Roasted Broccoli

Total Time:

25 min

Prep

5 min

Cook

20 min

Yield:

4 servings

Level:

Easy

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Ingredients

• 1 head broccoli
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan

Directions

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F.

Peel the outer layer of the broccoli stalks. Cut the broccoli lengthwise keeping the stalk and broccoli florets intact. (The longbroccoli spears should resemble trees.) Arrange in a single layer on a baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper, to taste. Toss to coat and roast until nicely caramelized, about 15 minutes. Turn broccoli over and sprinkle with grated theParmesan. Cook until the Parmesan melts, about 5 minutes. Transfer to a serving bowl or platter and serve immediately

The Best Risotto of 2012

Brian received an "America's Test Kitchen" cookbook for Christmas, and I've been trying new recipes for several days now.  Tonight's dinner, however, blew us away.  In addition to a ribeye steak from the free-range cow we got through Ryan and Kelly, we had a modified risotto recipe that Brian averred he would marry if he wasn't already married.  The beauty of the risotto is that it combines the bright, creamy flavors of my favorite Giada recipe, without the exhausting constant attention (a real bonus in light of the kids, who seem to reject the idea of me stirring anything for 40 minutes straight).

Hands-Free Lemon Risotto: A Brain-Child of Giada, America's Test Kitchen, and Me
4-6 servings (depending on how much you love it)

2 1/2 cups of low sodium chicken broth
3/4 cup of water
2 Tbsp butter
1 shallot, finely chopped
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1 medium garlic clove, minced through a garlic press
1 cup arborio rice
1/2 cup of dry white wine (I used Charles Shaw Sauvignon Blanc from Trader Joe's - $4 a bottle)
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
1/2 lemon, grated and juiced
1/4 cup ricotta (or marscarpone) cheese
1 tsp parsley

1.  Combine chicken broth and water in a medium saucepan.  Bring to boil, then reduce heat to low, just to keep warm.

2.  Melt 1 Tbsp. butter in Dutch oven over medium heat (the Dutch oven is essential in order to make this a "hands-free" risotto, as opposed to the kind you have to stir constantly).  Add shallot and salt, and cook until translucent, about 5 minutes.  Add garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.  Add arborio rice and toast until ends are translucent, about 3 minutes.

3.  Add wine.  Cook until almost entirely absorbed, stirring occasionally, about 3 minutes.  Add 2 1/2 cups of broth-water mixture to rice.  Stir, then cover and simmer on medium low heat for about 16-19 minutes, until almost all liquid is absorbed and rice is al dente.

4.  Add 3/8 cup of broth-water mixture and cook, stirring constantly, until liquid is almost absorbed and rice is creamy.  Stir in parmesan and remove from heat.  Sit, covered, for 5 minutes.

5.  Stir in ricotta, lemon zest and juice, parsley, and remaining tablespoon of butter (although I forgot the butter tonight, so clearly it's not that necessary).

6.  Enjoy.

Jello Improv

Last week, I was craving jello salad, but didn't have all of the fixings to make the usual variety we make at this time of year.  So I decided to do a little improv and we all enjoyed the results.

1 package raspberry jello
1 package blackberry jello
1 can crushed pineapple, drained and juice reserved
1 half bag of frozen raspberries

Add water to reserved pineapple juice to total 1 cup.  Microwave to a boil.  Mix with jello packages.  Add 3/4 cup cold water.  Stir in frozen raspberries and drained pineapple.  Pour into serving dish and refrigerate until firm.  (It only took about 30 minutes to firm up, thanks to the frozen raspberries.)

Easy Cranberry Pot Roast

A fellow teacher recommended this easy recipe for me, which the family appears to enjoy.  The house smelled wonderful all day, and even Ben ate some of the pot roast.  (Or at least chewed on it for a while until he spit it back out.)

• 1 (1 ounce) envelope dry onion soup mix
• 1 (3 pound) beef chuck roast
• 1 (16 ounce) can jellied cranberry sauce
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

Directions

1. Place onion soup mix in the bottom of a slow cooker. Place roast in the slow cooker, and top with cranberry sauce.
2. Cover, and cook 8 hours on Low.
3. Remove roast, and set aside. Set slow cooker to High. Whisk together butter and flour, and slowly mix into the liquid remaining in the slow cooker to create a thick gravy. Serve with the roast.

Almost Hands-Free Risotto

Brian saw this recipe on America's Test Kitchen and we decided to give it a try.  It was amazingly easy, and so much less work than the usual pour-and-stir risotto I make.  Next time, though, I think I'll use shallots instead of onion for a milder flavor, or potentially finish it off with butter, marscarpone, and lemon zest, my usual risotto fare.  But it's nice to know that I won't be having to stand over the stove for half an hour straight the next time I want to make it, a definite plus with two very active children.

Serves 6-8 as a side dish

This recipe does not employ the traditional risotto method; the rice is mainly stirred for 3 minutes toward the end of cooking instead of constantly throughout. This more hands-off method does require precise timing, so we strongly recommend using a timer. The consistency of risotto is largely a matter of personal taste; if you prefer a looser texture, add extra broth in step 4.

INGREDIENTS

• 5cups low-sodium chicken broth
• 1 1/2cups water
• 4tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1large onion , chopped fine (about 1 1/2 cups)
•  Table salt
• 1medium garlic clove , minced or pressed through a garlic press (about 1 teaspoon)
• 2cups Arborio rice
• 1cup dry white wine
• 2ounces grated Parmesan cheese (about 1 cup)
• 1teaspoon juice from 1 lemon
• 2tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves
• 2tablespoons chopped fresh chives
•  Ground black pepper

INSTRUCTIONS

• 1. Bring broth and water to boil in large saucepan over high heat. Reduce heat to medium-low to maintain gentle simmer.
• 2. Heat 2 tablespoons butter in large Dutch oven over medium heat. When butter has melted, add onion and ¾ teaspoon salt; cook, stirring frequently, until onion is softened but not browned, 4 to 7 minutes. Add garlic and stir until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add rice and cook, stirring frequently, until grains are translucent around edges, about 3 minutes.
• 3. Add wine and cook, stirring constantly, until fully absorbed, 2 to 3 minutes. Stir 5 cups hot broth mixture into rice; reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer until almost all liquid has been absorbed and rice is just al dente, 16 to 19 minutes, stirring twice during cooking.
• 4. Add ¾ cup hot broth mixture and stir gently and constantly until risotto becomes creamy, about 3 minutes. Stir in Parmesan. Remove pot from heat, cover, and let stand 5 minutes. Stir in remaining 2 tablespoons butter, lemon juice, parsley, and chives; season with salt and pepper to taste. If desired, add up to ½ cup remaining broth mixture to loosen texture of risotto. Serve immediately.
  
  

Butternut Squash Chowder Even MY Family Will Eat

Brian found this recipe online a week or so ago, and I've been dying to try it.  Aside from the laborious chopping of the butternut squash (is there an easier way to do this?!?), it was a piece of cake and so yummy I went back for a second bowl.  Even Jack ate everything in his bowl, in spite of protests that he doesn't like squash.  We told him to just eat the apples instead.  Sneaky, huh?


Roasted Butternut Chowder with Apples and Bacon
Makes 4 servings
Time: About 1.5 hours

Roasting the squash, onion, and apples, then simmering them until they break apart, leaves you with a thick, rich soup that you’ll turn to every fall. Try the mixed root vegetable variation, too; it’s just as good. And to sweeten the pot, add a pinch of nutmeg or allspice just before serving.

1 butternut squash (about 1 1/2 pounds), peeled, seeded, and cut into cubes
1 large onion, chopped
2 large apples, peeled, cored, and chopped
4 bacon slides, or one 1/2-inch-thick strip slab bacon, chopped
2 tablespoons minced garlic
salt and black pepper
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon chopped fresh sage, or 1 teaspoon dried
1/2 cup dry white wine or water
6 cups vegetable or chicken stock or water

1. Heat the oven to 400 degrees F. Spread the squash, onion, apples, bacon, and garlic in a deep roasting pan or on a baking sheet. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and drizzle with the oil. Roast, stirring every now and then, until the squash, onion, and apples are tender and browned and the bacon is crisp, about 45 minutes.

2. Remove the roasting pan from the oven. Stir in the sage and white wine and scrape up all the browned bits from the bottom. If you’re using a roasting pan that can be used on the stovetop, position the pan over 2 burners and put both of medium heat. Otherwise, transfer the contents of the pan to a large pot or Dutch oven and set it over medium heat.

3. Add the stock and cook until the squash, onion, and apples break apart and thicken and flavor the broth, about 25 minutes. You can help the process along by breaking the mixture up a bit with a spoon. Taste, adjust the seasoning, and serve.

Roasted Root Vegetable Chowder: Substitute any combination of celery root, turnips, parsnips, and rutabagas for the butternut squash.

For more recipes from Mark Bittman’s Food Matters, check out our feature “Family Food Matters: 3 healthy dinner recipes from Mark Bittman.”

Back-to-School Pot Roast

Brian has taken up watching "America's Test Kitchen" on PBS to see how to best make certain dishes, and he seemed pretty enthusiastic about their rendition of a classic pot roast, so when Jack and I found a chuck-eye roast at Meijer today, I decided to live it up on my last night before school started and make a "fancy" pot roast dinner.

We were pretty impressed with the results -- tender, yet not overly fatty, and deliciously rich.  I served it with mashed purple potatoes (with some onion chive cream cheese blended in), baby carrots, and homemade apple sauce.


Why This Recipe Works:
Pot roast can be boring and bland full of dry, stringy meat, stubborn bits of fat, and wan gravy. We wanted a meltingly tender roast sauced in savory, full-bodied gravy.


To start, we separated the roast into two lobes, which allowed us to remove the knobs of fat that stubbornly refused to render and also shortened the cooking time. Salting the roast prior to cooking improved its flavor, as did sautéing the onion, celery, carrot, and garlic before we added them to the pot.


Some recipes use water as a pot roast cooking liquid but when we tried this, the gravy turned out as you’d expect—watery. We had better luck with beef broth. Other flavor-boosting ingredients went into the pot as well: garlic, tomato paste, red wine, thyme, and bay leaves. The resulting gravy boasted a rich, complex character but its flavor didn’t stray from the dish’s simple roots. Finally, sealing the pot with aluminum foil before securing the lid concentrated the steam for an even simmer and fork-tender meat.

Serves 6 to 8

INGREDIENTS

• 1(3 1/2- to 4-pound) boneless beef chuck-eye roast , pulled into two pieces at natural seam and trimmed of large knobs of fat
•  Kosher salt
• 2tablespoons unsalted butter
• 2medium onions , halved and sliced thin (about 2 cups)
• 1large carrot , chopped medium (about 1 cup)
• 1celery rib , chopped medium (about 3/4 cup)
• 2medium garlic cloves , minced or pressed through garlic press (about 2 teaspoons)
• 1cup beef broth , plus 1 to 2 cups for sauce (see note)
• 1/2cup dry red wine , plus 1/4 cup for sauce
• 1tablespoon tomato paste
• 1bay leaf
• 1sprig plus 1/4 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme leaves
•  Ground black pepper
• 1tablespoon balsamic vinegar

INSTRUCTIONS

• 1. Sprinkle pieces of meat with 1 tablespoon salt (1½ teaspoons if using table salt), place on wire rack set in rimmed baking sheet, and let stand at room temperature 1 hour.
• 2. Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and heat oven to 300 degrees. Heat butter in heavy-bottomed Dutch oven over medium heat. When foaming subsides, add onions and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened and beginning to brown, 8 to 10 minutes. Add carrot and celery; continue to cook, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes longer. Add garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Stir in 1 cup broth, ½ cup wine, tomato paste, bay leaf, and thyme sprig; bring to simmer.
• 3. Pat beef dry with paper towels and season generously with pepper. Using 3 pieces of kitchen twine, tie each piece of meat into loaf shape for even cooking.
• 4. Nestle meat on top of vegetables. Cover pot tightly with large piece of foil and cover with lid; transfer pot to oven. Cook beef until fully tender and sharp knife easily slips in and out of meat, 3½ to 4 hours, turning halfway through cooking.
• 5. Transfer roasts to cutting board and tent loosely with foil. Strain liquid through mesh strainer into 4-cup liquid measuring cup. Discard bay leaf and thyme sprig. Transfer vegetables to blender jar. Allow liquid to settle 5 minutes, then skim any fat off surface. Add beef broth as necessary to bring liquid amount to 3 cups. Place liquid in blender with vegetables and blend until smooth, about 2 minutes. Transfer sauce to medium saucepan and bring to simmer over medium heat.
• 6. While sauce heats, remove twine from roast and slice against grain into ½-inch-thick slices. Transfer meat to large serving platter. Stir chopped thyme, remaining ¼ cup wine, and vinegar into sauce and season to taste with salt and pepper. Spoon half of sauce over meat; pass remaining sauce separately.