Anyhoo, a couple weekends ago, GL and I had a short break before dinner and wanted to make some pasta for the next week's lunch. Didn't get a photo, but pretty much looks like this teamsugar.com photo:
Basic recipe, but super yummy:
Spaghetti, al dente (about 8 to 10 minutes in salted boiling water). Drain without a rinse.
Sizzle some diced garlic in olive oil. Add parsley, sun dried tomato, with some freshly ground pepper and voila! I almost ate a small bowl of it by just "testing"! =)
Last Sunday, we had a small get together and I wanted my first try at risotto. I bought the arborio rice a while back, but I didn't have the chance before to make it. NatY had also been giving me a lot of good tips (she gave me Giada De Laurentiis' "Everyday Pasta" - thanks!)
I did a modified version between Giada's and another online recipe:
8 cups of chicken broth
1 1/2 Arborio rice
2 tablespoons butter
Sliced, 1 Portabello, 4 button and 2 cremini mushrooms
2/3 cup Alsatian Riesling
12 spears of green asparagus, siiced to 1" sections
1 stalk of green onion, sliced thinly
1 medium onion, diced
Aged Parmesano-Reggiano and Piave, Stravecchio (red label) cheese
I couldn't find a decent veggie broth, so I picked up some Knorr cubes (I know, MSG!). I used 6 cups originally, but I used every drop, which is why I'm recommending 8 cups. Bring the broth to a light boil and blanch the asparagus and mushrooms for about 2 minutes. Leave the broth at a low heat and use a slotted spoon to take out the veggies and set them aside. In a medium saucepan, set on medium-high/high, melt butter with diced onions for a couple of minutes - don't let the onions get browned. Pour the rice in and let the butter coat the rice (don't wash the rice) and add any dry white wine - the riesling gave the risotto an amazing aromatic fragrance. Turn the heat down to medium/medium high and let the wine almost completely absorb (~2 minutes). Add 1/2 a cup of broth at a time and let the the rice almost absorb it completely. Should take about 20-25 minutes or until the rice is soft, but "bite-able".
Will talk about souffles another time, but here is what I baked last weekend:
WOW...the food looks really good =)
Btw, thanks so much for dropping by my site. Hope you enjoyed you visit!