Meatless Mania: Butternut Squash Risotto

Husband is a carnivore. Not only has he banned me from seeing the movie Food Inc, but he has a similar ban on In Defense of Food or any other book that somehow might turn me into one of those liberal greenies (well, I guess I should say “further into one of those liberal greenies” as I grew up in the People’s Republic of Cambridge Massachusetts and I compost). I’ve implemented a mostly meat free diet when not with husband (weekday breakfast and lunches) and try to have one meat free day a week (currently Thursday). So I was shocked and amazed when husband requested a repeat of this Butternut Squash Risotto and suggested that even though it was meatless, we make it the entree!

Now here’s the truth about Julie and Risotto—I kind of hate it. Somewhere in my mildly anorexic youth I became convinced that Risotto makes you fat; so like cheeses, desserts and red meat, I cut it out completely. Fortunately, as I aged, I realized life is too short to worry about such silliness and I added most of these contrabands back into my life. However it is only lately, when Los Angeles gets down to a chilly 50 degrees, that I’ve started craving inner warmth in the form of food. Thus, a sudden interest in Risotto.

One would assume that since this recipe comes from America’s Test Kitchen, it would be perfect. However, having made this twice, I must implore you to try the following changes:

1. Omit the sage or tone it WAY done. The first time I made this dish, I had no sage, left it out and the risotto tasted wonderful.  The second time, I added the full 2 Tablespoons of sage and it made the risotto taste a tad like Pine Sol.

2. Either double the squash cooking time or roast it. Both times the squash could have used some extra softening. I know you don’t want it mushy, but soft would have been nice.

3. Do not fear the constant stirring. I was petrified that I would burn the risotto if I wasn’t careful. Don’t be intimidated, it’s actually easier than it seems.

On the whole, this recipe is fairly simple and tasty. Even as a main course, both Husband and I were fully satiated. This dish is a keeper—particularly while I search for more meatless dishes that Husband will crave!

A note for other carnivores: the first time I made this, I served it as a side with pork.

Summary:
Difficulty Level: medium
Effort Level: medium
Cost: Inexpensive
Result: Tasty—definitely a keeper!

The Great Cookie Compromise: Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

It’s said that the key to a good marriage is compromise so husband and I put this idea to the test via our taste buds. You see, I believe that if a baked good does not involve chocolate, it’s likely not worth the calories. On the other hand, husband believes that oatmeal raisin cookies are God’s gift to his tummy. So I decided to try a recipe for Oatmeal Chocolate Chip cookies.

Maybe it’s because I grew up thinking that the best chocolate chip cookies were made from the recipe on the back of a Tollhouse bag or maybe I’m just a cookie purist, but when making simple cookies, I look for simple recipes; ones with the fewest steps and the fewest ingredients. So I was delighted when I opened Mark Bittman’s How to Cook Everything and found his recipe for “Oatmeal Cookies” to which he said you could add raisins, dried fruit or chocolate chips.

Now I will be honest, I have sort of a love/hate relationship with Mark Bittman. I believe that people turn to cookbooks and cooking shows because they need help in the kitchen. While I'm sure some chefs do look for recipes, I think that the kind of person who would be drawn to a title like “How to Cook Everything” really doesn’t know how to cook anything. So while he is encouraging with his—go ahead and add 1 ½ cups of whatever you want to this recipe, it’s also a little daunting (although not nearly as frightening as when he was on the Today Show cooking a vegetable soup and told you to just add any vegetables in any amount.  Really? If that’s the case, then why is the Today Show paying you to be on the air???). With so much rope, one can easily hang themselves, or just be reduced to a puddle of neuroses on the kitchen floor. This is why I rarely use this book. If I don’t know how to roast squash, it’s not very helpful to be told to just throw it on a baking sheet and take it out when it’s done. Any idiot can figure that out, what I want to know is how long to cook something the first time I make it, not how to learn through experience.

Anyhow, I digress. Here’s how things went with this recipe:

1. Mark only calls for 1 stick of butter and 2 cups of oats. Most recipes like a 2 sticks butter, 3 cups oat ratio. I realize now this leads to a more cakey texture.

2. After the butter is creamed, everything is mixed by hand. Not a good idea after a tough arm workout at the gym. My arms are SORE now!

3. When told to “alternate between dry ingredients and the milk” I mixed 1 cup of the dry ingredients and followed that by mixing 1/3 of the milk. I’m not sure this is correct, but it seemed to mix fairly well.

4. I mixed the chips in after all the other ingredients were combined. This worked well for me, but if you want to cut down on your mixing, you could probably add them to the dry ingredients before combining with the batter.

5. Tasting dough that involves uncooked oats is a little nasty.

How did it turn out? Eh. Let’s just say simple may not have been the best way to go here. While I like the idea of a chocolate chip oatmeal cookie, this is clearly not the best recipe. These cookies are exceptionally doughy and dry and seem to satisfy neither the oatmeal lover, nor the chocoholic.

In case you don’t have the cookbook, here is my adaptation of the recipe:

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
Pinch of salt
1 tsp cinnamon
2 cups rolled oats
1/2 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla
1 stick unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 375.

Combine flour, oats, baking powder, salt and cinnamon in a medium bowl. Set aside.

In a standing mixer, cream butter and sugar. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing thoroughly after each addition. Alternate between the dry ingredients and the milk, stirring until completely combined. Add vanilla. Stir in chocolate chips.

Drop tablespoons of dough onto the ungreased baking sheets and bake in the center of the oven until golden, about 12-15 minutes, rotating the trays halfway through. Cool completely on racks. Makes about 2 1/2 dozen cookies.

Summary:
Difficulty Level: Low
Effort Level: Low (though arm strength is needed!)
Cost: Inexpensive
Result: Dry. The hunt for the great cookie compromise recipe continues.

Following the omens: Slow Cooker Sweet and Spicy Asian Pork Shoulder

There are times in your life when it seems like the universe is telling you something; times when all signs point to the same thing and it appears that the great hand of fate is gently nudging you towards a destiny. Well, I had one of those experiences this weekend. I was planning my meals for the week, dreading a recycled week of chicken breasts, pastas and other good old standbys. Needing some inspiration, I opened a few magazines, and flipped through picture after picture of mildly inspired meals. And then I saw it: Slow Cooker Sweet and Spicy Asian Pork Shoulder in Real Simple. The picture alone could have sold me, but the truth of the matter isI have been dying to try out my slow cooker since someone graciously gifted it to Husband and me for our wedding. What more could I need? Well how about the following: a coupon for $1 off the needed Chili-Garlic Sauce AND a sale on pork shoulder at my local grocery store. What can I tell you? There are sometimes you need to follow the omens…

I couldn’t find a pork shoulder that was less than 4 ½ pounds, so I chose a relatively lean looking 5 pounder with the idea of doubling the recipe. Cutting the uncooked pork was definitely more time consuming than I had hoped and I learned yet another valuable kitchen lesson: bring big hunks of meat to room temperature before slicing and dicing. I left the pork shoulder in the fridge until minutes before cutting it into beautiful 2 inch pieces. What happened? Frost bitten fingers. Ok, maybe it wasn’t so bad, but damn! It was cold!

In addition to the temperature issue, I would suggest giving yourself more than the 15 minutes to prep the recipe. Cutting up the pork alone took me 20 minutes, but I had to stop a few times to warm up my hands and I was anal about removing the fat.

Here are some other things to consider:

• Play with the amount of salt. I eye-balled about half the salt recommended and still found the dish a little salty. However, Husband, who I sometimes think would be happy if just given a salt lick for dinner, disagreed.

• The Chili-Garlic Sauce is SPICY! I love spice, but if your taste buds are a little more sensitive, you might consider halfing the amount suggested. I went with the full 2 Tablespoons (which was actually 4 since I doubled the recipe).

• Double the vegetables. Not that I'm a green Nazi, but I do think this could have benefited from some extra heads of bok choi rather than just one (or two in my case).

I cooked the dish on low for 7 1/2 hours.

The result: pure genius! This dish was easy, took little attention and might very well be one of the best things I’ve ever made. I would put this head to head with my local Chinese take out any day! And the best part? It only costs about $2.50 a serving. It seems that listening to the universe can in fact yield beautiful rewards. Now if only it could guide me to monetary riches, I would be totally satisfied…

Summary:
Difficulty Level: Low
Effort Level: Low-moderate
Cost: VERY LOW!
Results: When the stars align, listen to the signs!

Note: If you do not have a slow cooker, this recipe can easily be adjusted to cook in a Dutch oven. Brown the meat, then toss it in the sauce and cook covered in a Dutch oven for 4-5 hours at 300-325.

Oven-Fried Chicken Breasts

I'm usually a little wary of "lighter" versions of my favorites.  While some of these recipes turn out well, I often end up categorize them as dishes in their own right, rather than healthier cousins of splurges.  So I generally avoid these knock-offs preferring instead to just cook something that originated as a healthy option if I'm being conscious of that.  However, when the deities that inhabit my own personal Mt. Olympus (America's Test Kitchen) e-mailed their versions of Lighter Comfort Foods, I just had to give them a try and thus, I found myself once again with egg whites dripping through my fingers as I attempted their Oven-Fried Chicken Breasts.

I chose to take them up on substituting boneless-skinless chicken breast for their recommended bone-in variety. While the BSCB is a little healthier, I mostly made this decision based on the fact that my freezer is constantly stocked with them.

Likewise, I couldn't find Melba toast at my local grocery store (perhaps there is a lack of grandmothers in my area demanding that they be stocked?) and instead went with something called "Petite Toasts" which appeared to be more or less the same thing.  They also came in the 1-inch pieces that the recipe calls for.  Bonus.

A few thoughts I had when cooking:

1) I had to pulse my toast a little more than suggested.  They recommend twelve 1-second pulse, I ended up doing about twenty 2-3 second pulses.

2) I loved adding the oil to the processed melba toast.  I believe this really helped keep the chicken moist, while controlling the amount of added fat.

3) What's the deal with Dijon lately?  I feel like every recipe calls for it.  I don't really care, but Husband hates Dijon and hiding its use when I'm cooking is becoming increasingly annoying.

The result: a moist, delicious breaded chicken.  I wouldn't necessarily rank this with fried chicken, rather it was more of a gourmet shake-and-bake.  I enjoyed it and would definitely make it again, however when it comes down to it, there is still no substitute for the real thing.

I served this with steamed green beans and their Lighter Mashed Potatoes. 

Summary:
Difficulty Level: Low
Effort Level: Low-moderate
Cost: Low
Results: No substitute for the real thing, but a keeper in it's own right.


This recipe was also featured in their cookbook, The Best Light Recipe.

Chicken Stroganoff

I don’t know if it’s my many-generations-removed Eastern European heritage or if it’s just that this dish resembles the thinly sauced Kraft macaroni and cheese that I devoured as a kid, but I love stroganoff. LOVE IT. Unfortunately, I’ve had to take a hiatus from the dish lately because Husband HATES it. He had warned me this; in fact he has warned me multiple times of his dislike for all cream sauced dishes. However, even his pouts and protests couldn’t deter me when I came across this recipe for Chicken Stroganoff on the Real Simple website. Could it be possible to emulate such a delicious symphony of flavors with a slightly healthier slant? I determined to find out.

I had my first moment of doubt when I realized the recipe called for barbeque sauce. Really? Barbeque sauce in an updated Eastern European dish? That seemed odd…as did the Dijon mustard and the hot sauce, but I pressed on. I thinly sliced the onions in rounds (pain in the butt if you asked me) and evenly patiently waited for the mushrooms to “release their liquid” which as best as I can tell is really just another way to say let them get super soft.

I made only one change to the recipe, as I believe recipes should be followed to a T when made the first time: I substituted a cup of chicken broth + 2 teaspoons of white vinegar for the cup of white wine. This is such a common replacement that I barely consider it an adjustment at all. In fact, this little trick has saved me multiple emergency trips to the store as I never seem to remember that wine has a shelf life of about two days in our house before being devoured.

Some reviewers on the Real Simple website expressed difficulty getting the ½ cup of liquid out of the vegetables; however when I placed them in my colander I had no trouble squeezing that out (on a side note, I have only 1 colander. It kind of irked me that this dish required the straining of vegetables in said colander when I also needed it to drain the egg noodles. It all worked out in the end, but was still annoying).

With the recipe preceding as instructed, and looking quite like the picture, I couldn’t wait to dig in. I served the stroganoff over whole wheat egg noodles and although Husband looked skeptical, he pretended to be a good sport through the first few bites. Unfortunately, this recipe was VILE; a tasteless mess of mushy vegetables and lukewarm chicken. Husband threw his away and made a PB&J sandwich. I doused mine with salt and pepper (finally, some flavor!) and persevered; however there was a ton left over that we threw away with the recipe. What a waste.

Summary:
Difficulty Level: moderate (cutting onion rounds are hard!)
Effort Level: moderate (there are a ton of steps)
Cost: moderate—there are a ton of ingredients
Results: VILE. DO NOT ATTEMPT AT HOME.

Croissant and Chocolate Bread Pudding

It’s become somewhat of a tradition to have friends over for Christmas dinner. I say “somewhat” because Husband and I have only done it twice and there were different friends each time, as well as different meals. However, there were a few similarities: for starters, both meals require an all day cook-a-thon, which I really enjoy. Secondly: I've managed to do both cook-a-thons while listening to show tunes and singing along (sorry neighbors!). And lastly, there are two dishes that made the cut both years: my mother-in-law’s stuffing and a Croissant and Chocolate Bread Pudding recipe I found in Real Simple magazine.  Out of everything I have made in my entire life, the percentage of tasters to recipe requests is the highest for this dessert (at 100%).

I was feeling a little adventurous this year and decided to try separating the egg yolk in my hand rather than use the egg-shell-to-egg-shell method that always felt more hygienic, although people claim it raises the risk for Salmonella. I don’t know that I’m a complete convert (there is something rather unpleasant about having cold, elasticky, slimy egg whites dripping from your hand), but it is a little less gross than I thought it would be.  I only recommend trying this method if you are right next to a sink. You will need to wash your hands immediately and possibly in between eggs…

As is common, the first time I made this recipe I was more attentive and it turned out slightly better. The top browns more quickly than the bottom cooks, making it tempting to remove the dish before it is completely cooked, however, with a little patience this will turn out with a nice consistency. What I think I’ve figured out is that the cooking time tends to be about10 minutes longer than recommended in the recipe. I also recommend completely cooking the pudding even if you are planning on reheating it. I was relying on a reheat to help set the custard the second time I made it and it never got completely there. It wasn’t totally disastrous, but still wasn’t perfection.

Also, both times I made this, I only stirred half the chocolate in with the custard/croissant mixture. After pouring it into the baking dish, I distributed the remaining chocolate in order to achieve a more even allotment of deliciousness.
We served this with ice cream and butterscotch and chocolate sauces one year and on its own the next. It is delicious either way!

This is a simple dish that will receive rave reviews!

Summary:
Difficulty Level: Medium
Effort Level: Medium
Cost: Moderate (croissants ain’t cheap!)
Result: Near perfection. A definite keeper

Ghiradelli Chocolate Chip Cookies

There are few things in the world I find as tasty as chocolate chip cookies. The perfect amount of moist sweetness mixed with just the right amount of chocolate—what’s not to like? So the other night when our dinner guests suggested making some and I was more than happy to oblige. As we were already through our first bottle of wine, I was feeling a little relaxed and rather than whip out the trusty The America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook, Heavy-Duty Revised Edition we simply followed the recipe on the backof the semi-sweet Ghiradelli chocolate chips (the best chocolate chips I’m now convinced). That sounds simple enough, but of course there was a slight dilemma…as we had not been softening the butter, it was still refrigerator cold. Normally, I would have just used cold butter, but my friend suggested that we soften it in the microwave and not really knowing the strength of my ancient machine, she melted the butter. I had no idea the effect this would have on the dough, but was drunk enough to find out.

The result was a mousse like dough that tasted delicious, but had an airy quality. We debated adding oats or more flour, but at the end of the day we went ahead and baked them leaving extra room for the cookies to spread out in case they just melted in the oven.

It turns out that we stumbled onto kitchen genius. They came out flat, sweet and perfectly chewy—just like the ones I’m addicted to at a local bakery. In general, I do prefer a more meaty, cake like cookie, but I would definitely consider experimenting more with melted butter in dough.

On a side note, deciding to bake chocolate chip cookies at 10pm while starting a game of Trivial Pursuit is not such a good idea for those of us that like to be in bed before 2am...and neither is eating your body weight in dough and cookies...especially if you're also going to be drinking a full bottle of wine and eating chili for dinner...

Summary:
Difficulty level: Low
Effort Level: Low
Cost: Inexpensive
Result: Delicious—even with a butter variation. This recipe is a keeper!