Bacon and Mizuna Risotto

Inspired by some seriously delicious fare at Toulouse Petit, I made this risotto with some fresh mizuna lettuce from our farm share and bacon from the local farmer's market.  It's true what they say, bacon does make everything better!  Don't be intimidated on this one, if you don't have mizuna you can always use arugula or spinach.

Ingredients


5 cups vegetable or chicken broth
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 cup arborio rice (special risotto rice)
1/2 cup white wine
5 slices of bacon
1 lb mizuna or other green

1. Start by heating both in a pot on the stove (heat over medium)
2. Heat another deep pot over medium high heat, when hot add two swirls of olive oil to the pan
3. When the oil is hot add the chopped onion and cook 2-3 minutes until soft
4. Add rice to the oil and stir to coat (about 2 minutes)
5. Deglaze the pan with the white wine and stir to evenly coat
6. Here comes the tricky part, add a ladle of the broth to the rice mixture and stir every few minutes while broth is absorbed
7. When broth is absorbed add some more and repeat step 6 until all broth is gone.
8. While risotto is cooking, heat a large saute pan to medium high heat
9. Add bacon slices to the hot pan and cook to your preference (well done works best here)
10. When bacon is done, remove from the pan and lay on a cutting board with paper towels below to soak up the grease
11. Carefully drain most of the grease into a grease safe container and return the pan to the stove
12. Add the greens to the bacon greased pan and cook down for about 3-4 minutes and remove from heat
13. At this point you should be about 20 minutes into cooking your risotto and have very little broth left.  Sample the risotto to make sure it is chewy but not uncooked.  If it is ready, remove from heat.
14. Quickly chop bacon into bite size pieces
15. To plate this dinner, add a scoop of risotto onto the plate, followed by a nice portion of greens (about one "tong"ful) and then finally the bacon.
16. Serve with a salad and enjoy!

Creamed Nettles and Gnocchi

Last month some awesome friends and I had a good old-fashioned staycation and we had one of the best dinners of my entire life at an amazing restaurant called "Hitchcock" on Bainbridge Island.  Very unpretentious (the chef came to our table and talked to us for a good 10 minutes) and really well priced, this restaurant is a complete deal for both atmosphere and food.  If you are in the Seattle area you have to take a ferry ride to Bainbridge and eat here for yourself.

One of the dishes we had were creamed nettles with gnocchi.  When I was at the Farmer's Market two weeks ago I saw nettles for sale and I bought them immediately.  It sounds like a weird green to eat but it was absolutely delicious and perfect for a spring dinner.  These greens will sting you until they cook so watch out.  I played around to mimic the recipe from Hitchcock and here is my best shot.  Enjoy!

Serves 4


Ingredients


1/2 onion finely diced
4-6 cups of fresh nettles (they sting badly so use tongs!) - you could use spinach if you prefer
1 cup heavy whipping cream at room temperature (this prevents curdling)
1/2 cup parmesan or gruyere cheese grated

1 package gnocchi or torture yourself and make your own: http://cookedinmykitchen.blogspot.com/2011/03/gnocchi-heaven.html

1) Preheat oven to 400 degrees (dish looks gorgeous when baked for 10 minutes)
2) Saute onions in a tablespoon of butter about 5 minutes
3) Add greens to pan and cover to let steam
3) After three or four minutes, use tongs to turn the greens and coat with onion and butter
4) Continue to turn greens every minute and ensure they are cooking down and really wilting
5) Mean while boil water and cook gnocchi to package specifications, when those are done drain them and immediately transfer to dish for baking
6) After 10 or so minutes of "steaming" the greens remove from heat and let cool for a few minutes
7) Add the cream and cheese and stir to coat, place back on medium low heat for another few minutes while the cream does its magic.  Add some nice salt to taste.
8) Transfer creamed nettles and pour over gnocchi in the baking dish
9) Sprinkle some more parm on top and cook in the oven for about 10 minutes for a nice golden crust.
10) Serve with some fresh ground pepper and enjoy!