The Collegiate Culinarian

Last week was Valentine’s Day! I wanted to make something special for Ben. He eats everything so I had alot of options. I knew I wanted to do shellfish, because its glorious. Then I found the perfect recipe. Risotto, which we both love to eat and make. It was a cute little night. And the food was great. The recipes are hard to combine in one post, so I’m splitting them up.

Carrot Risotto with Seared Scallops

Ingredients:

4 large Sea Scallops, sliced in half

2 cups vegetable stock, heated

1/4 lb carrots, grated

1/4 lb carrots,pureed with a little oil

1/2 onion, chopped

1/4 tsp ground cumin

1/2 cup white wine

1 cup arborio rice

zest and juice of 1 lemon

1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

2 tbsp thinly sliced chives

1 red chili, chopped

olive oil

salt, pepper

The process is the same as any risotto. Start with a large saute pan. Heat a little oil in the pan then add the chopped onions. Let them cook for a few minutes, then add the cumin, grated carrot, salt, and pepper. When the onions are translucent, add the rice. Stir until the rice is coated with oil and the cooked mixture. Now add the white wine and stir until absorbed. Decrease the heat and stir in the carrot puree. Bring to a simmer and start adding the vegetable stock. Add the stock one ladle full at a time and stir each ladle in until absorbed, repeat this step until all the stock is gone or the rice is cooked to al dente, it should take about 25-30 minutes. stir in the lemon juice and a little olive oil. Remove from heat and cover for about 3 minutes.

In another saute pan, heat a little oil with red chilis. When the pan is hot, add the halved scallops. Season them well and let cook for about 2 minutes per side. Remove from pan and serve on top of the risotto. Garnish with a little grated Parmesan cheese and chopped chives.

Saute the onions, cumin, salt, pepper and grated carrot.

Add the rice and stir to coat well.

Add the white wine and stir until absorbed into the rice.

Stir in the carrot puree.

Now begin add the vegetable stock, one ladle at a time, then stir until absorbed.

Its just about ready. Remove from heat, stir in the lemon juice and a little olive oil. Cover and let sit for 3-5 minutes.

Heat a pan with a little oil and sear your scallops. 2 minutes per side.

Now serve. Risotto on the bottom, sprinkled with a little Parmesan cheese and chopped chives then topped with the wonderful seared scallops.

So I attempted to make my own peanut butter. It tastes great but isn’t exactly buttery. I think my little food processor may be too cheap to blend anything very well. Anyway, this recipe is super easy.

Ingredients:

1/2 lb roasted peanuts

2 tsp vegetable oil

pinch of salt

You basically throw everything into a food processor and blend it to death.

It was soooo dry before I added the oil. But then it kinda got better.Idk I will try making it again and figure out what I did wrong.

It does make a great sandwich! and is delicious with apples and celery.

I made this a little while ago. I’m behind in my blogging as usual. But this was delicious. So much better than potato gratin. Now that I’ve made this, I want to experiment with other non potato gratin. Note: I do not remember exactly what I put in the white wine sauce. I will try to list the ingredients.

Zucchini Gratin and Chicken Thighs with White Wine Sauce

Ingredients:

2 chicken thighs

1 cup white wine

1/4 onion, chopped

1/4 onion, sliced

5 zucchini, sliced

4 oz Havarti cheese (or whatever kinds of cheese you want)

1/2 cup almond milk

1 egg

1/2 onion, sliced

freshly grated nutmeg

1 tsp fennel seeds

2 tbsp fresh tarragon, chopped

1/4 cup shredded Parmesan cheese

salt and pepper

1 tbsp butter

Start by heating a saute pan with a little butter. Add the zucchini and cook for 4-6 minutes, turning until cooked on both sides. Season well and remove from pan.

Now take a round baking dish and line the bottom with zucchini slices. Place a layer of sliced onions over the zucchini, then sprinkle with both types of cheese and herbs. Repeat this step until all the zucchini and cheese is gone.

Mix the milk and eggs together. Season with the grated nutmeg, salt and pepper. Pour this liquid mix over the zucchini, then sprinkle the top with the remaining cheese.

Bake the gratin in a preheated oven, 350F for 35-45 minutes or until it is set in the center and golden brown. Remove from oven and let stand for 5 minutes before serving.

While the gratin is cooking the in oven, start working on the chicken thighs and sauce. In a small sauce pan, saute some garlic and onions. After a few minutes, pour in about a cup of white wine. Add the chopped tarragon and fennel seeds and let reduce for about 10 minutes.

In a flat, non stick grill pan, heat a little oil. Season your chicken thighs and place them skin side down in the pan. Cook on the skin side for about 5-7 minutes, until the skin is crispy. Turn the chicken over and sear on all sides. Then pop them into the oven for about 15-20 minutes. If timed correctly, they should be done at the same time as the gratin.

When the chicken and gratin are done cooking, plate them, serving the sauce over the chicken. AND ENJOY!

Gather all your ingredients.

Prep everything. then….start cooking!

Forgot to take a picture of the sauteing zucchini, SO saute your zucchini. Then start making the layers of your gratin. Starting with zucchini, then onions and herbs, then the cheese.

Add a couple more layers.

Then combine the milk and egg. Pour the mixture over the zucchini. Cover the gratin with the remaining cheese. And bake for 35-45 minutes at 350F.

While the gratin is baking, make your sauce. Saute chopped onions and garlic in a little butter. Add the white wine, along with fennel seeds, salt, pepper and chopped tarragon. Let simmer for around 10 minutes.

In a flat grill pan, cooked your chicken thighs skin side down(5-7 minutes). Get the skin nice and crispy then turn the chicken and sear on all sides.

Transfer to a baking sheet and pop in the oven for about 15-20 minutes.

When the gratin looks like this, its done! Let cool for 5 minutes before serving.

Boyfriend getting his dinner.

Serve and enjoy.

I almost forgot, Ben’s mom got me an AWESOME Christmas present

She got me all kinds of spices and herbs from a store called Lotsa Pasta.

Not sure why but I had the sudden urge to make meat pies. Well it wasn’t very sudden, it was planned, but I wanted them. I love mushrooms, and decided to make a mushroom pie. But then boyfriend found a pound of fresh chorizo on sale. like dirt cheap. So I figured I could through that in the pies too. I’ve made pies before and can say without a doubt that these were a million times better than my first ones.

Chorizo, Mushroom, and Sweet Potato Pies

Ingredients:

1 lb mushrooms, chopped (Whatever kind you like. I went with shitakii, oyster, and portobello mushrooms.)

1/2 lb chorizo

1/2 onion, chopped

2-3 garlic cloves, chopped

1 1/2 sweet potato, baked and chopped

1 sheet pie dough (this has been in my freezer for a long time! use fresh if you can.)

1 1/2 tbsp butter, melted

salt

black pepper

In a saute pan, brown your chorizo. When its lightly cooked, remove it from the pan and chop it into smaller bits. In the same pan, saute the onion and garlic. After a couple minutes, throw the cooked garlic and onion into a food processor with the chopped sweet potatoes. Pulse the mixture a couple times, until everything is minced. Add the minced mixture back into the saute pan. Add a little (LITTLE! 2 tsp) oil, and add the chopped chorizo. Let this all cook for a couple minutes, then add the chopped mushrooms. Saute until the mushrooms release their liquid and shrink down. Season the filling well and remove from heat.

On a floured surface, roll out your pie dough. Cut the dough into four equal squares.

Now to fill the pies. Place about 1 1/2 - 2 tbsp of filling in the center of each square. Fold in the sides, then with a wet spoon, wet the folds and seal the pie. Repeat this with the remaining dough and filling.

Place the pies on a greases baking sheet. Take your melted butter and spread a little over eat pie.

Bake the pies at 350F for about 10-15 minutes.

ENJOY!

Pile of mushrooms.

Cook the chorizo

Then cook the onions and garlic.

Add the chopped potatoes to the saute pan and cook for a few minutes. Then throw the contents of the pan into a food processor. pulse a few times.

Add the mix back into the saute pan, let it heat up, then add the cooked chorizo.

Next throw in the mushrooms. Cook them for about 4-5 minutes.

Once everything is cooked, remove from heat and let cool a little.

Roll out the pie dough and cut into four equal pieces.

Now form the pies. Sprinkle a little salt and pepper on top, then bake them at 350F for 10-15 minutes.

Serve and enjoy!

My boyfriend bought a giant eggplant a little while ago. He was like ‘I got an eggplant, you should make something with it.” Hes lucky I love him and love cooking. Anyway, I decided to make eggplant fritters. I’ve made them a few times, and they are AWESOME. I also bought some tandoori seasoning, so I wanted to make something with that. I threw this together pretty fast, and it turned out wonderfully. The recipe isn’t as exact as I’d like it to be, but its an idea.

Eggplant Sammys and Stir Fried Shrimp with Veggies

Ingredients

1 eggplant, sliced

4 oz fresh mozzarella cheese, sliced

Spinach (not sure how much, it goes between the eggplant and cheese slices)

1 cup flour, seasoned

1 egg, beaten

1 cup canola oil, or whatever you like

1/2 lb raw shrimp

1/4 cup broccoli, chopped

1/4 cup carrot, chopped

1/4 cup bell pepper, chopped

1/4 cup zucchini, sliced

1/4 cup coconut milk

Tandoori seasoning

salt & pepper

Heat oil in a saute pan and add the chopped vegetables. Cook on medium to low for 5-8 minutes. Then turn up the heat and add the tandoori and coconut milk. Simmer for a few minutes then cover.

Meanwhile, you should make your eggplant sammys. Place a slice of cheese and a little spinach between the two eggplant slices. Then lightly flour each sandwich, then dip them in the beaten egg, and then back into the flour.

When all the sandwiches are formed and floured, heat between a cup and 1/2 cup of oil in a deep pan (the amount of oil really depends on the pan) When the oil begins to smoke a little, start frying the sandwiches. Fry for about 1.5 to 2 minutes per side. When they’re golden brown, take them out and let rest on a paper towel.

Last step, throw the raw shrimp into the tandoori pan. Cover and let cook for about 3 minutes.

Serve everything and ENJOY!

Chop your veggies and make the sandwiches.

Tandoori vegetables are cooking, eggplant sandwiches are floured and ready to fry and I look AWESOME.

Start frying the sandwiches.

Fry all the eggplants!

Add the shrimp to the tandoori pan. Cover and let cook, until it looks like this.

Boyfriend was excited.

Serve and eat it up.

So my adorable little family has always made kolachky for Christmas. They are delicious little polish pastry cookies. Seriously for as long as I can remember, we’ve spent an entire day, making them. Since I spent most of the holiday break at school, I decided to make them here. Or at least that was the plan. I made the dough at school, and then ended up making the cookies at home before our Christmas party.

Kolachky

Ingredients:

8 oz unsalted butter, softened

8 oz cream cheese, softened

2 tsp sugar and salt

1 egg, slightly beaten

2 cups flour

Canned pie filling (I used Cherry, Plum and Apricot)

In a bowl, cream the butter and cream cheese, and sugar until well blended. Add the egg and mix until combined. Add the flour and mix until combined.

Wrap in plastic wrap and chill overnight.

Heat the oven to 375F.

On a floured work surface, divide the dough into 4 parts. Roll the dough out, to about 1/4 inch thick. Using a glass, or circle cookie cutter, cut out small rounds and transfer to wax paper.

Press your thumb into the center of the circle and add a little spoonful of pie filling. Then take two of the sides and bring them together and pinch in the center.

Bake for 15 to 17 minutes.

Let them cook on rack for about 10 minutes, then dush with powdered sugar and serve or store.

Dough, chilled overnight.

Plum kolachky. I made mini little guys along with the traditional pinched ones.

Cherry, plum, and apricot kolachky baking in the oven.

Cooling.

And dusted with powdered sugar.