of each muffin cup. Press down with your fingers, making a crust. Spoon a rounded tbsp of the chicken mixture into each cup. Sprinkle with additional panko mixture.

Bake about 25-30 minutes until golden. Remove from oven and cool in pan for at least 15 minutes to let set. Gentle lift each muffin out of the pan.

Make 48 mini-muffins.

Slow Cooker White Chicken Chili

Boy it is getting hot out there.

Today we had a high of 22 F!! That is practically Caribbean weather, right? Well, at least relative to the high of -11 F with a windchill of -45 F on Monday. Yeah, it was really cold.

And when you are really cold, you need a chili to warm you up. Here is one of my favorites. It is a white chicken chili packed full of flavor after cooking all day in your slow cooker. The leftovers are perfect reheated or repurposed into nachos or a salad, so make the whole batch, ok?

Now I'm off to resume my comfy place on my couch with my slippers, blanket, and a mug of steaming hot cocoa. I'm not leaving until the weather warms to at least freezing.

Slow Cooker White Chicken Chili (adapted from Fix-it and Forget-it)
Ingredients:
1 lb dried great northern beans
2 chicken breasts, cooked and shredded
1 1/2 cups diced bell peppers (I used a combination of red, yellow, and green)
2 jalapeno peppers, diced (I seeded one and left the other with seeds, but adjust for your desired spice)
1 medium onion, diced
2 large garlic cloves, minced
1 tbsp ground cumin
1 tsp salt
4 cups chicken broth (homemade or low sodium store-bought. If using store-bought, omit salt)
2 cups water

Directions:
The night before, rinse and pick over the northern beans. Place in a medium saucepan and cover with cold water. Let soak overnight.

The morning of, drain the beans. Place them back in the saucepan and cover again with water. Bring to a boil and simmer for 20 minutes. Drain the water.

Mix together the beans, chicken, peppers, onion, garlic, cumin, salt, broth and water in the crock of your slow cooker. Cook on low for 8-10 hours (or high 4-5 hours). Stir and season with additional salt and pepper as desired.

Ladle into bowls and top with shredded cheese, Greek yogurt or sour cream, or additional garnishes as desired.

Makes 8 servings.

Mahi Mahi with Jalapeno Ponzu

Vocab lesson of the day--

Ponzu: a citrus and soy based sauce used in Japanese cooking.

My interpretation--

Ponzu: an orange salty thin sauce that makes fish (in this case, mahi mahi) extra delicious regardless of your ethnicity. I picked up some mahi mahi from Trader Joe's during a trip to Indianapolis this fall and have been looking for good recipes to use up my freezer stock. This flavor profile worked perfectly. I spiced it up with some jalapenos. Definitely a quick and easy main course dish. Try it with another hearty fish like salmon or even chicken.

Mahi Mahi with Jalapeno Ponzu (adapted from Cooking Light's The Complete Quick Cook)
Ingredients:
1 tbsp low sodium soy sauce
1/2 tbsp orange juice
1/2 tbsp mirin
1 tsp fresh lemon juice
1 tsp sesame oil
1 4-6 oz mahi mahi fillet
slices of fresh jalapeno pepper

Directions:
Whisk together the soy sauce, orange juice, mirin and lemon juice.

Heat the oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Add the mahi mahi and cook about 4 minutes on each side until cooked through.

Place your fish on a plate and top with jalapeno slices. Spoon the ponzu over the fillet. Let stand for 10 minutes.

Serves 1.