Larissa Makes Stuff: February 2014

26 February 2014

Pressure Cooker Vegan Mushroom Risotto

Since I'm lactose-intolerant, I've been trying to reduce the amount of dairy in my diet. After reading a few articles about nutritional yeast, I decided to take the plunge and buy a bag from the grocery store. It lends a savory, umami flavor, so I thought mushroom risotto would be a good place to try it.

The result was a savory, yummy risotto, which was a perfect weeknight dinner on a cold winter's night.

Mushroom Risotto

4 TB olive oil

1 small shallot, chopped

1 clove garlic, crushed

10 oz package mushrooms, sliced (I used Baby Bella)

1 1/2 cups arborio rice

1/2 cup white wine

3 to 3 1/2 cups vegetable broth

1 1/2 TB Nutritional Yeast (Or 1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese, if you want to do a vegetarian version)

1 TB truffle oil

Sea Salt (to taste)

In a 4 qt or larger pressure cooker, heat the olive oil over high heat.

Saute the onion and garlic until soft.
Add the mushroom slices, saute.
Add the rice, and mix until the oil coats each grain.
Add wine and mix until the alcohol cooks off.

Add three cups of the vegetable broth.

Lock lid in place and bring to high pressure.

Cook at high pressure for 4 minutes.

Release pressure, remove lid.

Stir in nutritional yeast, truffle oil, and salt.

Cook over medium-low heat for another 3-4 minutes, until the rice is firm, but cooked. If the risotto gets too dry, add more broth.

Yum!

03 February 2014

Sautéed Kale with Garlic & Onions

Tonight, Sean made his delicious pasta carbonara with the rest of the batch of homemade fettuccine. We were craving greens, so I made sautéed kale to go with!

Sautéed Kale

1 bunch kale leaves, coarsely chopped

1 red onion, halved and cut into 1/8" thick slices

2 cloves garlic, slivered

2 TB olive oil
Salt & freshly-ground black pepper to taste

Heat oil in a 3 qt sauté pan over medium heat.

Add garlic and onion slices. Stir and cook until they have softened somewhat and the onion has separated.

Add salt and pepper.

Add chopped kale. Using tongs (or two wooden spoons) flip and stir the kale and onions, making sure to coat all the kale in the oil.

Reduce heat and cover the pan.

Cook for a few minutes more, stirring occasionally, until the kale has softened but is still a nice bright green color.

This recipe also works well with Swiss chard, spinach, beet greens, etc.

02 February 2014

Whole Wheat Fettuccine & Marinara

So, I was reading The New York Times the other day, and came across this easy-sounding recipe for marinara sauce. Since the recipe only contains a few ingredients and takes 15 minutes to cook, I simply had to try it!

The result was a bright and tomato-y sauce. It was super tasty, and despite it containing seven (!) cloves of garlic, the flavors were very well-balanced. The recipe was also a lot of fun to do, thanks to the step of hand-crushing the whole tomatoes. I was able to find D.O.P. certified San Marzano tomatoes at my local grocery store. I imagine getting the right tomatoes makes a very big difference in the finished product.

I paired my sauce with homemade fettuccine, made with my trusty pink KitchenAid stand mixer. Here's the pasta recipe, adapted from the KitchenAid instruction book that came with my pasta roller set.

2 Cups whole wheat all-purpose flour
1 1/2 Cups semolina flour
4-5 eggs (depending on size), beaten
2 TB water
1 TB olive oil
1/2 Tsp. Salt
Extra semolina flour for dusting.

Mix all ingredients in mixer, speed 2, with flat beater for 30 seconds, 'til combined.

Switch to dough hook and knead at speed 2 for 2 minutes.

Knead dough by hand for 1-2 minutes more.

Cut dough into 8 pieces, and form each into a flattened ball.

Cover, or wrap in plastic, and let dough rest for 20 minutes.

Roll out pasta dough and cut to desired shape. (I rolled to thickness 4 and used the fettuccine cutter)

Boil in salted water for 3-5 minutes, drain, and serve.

Williams-Sonoma has a great video on how to use the rollers to make fettuccine:

01 February 2014

New Home, New Name, New Posts!

Greetings, readers!

I've decided to re-launch my blog with the name Larissa Makes Stuff, because frankly, my interests do go well beyond the creation of edible things.

I haven't posted to this little blog in over two years. Much has changed. My husband and I sold our teeny tiny place in Brooklyn, and bought a spacious apartment in upper, upper, upper Manhattan. Yes, we moved from Brooklyn to Manhattan to save money and get more space. Go figure.

It's positively thrilling to have a kitchen with full-size appliances and plenty of room for two adults and a cat. (Though Miss Pixie is still very good at taking up half the sofa.)

Here are some photos of the new apartment, all painted and furnished.