Cheesy, Salty, Snappy Risotto

I found this recipe when I was surfing my newest obsession: foodpress.com. It’s actually my secret (or not so secret now that I’m telling you all about it) wish that I’ll be featured one day as a food blogger. Here is the recipe: http://freshandfoodie.wordpress.com/2010/11/15/ham-and-sugar-snap-pea-risotto/

I must confess, this recipe is what gave me the idea to get the ham in the first place. It was such a good idea and once the ham is cooked it’s so easy. Not to mention, it’s an amazing way to use some of the leftovers!

 

First, I started by boiling the sugar snap peas for two minutes, then draining and rinsing them in cold water.

 

 

Meanwhile, I heated up the chicken stock. I kept the stock at a simmer, you don’t want it to boil, but also want it to be hot.

 

 

I also chopped up the leeks. You only want to use the light green and white parts of the leeks. A word of warning with leeks: THEY ARE DIRTY. You need to wash them thoroughly before and after you chop them!

 

I then heated up some olive oil and added the leeks. I cooked them for about five minutes, added the minced garlic, and cooked for another minute.

 

 

Next, I added the rice and cooked for another minute.

 

 

 

Then I added the white wine and let it cook until almost all of the liquid was absorbed. The key with risotto is to make sure you keep stirring!

 

 

Next, I added about a 1/2 cup of broth and stirred occasionally until the liquid was almost completely absorbed. Then I added another 1/2 cup and repeat!

 

Meanwhile, I needed to do some chopping, so my lovely bf was nice enough to stir the risotto for me. I cut up a cup of the ham and then trimmed the ends of the snap peas and cut them in half.

 

 

When the risotto was a few minutes from absorbing the last bit of broth, I added the ham so it had a chance to heat up.

 

Then, when the risotto was ready, I added the snap peas, the Parmesan, and a tiny slice of butter and stirred all together. The Parmesan and the ham both are salty, so if you don’t like salt you won’t like this meal, but my bf isn’t a big salt person and he loved it, so maybe you will too!

Christmas Ham

Even though it’s not yet Christmas, I am very much in the holiday spirit. In addition to my beautiful tree, there are twinkly lights adding sparkle to the apartment, garland draped everywhere and Christmas treats for all.

My little family, me, bf and Winston, love the holidays. Unfortunately, Winston’s love manifests itself in punching at the ornaments, wrestling with the tree skirt, and trying to pull down the garland.

My Christmas spirit is shown through cooking (what else!). One of my favorite holiday meals is ham. We don’t make it every year and for some reason I never think of it during the other 11 months. Well, this year, I’m changing that.

Ham is one of those things that seems way more daunting than it actually is. It’s a little pricey (not compared to other meats, but when you are a newly-graduated-still-in-the-college-mentality, $28 seems like a lot of money). But when you break it down, it’s going to provide or contribute major parts to at least three dinners for me and my bf. That’s a lot of food! It’s also ridiculously simple.

First, I put down two layers of tin foil, crossing over each other inside a pyrex. Then I put the ham, still in it’s wrappings, in the pan. I removed the wrappings and poured all of the juices over the ham. I cooked the ham with the bone sticking up in the air because I wanted the meat to cook in the juice, so I flipped over the ham. Then I wrapped up the tin foil nice and tight and baked for about 85 minutes on 325. You are supposed to cook 10-12 minutes for each pound, or until the ham is evenly heated. My ham was 9 pounds, but 90 minutes or more seemed like an awful lot and I didn’t want it to be dry, so I went with 85.

 

While the ham was cooking, I boiled little red potatoes for about 20 minutes. Hard potatoes are the worst, so make sure you can easily stick a fork into the center. I also trimmed and boiled brussel sprouts for about 7 minutes. Then I put the sprouts in a skillet, added some chopped garlic and margarine and cooked for a few minutes.

 

This is what the ham looked like when it was done. It pulled off the bone pretty easily and the entire apartment smelled amazing! It may take a while to bake, but seriously, easiest dinner ever.

 

We had the brussels and the potatoes on the side, so the dinner was nice and nutritious!

 

 

 

We had the potatoes with a little margarine, salt, and pepper and they were scrumptious!