Recipes

March Recipes


Mushroom Risotto
By: Maria JeanMarch 11, 2013

Small pkg (1 or 2 oz) dried Porcini mushrooms
1 shallot, diced
2 tablespoons butter
1 cup Arborio rice
½ cup dry white wine
2 tablespoons more butter
Assortment of mushrooms – about a cup (I bought a pkg from Whole Foods)
2-3 cups of broth – see below
Grated cheese
1-2 tablespoons more butter

Rehydrate the dried porcini in 1 ½ cups of hot water & let sit for a few minutes. Drain the mushrooms & dice them. Strain the water in case there’s any dirt. Put the mushroom water in a pot & add enough chicken or vegetable broth to make about 3-4 cups. Keep the broth hot.

In a separate pan, sauté the assorted mushrooms in the butter, add salt & pepper to taste then stir in the rehydrated, diced porcini. Set aside.

In a large frying pan on medium heat, sauté the shallot in the butter & when softened a bit, add the rice. Stir the rice around in the butter for a couple of minutes, then add the white wine. Stir until the wine is mostly absorbed then start adding the hot broth one cup at a time. Stir a few times when you add the broth & add more as it’s absorbed. You don’t have to stir continuously, but often. It should take about 20 minutes. The rice should still be a little bit “al dente”. It should also be moist – not 100% of the broth is absorbed. Add the grated cheese & butter & top with the cooked mushrooms.

This will make 2 appetizer servings or 1 main dish serving.

Note – if you have broth left over, freeze it. You can use it in soup or stew or something like that.

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Rainbow Cookies

By Andrea..

March 11, 2013

• 8 ounces almond paste
• 1 cup butter, softened
• 1 cup white sugar
• 4 eggs, separated
• 2 cups all-purpose flour

• 6 drops red food coloring
• 6 drops green food coloring
• 1/4 cup seedless red raspberry jam
• 1/4 cup apricot jam
• 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips, melted

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line three 9x13 inch baking pans with parchment paper.
2. In a large bowl, break apart almond paste with a fork, and cream together with butter, sugar, and egg yolks. When mixture is fluffy and smooth, stir in flour to form a dough. In a small bowl, beat egg whites until soft peaks form. Fold egg whites into the dough. Divide dough into 3 equal portions. Mix one portion with red food coloring, and one with green food coloring. Spread each portion into one of the prepared baking pans.
3. Bake 10 to 12 minutes in the preheated oven, until lightly browned. Carefully remove from pan and parchment paper, and cool completely on wire racks.
4. Place green layer onto a piece of plastic wrap large enough to wrap all three layers. Spread green layer with raspberry jam, and top with uncolored layer. Spread with apricot jam, and top with pink layer. Transfer layers to a baking sheet, and enclose with plastic wrap. Place a heavy pan or cutting board on top of wrapped layers to compress. Chill in the refrigerator 8 hours, or overnight.
5. Remove plastic wrap. Top with melted chocolate chips, and refrigerate 1 hour, or until chocolate is firm. Slice into small squares to serve.

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Mini Cheesecakes

By Andrea
March 14

I made these and they were great..But i do suggest you make them a day in advanced.. 

1 (12 ounce) package vanilla wafers

2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese  

3/4 cup white sugar

                                                                          2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract  

1 (21 ounce) can cherry pie filling

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line miniature muffin tins (tassie pans) with miniature paper liners.

Crush the vanilla wafers, and place 1/2 teaspoon of the crushed vanilla wafers into each paper cup.

In a mixing bowl, beat cream cheese, sugar, eggs and vanilla until light and fluffy. Fill each miniature muffin liner with this mixture, almost to the top.

Bake for 15 minutes. Cool. Top with a teaspoonful of cherry pie filling.
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