Garlic Chive Risotto

Finally, I've gotten to those garlic chives. These are similar to regular chives, but obviously, more garlicky. You can put them in just about anything for a little extra flavor, but they don't have an appealing texture when raw.

I made risotto once before this, but this time, it turned out much better. I think that's because I used more stock this time around.

Ingredients:
1 cup arborio rice
2 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup dry white wine
6 cups chicken or vegetable stock
1/2 small red onion, chopped finely
3 cloves garlic, chopped coarsely
7-8 garlic chives (use the parts that crunch when you chop them)
1/4-1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
Salt and Pepper to taste
1-2 tablespoons of truffle oil (optional)
**The second time I made this, I added a teaspoon of turmeric, which gave my risotto a beautiful golden hue (not pictured here).

Fry the onions in the butter. Add the rice and saute at a low heat until well coated, adding more butter if necessary. Add the white wine and cook at low heat until absorbed. Slowly start adding the stock, 1/4 cup at a time. Add more when absorbed. Stir frequently but not constantly. It should take you about 20 minutes to use up that stock. Add the garlic and garlic chives halfway though.

When finished, at the Parmesan and truffle oil. Salt to taste and stir well. Serve quickly.

Chocolate Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Frosting

These cupcakes were for my friend Erin's birthday. She's a big fan of peanut butter, so it seemed to make sense. It might have made a little too much sense though...her roommate made her a chocolate cake with peanut butter frosting for her birthday... Oh well, both were delicious, and we sort of had a theme going.

I used my favorite chocolate cupcake recipe, which also happens to be the only chocolate cupcake recipe I've ever used. They turned out great. This is what I used for the frosting, though I had to use more milk and less sugar to get a nice consistency.

Farmer's Market Fresh Salad

For years, I've complained about how I don't live in a place with a big, awesome outdoor market. Today, I discovered the Minneapolis Farmer's Market on Lyndale Avenue North. They have SO much stuff there: dozens of vegetable and flower stands; vendors of organic meat, cheese and eggs; State Fair style stands selling snacks; and also clothing and craft stalls. There were even some street performers playing music (though none were very good). I guess I'll shut my mouth about Minneapolis' lack of a big, awesome outdoor market, because this is it.

So I kicked off my farmer's market shopping season there today. Though I didn't leave with bags and bags of produce, I did indulge in some $13 morel mushrooms. I know, I know $13 for about 8 mushrooms is a little crazy, but these are so good and so hard to find. The only other time I've eaten them was as a child when my parents found them in our yard. So if I do this once a year, and I make good use of them, it's totally worth it.

I sauteed a couple of these mushrooms and put them on my salad today. Also on that salad, some Chinese onions from the farmer's market. These looked a little different from regular spring onions, but tasted similar and may actually be the same thing. I am not sure. Whatever, they were only like $2.

The only other things I bought today were garlic chives and and some honey from Ames Farm . Stay tuned to see what I do with these.

Potato Leek Gratin +

Man, have I been craving some spring greens lately. I've been seeing them E-V-E-R-Y-W-H-E-R-E. So even though I didn't make it to the farmer's market this weekend, I had to buy something that at least felt seasonal. And that's how I ended up bringing these three huge leeks home.


I'd been craving some cheesy potato gratin for a while, so that's what I did with these leeks. Basically, just follow this potato gratin recipe, adding sauteed garlic and leeks between layers. I would recommend you use the white part of the leeks (with lots of garlic, pepper and a little nutmeg), reserving the greens for something else.

The best I could come up with for the greens was vegetable stock.

Rhubarb Muffins

So after a week of indecision, I was finally coaxed into going back to Red Wing this weekend. In addition to a fun party, the weekend also yielded some rhubarb from my Mom's garden. Unsure about what to do with rhubarb for one, I turned to the internet. Solution: rhubarb muffins.

But this solution had a problem. I only had about 4 muffin/cupcake liners left. Being the resourceful person that I am, I fashioned parchment paper into the cups, using the muffin dough to weigh them down. This worked perfectly, and looked pretty cute, if you ask me.

Ingredients:
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup butter, softened
1 cup yogurt, plain or flavored
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon sugar
2 cups rhubarb, chopped

A few weeks ago, I accidentally bought "banilla" flavored yogurt, instead of my usual unflavored, plain yogurt. This gross accident was resolved tonight, when I used this yogurt to cook these muffins.

Combine yogurt, butter and brown sugar. Mix well with electric mixer (about 3 minutes). Add remaining dry ingredients and mix with a spoons. Stir in the rhubarb. Add this mix to the muffin tins, and bake at 375 degrees for 25 to 30 minutes.

Things to do with an Artichoke

Seriously, artichokes are like my #1 favorite vegetable. I know I've blogged at least one recipe that involves this delicious Mediterranean thistle, but one of my favorite things to do with an artichoke is pretty basic: boil with onion, celery and bay leaves; dip the leaves in butter. This will always remind me of my Mom, who has been great about encouraging my adventurous eating.

The hearts, of course, are the best part. You can't really screw them up, just as long as you remove the fuzzy part. With these two artichoke hearts, I made a creamy tomato sauce with lemon, and added it to some egg noodles.

Homemade "pop tarts"

I have never been a really big fan of the classic Pop-Tarts. To me, they taste like the unnatural-sounding ingredients that they contain. Of course, a jam-filled pastry is a great idea, but like so many things, it's more fun to make it yourself.

This idea comes from a really neat blog. I followed this pie crust recipe, and added my favorite fillings. That obviously meant blueberry jelly, but I also tried something a bit more exotic.


On a recent trip to Puerto Rico, I sampled some awesome pastries that contained guava paste and cream cheese. So when I saw guava paste at the store there, I jumped on it. These cream cheese and guava pastries are replicated here in my pop-tarts.

No matter the filling, these were delicious. You could try dulce de leche, or really anything else. Making the crust was hard; I used a wine bottle as a rolling pin. But you could have put one of these into a toaster, and they looked fabulous.