I apologize for my several-month hiatus. Life this fall was unexpected with work being unusually stressful and hectic, my sister living with us while taking prerequisite nursing classes, my grandmother passing away, several trips to see family, and then, of course, the holidays. I loved having my sister so close–being able to try new recipes with her, sitting and watching girly movies, and just hanging out together. Spending time with my sister and family was a much higher priority (and let’s be honest, way more fun!) than sitting in front of my computer screen after a long day of work and meeting deadlines to write eloquently and persuasively about a delicious and tempting new recipe you have to try. However, with the holidays and crazy deadlines behind me and a new year full of potential ahead, I’m ready to get back to a consistent posting groove. I hope you will stick with me in this new year of recipes and life!

So, to kick off the year, let’s start big! As you know, I love risotto! It is one of my favorite cold-weather comfort foods and so versatile because you can throw almost anything into risotto. I’m always looking for new ideas of how to make risotto different and delicious; my most recent inspiration came from a surprising place. A week before Christmas, I was on the treadmill at the gym, trying to run the work-stress out of my body, and one of the gym staff members changed the channel of the TV hanging in front of my treadmill. Normally, they have the news and Sports Center on all the TVs. (I actually don’t mind watching basketball or baseball games on TV when I’m treadmilling it. It’s a good motivator to keep going.) But, this guy changed it to the Nate Berkus show. I’d never even heard of the show, but it caught my attention because I recognized his guest…Michael Chiarello. Will and I love Michael Chiarello’s restaurant Bottega in Yountville and his former restaurant Tra Vigne in St. Helena. So, of course, I was hooked! Michael was showing Nate Berkus and the audience how to make a dip that Will and I have been trying to figure out how to make for months (look for more on that in a later post!), but then he turned to making butternut squash risotto. Oh my goodness! I was ready to leave the gym early and go home to make it right away. However, I did finish my workout. And, we ended up making the butternut squash risotto with my family a week later. The butternut squash is full of flavor and surprisingly light, enhanced by its combination with the fontina cheese and sage in the risotto. It does take a little bit of time to make this, as you need to prepare the butternut squash prior to starting the risotto, but it’s well worth your time. For the roasted squash, I actually halved the recipe for the seasoning mixture, as the first time we made this, the mixture on top became scorched and we scraped it off. The halved version turned out perfectly though. My altered version is below. Everyone loved this dish, and I will definitely be making this recipe regularly during the fall and winter. I hope you enjoy it as much as we do!

Butternut Squash and Fontina Val d’Aosta Risotto
Adapted from Michael Chiarello

Ingredients:

Roasted Squash
2 cups 1-inch cubes butternut squash (from a 4-pound squash)
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter
1 Tablespoon finely shredded fresh sage, or 1 Tablespoon minced garlic
2 Tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 Tablespoon brown sugar
Sea salt, preferably gray salt, and freshly ground black pepper

Risotto
About 6 cups chicken stock
3 Tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 cup finely chopped yellow onion
2 cups Arborio rice
1 Tablespoon minced garlic
1 cup dry white wine
1 Tablespoon finely shredded fresh sage
3 cups shredded fontina cheese (not packed)
About 1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Directions:

For the squash: Preheat the oven to 350F. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil. Put the squash chunks into a large bowl.

Heat a large sauté pan or skillet over medium-high heat and melt the butter until it foams and begins to brown. Add the sage (or the garlic, one or the other but not both), followed by the vinegar and brown sugar. Stand back, as the mixture may spatter. Season with salt and pepper and simmer for 1 to 2 minutes to meld the flavors, stirring gently to dissolve the sugar. Pour the mixture over the squash and toss well.

Arrange the squash on the prepared pan, cover with aluminum foil, and bake until very tender and caramelized, about 40 minutes. Remove the foil and increase the oven temperature to 425ºF for 5 minutes to caramelize the squash further. Remove from the oven and baste the squash with the liquid in the pan. Let cool briefly, then puree in a food processor until creamy. For the risotto: In a medium saucepan, bring the stock to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat to low and keep it at the barest simmer while you make the risotto.

For the risotto: Heat a large sauté pan or heavy medium saucepan over medium heat, add the olive oil, and cook the onion until soft, about 10 minutes. Add the rice and the minced garlic and cook, stirring frequently, until the rice is pearly white with a translucent outer layer. Add the wine and cook, stirring, until very little liquid is left in the pan. Ladle in 1 cup of the hot stock. Reduce the heat to medium-low, keep the rice at a gentle simmer, while stirring frequently, until almost all the liquid is gone. Ladle in 1/2 cup of the hot stock and repeat, ladling in 1/2 cup of stock each time most of the liquid has been absorbed. All together, counting from the first cup of stock, you’ll stir and cook for about 18 to 25 minutes. Taste the rice to decide when it’s done: it should be creamy, firm in the center but without any hint of crunch. Stir in the butternut mixture, remove from the heat, and stir in the shredded sage and the fontina. Serve and enjoy!

Spinach, Potato, Bacon, & Goat Cheese Frittata

Ingredients:

4 cups fresh spinach

1 lb. red potatoes, diced in 1/2-inch pieces

7 slices bacon, cut into bite-sized pieces

10 eggs

3 Tablespoons half and half (you could also use milk)

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1/2 cup goat cheese, crumbled

Directions:

Adjust oven rack to top of oven and set to broil.

Place spinach in saute pan over medium high heat, cooking until wilted. Take off heat and allow to cool, squeezing out excess liquid. Cook potatoes in microwave, then dice into bite-sized piece. Cook bacon until crispy, and cut into bite-sized pieces.

Whisk eggs, half and half, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper together in bowl until combined. Add spinach, potato, and bacon to egg mixture, mixing thoroughly. Melt butter in a saute pan (preferably nonstick) over medium heat. Once butter begins to foam, pour egg mixture into pan. Drop 1/2 cup of goat cheese evenly into the egg mixture in the pan. Turn heat down to low. When the eggs have set and thickened, and only the surface is runny, run the skillet under the broiler for a minute or two, or as soon as the frittata “sets.”

Note: A frittata can also be cooked completely in the oven. Place egg mixture into a round, buttered baking dish. Bake in oven heated to 350 degrees for 15 minutes, or until frittata is no longer runny.

Serve and enjoy!

A few weeks ago, I needed to use up a tomato and some last few leaves of basil before my visit to the farmers’ market the following day. I had a little wedge of mozzarella left over from making pizza earlier in the week, and I decided to make a tomato, basil, and mozzarella salad. It’s super easy and quick to make, and it tastes so fresh, reminiscent of the early days of summer. I drizzled a little olive oil and balsamic vinegar on top for extra flavor, not that these ingredients needed it. I hope you give this salad a try and enjoy those last few weeks of warm, summer weather!

Tomatoes, Basil, & Mozzarella Salad

2 large heirloom tomatoes, diced

1 cup basil, julienned

1 cup mozzarella, grated

1 Tablespoon olive oil

1 Tablespoon balsamic vinegar

Pinch of salt and pepper to taste.

Directions:

Dice tomatoes and place in salad bowl. Julienne basil leaves and add to bowl. Grate mozzarella cheese and add to tomatoes and basil in bowl. Drizzle olive oil and balsamic vinegar on top, adding salt and pepper to taste. Toss, serve, and enjoy!

This orzo pasta is extremely light and fresh. It can be served either hot or cold, and just as easily be a side dish or the main course. And, the main ingredients are tomatoes and basil, what else do you need? I hope you enjoy this pasta dish as much as we do.

Orzo with Tomato Vinaigrette

Adapted from Giada De Laurentiis

Ingredients:

1 pound cherry tomatoes

1 pound orzo pasta

Vinaigrette:

1/2 cup packed fresh basil leaves, torn

2 Tablespoons apple cider vinegar

2 Tablespoons olive oil

1 Tablespoon honey

1 Tablespoon salt (Giada used smoked salt, but regular works as well)

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1/3 cup grated Parmesan

Directions:

My sister is currently staying with us while she completes prerequisite courses she needs to get into nursing school. With her, she brought a whole box of recipes. Some are recipes I gave her, some are recipes my mom has passed down to both of us, but the ones I’m most excited about are the recipes that I have yet to try. She has recipes that I’ve never seen before and that make my mouth water as I read through their ingredients. The first one to catch my eye had to be made first: chocolate thumbprint cookies filled with Nutella. These are my kind of cookie. They are so rich and decadent, and they look very elegant. I’m thinking these will be one of the cookies I bake this holiday season to bring to my neighbors.

What do you think:  Do you prefer the Chocolate Hazelnut Thumbprint Cookies or the Nutella Cookies?

Chocolate-Hazelnut Thumbprints

Ingredients:

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup powdered sugar

1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup butter, softened

2 large egg yolks

1 teaspoon instant espresso (optional)

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

2/3 cup finely chopped hazelnuts, toasted

1/3 cup Nutella

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Lightly spoon flour into a dry measuring cup; level with a knife. Combine flour, sugar, cocoa, and salt; stir with a whisk. Place butter in a large bowl, and beat with a mixer at medium speed until light and fluffy (about 2 minutes). Stir egg yolks with a whisk, adding espresso, if desired. Add the yolk mixture and vanilla to butter; beat well. Add flour mixture to butter mixture; beat at low speed just until combined.

Turn dough out onto a sheet of wax paper; knead 6 times or until smooth and shiny. Shape dough into 28 (1-inch) balls. Roll sides of balls in nuts, pressing gently. Arrange balls 1 inch apart on baking sheets lined with parchment paper. Press thumb into center of each cookie, leaving an indentation. Bake for 10 minutes. Remove cookies from pans; cool completely on wire racks. Spoon a scant 1/2 teaspoon hazelnut-chocolate spread into center of each cookie. Serve and enjoy!

One night a couple weeks ago, I was feeling particularly unmotivated to make dinner, and I was staring into the fridge as if it would spontaneously tell me what to make. I had a container of ricotta cheese that I needed to use that week before it passed its expiration date, and I was determined to use it in some way. Most of the recipes I have call for baking the ricotta with pasta, but ricotta is just as delicious “raw.” I had just been to the farmers’ market and had bought a baguette from a local bakery and some perfectly ripe heirloom tomatoes. We decided to make a bruschetta of sorts with the ricotta, ripe tomatoes, and some basil growing on our balcony. It needed hardly any seasoning, just a dash of salt and pepper, because the tomatoes and basil were so flavorful against the ricotta. We ended up eating this as our meal, but I am looking forward to making it as an appetizer the next time we have friends over for dinner. Give it a try. I would love to know what you think!

Ricotta, Tomatoes, & Basil Bruschetta

Ingredients:

1 baguette, thinly sliced and toasted

1 container ricotta cheese

2 heirloom tomatoes, diced

1/2 cup tightly packed leaves of basil, julienned

Salt

Pepper

Directions:

Spoon the ricotta into a large bowl. Add the diced tomatoes and julienned basil. Add salt and pepper to taste. Spread evenly over toasted bread. Serve and enjoy!

Cantaloupe Slices with Prosciutto

Ingredients:

Cantaloupe, sliced evenly

Prosciutto, thinly sliced

Directions:

After slicing the cantaloupe into even slices, take a piece of prosciutto and wrap it around the cantaloupe. Repeat this until all cantaloupe is wrapped in prosciutto. Serve and enjoy!

Directions:

Pour warm polenta into a sheet pan and smooth evenly. Set in refrigerator for at least 20 minutes. Cut into blocks or strips, depending on desired thickness. Heat 2 Tablespoons olive oil over medium high heat, placing cut polenta into pan. Cook until slightly browned. Serve immediately with desired sauces and enjoy.

How do you prefer to eat polenta?

Polenta is made from cornmeal. It can be made a variety of different ways and served with different meats and sauces. Served with meat, it make a very hearty and filling meal. Below is the recipe I adapted from Marcella Hazan and served with homemade bolognese sauce. The traditional method of cooking polenta requires consistent stirring for the 45 minutes it cooks, however, I have included a minimal stirring method below. Check back next week for what I did with the leftover polenta!

Basic Polenta

Adapted from Marcella Hazan’s Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking

Ingredients:

7 cups water

1 Tablespoon salt

1-2/3 cups coarse-grained Italian yellow cornmeal

1/2 Tablespoon rosemary

3/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan

Directions:

Bring the water to a boil in a large, heavy pot.

Add the salt, keep the water  boiling at a medium-high heat, and add the cornmeal in a very thing stream. The entire time you are adding the cornmeal, stir it with a whisk, and make sure the water is always boiling.

When you have put in all the cornmeal, stir with a long-handled wooden spoon for 2 minutes, then cover the pot. Adjust heat so that the water bubbles at a lively simmer, but not at a full boil. When the polenta has cooked for 10 minutes, uncover and stir for 1 full minute, then cover again. After another 10 minutes, stir again, then cover, let cook another 10 minutes, stir once more, and in 10 minutes, repeat the procedures.

Forty minutes will have elapsed, and the polenta will need another 5 minutes to shed its graininess and come together into a soft, creamy mass. Just before you take if off the heat, stir it vigorously for about 1 minute, loosening it from the pot. Add the rosemary and Parmesan cheese, stirring until incorporated. Spoon polenta into bowl and spoon bolognese sauce on top. Serve and enjoy!

After Will proposed and we discussed wedding plans, we both knew we wanted mille foglie instead of some run-of-the-mill, potentially dry, and super expensive wedding cake. In the course of our dating years, Will had been a part of many family meals that ended with a big slice of mille foglie, and he loved the taste of the cake as much as I did. We got many compliments on our delicious and unexpected cake on our special day.

Since we are not living near Dianda’s, we have to wait for a special family occasion when we are in the Bay Area to enjoy our favorite dessert…that is until I stumbled across several mille foglie recipes and decided to try making it myself. It is actually surprisingly easy to make and assemble. I pulled from various recipes to create the recipe below. I think the next time I make this, I might cook the puff pastry a little longer to get it a little more crispy. You can make your own puff pastry or buy it in the store. (I bought it for the sake of brevity and uncertainty about whether the cake would actually turn out as I hoped).

This is a great dessert to impress dinner guests. Top it with fresh strawberries. Give it a try and let me know what you think! I hope you enjoy this dessert as much as we do!

Ingredients

1 sheet puff pastry, thawed (or, you can make your own)

2 Tablespoons flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

2/3 cup sugar

4 large egg yolks, room temperature

2 cups whole milk

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

homemade whipped cream

Directions

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Place between two sheet pans with a piece of parchment paper above and below the pastry. Lay dough on top and poke with fork all over to prevent over rising. Bake until golden brown and very crisp, about 15 to 20 minutes. Cool completely on rack. Using a serrated knife, trim pastry so edges are straight and even in shape. Divide into 3 even strips.

Whisk together the flour, salt, and sugar in a saucepan. In a mixing bowl, whisk the milk into the yolks. Then whisk them into the flour-sugar mixture. Whisk well to be sure all the flour is picked up off the pan bottom and dissolved.

Set the pan over medium heat and cook the custard mixture for about 12 minutes, until it thickens and comes to a boil (Stir with a wooden spoon on and off for the first 5 minutes, then stir constantly for about 7 minutes longer) until the mixture really thickens and reaches a boil and fat heavy bubbles work up to the surface and burst between stirs. The cream is sufficiently cooked if it is smooth and thick and will generously coat the spoon. If the cream is lumpy, pass it through a strainer set over a bowl. Stir in the vanilla. Cool, cover, and refrigerate (the cream should be cool enough to use after about 15 minutes).