Sun-Dried Tomato Risotto

Mmmmm.  Risotto.  Sun-dried tomatoes.  These are a few of my favorite things.

This is a Pioneer Woman recipe but I made it using a Barefoot Contessa cooking technique that makes any risotto recipe extremely easy and fail proof.  I ate it for lunch.  And an afternoon snack.  And breakfast the next day.  I'm addicted to risotto!

Ingredients:  butter, olive oil, onion (I used a leek just because I had one leftover from another recipe and wanted to use it up), garlic, Arborio rice, sun-dried tomatoes, dry white wine, chicken stock or broth, salt, pepper, parmesean cheese and heavy whipping cream.

Chop up the leek or onion and mince the garlic.

Add the oil to a pot and cook the leek and garlic for a few minutes until soft.

Then add in the rice and all but 1 cup of the stock.  Cover and bake in the oven at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.

Meanwhile, dice the butter, mince the tomatoes and shred the parmesean cheese.

When the rice comes out of the oven it should have absorbed all of the liquid and it will be tender when you bite into it.

Add in the remaining stock, wine, butter and cheese and stir vigorously for a couple of minutes until all of the liquid is absorbed.

Then add in the sun-dried tomatoes and a splash of cream.

Mix it together and season with salt and pepper to taste.

Lunch is served!  If you have some fresh basil on hand you can add a little.  I didn't :(  But it was simple and delicious on it's own!

Link to the printable recipes:

Pioneer Woman Sun-Dried Tomato Risotto

Barefoot Contessa Easy Risotto in the Oven

Mocha Chocolate Icebox Cake

So...I'm ashamed to admit that I got a little carried away this weekend and made two desserts.  Oops ;)  It turns out they were both INCREDIBLE (check out this post for the other).  I can't decide which was my favorite.  They were both so dang AMAZING.  I love a good icebox cake and this one is now my favorite.  Chocolate chip cookies?  Espresso?  Kahlua?  Heavy cream?  Yes please!!

Ingredients:  heavy cream, mascarpone cheese, sugar, Kahlua, cocoa powder, instant espresso powder, vanilla, and crisp chocolate chp cookies such as Chip's Ahoy (or Great Value if you shop at Wal-Mart ;) ).

Add the cream, mascarpone, sugar, Kahlua, cocoa, espresso powder and vanilla to the bowl of an electric mixer.

And whip it...whip it good!  Until soft peaks form.

Then layer the bottom of a springform pan with the cookies.  Break them up if you need to make them fit.  They don't need to be pretty - you won't see them once they are layered in between the cream.  You can use any chocolate chip cookies you want just as long as they are crisp.  They will soften from the cream and you don't want them to end up soggy.

Then spread over a smooth layer of the cream.  An offset spatula works great here if you have one.

Repeat, alternating cookies and cream.

Until you've used up all the cream.  I think I ended up with four layers but it will vary depending on the size of your cookies and your springform pan.  I should mention that the whole point of using a springform pan is so you can remove the cake and it will keep its shape.  But you can put this in any dish you prefer.  I store it in the pan, so in hindsight a pretty rectangular server would have been a better choice for me :P

Cover and store in the refrigerator overnight.  When you take it out the next day the cookies will be soft and cake-like and it will hold it's shape.  You can also garnish it with shaved chocolate or sprinkle it with cocoa powder.  However, I completely forgot to do this because I was so eager to dig in!

O. M. G.  This was so, so good.  Cool, light and fluffy but deeply flavored with coffee and chocolate.  Perfect desert for warm weather!

Link to the printable recipe:

Mocha Chocolate Icebox Cake

Source:  Barefoot Contessa

Spicy, Creamy Baked Mac & Cheese

Macaroni and cheese is hands down my favorite comfort food.  I have several different recipes I like to make.  I even love the cheapo boxed kind.  This recipe is great because you can make it ahead of time and refrigerate it until you're ready to bake it.  And you don't have to make a pan sauce, which makes it ultra convenient!  It's very creamy and very well seasoned.

Ingredients:  elbow pasta, sharp cheddar cheese, Colby cheese, Monterrey pepper jack cheese, flour, salt, pepper, cayenne pepper, dry mustard, nutmeg, sour cream, egg, heavy cream, half and half and onion.

Start by cubing all of the cheese except 1/2 of the cheddar, which needs to be shredded and reserved.

Mix the flour and spices in a large bowl.

Then add the rest of the ingredients except the cheese and pasta.  Use a fine cheese grater to grate the onion.  You won't notice it in the dish because it will be super fine but it really brings out the flavors in the other ingredients.

Whisk it all together.

Cook the pasta until it is slightly underdone and add it to a baking dish with the cubed cheese.

Then pour the cream sauce over.

And top with the reserved shredded cheddar cheese.  You can also top it with croutons, bread crumbs or sliced tomatoes.  But I like mine cheesy, creamy and simple :)

Bake at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes until melted and bubbly.

Hello lover!

Link to the printable recipe:

Spicy Macaroni and Cheese

Source:  Sunny Anderson

Pots de Creme

This is by far the easiest desert with the fanciest name out there.  It's pronounced poh deh crehm (not pawts day cream).  If you want to impress someone with your fantastic cooking skills...MAKE THIS!

Ingredients:  semi-sweet chocolate, eggs, vanilla, salt and coffee.

Place the chocolate chips in a blender.

Add the eggs, vanilla and a pinch of salt.  IMPORTANT:  the eggs must be room temperature.  When a recipe calls for room temperature eggs I rarely ever remember to set them out, so what I usually do is soak them in a bowl of hot tap water for about 5 minutes or so.  That usually does the trick!

Blend on low for about 20 seconds or so to break up the chocolate and combine with the other ingredients.

With the blender running, slowly pour in the very hot, very strong brewed coffee.

Once the coffee is in, blend for about 30 seconds or so more until the mixture is smooth and you can't see any more chunks of chocolate.

Pour into serving dishes.  You can use desert bowls, wine glasses, martini glasses, goblets...whatever you have!

Cover and chill in the refrigerator for a few hours to set.  Serve with a dollop of whipped cream.  I had some Kahlua sitting around so I added a little to my whipped cream.  Oh my Lord...

You can substitute anything you want for the vanilla.  Liqueurs or extracts such as hazelnut, orange, mint, raspberry or coffee would all be delicious.

The texture is light and fluffy like mousse but the flavor is so rich and decadent.  This recipe is a home run!  It literally took me five minutes to make.  Don't tell anybody... ;)

Link to the printable recipe:

Pots de Creme

Source:  Pioneer Woman

Buttermilk Ranch Dressing

I have tried three different homemade ranch dressing recipes (four if you count the Hidden Valley Ranch packet :D ) and this one takes the cake.  Did I mention it only has five ingredients?!?  You heard me...FIVE!

Ingredients:  garlic, scallions, buttermilk, mayonnaise and dried dill.

Add the scallions and garlic to a food processor.

And pulse until the garlic is minced.

Then add the buttermilk and mayo.

Process until smooth and creamy.

Transfer to an air-tight container and season with salt, pepper and dill to taste.

And if you want to get a little crazy and add ingredient number SIX...you can drop in a few dashes of Tabasco.  But this is optional...

Serve it over a bed of iceberg or romaine lettuce.  Simple, easy, perfect Ranch dressing!

Link to the printable recipe:

Buttermilk Ranch Dressing

Source:  Claire Robinson