Wisconsin Cheese Risotto with Peas and Nueske's Bacon

Melissa visited an old friend recently and the two enjoyed some good wine and cheese. When she came home, she told me one of the cheeses was really great and nutty and reminded her of Parmesan, one of our favorite snacks.

We eventually found out the cheese was from Wisconsin, crafted by Sartori, located in Plymouth.

Well, why not use it in a good risotto, we thought? An excellent idea, but we struggled a bit to come up with ingredients that could be used in addition to the cheese, but that would not overpower it.

Yeah, so we decided to use Nueske's applewood-smoked bacon, so what? We used three slices and diced it. It was good, but we think two slices would be just right. Otherwise, this was a great risotto with nutty cheese, fruitiness from the wine and smokiness from the bacon.

Sartori Reserve Risotto with Peas and Nueske's Bacon

serves 4
1 shallot, finely minced
2 strips of Nueske's bacon, finely minced
2 tablespoons butter
4 cups chicken broth
1 1/2 cups arborio rice
1/2 cup white wine
2/3 cups Sartori Reserve
3/4 cups frozen peas
1/2 tablespoon chives
nutmeg to taste
lemon juice to taste

1. Finely dice shallot and bacon and saute in butter. Meanwhile, heat chicken broth in a sauce pan.

2. Add rice to bacon and shallots; stir. Then add wine and stir continuously until nearly all the liquid has been absorbed. After that, add 1/2 cup of chicken broth at a time, repeating stirring and waiting until nearly all the liquid has been absorbed.

3. Add peas to heat through. Add nutmeg and lemon juice to taste. Serve and top with chives and more cheese.

Lemon Risotto

Yesterday Melissa and I had fairly large lunches, so when it came time to eat dinner, we found we had the perfect light meal already scheduled: Lemon Risotto from What's Gaby Cooking?

Bring chicken broth and water to a boil (as in the back pot below). In the other pot, we had melted butter and then added the shallots, sauteed them, and then added the rice. We then added the wine, and then about 1/2 cup of the broth and water at a time until each serving is absorbed.


After it has all been absorbed, added the Parmesan, marscapone, lemon juice and lemon zest, salt and pepper.


The dish turned out quite creamy, and was a really good light dinner for us. However, it was probably a bit too creamy for our tastes; we would cut down on the marscapone if we were to make this again. In addition, some sliced green onions for garnish would have blended in perfectly, too.

Panko-Breaded Chicken Piccata

One of my favorite blogs to follow is What's Gaby Cooking? and is written by Gaby. She just finished culinary school, but she has some excellent-looking recipes that she has blogged about that I have wanted to try. I figured I would sometime, and this week happens to be that sometime.

Her recipe for Chicken Piccata looked scrumptious, so that's the first one we tried. But we made one alteration by substituting panko for the regular breadcrumbs.

To start, dredge the chicken in the flour, then the eggs, then the panko. Move to a skillet and cook with the olive oil.


When they're done, set aside on a foil-lined baking sheet and cook them all for 10 minutes at 400 degrees.

Then in a saucepan, add some butter, the lemon juice, lemon halves, wine and salt and pepper. Bring to a boil and then whisk in the rest of the butter.


Spoon some of the sauce over the chicken.


The sauce paired really well with the chicken and our chicken was cooked perfectly. The combination of frying and baking worked really well. The sauce conveyed the flavor of the wine and lemon quite well. Be sure to check out Gaby's blog.

But I had a plan for the leftovers, so check by tomorrow for that meal.

Northern Cheese Fondue

To celebrate New Year's Eve, we had a quiet evening in with friends. And we topped it all off with copious amounts of alcohol and fondue. We made both a cheese and a chocolate fondue, but since the chocolate one came later in the evening, photos were a bit more difficult to remember to get.

We got the Northern Cheese Fondue recipe from Cabot, a Vermont cheesemaker.

In a fondue pot, melt 1/2 tablespoon unsalted butter over medium heat. Then add 1/2 teaspoon minced green onion, 1/2 teaspoon minced shallot and 1/2 teaspoon minced garlic. Cook for about 5 minutes or until ingredients are tender.


Then add 1 cup of dry white wine and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to simmer and cook for 5 to 10 more minutes.


Whisk in 4 ounces grated Cabot pepperjack and 4 ounces grated Cabot 75% reduced-fat cheddar cheeses and a pinch of grated nutmeg. Stir constantly.

In a small bowl, combine 1 teaspoon cornstarch, 1 teaspoon water and 1/2 teaspoon silvered basil leaves. Mix and then whisk into fondue pot.


We served with bite-sized pieces of bread, granny smith apples, carrot sticks or anything else you might enjoy. The fondue is a nice mixture of creaminess and heat, which stems from the pepperjack.

Pork Chops Oreganata

Pork is one protein that we rarely use to cook with. But after seeing the Pork Chops Oreganata recipe in the January/February 2009 Cooking Light, we thought we would give it a try.

The recipe is simple and has few ingredients, several of which should be home staples. Basically, marinade the pork chops for about 30 minutes.

In a bowl, combine 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil, 2 teaspoons grated lemon rind, 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice, 1 teaspoon chopped oregano and 3 minced garlic cloves; whisk to combine. Spread that mixture evenly in a 7-by-11-inch dish (we used our 9-by-13).

Take 4 4-ounce boneless pork chops and place them in that dish. Turn to coat. Leave to marinate for 30 minutes, turning occasionally. Near the end of the marinate time, preheat broiler.


On a broiler pan sprayed with cooking spray, place pork and sprinkle with salt and pepper on both sides. Place under the broiler for 4 minutes on each side.


We served our pork with both a couscous and a vegetable medley. Don't forget to let the pork rest for a couple of minutes before you slice it open. That will help the pork maintain its juices and make for a more flavorful meal.


With dinner, I enjoyed a 2005 Merlot from Cameron Hughes. The pairing worked very well together. Interestingly, Cameron Hughes Wines does not have its own vineyard.

Smoky Corn Risotto

With a recent recipe, we turned to another source for our inspiration: The Fresh Market (and its 25th Anniversary The Fresh Market & Friends Cookbook). The nearly vegetarian Smoky Corn Risotto is what attracted us to its contents.

We cooked onions, shallots and garlic in butter until they were tender. (The recipe instructs you to first fry bacon; remove and drain off half the fat, then use that fat to cook the first three ingredients. This would certainly add some flavor, but we found using butter was flavorful enough.)

Then add the Arborio rice.


Then, in a slow and intensive process, add a cup of wine and stir until the entire cup is absorbed. Then repeat that process, adding a cup of chicken broth at a time, until four cups of broth are absorbed.

Then remove from the heat and stir in butter, parsley, Parmesan and corn. Use bacon as a garnish.


The thickness was perfect and the crisp bacon added a nice contrasting crunch to the risotto.


Although we garnished with bacon, you could easily exclude it and serve the dish as vegetarian. The crunch would be missed, but the flavors would still be strong enough to stand on their own.


The wine we used to thicken the risotto is Yellow Tail's Pinot Grigio. Since we are not heavy white wine drinkers, much preferring anything Melbac, I accompanied my risotto with a glass of wine, which was light and pleasant.

Spaghetti with Garlic Bread

Sometimes the easiest meals are the best ones.

That's why we set out to make some spaghetti, sauce and garlic bread recently. We even took out some wine to enjoy our meal with.

We started out by prepping the garlic bread. We bought a couple of small french bread loaves and cut the loaf in half. After sauteing some garlic in a pan and melting some butter, we put some herbs into the mixture and spread it evenly on top of the bread. We wrapped the loaf in aluminum foil and put it in the oven. After a few minutes, we took it out and placed it on the racks without foil to help with the browning.


In a pan, we had a couple of jars of spaghetti sauce that we let heat up. In addition, we added some cut up black olives, soy crumbles and other seasonings, to taste. Meanwhile, we boiled the spaghetti noodles and gave them a quick cold water bath after taking them out of the water.


We also had a few shavings from a parmigiano reggiano and used them to top off the bowl of spaghetti with garlic bread.


The wine we paired with dinner was a 2004 Alberto Furque melbac from Argentina.


The wine was a bit strong on the aftertaste, even after sitting out for a bit to aerate. Still, it was a comforting -- and simple -- dinner.