Asparagus Risotto

Risotto. Risotto is a bitch. I won't lie. It's intensive, must be coddled the entire time you're cooking, and can pretty much serve as the best reminder you'll ever have as to why you shouldn't go back to your clingy, but gorgeous ex-girlfriend from college. The results, however, can be pure ecstasy if all is done correctly. (Also like your clingy, but gorgeous ex from college. Great metaphor.)

So, you're going to need calming music to help you get through this process. I thought a mixture of Wilco, The Album Leaf, and Joseph Arthur would do nicely.

http://8tracks.com/ihla/bring-it-down

For the risotto you will need:

1 cup arborio rice

1 lb. Peruvian asparagus, chopped

1/2 Vidalia sweet onion, chopped

1 cup of fresh grated parmesan

2-3 tbsp. butter or butter substitute

Extra virgin olive oil

About 6-8 cups of chicken broth/ stock (This generally equals out to 3/4 of a box of broth...)

You should start by cooking the vegetables first. This isn't a time sucking procedure, but you're going to be too busy with your risotto to do anything else once you start it.

Rinse, peel, and chop half of a sweet Vidalia onion, and add it to a shallow skillet. Rinse and chop your asparagus into 1/2 inch to an inch pieces. Add those pieces to your onion in the skillet, and drizzle the mixture with olive oil. Saute the mixture for about 15 minutes, or until the onion becomes translucent and the asparagus takes on a bright, vivid green. Turn the heat off, and set the mixture to the side. You will add it with the last of your chicken broth to your risotto.

And, now, we come to the risotto. Deep breaths, you should be at "Honey and the Moon" by now. Start by melting the butter over medium heat in a deep skillet. Add your arborio rice, mix, and brown for about 10 minutes with constant stirring so you don't burn the rice. Turn down your stove to about medium low, and add 1/2 cup of chicken broth (it should be warm, or, at the very least, room temperature) and stir consistently until the broth is almost fully taken up by the rice. That's the trick with risotto, you never want it to be completely dry, but you also don't want to overwhelm the rice with liquid, either. Repeat this procedure until the risotto has taken on a creamy consistency and the rice itself is al dente. Add a 1/4 cup of chicken broth with your vegetables to the risotto, mix well, and turn the heat off. Add 1 cup of fresh grated parmesan to the risotto, mix well, and serve. You now have a perfectly respectable side dish.

Depending on what you use for a main dish (i.e., your meat) you can go either way with wine pairings. I generally pair this side dish with chicken marsala, so I go for a red zinfandel (7 Deadly Zins is out of control amazing). It's a bit heady, but the flavors remain bold and pop nicely.

Chicken Noodle Soup in Under Three Hours

Whenever I don't feel well, I start to crave things my mother used to cook for me when I didn't feel well as a child. (To be fair, if I ever asked her to cook something now, she'd probably make enough for twenty and just tell me to, "Freeze what you can't eat, honey. It'll keep for months in the freezer." Yes, in fact, my mother is amazing.)

Tonight was one of those nights where I felt like crap, and actually had a crazy craving for chicken noodle soup. I don't think Progresso is real food, and I've grown out of Campbell's, so it was time to hit the kitchen, even in my weakened state.

I rarely deal in exact amounts and, I'm always experimenting with little things, but here's the basics of what you'll need:

3-4 Boneless, skinless chicken breasts

3-4 Tablespoons of minced garlic

4 stalks of celery, chopped

1/2 of a Sweet Vidalia onion, chopped

4 carrots (or 1/2 bag of baby carrots), chopped

1/2 a bag of medium width egg noodles, cooked

Chicken broth (which can be made from bouillon or you can buy pre-made. I use both.)

Lemon juice (no more than a few tablespoons)

Extra virgin olive oil

The spice rack tonight:

Grinder pepper

Grinder sea salt

Basil

Oregano

Tarragon

Rosemary

Roasted garlic (Granules or powder will work, but I like to have mine set-up in a grinder.)

First, we'll start out with the chicken. Pre-heat your oven to 415 degrees Fahrenheit. Set-up your chicken breasts in an oven safe baking dish side by side, and stab them with a fork several times. This can be as violent or as normal as possible. (This is an excellent time to note that cooking can be very therapeutic.) Squirt lemon juice over the breasts, until you feel like they all have a nice sheen of lemon, but not to the point where juice pools largely in your dish. Drizzle about a tsp. of extra virgin olive oil over each chicken breast and spread the oil around over the tops. Now you can start seasoning the chicken, with the oil acting as a great glue for your seasonings. Tonight, I topped my chicken with fresh cracked pepper, oregano, basil, rosemary, roasted garlic, and just the lightest amount of fresh cracked sea salt. Leave your dish uncovered and throw it in the oven for 30-45 minutes, or until the tops of the chicken look nicely browned.

While the chicken is cooking, chop and cook your veggies. I stick with the 1:1 ratio between the carrots and the celery as well as only using 1/2 a Vidalia onion. Add the chopped vegetables to a deep skillet, drizzle some olive oil over them, and spice them with tarragon (You don't need a lot of tarragon. It's a very potent herb, so about 5-6 pinches will do), fresh ground pepper, basil, oregano, and finish it off with a dash of salt. Mix it all up, so that the oil and the spices really cover your vegetables.

Turn your stove to 'sauté' (on a gas stove this is about medium), and saute the vegetables for about 15 minutes, or until they cook down to a suitable volume. At this point, you can add about a cup of chicken broth, turn the heat down a bit (medium low), and let the veggies simmer while it also forms the base of your stock. About every 10 minutes add another cup of broth until you've added 6 cups.

Your chicken should be done cooking by now and needs to be sliced and diced, quite literally. Cut up your chicken into chunks, and add the chicken to your vegetables and broth, turning down the whole mixture to low. Your pan should be pretty full by now.

The final step is to cook the egg noodles. Once the noodles are cooked to your liking, drain them, and add them to your chicken, vegetables, and broth. You now have chicken noodle soup. I like to add fresh grated parmesan to the top.

Tonight, I gave over the soundtracking reigns to Cameron Crowe, "Elizabethtown", and comfort movies, and because I was a bit sick, I went with Gatorade instead of chardonnay. (If you were to pair it with a chardonnay, try the Smoking Loon. It's light and won't overpower the soup or your wallet.) Curl up in your favorite place, and enjoy.

I like to cook, create. Most of the time this process leads to disaster in my kitchen. (My exes can attest to the types of things I've made them try with, "What about this is, you know, off?" Men, I've realized, will eat almost anything. This does not qualify that something as 'tasty' or even a 'good idea', it just makes them better testers than me. ) However, I have garnered a collection of tried and true things that I love, that actually look great on a plate, and taste even better. If you can't cook pasta, I can't help you. Having said that, I also can't make homemade iced tea, so maybe we're a perfect fit.

I like to combine music, food, and wine, so I will also do my best to pair the food with wine (when applicable) and, of course, music. You must always set the mood when you're in the kitchen, whether it's seductive, red, and amped-up Italian ("I've Got to See You Again" - Norah Jones) or comfortable, soft whites, and gazpachos ("Nightswimming" - REM). And, of course, there's chili music ("La Petite Mort" - Erin McKeown).

So, you've got food, you've got music, you've got drinks. I'll try to make these things coalesce as well through words as they do in my kitchen... most of the time.