Wild Mushroom and Pea Risotto

Wild Mushroom and Pea Risotto

I wanted to use both Oyster and Shitake fresh mushrooms for this, but the dang bin at the store was cleared out of Shitake when I went there. So I got some baby Bellas instead. I’m finally back in the kitchen and this sounded like a great side to some quick pan-seared chicken Parmesan cutlets I had planned on making.

I made a slight oops on the amount of liquid per rice, but was able to boil it down to reduce the sauce in the risotto. It was still a bit soupy but we were all hungry. I have adjusted the recipe below accordingly. I’m glad to be back in the kitchen, I tell you. Back issues are getting resolved now and all that.

My daughter doesn’t like mushrooms so she picked them out of the risotto, but she ended up going back for two helpings of it! She also said the chicken was fantastic and wanted me to make it again although it was not a “recipe” per se. Just some seasonings, cutlets dredged in milk then coated with Panko and Parmesan. Sometimes kids are just that easy to please!

Note: This is made in a pressure cooker. If you don’t have a pressure cooker, the method to make stovetop risotto is widely available on the internet.

Wild Mushroom and Pea Risotto

4 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided
1/2 cup finely diced onion
4 ounces mushrooms, any kind, sliced or kept whole if small
1/2 cup dry white wine
1 cup Arborio or California Pearl rice
4 cups homemade or low-sodium chicken broth
A few sprigs of thyme
1/2 cup frozen sweet peas, thawed
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese, from a block

Risotto Ingredients

Heat your pressure cooker (at minimum 3-quart size) over medium-high heat. Add 2 tablespoons of the butter, then add the chopped onions and mushrooms. Cook until soft, about 5 minutes.

Sautéed Mushrooms and Onions

Add the dry white wine and bring to a boil. Boil for a few minutes more then add the rice, the chicken broth, and the sprigs of thyme.

Put on the lid to your pressure cooker and lock into place, then bring up the pressure to high according to manufacturer’s directions.

Once the pot is up to pressure, set the timer for 7 minutes. (I quickly pan-seared the coated chicken at this point.)

Pan-Seared Panko Parmesan Chicken

At the end of the 7 minute-timer, remove pressure cooker from heat and run the pot under cold water to release the pressure immediately. (Or if you have an electronic one, release pressure according to manufacturer’s directions.) Don’t remove the lid until all pressure is released.

Peas and Cheese Added

Remove the sprigs of thyme and stir in the rest of the butter, the peas, and the half cup of Parmesan cheese. (You can reduce on stovetop if too soupy, but I did adjust the amount of liquid in the above recipe.)

Serve with additional grated Parmesan cheese if you want and your protein of choice.

Wild Mushroom and Pea Risotto

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Spicy Shrimp and Leek Pot Pie

Spicy Shrimp and Leek Pot Pie

We’ve been on a bit of a shrimp binge lately (not a bad thing) as we scored some shrimp at an awesome price recently. Earlier in the day before I cooked this, I made a pot of golden shrimp stock from my hoard of frozen shrimp shells. I ended up with over 8 cups of gorgeous broth!

Golden Shrimp Stock

Since I am an admitted failure at all things pastry, I decided to use frozen puff pastry for this, but all I could find at the store I went to were these completely odd-shaped puff pastry disks that puff up to an enormous height (for a pot pie cover, that is).

Well this was a half-baked idea…

Being the complete ignoramus that I am (admittedly again) about all things bread, I had this stupid ingenious idea to bake them halfway until half-puffed, then place them on the pot pies to finish baking. Well. That didn’t work as I expected as they never fully puffed up all the way. So we’ll just ignore the puffs in the photos and focus on the heart of the dish, which is this completely amazing spicy/veggie/shrimp yummy mixture that you end up with and who the heck cares about the puff, right??

The only other thing to note about this recipe is that I’ll probably parboil the potatoes first next time. It took WAY longer than I expected to soften during the sauté process, even though they were diced fairly small.

Many thanks to Culinary Chronicles for this inspiration. I adapted it quite a bit for the ingredients I had, but certainly head over to look at her recipe as she seems to have a better handle on what a puff pastry should look like when cooked properly. 😀

Aside from the lame puff, both me and the hubs really enjoyed this a LOT. Hubby liked it so much he ate two ramekins of it that night. I reserved the last one for my lunch the next day. (And I even cheated and threw out the old puff and puffed up a new one for it, ha!)

p.s. (Happy Easter to all those who celebrate! We’ll be having the obligatory ham with asparagus and my Pecorino Romano Scalloped Potatoes.)

Spicy Shrimp and Leek Pot Pie
Adapted from Culinary Chronicles Shrimp Pot Pie

2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/4 cup diced celery
1/4 cup diced carrots
1 cup chopped leeks, white and light green parts only, washed thoroughly and drained
2 teaspoons minced garlic
2 sprigs fresh thyme
1 cup diced red potatoes
1/4 dry sherry (good quality, not cooking sherry)
1/2 pound (8 ounces) raw shrimp, peeled, deveined and chopped
1/2 cup frozen peas, thawed
1/2 teaspoon Sriracha sauce, or to taste
1/8 cup flour
1 cup homemade Shrimp Stock or use good quality store-bought seafood stock
1/4 cup Half and Half (or milk)
Sea salt and ground black pepper, to taste
1 egg, beaten with a splash of water
Frozen puff pastry (sheets if you can find them)

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Chop the veggies and shrimp into even bite-sized pieces.

Chopped Potatoes and Leeks

In a large skillet, melt the butter over medium heat then add the celery, carrots, leeks, and potatoes. Sauté until softened, about 20 minutes.

Colorful Veggies!

Meanwhile, toss the shrimp with the Sriracha sauce until evenly seasoned. Set aside.

Add the garlic and thyme sprigs to the skillet and cook for a few more minutes. Pour in the sherry and let it reduce for a few minutes.

Shrimp and Peas Added

Meanwhile whisk the flour and shrimp or seafood stock together in a bowl and set aside. Mix the shrimp and thawed peas to the skillet.

Pour flour slurry into the skillet and cook for several more minutes. Add the Half and Half or milk, whisking constantly until the mixture has thickened.

Shrimp Pot Pie Filling

Remove the skillet from the heat then take out the thyme sprigs. Season the mixture with sea salt and ground black pepper, to taste.

Ladle the filling into individual ramekins or other ovenproof dishes. Cover each dish with a puff pastry and brush with the egg/water wash. As a treat for any pets you might have, microwave the rest of the egg as a treat for them!

Place the pot pies onto a baking sheet lined with foil, then transfer to the preheated oven. Bake the pies for about 20 minutes until the crusts are golden brown. Remove and let cool a few minutes. Serve with a side salad.

Spicy Shrimp and Leek Pot Pie (This is my next day lunch pie.)

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Classic French Onion Soup

Classic French Onion Soup

I put onions on the shopping list, and good ol’ hubby came home with a 5-pound bag of them! I typically buy two or three at a time, sometimes a couple of sweet and a yellow, sometimes a red. But 5-pounds of yellow onions?! So of course, I had to make some French Onion Soup.

I have made this soup before, but the results were less than satisfying. So I printed out my handy-dandy PDF copy, then went to work at scratching out items and modifying amounts and ingredients. I was extremely pleased with this version of the Classic French Onion Soup. WAY better than the last one. I hope you think so too!

Classic French Onion Soup

1 1/2 pounds medium yellow onions
3 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/4 cup dry sherry (the good stuff, not cooking sherry!)
1 sprig thyme
1 bay leaf
4 cups homemade beef stock, or low sodium chicken broth
1/2 teaspoon cider vinegar
Salt and ground black pepper, to taste, if needed
Thick slices French bread
Butter for bread
Grated Gruyere cheese, enough for topping

Sliced Onions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Meanwhile, slice the onions thin. This is a piece of cake if you have a mandoline slicer, and I adore mine! Next, add the butter to a soup pot or Dutch oven that has an oven-proof lid and melt it over medium heat.

Buttered Onions

Add the onions to the melted butter, stirring around to coat. Cover and cook over medium heat for 20 minutes.

Uncover and give the onions a good stir, then recover and add the pot to the oven, leaving a crack in the lid. After 30 minutes, uncover the pot and give the onions another good stir.

Onions Halfway Cooked

Leaving uncovered, cook for another 45 minutes, stirring them every 10 or 15 minutes, until they are caramel brown.

Caramelized Onions

Once the onions are brown and caramelized, take the pot out of the oven and place on the stove over medium heat. Add the sherry and deglaze the pot, including scraping all the brown bits from the edges. Cook for about 5 more minutes, until the sherry reduces about half. Add the thyme sprig, bay leaf, and beef or chicken broth. If you don’t have homemade beef stock, I have read the soup will come out much better using a good quality store-bought chicken broth rather than beef.

Simmer the soup for 20 minutes, then finish it off with the cider vinegar. Take a sip, and season to taste with salt and/or pepper. I found it only needed just a pinch of salt, but I always use a lot of pepper.

About 10 minutes before you are ready to eat, slice enough French bread to top the amount of individual ramekins you will be cooking. Butter the tops of the slices, then place them in the oven or toaster oven on broil for a few minutes, until browned and crispy.

Soup Ready for Broiling

Ladle soup into the ramekins, top with a slice of crispy bread, then top with a good amount of grated Gruyere cheese. Broil for several minutes until the cheese is melted and bubbly. Remove carefully from oven, and serve immediately.

French Onion Soup ~ Please forgive my horribly focused shot!

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