Chive Risotto Cakes and Roasted Pears

More success with the Barefoot Contessa! Everything I've made from her cookbooks has been delicious and the two dishes below are no exception.

Chive Risotto Cakes.
This dish takes a little planning since you want the mixture to sit in the fridge for a while so I prepped everything the night before. These were cheesey and oh so yummy. I love fontina cheese. It always melts perfectly. The chives could easily be substituted for another herb, but I really liked the onion flavor.

I wanted something a little sweet to go with the risotto cakes, so I decided to try her Roasted Pears. I didn't have any port so I used red wine instead and walnuts for the pecans. Other than that, I stuck with the recipe and it was great.




Do you have a favorite Barefoot Contessa recipe I should try?

Salame and Sundried Tomato Quiche

Over the weekend I had some time to play in the kitchen so I thought I'd enter a contest I'd seen online recently. It's for Gallo Salame. I created a dish based on couple of my favorite things, cheese and tomatoes. If you get a chance, please stop by and vote for me and if you get a chance to enter, let me know and I'll stop by and vote for you.
http://lovewithfood.com/recipes/677-salame--sundried-tomato-quiche

Barefoot Contessa Beef Stew and Office Treats

This dish is unbelievably delicious. So good that I had it for breakfast this morning. The photo, well I'm not a good photographer, doesn't do the stew justice. If only I can send you the smell of this when I walked in the house after work and it was bubbling away in the CrockPot. All the stress of the day melted away. I recommend serving this with crackers or bread. I adapted this for my CrockPot but you can follow Ina's method and I'm sure it will be just as yummy.
I prepped all the ingredients the night before, except for the potatoes, to save time in the morning. I still had to get up early to brown the beef, but it's worth. It's even better as leftovers.
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/parkers-beef-stew-recipe/index.html

Treats for the office. After I melted the marshmallows and butter together I went to open the Rice Krispies box only to find it was already opened. Did I buy it like that? Were the Krispies now tainted? Are they horribly stale and old now? Did my husband open them? That can't be, since he knows not to touch treat ingredients until the treats are made. I was in quite the dilemma. I hesitantly tasted one. Didn't smell weird, wasn't stale, so I went for it. Dumped what seemed to be an almost full bag into the pot and made the treats. Then I dipped them in melted chocolate since I had some left from another project. It was dark chocolate and not quite sweet enough so I sprinkled some raw sugar on top. YUM!
The husband later admitted to having a late night bowl of cereal. LOL, that's what husband's are for. At least I'm assured the treats aren't poisoned.

Chicken Picatta

I'm still cooking my way through the Barefoot Contessa cookbook I received for my birthday. So far, everything I've made has been delicious.

I made chicken picatta but with a couple minor changes. I used panko instead of seasoned bread crumbs and I left out the parsley. I still haven't acquired a taste for it. You can find this recipe in Barefoot Contessa at Home.

Sweetest Day Recap

I'll be honest, I didn't even know there was such a thing as sweetest day until I saw it on a blog. To me, it sounded similar to Valentine's Day so it prompted me to plan a romantic evening. I bought brie which I baked for a few minutes until it was nice and melty, topped with pistachios. I served it with crackers, cashews, strawberries and apples. We feasted while catching up shows we had waiting for us on our DVR. Does anyone else love Flipping Out and How I Met Your Mother as much as I do?
To end the night we had the most delicious ice cream- Pumpkin from Trader Joes.




Did you celebrate Sweetest Day?

Gruyere Cheese Crackers

I saw this recipe on All That Splatters and I knew I wanted to make these right away. I didn't have any cheddar cheese but the gruyere I had in the fridge turned out delicious. You can find the recipe here http://allthatsplatters.blogspot.com/2010/10/weekend-blog-showcase-cheese-crackers.html

Pumpkin Walnut Waffles

Pumpkin Walnut Waffles
Originally it was going to be pumpkin pecan but my pantry failed to provide pecans. LOL Time to go to Trader Joes.



This morning it's overcast, misty and cold. I love it. It's so nice to finally have some Fall weather. What better way to spend the morning than eating waffles with lots of syrup and a latte?
I adapted a waffles recipe from the Joy of Cooking.
In a bowl, combine:
1 C All purpose Flour
3/4 C Whole wheat flour
1 T baking powder
1 T sugar
1/2 t salt.
Make a well in the center and add:
3 eggs
1/2 C pumpkin puree
1/4 C melted unsalted butter
1 1/2 C skim milk
Mix until well-combined. Then add toasted walnuts and cook on your waffle maker. Enjoy!