Thyme Roasted Butternut Squash Risotto

It's Barefoot Thursday and I'm going to save you a buttery bundle....
It's not unusual for the Quiet Man to phone me from the grocery store. This is what happens after ten years of training/marriage. A husband must learn that this particular errand can be the cause of great disappointment, say when the Italian parsley is brought home instead of the cilantro, or that despite his best detective efforts there really is such thing as panko (Asian aisle-bottom left corner, dear), or when 12 heads come home when the list simply said "garlic." But this time, Quiet Man had found the Arborio rice as listed, but was calling home to make sure that at $9.00 for a mere 10 ounces if I really wanted it. My alter ego is taking over, and I didn't want to let Prudy down so I asked him to put the rice back. I've made risotto plenty of times, but not since rice prices have skyrocketed. I hopped onto the Internet to research a possible replacement and was pleased to find that renowned cookbook author Marion Cunningham claimed that a very good risotto was possible with American medium short grain rice. I don't want to upset my fellow Italians, but after giving it a go, I happily concur. My frugal risotto was creamy and toothsome. At less than 1/10th the price of Arborio, we'll be having penny risotto a lot more often. And the Quiet Man won't even have to call me from the market. Although he certainly can. Any time.
I made some considerable adjustments to this recipe. Since I've got several vegetarians in my extended family and I thought this might make a great Thanksgiving side sans meat, I tested mine with vegetable broth and no prosciutto. Saffron was skipped in the interest of remaining solvent, and so I swapped in some thyme for flavor. Also, as always, I couldn't justify the heaping 8 tablespoons of fat-maybe for Thanksgiving, but certainly not for weeknight dinner. To keep the dish extra creamy, I drizzled a bit of half and half on the finished servings.
Money Saving Tips: Using medium grain rice instead of Arborio is going to save you a bundle of cash. If you've got a great source for cheap saffron, by all means, add some. I'm going to pick some up in Europe next month. For now, I used dried thyme.
Thyme Roasted Butternut Squash Risotto
Estimated Cost: $4.00 for 3 large servings
Notes: I served this for dinner with Italian sausage and a simple mixed green salad.
1/2 butternut squash (about 1 lb.), peeled and cut into 3/4 inch pieces
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
3 and 1/2 cups vegetable broth (I used Swanson's)
1 tablespoon butter
1 small onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
3/4 cup medium grain rice
1/2 cup finely grated parmesan cheese
a couple tablespoons of half and half, for drizzling, if desired
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line cookie sheet with foil. Place squash on foil. Drizzle with oil and sprinkle with thyme and a bit of salt and pepper. Roast for 25-30 minutes, or until tender. Meanwhile, warm vegetable stock in small saucepan in a small saucepan. Keep it at a simmer while you make the risotto. In a medium skillet, melt butter. Add onion and garlic and saute on medium for 10 minutes. Stir in the rice and 1 cup of broth. Stir occasionally and simmer until broth is absorbed. Continue to stir in broth, 1/2 cup full at a time, as it is absorbed until the rice is cooked through but still has some bite. This should take between 20 and 25 minutes. Don't let it get mushy. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the squash and parmesan, saving a little of both for garnish. Serve with a little drizzle of half and half, if desired.
Coming Tomorrow:
Italian Dinner for Columbus Day
Roasted Tomato, Sausage, and Three Cheese Pizza

Barefoot Thursdays: Lightened Up Cream of Mushroom and Brown Rice Soup

It was seven years ago, the last time I made Cream of Mushroom soup. One of the tacit compromises I made when I said I do to the Quiet Man, was to put aside my love of mushroom soup. He didn't ask me too. He didn't have to. He just had to use the body language that I've become so adept at reading. The slightly slumped shoulder, the single inverted eyebrow, the tense wrists, the rummaging through the fridge, the occasional whole body quiver. Out of consideration, I turned to cream of broccoli, cream of potato, asparagus, corn, chicken-anything but the dreaded fungi.

Seven years ago, he was at a Navajo reservation doing an internship for his Master's Degree. The night he left, I skipped to the super market and bought a giant pack of mushrooms for my brew. I ate a whole pot full of the marvelous stuff, drinking in the earthy pleasure all week long. Seven years worth of pleasure in one week.

How fitting that this weekend, coinciding with my Barefoot Thursdays assignment for Garten's Cream of Mushroom Soup, The Quiet Man was in Denver doing work for his Doctorate. Back home, I was slicing and dicing those precious shrooms, marveling at the funny way that life works. Not quite alone but still nostalgic, I savored my luscious bowls of soup.

And Quiet Man, I missed you. But if you ever want to do some post-doctorate work, I know what I'll be having for dinner.

Notes: Of course, I couldn't really add 10 tablespoons of butter and oil, 1 cup of cream and 1 cup of half and half, as Ina suggests. Shocking state of affairs! Instead, I trimmed and slashed the fat, adding in some nutty brown rice to make it seem luxurious yet earthy and satisfying. To become a Barefoot Blogger, click here.

Money Saving Tips: Use whatever combination of mushrooms you can find on sale. I used sliced baby portabellos ($2.69 for 8 ounces at Albertsons) and just a handful of shitake. Make a giant batch of brown rice and freeze it in 2 cup portions, so it's ready to use in any recipe. You can double or triple the homemade stock recipe to use in later recipes. It's much cheaper and better than buying the canned variety.

Lightened Up Cream of Mushroom Soup with Brown Rice

Estimated Cost: $6.00 for 5 servings

Notes: You can use Minute Brown rice, or even the new steam-in-the-bags frozen brown rice if necessary.

8 ounces baby portabello mushrooms

4 ounces shitake mushrooms

1 teaspoon olive oil

2 carrots, coarsely chopped

1 potato, coarsely chopped

2 large onions, 1 coarsely chopped for stock

1 clove garlic

1/2 teaspoon dried thyme

1 and 1/2 tablespoons butter

3 tablespoons flour

1 and 1/2 cups fully cooked brown rice

1/3 cup whipping cream

1/3 cup milk

sliced green onions, for serving

Remove stems from mushrooms to use for the stock. In a large pot, saute over medium heat the mushroom stems, carrots, potato, 1 coarsely chopped onion, and garlic. Saute for ten minutes, stirring often. Add 4 cups water and thyme. Add salt and pepper to taste. (I used about 1/2 teaspoon of each.) Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 1 hour. This will be the stock for the soup. You need 4 cups so add water if you don't have enough.
Strain and set aside. (This can be done ahead of time and frozen or refrigerated.) In a large pot, melt butter over medium heat. Mince remaining onion and slice mushrooms and add to pot. Cook for about five minutes, or until softened. Add flour and cook for two minutes, stirring constantly. Add broth and bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for ten minutes. Stir in brown rice and warm through. Add cream and milk and warm through without boiling; season to taste with salt and pepper. Garnish with sliced green onions and serve.

Coming Tomorrow:

Johnny Appleseed's Birthday

Crumbly Apple Oatmeal Bars

Lightened Up Panzanella

It's Barefoot Thursdays, so you know it's going to be good. Serve this with the Red Wine and Dijon Tri Tip from yesterdays post.....Those resourceful Italian fore bearers of mine were every bit as frugal as I am. No wonder I'm an inveterate penny pincher. The Italian ragazzi weren't about to let a crumb of edible food go to waste- and thus panzanella was born of invention, pluck, and Etruscan thrift. Once you've tried bread salad, you'll start buying extra baguettes and willing them to get stale. It's an ideal use for those day old loaves with the fluorescent stickers on the mournful bakery rack. As with all Ina recipes, folks, I have to lighten them up a little. I know they're wickedly good as is, but well, it's a struggle to keep the zippers zipping and the buttons buttoning, and this with long hard miles on the treadmill daily. (Dorie and Ina, you're killing me softly, and oh how I love it!) For the seam splitting version, click here. For my seam stretching version, see below.
Lightened Up Panzanella
Estimated Cost: $7.00
Money Saving Tips: Go for a day old bread loaf here. Use whatever vegetables you can find for cheap or from your own garden. Ina uses bell peppers also, but I left them out since they were expensive this week. You can also swap the feta (my addition) for mozzarella or Parmesan, or leave it out altogether. Make it a little heartier for dinner by adding cooked garbanzo beans.
3 tablespoons olive oil, divided
3 cups day old multi grain baguette (I love Albertson's version)
2 cloves minced garlic, plus 1/2 teaspoon, divided use
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon sugar
2 large red tomatoes, chopped
1 cup chopped cucumber
1/2 thinly sliced red onion
2-4 tablespoons thinly sliced basil
2 ounces crumbled feta cheese
Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a large non stick skillet. Add bread, 2 cloves of garlic, and salt. Cook over medium low heat until bread is crisp, stirring often about 10 minutes; set aside briefly. In a separate small bowl, combine remaining garlic, vinegar, mustard, and sugar. Whisk in olive oil and season to taste with salt and pepper. To prepare salad, combine tomatoes, cucumbers, onion, basil, bread and dressing. Toss in feta, if desired. Serve within 45 minutes. I'm so glad it's almost Friday. I'm burning the candle at both ends because I love the Olympics.
Coming Tomorrow:
State Fair Favorite
Homemade Corn Dogs and Cheese Doggies

Ina Garten's Jalapeno Cheddar Cornbread

Something tells me that this is not the cornbread that the pioneers ate on the trail west. No, little doggies, this is not Aunt Bea's johnny cake. This is the Bareefoot Contessa, Ina Garten's Cornbread. I'm baking along with my buddies at Barefoot Bloggers, so join in and make some too. I promise, you'd be willing to ride pregnant on a bumpy trail in a covered wagon for cornbread this good. It's fabulously tender and buttery with a kick from jalapenos, sharp cheddar and scallions.

I halved the recipe, and I confess now that I had to cut out some of the butter and cheese. I had to, I really had to. The local cows are going on strike, overworked from the amount of butter that I've demanded in the last month. I don't want to take out my super-sized Christmas jeans now, do I? I like to wait until December before I surrender to that extent.

I also made a couple of sugar-sprinkled little corncakes sans jalapenos, cheese and green onions. Little green things always make kids nervous. Whenever they point and ask "What's that?"- you can be sure they are referring to a little green thing. And they can spot every single microscopic one.

Make it however you like it. Just make it. Especially since it would go wonderfully well with my Garden Harvest Minestrone that's coming tomorrow. So make some cornbread and come on back now, y'all hear?

A little lighter Jalepeno Cheddar Cornbread

Estimated Cost: $2.00

Notes: I baked in a smaller baking dish so that I'd have enough to make two extra 1 cup capacity ramekins for my two little charges.

1 and 1/2 cups flour (I used half whole wheat)

1/2 cup cornmeal

1/4 cup sugar

1 tablespoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup plus 2 tablespoons buttermilk or milk

1 egg plus 1 egg white

5 tablespoons butter, melted

1/2 cup shredded sharp cheddar

1/4 cup chopped scallions, plus a few more for top

1-3tablespoon minced jalapenos (forgive me-I used canned)

Preheat oven to 350. Grease an 8 inch baking dish. Combine flour, cornmeal, sugar, powder and salt in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, combine buttermilk, eggs, and butter. Add dry ingredients and stir a couple of times to combine without over mixing. Mix in half the cheese plus some scallions and jalapenos. Pour batter into pan and sprinkle with remaining cheese and extra scallions. Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until toothpick comes out clean.

Coming Tomorrow:

Garden Harvest Minestrone-thanks to my generous cowboy neighbor

Barefoot Thursdays: Parmesan Chicken Tenders with Sweet and Spicy Ketchup

It's Barefoot Thursday, so get ready for a recipe from the Queen of Deliciousness, the Grande Dame of Good Living, the Barefoot Contessa, the inimitable Ina Garten.....
Good-bye New Orleans and hello humble home. At 1 AM I finally walked through my own door. My Quiet Man husband had the presence of mind to pick up every toy and vacuum and dust. I think I'm really truly deeply madly in love. A man looks his best when he's holding a squirt bottle of formula 409. Just my opinion.
So at 1 AM, I briefly considered getting my post ready, but instead made a beeline for my clean fluffy pillow. (Quiet Man washed the sheets too.) Seven hours later, I'm up and ready to share Parmesan Chicken Tenders with Sweet and Spicy Ketchup. Estimated Cost: $5.00

You've got to have a good breaded chicken recipe in your cooking arsenal. It's fast, easy, cheap and everyone of every age on planet earth will love them. Except your vegetarian friends, but you just make them a piece of breaded zucchini instead. Ina made an elegant salad with lemon vinaigrette on which she served her chicken. But its your world, so serve it the way you like. You could smother it with red sauce and cheese for classic chicken Parmesan, or you could serve it plain with a fun dipping sauce, like I did. It's kid friendly that way, and since I had about 856 kids at my house last week, the choice was easy.
Here's the skinny on breaded chicken. Although it doesn't photograph well, please save yourself some clean up work by using paper plates for prep. First, dip your chicken (I'm using tenders but any boneless cut will do) in a flour mixture. This will give the bread coating something to adhere to later. Next, dip your floured chicken in a beaten egg and water mixture. Finally, coat your chicken in a mixture of bread crumbs and Parmesan cheese. I like to let my chicken dry out on a rack for about ten minutes, just to help that coating stay put during the light frying process. Not necessary when in a rush, but helpful otherwise.Heat a couple of tablespoons of oil in a fry pan-just enough to coat the bottom generously. Make sure your oil is good and hot before you toss in your chicken. Resist the temptation to move your chicken around; just leave it alone and let it get good and brown on one side. Flip and repeat.
Here's a Food Network link to the complete recipe for Ina's Parmesan Chicken.
For my Sweet and Spicy Ketchup, simply combine 1/2 cup ketchup, 2 tablespoons brown sugar, and a generous pinch of cayenne or a couple glugs of Tabasco. Coming Tomorrow:Soy and Lime Grilled Tri-tip
It's so good to be home....

Ina Garten's Pasta, Pesto and Peas

Your Father's Day Side Dish....
(Scroll down for a complete Father's Day menu, shopping list, and accompanying recipes.)I am pleased to present my first recipe as a member of Barefoot Thursdays, a twice monthly blogger's group dedicated to recreating the Barefoot Contessa's delectable recipes at home. You already know I have Ina envy. (You can read about that here.) Join in and make Ina's irrestible meals for your family on the cheap.I can't resist creating a healthier profile for some of Ina's notoriously decadent dishes. If you want to celebrate life and throw caution to the wind, you can make Ina's recipe this way.

I, on the other hand, having only very recently been able to button my jeans due to an overindulgent Christmas season, must lighten things up a bit (lest I tighten things up a bit). This pasta, chock full of spinach, peas, parmesan and pesto, is outstanding at room temperature or even chilled. If you have any extra (and you will with this huge batch) toss in a grilled chicken breast and some grape tomatoes for a quick lunch on Monday.

Lightened Up Pasta, Pesto, and Peas

Estimated Cost: $5.00 for a tremendously huge batch

Notes: Homemade pesto would be best here, if you have the time-and the basil.

1 lb. medium pasta shapes (I used a combo of farfalle and campanelle)

2 tablespoons olive oil

1/3 cup prepared pesto (I used Classico in a jar)

1 (10 ounce package) frozen spinach, defrosted and squeezed dry

juice of one lemon

heaping 1/3 cup mayonnaise or whole milk yogurt

1/2 cup parmesan cheese, shaved or grated

1 and 1/2 cups frozen peas, defrosted

Cook pasta according to package directions. Reserve 1/2 cup cooking liquid. Toss with olive oil and cool to room temperature. In the bowl of a blender or food processor, combine reserved cooking liquid, pesto, spinach, lemon juice, and mayonnaise. Add the pesto mixture to the cooled pasta and season to taste with salt and pepper. Sprinkle with pine nuts, if desired.

Coming Tomorrow:

Grilled Rib Eye Steak with Horseradish Thyme Compote...