Relaxation through Risotto

 There is something so relaxing about making risotto. Risotto has a meditative quality to it. There is structure involved in preparing and cutting your accompanying ingredients. In stirring and ladling the stock, watching it be absorbed and repeating the process. It is a quiet process, with a saucepan of simmering stock on a back burner, the slow hiss of vegetables being sauteed in luxurious olive oil and a pad of organic butter.

The key to good great risotto is exceptional ingredients. There aren't that many so it is worth it to be choosy. After that, you can combine it with anything on hand. I had a few select ingredients tucked away in the freezer from a recent Trader Joe's adventure calling my name.

I recommend making a risotto earlier in the day- a weekend for most of us. It does take about 30 minutes if you are a speedster and can be done after work. But if you want to reveal in its glory and enjoy the process give yourself 45 minutes of stress free "me time." The payoff is this lusciously rich yet light dish that tickles your taste-buds and soothes your mind, body and soul. I'm on cloud 9 just thinking about having it over 19 hours ago. The most difficult part is not eating it all. I can't wait to puree it for Delilah and watch her eyes roll back in her head at the flavor profiles. Enjoy!

Late Autumn Risotto                                        

Basic Risotto:
10 sage leaves, stems discarded
1 sprig rosemary
1 qt good quality low sodium vegetable stock
Olive oil
3 tbsp organic unsalted butter
1/2 a onion, chopped
1 cup arborio rice
1/2 cup semi-dry or dry white wine (that you would enjoy drinking)
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, grated

Autumn Topping:
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1/4 a onion, chopped
1 lb sliced mushrooms (cremini and shitakie)
1/2 cup sliced leek, white and light green only                          
10-12 frozen artichoke hearts, thawed
roasted brussel sprouts, optional                                            

salt and pepper


Heat 1 tbsp olive oil and 1/2 tbsp butter in a large, heavy skillet on medium-high. Fry the sage leaves and rosemary sprig, 2-3 minutes per side, then remove and drain on paper towel. Add 1/4 of the onion to the pan till fragrant, 2-3 minutes. Add the mushrooms to sautee till tender. Season with salt and pepper to taste then remove with a slotted spoon and set aside. If needed, add more oil or butter before sauteing leeks and artichokes till lightly browned. Season with salt and pepper then remove from the pan and set aside.

Meanwhile, simmer the stock in a saucepan on medium-low. If needed, pour a glug of the wine to deglaze the pan and remove burnt bits. Heat 1 tbsp each of olive oil and butter. Saute the remaining onion 2-3 minutes before adding the garlic, 1-2 minutes more. Add the rice to the pan to toast the grains till fragrant, 1 minute. Add the wine, stirring as the rice absorbs the liquid. Once the wine has been absorbed, add one ladle  of stock, stirring until it has been absorbed, about 2 minutes. Then repeat, adding stock one ladle at a time, stirring until the rice has absorbed it, about 2 minutes each time before repeating. Make sure to stay nearby to stir almost constantly.  This process takes about 20 minutes for the rice to become tender and release its starches. You may have a ladle of stock leftover or you may need to add water at the end if you run out of the stock- it depends on the rice. Once the rice has absorbed as much liquid as it will, turn the heat off and add 1 tbsp more of butter and the Parmesan cheese.  Spoon the risotto into your bowl. Top with sauteed vegetables. Lay a sage leaf or two on top and break up with fork when ready to eat. And then savor it! For some extra protein you can add sauteed cannellini beans or crisp pancetta.

Ammunition

 

I started out making baby food combinations based on recipes I found from favorite chefs, blogs and websites. Some of my favorites are Tyler Florence, French Foodie Baby, WholesomeBaby and Weelicious. Now that I have been at it for a few months I have started developing my own recipes. 

It appeared that I was running low on my freezer supply so I gathered leftover ingredients from the past two weeks of holiday recipes to create a flavorful, fresh and seasonal Delilah approved puree. This recipe would be a delicious accompaniment to a poultry dish, as well!

Carrot-Cranberry Apricot Puree with Citrus

3 medium Organic Carrots, chopped into 1" pieces

 (I used a combination of Red and Yellow locally grown beauties)

1/2 cup cranberries

5 dried apricots

1/2 water

zest of one clementine (or 1/2 of an orange. Grapefruit zest would be great, too!)

In a medium saucepan combine all the ingredients except the zest. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat to a simmer and cover until carrots are tender, apricots have plumped up and cranberries have burst, about 30 minutes. Remove from heat and puree using an immersion blender or transfer to a blender. Once pureed fold in zest. Divide portions. Enjoy!

She didn't give me a chance to snap a photo while she was eating, she scarfed this down so fast! She had a sweet potato-coconut milk with cinnamon puree by Weelicious along side this burgundy delicacy as well as goat cheese. I will definitely be using these photos and this blog as ammo for when she is older and claims she doesn't like such and such foods!

 

Timing

My daughter has never rolled over in her sleep, preferring to sleep on her back, even while she was crying or having a fit in her crib. She didn't move. "Sweet," I naively thought. Earlier this week she started pivoting in her sleep from the traditional vertical position to a horizontal, head and feet against the bars position. After a few nights of her horizontal pivot shift, and too many wakings to check the monitor that no limbs were stuck,  we decided it was time to lower Delilah's crib.

The same night that her crib was lowered she sat straight up in the middle of the night crying because she didn't know how to get back down. Really funny, the first time. Since then, she has started sleeping on her stomach half way through the night, pushing up on her arms in a cobra pose. I spent the first part of this week anally checking the monitor to make sure she was breathing, as this was the first time she slept on her stomach. I've gotten really good at analyzing the night vision on my video monitor. You'd think she could get herself rolled over like she does during the day, but I think that a different part of the brain is active at night and she hasn't figured that part out yet. So I am waking up throughout the night when she fusses to check the monitor and going in at least once to set her back on her back for sleep. I am looking forward to the night she figures it out and I get better sleep again. I am also aware that next she will learn how to pull herself up on the bars of the crib but not know how to get back down and this process will repeat itself. The beauty of parenthood.

Being Thankful

Today I am thankful for a wonderful husband whom I married three years ago today. We have a gorgeous daughter and beautiful home. We have happiness (most the time!) and generally great health. We are surrounded by amazing family and friends near and far. We are so grateful for all those relationships, some very old and some rather new.

I am also thankful for the delicious food that grows on our earth and roams on its bounty.  It can be rather depressing to think about how all our natural resources are swiftly declining, which includes all the yummy things I love to eat. This time of year is a good time to be mindful about what we eat. Make sure you enjoy it, that you aren't wasteful. I like to educated myself about where my food comes from and if it processed, how so. I want to be able to inform Delilah with this information so she can learn to make her own decisions about what she eats.

I took her to the grocery store last week and she went gaga over the beautiful colors and shapes (we spent a long time in the produce aisle). One fellow customer even asked what she was smiling about  (well she is almost always smiling)! It makes me proud that I have a happy, healthy baby girl who is excited about life and especially food. She had me worried Monday and Tuesday when she wasn't eating that much food, but if you had boogies clogging your nose, I guess you wouldn't want to eat much either. Luckily she is feeling better (mostly just crusties for those wanting to know) and is eating almost like her old self.

In honor of getting over colds, I took the bag of organic pink lady apples we got together from our grocery excursion and a few leftover red delicious and turned them into an apple pie and an apple galette. I just used the leftover dough and saved some apple filling to make the galette so that Bryan and I could taste it today and save the pie for Thanksgiving dessert tomorrow!
Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

Apple-Rosemary Pie

Crust:
2 cups flour (I used Gluten Free)
a dash of salt
2 sticks cold unsalted butter, cubed
8 oz cream cheese (I used greek yogurt style cream cheese for more protein and less fat!)

In a food processor combine dry ingredients. Add the butter and cream cheese. Pulse till a crumbly dough forms. Turn dough out onto a dusted surface. Divide into two. Flatten into a disk. Wrap in plastic if not using right away and put in fridge. (With a baby, sometimes you have to take breaks.)

Filling:
4 lbs or so of organic apples (more is better for tastings...), peeled and sliced (I used pink lady and red delicious)
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1/4 cup white sugar
1 tbsp cinnamon
dash of salt
a few swipes of a fresh nutmeg grated or 1/4 tsp of ground nutmeg spice
4 tbsp cornstarch (more if you are using more apples)
squeeze of fresh lemon juice (about half a juicy lemon)
1 spring rosemary, leaves removed and chopped, stem discarded

1 tbsp cold butter, cubed
1 egg white beaten with 1 tsp water

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Combine apples, sugar, cinnamon, salt, nutmeg, and cornstarch in a large pot set on medium-high. Cover and cook 15-20 minutes, stirring once or twice to prevent burning. Uncover and simmer on low 5 minutes till liquid thickens. Take off heat, add lemon juice and rosemary. Let sit till cool, 20-30 minutes.  Roll out one disk of dough and place in pie pan, letting ends hang. Fill with most apple filling if also making galette or you just want some yummy apples to nosh on while you wait for the pie to bake. Cut the remaining disk of dough in half. Roll out one of the halves and cut strips to make the lattice on top of the pie. Fold hanging edges of crust over the top to form a strong edge. Brush the top of the pie with the egg white mixture for a glossy sheen. Dot top of pie with butter. Bake 1 hour. After half hour, I covered edges of pie with foil so they wouldn't burn. Let cool another hour. Wrap up and hide from view to avoid not having a dessert to bring to your Thanksgiving dinner.


For the Galette:

Roll out the remaining dough and place on a parchment lined baking sheet. Place the remaining apples in the middle of the dough leaving a 2 inch border. Fold the edges over themselves to form a "crust." Dot with a few cubes of butter. Bake 35 minutes at 400 degrees. Let cool 20 minutes before devouring.

Jewish Penicillin for the sick baby.......and mom

As many parents know, when your child is sick you will try anything to make them feel better. It is helpful to realize that their sickness will have to run its course and encouraging to think that their sicknesses now will help them fight future infections later by strengthening their immune system (thanks Aunt Rachie for your medical insight!). Let 's be honest: no one thinks these things during those stressful crying and fussing sessions that seem to never end.

Even after I have put Delilah to bed I find myself worrying about her breathing and is she okay? It is just as stressful as when she was awake, and there is no more wine in this house! Or cookies. Or Once Upon A Time to watch.  So instead let me reminisce about my day of cooking.

I set out at 7:50 am to pick up supplies to make Jewish Penicillin aka Chicken Soup. The kind with the bones and skin. The real stuff. There is something about the fat from the chicken and probably the marrow in the bones that makes you feel better. Not to mention all the health benefits from the vitamins and minerals released by the fresh vegetables and herbs that make the broth taste so good. I finish mine off with a squeeze of fresh lemon and chopped dill. The lemon and herbs are a go-to homeopathic ingredient, having many health benefits. Again, it also just taste darn good.

Chicken Soup with Lemon
(all ingredients are organic as this was for my infant daughter. If that is unattainable splurge on the chicken as it is the main component)
1 whole free range chicken or chicken parts that include the bone and skin
2 stalks celery
2-3 carrots (I used red and yellow locally grown)
1 medium turnip
1 onion
2 cloves garlic
a few springs dill and/or parsley, plus more for garnish
5-6 whole peppercorns
salt to taste
1 lemon

Combine all ingredients except the lemon in a large stock pot. Cover with water till it is 1 inch above the chicken. Bring to a boil. Let simmer for at least 2 hours, more if possible, skimming the surface for impurities. Resist skimming the fat. There shouldn't be that much as there is no added oils and a free range, organic chicken has better quality fat. Take the chicken out on a cutting board and take off the meat. Scoop vegetables out and decide what to keep. Chop the larger pieces into bite size chunks. Strain the stock. Add the lemon juice.

For baby, I kept some of the broth separate. I also pureed a small amount of the chicken and vegetables with some broth.

I think the best part of making this soup is the whole family benefits from the immune boost. As I finish writing this I recall how my own throat has been hurting for the past hour and how I will most likely experience cold symptoms when I wake up. Then Bryan will get them. Hopefully ingesting this soup will make the cold less intense and take less time to get over. Time to get a bowl..........and I only checked the monitor twice!

Hello

It's been how long?! I often think about what I want to write on this blog, usually on my drive to work (when my brain is functioning the best). Then it mysteriously gets forgotten by the time the traffic lights become part of my drive and the teacher in me takes over.

Rather than try and make up posts about things I wanted to say weeks ago I am just going to start from this point on and accept the fact that as a mom my time management is not always rainbows and butterflies.

You know who is sunshine and daffodils?  Delilah! She is so amazing and full of life. And thankfully sleeping through the night 12 hours on average. It has been a tough journey, especially today when her first big cold and possible first tooth cutting collided in a cacophony of cries, snot bubbles and drool. However, when it was time to eat, she was a champ!

She dined on baby spinach and roasted pear puree with Parmesan, apple-cranberry sauce and some chevre cheese for lunch. For dinner she had sweet potato chunks, broccoli mash with lemon and a yam-coconut milk puree with a dash of cinnamon. I am so proud of my adventurous eater!

In other worthy Delilah news, she has added the word "Hello" to her growing vocabulary which currently includes "Mama," "Dada," "Baba " (for bottle), and a breathy sounding "Delilah" (hey, that's a lot of syllables!)

Purees aren't just for Babies

Now that I have the hang of using our Beaba BabyCook to make Delilah's baby food, I am finding more ways to use it for the whole family. I have this fanciful notion that one day, when Delilah eats regular foods, we will all eat the same things. I don't want to be a family where the kids eat "kid meals" and adults eat the adult meal. So now I am thinking up ways to use the same ingredients for both her food and ours until the time comes when she will eat the same textures as we do.

Last week I decided to make a batch of sweet potato pancakes with the remaining sweet potatoes from Delilah's first adventure with solids. I was craving something sweet but harvest-y and wanted an easy breakfast ready to go for the week. I used the same recipe below this week using pureed pumpkin instead of sweet potato with the leftover pumpkin puree I made.

I adapted a recipe from Tyler Florence for Sweet Potato Pancakes. I honestly make mine all different sizes so there is no precise number of pancakes, but it makes a lot. I added chocolate chips to the second half of the batch. Blueberries would be great too!

2 cup flour (I used gluten free all purpose but am considering creating my own out of a few different flours)
1/4 cup sugar ( I used less because my flour mix has sugar in it)
2 tsps Baking Powder
1/2 tsp Baking Soda
Pinch of salt
3 eggs
2 cups Almond Milk
2 Tbsp organic unsalted butter, melted
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups organic sweet potato pureeor pumpkin puree (Steam a peeled and diced sweet potato, puree with some of the steaming liquid, as needed.  For pumpkin, cut a well washed pie pumpkin in half, scoop out the seeds and stringy mush, and place cut side down in a baking dish filled with an inch or two of water. Bake in a 375 degree oven for 40-50 minutes till the flesh is tender and the skin is soft when pushed. Scoop out the flesh and puree with some of the steaming liquid, as needed).
Coconut oil, Grapeseed Oil or Vegetable Oil
Chocolate chips or blueberries (optional)
Maple Syrup and Fresh Ricotta (optional)

Mix the dry ingredients in a large bowl. Beat the eggs with the almond milk. Combine the milk mixture with the butter and vanilla. Make a well in the dry ingredients and add the wet, mixing until just combined. Fold in the Puree. Heat on High a Large skillet or griddle. Grease with oil. Pour ladle fulls of the batter- add chocolate chips or blueberries to each one if using. After 2-3 minutes, when the bubbles stop forming, flip the pancake and cook 1-2 more minutes. Repeat in batches, greasing as necessary.

I enjoyed mine all week with a dollop of ricotta cheese and drizzle of maple syrup. You can cool the pancakes and freeze, reheating as you need them.