Chicken Meatballs with Annatto Risotto

It's been a while and we have some catching up to do (I promise, we HAVE been eating for the past few months).

This particular night we made and Annatto Risotto with Jalapeño Chicken Meatballs and a side salad of Spinach, Strawberries, and Balsamic Dressing.


To make the Risotto, we sauteed diced onions and arborio rice until fragrant and then added warm chicken stock one cup at a time until the rice was tender and creamy. The kicker was what we did with the chicken stock. We boiled the chicken stock with 1/2 cup of annatto seeds, which are a poor man's version of saffron. It gives the chicken stock a deep red color and a warm, familiar aroma. It also makes some killer risotto.


We cheated with the Chicken Meatballs. They were Aidell's brand pre-made, pre-cooked meatballs from Costco. They were still really good though. Highly recommended.


The salad was inspired by the house salad at a restaurant in New Orleans called "Jacques-Imos". One of our classmates took us to Jacques' last year during a PT conference. It was the best everything we ever had ever. Our salad was pretty good, but you should still go Jacques' and try theirs.


-- Kevin and Jane

Italian Cooking-Steak with Mushrooms

This was a 'cooking gift' kind of Christmas. Everyone got cooking gear in their Christmas sock, and I got the bible of Italian cooking, The Silver Spoon, from my son Jeff. It's organized according to key ingredients, which is great when you want to do something new with the food you have on hand. I tried this recipe for tenderloin steaks, cooked quickly, and covered with a mushroom, wine, and tomato reduction. It was really good--hope you agree!

Steak with Mushrooms:
2 Tbsp butter
1 shallot, finely chopped
4 cups diced mushrooms
6 Tbsp. white wine
2 Tbsp. tomato paste

2 Tbsp. olive oil
4 thick bread slices, crusts removed

4 tenderloin steaks
2Tbsp butter
1 sprig fresh parsley, chopped
salt

Melt 2 Tbsp butter in large pan, add shallots, cook over low heat for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the mushrooms, mix well, then add the wine and cook until it evaporates. Mix the tomato paste with 6 Tbsp warm water, add to the pan, season lightly with salt. Cover and cook until the sauce is reduced by half.

Heat the olive oil in a skillet, add slices of bread and toast on each side until brown. Remove from pan and drain on paper towel.

Melt remaining butter in a large skillet, add steaks, cook 2-3 minutes on each side. Season lightly with salt, place a steak on each slice of bread, spoon the mushroom sauce over them, sprinkle with parsley.

A quick note--I didn't use the toast. I made Israeli couscous (that girl really gets around on this Blog!) and put the mushroom sauce on top of the couscous, topped by steaks. I wonder if rubbing the steaks with a garlic half, then searing in a grill pan might be a nice touch?

Orange Chicken and Brown Rice

I wanted unhealthy food. Orange Chicken!!

I wasn't going to panko-bread the chicken pieces, but then I was like, nope, if I'm going unhealthy Imma do it right.

So after cornstarch-ing the chicken pieces, I egged them and then panko-ed them. Then sauteed them until crispy.

Made the sauce, some brown rice, tossed the chicken in the sauce and put it on the rice. NOM.

Here's the recipe: Orange Chicken

Lemon Honey Chicken and Israeli Couscous

I wanted to try this new lemon honey chicken recipe and my mom had learned this couscous recipe recently (posted in December), and I had never tried the couscous so we put them together.

I used this recipe HERE.

Super easy, just mix the lemon, honey, rosemary, and garlic and pour over the chicken in a baking dish, add lemon slices on top and bake for 30 minutes.

And the couscous was delicious. We added some steamed asparagus to finish the meal off.

CHRISTMAS COOKIE EXTRAVAGANZA

Every year my mom and I make christmas cookies. LOTS of them.

Our repertoire includes:
- M&M cookies
- Sugar cookies (the ones the dough has to sit in the fridge for hours)
- Press sugar cookies (the ones you squeeze out the little cookie tool)
- Toffee cookies
- Peanut butter hershey kiss cookies (not pictured this year)
- Russian tea cakes

I guess that's it. But we make at least 2 dozen of each.

Anyhow, since I've been away at school, I only get to help out with about 1/2 of these since I usually arrive just before Christmas time and there wouldn't be enough time if my mom doesn't already start without me.

I have been arranging the cookies on the tray for Christmas eve and Christmas day ever since I can remember, and I am ever so talented...haha. So here you go:

Tortillas for Breakfast Burritos!

My mom wanted to make breakfast burritos one morning over Christmas break.  We didn't have any tortillas left, but I said I'd made them before and also, homemade tortillas are 1000000X better than store bought ones.

They require very basic ingredients: flour, milk, oil, salt, and baking powder.

The recipe I've been using for a few years is this one HERE.

Never had a bad batch and they are SO GOOD. They taste buttery, but only have 2 Tbs of vegetable oil in them for 8 tortillas.

Chicken in a Veloute Sauce

I made my first veloute sauce, chicken stock, a roux, some white wine and lemon juice and salt and pepper.  All of my favorite things. I loveeeee lemon-butter sauces.  I lightly floured the chicken and then sauteed it and sauced it.

I made some edamame on the side, not really in the same style of cooking but it's what I had in the fridge!

Also, baked some potato slices and sprinkled them with some mozzarella and parmesan cheese.  Easiest potatoes: slice or wedge potatoes, drizzle with olive oil, salt and pepper, then bake until crispy. NOM.