Risotto and Cranberry Beans with Pancetta

Yesterday I promised you my first recipe with my oh-so-beautiful Rancho Gordo beans.  With my shipment of beans, they included Heirloom Beans: Great Recipes for Dips and Spreads, Soups and Stews, Salads and Salsas, and Much More from Rancho Gordo.  After pouring through the recipes I settled on Risotto and Cranberry Beans with Pancetta.

The first thing I discovered when making this recipe was that my sweet little grocery store, Greenlife Grocery, which later was bought and became a Whole Foods had gotten rid of their deli meat counter.  I loved that counter.  Pancetta, prosciutto, chorizo, it was all there.  But now, no more.  So instead I had to go to the packaged meats section, where there was no pancetta.  Now, I know that you can sub bacon or ham for prosciutto or pancetta, but I can never remember which is which.  So, I got Coppa.  I have no idea what it was, other than it ended in an “a'” and pancetta ended in an “a” – yes that is how I make substitutions.  Whatever.  It was good.  This whole recipe was wonderful!

Risotto and Cranberry Beans with Pancetta

• 5 cups chicken broth
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
• 1/4 pound pancetta (or whatever “a” meat you can find), diced
• 1 small yellow onion, finely chopped
• 1/2 celery stalk, finely chopped
• 2 cups arborio rice
• 1/2 cup dry white wine
• 1 1/2 cups drained cooked cranberry beans, with reserved broth
• 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh flat leaf parsley
• salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste

In a saucepan over medium heat, bring the broth to a simmer.

In a large, heavy skillet over medium heat, melt the butter with the olive oil.  Add the pancetta and the onion and saute for about 10 minutes, or until golden.  Add the celery and saute for 2 to 3 minutes.  Add the rice and stir to coat.  Increase the heat to medium-high, add the wine, and stir until most of the wine has been absorbed.  Add the broth, 1/2 cup at time, stirring.  As each addition is absorbed, add another.

Total cooking time is about 40 minutes.  The rice should be creamy with a bit of bite in the middle, but not chalky.  If you need extra broth, dilute it with a bit of water.

When the rice is just short of being done, and there are only about 1 or two additions of broth left, add the beans and 1/2 cup of their broth, and stir until warmed through.  When the rice is done, turn off the heat and stir in the parsley and parmesan cheese, season with salt and pepper to taste.

Serves 6

 

 

This will be my entry for Foodie Friday at Designs by Gollum!

The Year of Beans ~ Rancho Gordo Style

Last year, I made two resolutions:  win the lottery and be joyful.  I succeeded in being as joyful as I could without actually winning the lottery.  So, I have carried those two over to this year, added my word of the year “create” and included one more to the list.  Eat more beans.

As a special education teacher, I can tell you that a goal that simply includes the word “more” is not a good goal.  “More” can not be measured.  So, I knew I had to do something to make “more” happen, without actually clarifying it in a poundage amount.  Enter Rancho Gordo’s Year of Beans.   For a short while last year, they offered a year of beans, where you signed up to receive a shipment of beans every few months.  In that shipment would be beans (of course), and a special treat.  This would guarantee “more”. 

Above is my first shipment.  Isn’t it beautiful. 

Tune in tomorrow, same time, same bat channel to find out what I do with these.  It’s good, I promise.

What Was it Wednesday?

You’re looking at December 15, 2009.  I don’t know.  Chicken?  Boneless pork chop?  Looks like sweet potatoes and red onions on top of something yellowy.  I really have no clue

***What Was it Wednesday – my attempt to work my way through my backlog of cooking photos.

Garden Tuesday ~ Frosty

See this?  This doesn’t amuse me.  Oh sure, it may be pretty, but all it does is put a layer of this on my windshield and make me stand outside in early morning darkness, scraping my windshield.  If it is going to be this cold, I would like snow please.  It doesn’t have to be a lot.  I live in Tennessee, a couple of inches will accomplish the snow day that I oh-so-desperately could use now.  If it is not going to snow, I am going to be forced to begin counting the days till spring break.

Please join me for Garden Tuesday.

Prime Suspect by Lynda La Plante for TLC Book Tours

I have been really lucky in the books that I have chosen for review, I have pretty much liked them all. Well, my lucky streak has come to an end. Prime Suspect had all the elements that I should have loved: woman detective trying to prove herself in a man's world and gruesome murders. However, it did not work for me.

The story: Jane Tennison takes over a Scotland Yard investigation of grisly murder of Della Mornay. She is hampered by the old boy's club mentality of the Yard. She immediately discovers and error that the previous, much-loved investigator had made, which only makes her fellow officers like her even less.

The mystery part of the novel is fairly solid, with some twists and turns that kept me guessing.

What ruined it for me were the characters. I did not like a single character. They were all the same: mean, nasty, temperamental, with fits of sudden mood changes. They would be in the middle of some rant, and then shrug their shoulders and giggle or laugh. Everything they said was shouted in anger or excitement; on one page I counted 11 exclamation marks.

I found myself questioning so much that the characters did or said.

This is from a police officer at the location where the murders took place: "This is caked in blood, we'll need swabs of it all. Ugh, the drain's clogged with it and this looks like skin…Jesus, the stench!"

Ugh?! I can not imagine a male police officer saying ugh.

In another setting, Tennison is in an interrogation room questioning someone. Suddenly another police officer bursts in and leans over and whispers in her ear that they have found another body, Tennison has this response: "Feeling a bit perkier, Tennison turned back to Reg."

Feeling a bit perkier?! Seriously? They have just discovered another body, and the investigating officer is "feeling a bit parker"?? At this point I can't tell what I don't like…the author's choice of words (perkier) or the type of character who would feel perkier at this news. It all runs together.

In another chapter, Tennison is at the morgue. There is a brutally murdered girl on the table, the medical examiner is there, and the stench is so bad that Tennison is wearing a mask. They discuss the body, at the end: "She smiled and winked at Norman as she removed her mask. "You'll call me with anything I can quote? And…thanks for coming out to Sunningdale. Bye!"

Smiled and winked?! Someone is always smiling and winking, and half the time I can't even figure out why. The whole "thanks for coming out…bye" sounds like something you'd say to a guest at a party, not to the medical examiner at the morgue.

I could go on, but I will stop here. As I said, the mystery itself was solid, I just wish the characters had been more diverse with believable dialogue.

Now, I had already been lined up to review Prime Suspect 2: A Face in the Crowdand just from glancing through it, it looks better, or at least I don’t see all the exclamation marks. 

You can find other reviews here.  Usual disclaimer – I received no compensation for this review, other than a copy of the book.  My opinions are entirely my own (obviously!).

Weekend Wine Reviews ~ Eye Candy Cabernet Sauvignon

Eye Candy, 2009, Cabernet Sauvignon, $7.99, Total Wine and More.  We say:  light, but complex.  Berry flavors, medium body.  Buy again:  Yes!!

Weekend Cat Blogging #346 and Saturday Pet Blog Hop

My two favorite things.  A kitty cat and a vintage quilt.

 

 

This will be my entry for Weekend Cat Blogging hosted by Samantha, Clementine & Maverick

This will be my entry for The Saturday Pet Blogger Hop!