English Pea Risotto with Prosciutto

Ingredients:

1 cup fresh English Peas*
1 stick unsalted butter
1/2 large yellow onion, diced
1 cup Arborio rice
1 Tbsp garlic, chopped
1-1/2 cups white wine
1 quart chicken stock, warmed
1-1/2 cups grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 lb. thinly sliced Proscuitto
Salt and Pepper, to taste

Method:

Fill a pot with water and bring to a boil. Add salt to flavor the water. Place the peas in the water and boil for 2 minutes. Drain and immerse in ice water to stop the cooking process. Drain again and set aside.

*If English Peas are not in season, use frozen peas. I set aside the peas at the beginning so they can thaw out. Then if need be, I stick my peas in the microwave for 1-2 minutes at very, very low power (10-20%) to take the chill out.

In a small saucepan, heat up your chicken stock until just warm. Don't boil. Keep on low heat while you start the rice.

Melt the butter in a large heavy-bottomed sauce pan over medium high heat. Add the onions and cook until translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the rice and garlic. When the rice begins to sizzle, add the wine. Stir constantly and wait for the liquid to almost completely evaporate. Start adding the stock, 1 cup at a time, stirring constantly and waiting for the liquid to reduce between additions.

Continue cooking and adding the stock until the rice is al dente and the mixture is creamy, about 20 minutes. You may not use all the stock. Mix in the peas; season with salt and pepper and top with the cheese and prosciutto. Serve immediately.

Country Style Chicken

This is one of my favorite chicken dishes my Mom used to make.  She learned how to make it from her Mom, so it's been passed on through the generations!  Amazingly simple to make, the chicken is very tasty and delicious. My family loves it!


1 whole chicken - cut into pieces
crushed sea salt
pepper
flour (to coat chicken)
Oil 
1 Cup of water

Season chicken pieces with salt and pepper.  Refrigerate for at least 1 hr to let the salt soak in.

Coat chicken with flour. (I use a paper bag) and brown in frying pan with 1/4" oil.

Place browned chicken in non-stick pot or electric skillet and add 1 Cup of water. Cover and turn heat up to medium high to get the water boiling (for steam effect). Keep heat at medium high for the first 5-7 minutes, then reduce heat to low and simmer for about 30-35 minutes. The water should evaporate, but you may open the lid later to help with the process.  

The chicken will be nice and tender.   Enjoy! 

Banana Bread Bars with Brown Butter Frosting

Banana Bread Bars

1/2 cup sugar
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup butter, softened
2 eggs
1-3/4 cups (3 or 4) ripe bananas, mashed
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Brown Butter Frosting:
1/2 cup butter
4 cups powdered sugar
1-1/2 tsp vanilla extract
3 Tbsp milk

Directions:

Heat oven to 375 degrees. Grease and flour a 10x15 inch jelly roll pan.

For the bars, in a large bowl beat together sugar, sour cream, butter and eggs until creamy. Blend in bananas and vanilla extract. Add flour, baking soda, salt and blend for 1 minute. Stir in walnuts. Spread batter evenly into pan. Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until golden brown.

Meanwhile for the frosting, heat butter in a large saucepan over medium heat until boiling. Let the butter turn a delicate brown and remove from heat immediately.

Add powdered sugar, vanilla extract and milk. Whisk together until smooth. It should be thicker than a glaze but thinner than frosting. Using a spatula, spread the butter butter frosting over the warm bars. The frosting will be easier to spread while the bars are still warm.

Enjoy!

BBQ Spareribs

  
Impress family and friends with this delectable and finger licking good rib recipe.  Always a hit whenever I make it for my family.  

2-3 lbs ribs (cut into sections)

1 inch ginger (cut into strips) 

1 clove garlic

1/2 cup shoyu

3/4 cup sugar

1/2 cup ketchup

1 tsp salt

1.  Parboil ribs 20-25 min or longer.   Let cool. 
2.  Crush ginger and garlic.  Add to other ingredients and mix well. 
3.  Rub sauce into ribs and marinate for 3+ hours. 
4.  Cook on grill or broil in oven
  
*Watch carefully to avoid burning the ribs.  
  ** Double recipe if necessary

This is about 5 lbs of  baby back ribs, so I doubled the recipe.

Perfect ribs!

Pico de Gallo

Here's a simple and delicious recipe that everyone will love.  This fresh mix of jalapenos, onions, tomatoes and cilantro compliment an array of dishes and it's great on its own too .     Cut the recipe in half if you want and adjust the amount of peppers/tomatoes to your liking.   Enjoy! 
  

Makes 16 servings,  1/4 cup each 

• 14 fresh small jalapeno peppers (Use 1/2 the amount if using large jalapenos. Adjust to taste)
• 1 medium white onion
• 5 large Roma tomatoes (or more if you want)
• 4 T chopped fresh Cilantro (adjust to your taste)
• Pinch of salt

* Gloves for handling peppers  ( I used disposable ones)

Make sure you are wearing gloves before handling the peppers.  Cut off stems and remove all the seeds from the peppers.  Finely chop peppers and onions. (Using a food processor or chopper for the peppers and onions is helpful). Due to delicate nature of tomatoes, finely chop them by hand.  Gently mix all the ingredients  together and refrigerate.
  
Adapted from the book, "The Complete Book of Abs" by Kurt Brungardt

Orange-Currant Scones

I usually double this recipe and make 16 scones and also use cranberries instead of currants.  They freeze well if you have extras.

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/4 cup plus 1 teaspoon sugar, divided

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/3 cup currants (or cranberries)

1 tablespoon grated fresh orange peel

6 tablespoons chilled butter, cut into small pieces

1/2 cup buttermilk

Preheat oven to 425°F.

Combine flour, 1/4 cup sugar, baking powder, salt and baking soda in large bowl. Stir in currants and orange peel. Cut in butter with pastry blender or 2 knives until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in buttermilk. Stir until mixture forms soft dough that clings together. (Dough will be tacky)

Lightly flour hands and shape dough into a ball.  Pat dough into 8-inch round on lightly greased baking sheet. Cut dough into 8 wedges with floured chef’s knife.

Sprinkle wedges with remaining 1 teaspoon sugar. 

Bake 15 minutes or until lightly browned.

Energy Bars

3 cups rice krispies (or brown rice crisps)  

2 cups quick oats

¼ cup (1/2 block) butter

1 pkg (10½ oz) miniature marshmallows

½ cup peanut butter (or almond butter)

½ cup unsalted peanuts

½ cup sunflower seeds

½ cup golden raisins

½ cup chopped dried apricots

½ cup dried cranberries

Heat rice krispies and oats in a large pot on low heat.  At the same time, melt margarine, marshmallows and peanut butter in a small pot on low heat.  Add peanuts, sunflower seeds, raisins and apricots to heated cereal.  Pour melted mixture into cereal mixture.  Mix to coat.  Work quickly as mixture hardens fast.  Turn into 9x13 pan, lightly greased with butter.  Press to flatten.  Cut into desired pieces while still warm.  Place on individual pieces of waxed paper.  Let cool on waxed paper, then wrap.  (I cool on one big piece of wax paper then wrap individually)

Use non-stick pots if possible to make cleaning easy.  (I use two non-stick woks)