Cheddar Bay Biscuits

First, a rant: 

I miss Picnik!! I'm SO annoyed they closed the site!! I can't edit any of my photos unless I want to use Photoshop and honestly, I just don't have the patience for that all the time. I loved being able to quickly upload and tweak a picture with next to no effort. And now it's all gone :( The programs they suggested stink...leaving me with unedited photos and a sad heart. Oh well. I'm sure someone will come up with something similar soon. I'll just wait it out. I wish they would allow us to buy it. I would in a heartbeat!

Ok, guess that's out of my system. Now on to the recipe!

The other day, my cheese-loathing husband asked me if I could recreate the biscuits that Red Lobster gives out before your meal comes. I said sure, without really thinking because he rarely asks for anything and I like to keep my man happy :) 

Once I started thinking about it, I was nervous that I wouldn't be able to make good on my promise...Not having been to Red Lobster in, gosh, 15 or so years, I was nowhere near confident I even remembered what they were, let alone create a recipe to replicate them! And what made him think of these, I'll never know! Commercial maybe? Regardless...I got to work...and by that, I mean I pulled up trusty old google and searched my butt off. Oh Internet, how I love you.

These came out awesome and really added some pizzazz to the otherwise lame dinner I made that night. Hey all my efforts went into the biscuits...that counts for something, right?! :) Either way, they were delicious and he loved them. Win. Win. 

Cheddar Bay Biscuits 

Recipe from: Top Secret Restaurant Recipes

Ingredients:

2 ½ cups Bisquick baking mix

¾ cup cold whole milk

4 tablespoons cold butter

¼ teaspoon garlic powder

1 heaping cup grated cheddar cheese

Bush on Top:

2 tablespoons butter, melted

¼ teaspoon dried parsley flakes

½ teaspoon garlic powder 

pinch salt

Directions:

1. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.

2. Combine Bisquick with cold butter in a medium bowl using a pastry cutter or a large fork. (I used a food processor) You don't want to mix too thoroughly. There should be small chunks of butter in there that are about the size of peas. Add cheddar cheese, milk, and ¼ teaspoon garlic. Mix by hand until combined, but don't over mix.

3. Drop approximately ¼-cup portions of the dough onto an ungreased cookie sheet using an ice cream scoop.

4. Bake for 15 to 17 minutes or until the tops of the biscuits begin to turn light brown.

5. When you take the biscuits out of the oven, melt 2 tablespoons butter is a small bowl in your microwave. Stir in ½ teaspoon garlic powder and the dried parsley flakes. Use a brush to spread this garlic butter over the tops of all the biscuits. 

 Makes one dozen biscuits.

Asparagus Risotto

How does this always happen? 

I get all excited that I have post, after post, after post to share...but weeks go by and nothing gets written?! Bad blogger! Sheesh! 

I have just been so busy getting ready for this tiny man that posts have fallen to a distant last on the "to-do" list. While I LOVE blogging and crafting, we've been spending most of our limited free time praying for, reading to, and loving on this guy. (And no, that's not my man hand. It belongs to the ecstatic daddy-to-be!) I feel like I need to soak up every last moment of relaxation I can and enjoy every kick while I can still have him this close to me. Soon these moments of peaceful joy will be replaced by a new kind of joy...a more tiring variety, I expect ;) 

BUT here I am. With 30 minutes to spare before I need to pick up a few cute monsters from the bus stop and said to myself...that's just enough time to write about my delicious lunch! 

For my birthday, my friends surprised me at my favorite restaurant with a wonderful birthday dinner. It was a blast and oh so very yummy! Two of us split this to-die-for risotto and I have been thinking of it ever since! I've only recently tried risotto and have decided, what's not to like?! It's kind of like pasta. Sort of like rice. Smothered in cheese. And in this case...asparagus. 

Oh yeah.

Creamy Asparagus Risotto

Recipe adapted from here

6-8 stalks of asparagus

3 Tbsp. plus 1 Tsp. (light) butter

1/2 small sweet onion, diced

1 cup Arborio rice

1/3 cup dry white wine, I used cooking wine

2 Tbsp cooking Sherry

3 1/2 cups fat free chicken stock

¼-1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

salt and pepper

Instructions:

1. Break off tough ends of the asparagus and cut into ½ inch pieces, or larger if you’d prefer. Boil water in a medium saucepan and blanch the asparagus pieces for 2-3 minutes.  Drain and quickly place in an ice bath to stop cooking. Asparagus will remain green and vibrant. Set aside.
2. In a medium saucepan, melt 3 Tbsp butter over medium-low heat. Add onion and cook until translucent. Pour in rice and cook for 2 minutes more, stirring until nicely coated.
3.  While the shallots are cooking, bring the stock to a simmer in a saucepan.
4. Add the wine and sherry. Slowly stir, allowing the rice to absorb the wine.  Once the wine is almost completely absorbed, add 1/2 cup of stock to the rice. Continue to stir until the liquid is almost completely absorbed, add another ½ cup of rice and continue in this pattern until all stock is used. Stir frequently, rice will stick to the bottom of the pan. After 15-20 minutes, the liquid should be absorbed rice will be tender. Remove from heat.
5. Gently stir in the Parmesan cheese to taste. My cheese was strong, so I only used a little more than ¼ cup. Add butter and asparagus and stir gently to combine. Salt and pepper to taste.

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