Sweet Potato and Chicken Risotto

Are you ready to love me? THIS STUFF IS HEAVEN.  My dad took me out to Brio last week and I was super sad because at $20/plate there is no way I can justify ever going there on my own. But making it on my own... YES! Check out the video and be prepared to LOVE me (or the chef who made this deliciousness.)

http://www.naplesnews.com/news/2010/oct/05/video-cook-it-sweet-potato-and-chicken-risotto/

Sweet Potato and Chicken Risotto

Ingredients

2 ounces olive oil
4 ounces pancetta
12 ounces sweet potatoes, roasted (recipe below)
8 ounces asparagus, grilled, cut on a diagonal
24 ounces chicken stock (may be purchased)
24 ounces risotto, cooked (recipe below)
12 ounces pulled oven-roasted chicken (I got a rotisserie chicken)
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
8 tablespoons Reggiano or Parmesan cheese, shredded
4 pinches salt and pepper
4 teaspoons pine nuts, toasted (place in 350 degrees oven for five minutes and toast till golden brown-- or in a dry pan till they're browned)
4 teaspoons fresh thyme, chopped

Preparation

Heat oil in a sauté pan.

Add pancetta & sauté until golden brown and crispy.

Add sweet potatoes, asparagus, chicken stock and risotto.

Stir to combine and cook risotto.

Add chicken, butter, Reggiano or Parmesan and salt and pepper.

Stir to mix.

Place on a serving plate and garnish with pine nuts and thyme.

Serves 4 (large portions)

Roasted sweet potatoes

Dice 2 sweet potatoes, mix with salt and pepper and olive oil to coat. Place in a 350 degree oven for 35 minutes and cook until slight browning occurs.

Risotto

Ingredients

1 quart chicken stock
2 cups water
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 small onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped or grated
1 cup Arborio rice
½ cup white wine
2 tablespoons butter, cut into small pieces

Preparation

In a large pot, heat the stock and 2 cups water over medium low heat.

In a risotto pot or large skillet with a rounded bottom, heat the extra-virgin olive oil over medium to medium-high heat.

Add the onions and garlic to pan and saute to soften 3 to 4 minutes.

Stir in the rice and heat the rice for one to two minutes, then add the wine and cook until evaporated.

Add in the hot stock a few ladles at a time and stir for a minute with each addition to develop the starch and the creamy aspect. Total cooking time will be about 18 minutes or so. Keep adding stock each time the pan starts to become dry at the edges.

When rice is cooked to al dente, stir in the butter and cheese. Season with salt and pepper, to taste and transfer to a sheet pan and cool.

Garden Success

I have had my first garden success! I recently planted 6 pansies in the back yard (all of which are still alive, yea!) and with the empty container I filled it and planted 6 tomato starters inside. As of today, three have started to bud out of the soil! This proves that I am not a complete plant killer. I also planted some outside directly in the ground, but none have come up yet. Fingers crossed that they will...

Gardening diary

Since moving I have acquired a small patch of dirt in my back yard. I have decided to man the land and make something  grow. I feel completely out of my comfort zone since I have never managed to keep a plant alive for more than a couple of weeks, but I will share my success/failures in an attempt to help others who may feel lacking or lost in this area. I figured the best place to start was to clear out the weeds and prepare the ground with some soil/feed stuff. My mother agreed. Here are my first efforts.

 From the corner to the left will be flowers.

This whole section will be vegetables and herbs.

Nothing too exciting yet. I did plant a flower but it is not in photo condition yet. We will get there.

Easy Chicken Cordon Bleu

Post-Easter left us with a lot of extra ham, therefore I thought it would be yummy to take another stab at making chicken cordon bleu. My first attempt, hardly worth blogging, turned out just okay. So, after much research I used some of the tips mentioned in this blog to make a better dish. One of the best tips is to have absolutely everything prepped and ready to go so that the assembly line goes smoothly.

Ingredients
4 large boneless skinless chicken breasts
4-8 slices of ham (depending on the size of the meat. Mine was freshly cut from the deli and was huge so I only used 4 pieces).
4 slices of swiss cheese (the lady in the aforementioned blog used shredded, whatever works).
Salt & Pepper
olive oil
 toothpicks, if necessary

1 1/2 cups Italian seasoned bread crumbs
2 TBS butter, melted

1 egg
2 TBS dijon mustard

Preheat oven to 350

Beat your egg, dijon mustard, and a splash of water together in a shallow dish. Set aside. Mix the melted butter into your bread crumbs. They will clump up, but if you continue to work your fork through the crumbs they will separate back out. The butter will help your crumbs to get nice and crunchy.

For the chicken, you will want to first roll up your ham and cheese into nice little rolls. Then, cut pockets in your chicken large enough to fit the ham/cheese rolls. I put my fingers on top of the chicken to act as a guide to make sure I didn't cut all the way through.Salt and pepper your chicken breasts, then stuff in your ham and cheese rolls. If you press together the open edge, it should reseal. If it doesn't, you can always use a toothpick to keep the chicken sealed together.

Dip each breast into the egg wash, making sure both sides are evenly covered. Then transfer your breast to the bread crumbs and evenly coat both sides.

Place them on a greased cookie sheet, and drizzle them lightly (like just a few drops on each) with your olive oil. Bake for 20-25 min. 

Here is the link again, but this is what your ham rolls should look like inside your chicken. She was able to fit 2 rolls per breast, but due to the size of mine I only fit one.