Main Course

Lemon Gorgonzola Risotto

- Elspeth Leave a comment

(This post is for Corin, who has discovered the joys of risotto and will (hopefully) love the choice of ingredients!)

Far be it from me to rub it in the rest of the country’s face that California’s generous weather system has graced us with summer a couple of months early, but I’ll go ahead and do it anyway: 80 degrees, baby.

Such brilliant gusts of warm, freshly-cut grass breezes brought me to lemons and lemons brought me to Deb and Deb brought me to risotto. Add in the leftover gorgonzola from a little wine and cheese party last night and the world just made sense again.

Backed up view

I highly recommend investing in a bottle of lemon oil, which packs so much of a punch you only have use it sparingly and don’t need to purchase frequently. It mellowed out the gorgonzola perfectly (which was very strong) and was the perfect end to a warm day.

photo

Lemon Gorgonzola Risotto

1 T olive oil
1 T butter
1 medium yellow onion, diced fine
1/2 c short-grain or arborio rice
1/4 c white wine
2.5 c warm stock
1/2 c grated parmeggiano
1/3 c crumbed gorgonzola
1 scant t lemon oil or 1 T lemon juice
1 t lemon zest
2 T diced chives (optional)

Place a heavy-bottomed pot over medium high heat and, when hot, add the oil and butter. When the butter is melted, add in the onion and cook for 5-7 minutes, until soft. Add the rice and cook, stirring frequently, for 2-3 minutes. Add the wine and reduce for 1 minute, or until absorbed a bit. Add in 1/2 c stock and reduce the heat to med-low, so that you have a high simmer going. Stir the rice frequently as you grate the parm, crumble the gorgonzola, zest the lemon, and dice the chives. Gradually add the stock into the rice as it absorbs and bubbles, approximately every 3-5 minutes. Remember to stir frequently and add enough stock along the way, or else the bottom of the pot will burn the simmering rice. After about 20 minutes or when the rice is at desired done-ness, turn off the heat. Stir in the parm, lemon oil, zest, and gorgonzola. Plate the risotto and add a sprinkling of chives on top. I served mine over a bed of arugula and spinach, which is pretty much how I eat everything.

Top view 1

Side view 3

Grilled Polenta with Butternut Squash and Arugula Pesto

- Elspeth 2 Comments

I can’t fit all of the main ingredients into the title without it looking ridiculous, so here’s the full glory of it:

Grilled Polenta with Butternut Squash, Arugula Pesto, Caramelized Onions, Honey Goat Cheese, and Chives. Whew. It feels good to get that out of my system.

photo 2

I’ve been toying with the idea of a polenta cake of some sort for a few weeks, and the blustery April winds had me hankering for a spring-like pesto fiesta. I recently found that butternut squash and caramelized onions are the dream team of sweet vegetable combos, so all of the pieces just sort of fell into place. Honey goat cheese? That’s just an obvious choice.

The saltiness of the pesto works really well with the sweetness of the ingredients, and the spicy punch of arugula helps to round it all out.

photo 2-1

Don’t overdue it on the pesto (or the garlic within the pesto) or else you’ll miss out on the more subtle squash and onion undertones, which can’t be beat. This would also be great with some roasted corn kernels mixed into the polenta.

Grilled Polenta with Butternut Squash and Arugula Pesto

1.5 c butternut squash, cut into 1″ cubes
1 T chopped fresh sage
S & P
olive oil
2 med onions, sliced into very thin half moons
1 t white sugar
2 c cooked polenta (creamy, not firm)
1/4 c grated parmigiano
2 oz honey goat cheese (the sweetness of this is really spectacular)
1/4 c fresh pesto (I made mine with almonds, arugula, spinach, basil, parm, salt, and garlic)
1 handful of arugula
1 T chopped chives

photo 4

Start by caramelizing the onions, which takes a very long time and shouldn’t be rushed. Heat your cast iron or Dutch oven pan over medium heat with some oil or butter (enough to coat the bottom). Add the onions, saute for a minute, then turn down to med-low and cook for 40-60 min, stirring frequently. Heat your oven to 400 and coat the squash with oil, S & P, and the chopped sage. Bake for 30 min on an ungreased cookie sheet, or until brown. Smash each piece lightly with a fork. In a bowl, combine the polenta, parmigiano, and squash and mix until incorporated. Heat a pan over med heat, form the polenta into 3″ cakes and pan fry until golden. On each plate, layer a polenta cake with pesto, onions, arugula, goat cheese, and a sprinkling of chives.

Note on polenta: I got mine pre-cooked in a little tube at the store. Don’t be daunted if yours is cooked and firm– it is easy to get it back to a creamy state. Put it in the microwave with some milk and salt for about 2 minutes and mash it altogether with a fork. Voila!

photo 5

Roasted Eggplant Salad

- Elspeth 1 Comment

Like many out there, I tend to fixate on one ingredient for a few weeks and act like the world revolves around that single creation of nature.

“Why don’t you want to try my salmon skin milkshake? Are you seriously telling me that you’ve reached max capacity for Omega-3s today? Chug-a-lug, brah.”

photo 1-1

I haven’t gotten sick of chick peas yet, which have been my recent light-of-my-life, love-of-my-world item. Baked, fried, mashed, sauteed, pureed; wherever the wind takes you with these gold nuggets is heavenly, so I keep my shelves stocked with 5-6 cans. More if I can eat other things to make way for cases upon cases of garbanzo bliss.

This salad is great on toast or with any additionals you have lying around. The original recipe didn’t call for chick peas or avocado (which was just crazy talk), so I took the liberty of adding liberal amounts of both.

photo 3-1

Roasted Eggplant Salad with Chick Peas, Avocado, and Goat Cheese

adapted slightly from The Kitchn

3 small eggplants
salt
3 T cider vinegar
1/3 c olive oil
1 T honey
1 t paprika
1/2 t cumin
4 cloves garlic, minced
3 T lemon juice
2 T soy sauce
3/4 c toasted almonds, or smoked, coarsely chopped
1 can garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
2 oz goat cheese, crumbled
1 avocado, diced
2 scallions, sliced finely

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Peel and chop the eggplant into 1-in cubes. Place in a strainer in the sink and sprinkle generously with salt. In a small bowl, whisk together olive oil, vinegar, honey, paprika, cumin, and garlic. Pat the eggplant dry and transfer to a large bowl. Pour the marinade over the eggplant and stir to coat evenly, then spread evenly onto two baking sheets (use parchment paper for easy clean up). Bake for 40 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes. Remove and let cool. Whisk together the lemon juice and soy sauce, then pour over the eggplant in a large bowl and stir to coat. Add the beans, almonds, cheese, and avocado; stir to combine. Sprinkle with the scallions and serve warm.

It’s kind of like crack, but you didn’t hear it from me.

photo 4-1