February 2011

Something Sweet {Upside Down Berry Crostada}

by Lisa on February 28, 2011

I’m a sucker for dessert, especially desserts that involve fruit. If given the choice of a piece of chocolate cake or apple pie, I will go for apple pie every time! When our friends invited us over for dinner, I knew this was what I wanted to bring. Even in the middle of winter, the use of berries and lemon zest make it a refreshing, satisfying dessert. This is a very rustic dessert which makes assembly a breeze–it doesn’t need to look perfect!

I modified this recipe in a few ways from the original by Giada. Rather than make my own crust, I used a packaged one from Trader Joe’s because I had it on hand. Since I did not make the crust, I incorporated the lemon zest into the berries.

Ingredients:

1 prepared pie crust, thawed to room temperature
1 lemon, zested and juiced
2 tablespoons sugar
5 cups frozen, mixed berries, thawed (about 30 ounces)
1 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch
1 container mascarpone cheese
1/3 cup heavy cream
3 tablespoons honey

While the berries and pie crust thaw, prepare the mascarpone topping. Combine the mascarpone, heavy cream and honey in a bowl.

Beat until well combined and stiff peaks form. Refrigerate until ready to serve. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Next, zest and juice one lemon. Combine the berries, cornstarch, sugar, zest and juice. Mix well.

Pour the berries into a pie dish. I cut the pie crust into four pieces and overlap them on the berries so that the berries are not perfectly covered. This allows for steam to escape during baking. Since we were going to our friends’ house, I packaged the crostada and cream up for travel:

When we arrived, I popped the crostada in the oven {after removing the plastic wrap, of course!} and 40 minutes later we had a piping hot dessert, ready to serve.

Enjoy!

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A Guest Post {LL’s Shots}

by Lisa on February 19, 2011

There are few things in this world that are cuter to photograph than babies. Lindsay of LL’s Shots, is starting a photography business focusing on baby, children and family portraits. She has a great eye and did an amazing job with my friend’s new twins. I volunteered to help her out because really, I never pass up an opportunity to hold a baby Here’s a sample of her work–if you’d like to get in touch with Lindsay to work with her, check out her blog and drop her a line!

Naturally, I had to take one picture with the twins that were born on my wedding day

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Valentine’s Day {FUNdue}

by Lisa on February 17, 2011

The first time I celebrated Valentine’s Day with a significant other was when I was 27 years old. The holiday never really meant much to me, it was just like any other day. But I am lucky enough to be able to say I married my very first Valentine Rather than save up all year to show Jeromy how much I love him on one day, I try to do things that show him every day. I know Jeromy does the same because every day I wake up and go to sleep knowing that he loves me.

We avoid going out on Valentine’s Day. The first year together we made fondue and it has become the thing that we do every year since. We only make cheese fondue–a big pot of melted cheese with baguette, green apples and broccoli. It is decadent and gluttonous and amazing, which is why we save it for one day a year. And we look forward to this day All.Year.Long.

2008: Jeromy taught me how to make fondue.

2009: We spent the day brewing beer, ran to Whole Foods to get our ingredients and did not take any pictures of the finished product!

2010: We spent Valentine’s Day with friends at Wintergreen, but we still had fondue!

2011: I had to make a substitution to our traditional recipe because one of the essential cheeses is not pasteurized. Ordinarily that wouldn’t matter to me, but since I have our unborn child’s health to worry about right now, I substituted with a different cheese. My philosophy is better safe than sorry, but I’ll admit, this was a poor decision. The flavor was still delicious but the texture was not at all creamy. Regardless, we ate the whole pot–not much can keep us from our fondue :-) And a chocolate souffle for dessert!

For this year, I declare a fonDUE over.

And then I will share the recipe.

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Mangia! {Tomato and Sausage Risotto}

by Lisa on February 15, 2011

I used to be seduced by food magazines in the check out line at the grocery store. Specifically, Everyday Food. How happy was I when I realized all of the recipes are online? My grocery bill thanked me.

The first time I made this recipe was on a weekday night for Jeromy in the first year that we were dating. I had to work at a certain time that night and thought I would have plenty of time to make this dish and then we could eat it while I was working. Unfortunately, as this was my first experience with risotto, I drastically underestimated the amount of time that I needed and my poor boyfriend ended up finishing the cooking while I worked. Jeromy is pretty amazing in the kitchen and didn’t mind, but my idea of dazzling him with my cooking and working multitasking abilities was not to be.

This recipe has become a favorite of ours. We’ve used many different types of sausage but the classic Italian pork sausage is the best. This time I used pork breakfast sausage from our portion of pig from Polyface Farms and it tasted great. I also substituted shallots for onions {I prefer the more subtle flavor in this dish} and used a bag of baby spinach for the convenience rather than buying a bunch of spinach, cleaning and chopping it.

Ingredients:

1 can {28 oz.} diced tomatoes, in juice
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 medium shallots, minced
1 pound italian sausage {sweet or hot, depending on preference}, casings removed
coarse salt and ground pepper
1 cup Arborio rice
1/2 cup dry white wine
1 bag baby spinach {or two bags, depending on preference}
1/2 cup grated parmesan, plus more for serving
2 tablespoons butter

Method:

First, bring the tomatoes, their juice and three cups of water to a simmer over low heat.

Next, in a heavy pan {I use my dutch oven} heat the oil over medium. Add the shallots and sausage, then season with salt and pepper.

Once the meat is browned, stir in the Arborio rice. Stir until it’s nicely coated and toasted, one to two minutes.

Add the wine to the pot, stir until it is absorbed, about one minute.

Add about two cups of the simmering tomato and water mixture to the pot. Stir well to combine. Allow the rice to absorb the mixture, stirring occasionally. Once the two cups are almost completely absorbed, add another cup and stir occasionally.

Continue adding the simmering tomato mixture until the rice is creamy and just tender, about 25 minutes. You may not need all of the tomato and water mixture.

Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the butter, parmesan and spinach. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Spoon into bowls or onto plates, sprinkle with parmesan and serve immediately. The risotto will thicken as it cools, but it reheats very well. We normally make a double batch, eat it for dinner and then package the leftovers for lunches.

Enjoy!

This recipe was heavily adapted from Everyday Food.

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Something Sweet {Oreo Truffles}

by Lisa on February 9, 2011

There was a point in time that I had a recipe for these Oreo truffles, but it has been years since I’ve seen it! I’ve made some modifications to the original recipe which is why I feel okay sharing it without a link, but if this recipe seems familiar to you, please send it my way to I can give credit where credit is due!

A couple of years ago, my friends changed the name of these truffles to Lisa Balls. I take that as a compliment. They’re always requested and so easy to make that it’s hard to say no. You can also try different combinations and garnishes. For example, peppermint Joe Joe’s work great around the holidays, garnished with some crushed candy canes.

This batch I made for the DC blogger wine tasting last weekend. Lauren was kind enough to open her home to 25+ food bloggers in the DC area. I had so much fun catching up with people and making new friends that I forgot to take pictures! I’ll work on getting better at that. Thanks so much, Lauren, for a great night!

To make the Oreo truffles, you’ll need:

1 package of Oreos
1 8 0z. package of cream cheese {whole or reduced fat but not fat free. I tried it, it does not work well.}
8 oz. semisweet chocolate {I use Baker’s squares, they just melt better}
5-6 oz. white chocolate chips
splash of vanilla extract

Method:

Bring the cream cheese to room temperature.
Break up the Oreos and put them in a food processor. Process until they are a powder.
Mix the cream cheese and Oreos together. I always use my hands because it’s the best way to get the mixture combined, though it is rather messy.
Roll the mixture into balls. Place on a cookie sheet and put in the freezer for 15-20 minutes so they can solidify.
Next, chop up the chocolate so it will melt easier. Combine the semisweet and white chocolate.
Prepare a double boiler for melting the chocolate. Be sure that the boiling water does not touch the bottom of the bowl.
Keep the chocolate moving while it’s melting so that none of it burns. Once it’s to a smooth consistency, turn the heat to low and stir in a small splash of vanilla. Don’t add too much because then the chocolate will seize.
Carefully place one truffle at a time in the chocolate. Using a spoon, cover the truffle in chocolate.
Pick up the truffle with a fork and allow the excess chocolate to drain off. Carefully transfer to a baking sheet lined with a Silpat or parchment paper.
Repeat until all of the truffles are covered in chocolate.
Before the chocolate sets, garnish some of the truffles. I used three garnishes for this batch: unsweetened shredded coconut, orange zest and walnuts that I toasted and ground to a powder.