1. Either prepare your Risotto or use leftover Risotto (if there is such a thing) and add 2 cups of shredded cheddar cheese, 1/2 cup breadcrumbs and combine. If the recipe isn’t sticky enough, add another 1/2 cup parmesan cheese as an additional binder. NOTE: if you are preparing your Risotto fresh, make sure you let it cool down before adding the cheddar cheese so it does not melt into the mixture. The goal is to melt that oooeeeyyy gooooeeeyyy goodness while bathing in the vegetable oil.

   

   

2. Every time I do this next step I get all warm and cozy inside.  😀 Turn on your deep fryer and set the temp to 375 degrees. My deep fryer happens to be my favorite gift of all time! If you do not have one, no prob! Simply fill a deep pot about halfway full with vegetable oil, just enough to cover your Risotto Balls when frying. Turn your heat to medium(ish) and test your oil to see if the temp is high enough by adding a few breadcrumbs, if they start to sizzle and float on top you are good to go.

   

3. On a shallow plate, I use the lid of an old storage container, combine 1/2 cup of breadcrumbs, garlic powder to taste, pepper to taste and 1/2 cup parmesan cheese to make the coating for the Risotto Balls.

   

4. Take a handy dandy ice cream scoop (so versatile) and scoop up your first Risotto Ball and form it into a perfect delicious ball.

   

   

5. Roll, roll, roll your ball gently down…oh wait, gently in the breadcrumb mixture to coat. Place aside on a plate and repeat.

   

   

6. Ever so gingerly place your Risotto Balls into the nice hot vegetable bath and fry until desired crispiness about 5 minutes.

   

   

7. Remove your Risotto Balls after their vegetable oil bath onto a plate lined with paper towels and sprinkle them with a little salt while they are nice and warm. Place them Lovingly on some warm marinara sauce and sprinkle with a little more parmesan cheese to taste and ENJOY!!!  😛

   

   

   

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Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Crockpot Spaghetti Sauce

1. In a crockpot or slow cooker (whichever term you prefer) place your ground beef. Add the jar of spaghetti sauce, bay leaves, dried oregano, garlic powder, pepper, onion and 3 whole cloves of garlic.
2. Mix all the ingredients together and set the timer to cook for 4-6 hours. Stir every hour or so if you are home. The garlic will start to soften and just permeate the sauce.

   

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   Garlic Breadcrumb Topping

   1. Melt 1/2 cup butter in a saucepan over low heat. Add the garlic and bring it to a sizzle about 1-2 minutes. Remove from heat, add the breadcrumbs and combine, coating all of the breadcrumbs.

   

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Faux Lasagna Assembly

1. Cook the lasagna noodles according to package directions.
2. Layer the bottom of an oven safe baking dish with enough noodles to cover the bottom.
3. Layer a cup or so of the crockpot spaghetti sauce over the noodles.
4. Add half of the mozzarella cheese and spread to cover the sauce.
5. Add half of the garlic breadcrumb topping, spread out over the mozzarella cheese. Sprinkle this layer with some parmesan cheese.
6. REPEAT the layers and sprinkle with parmesan cheese and a little olive oil over the top to add a golden color when baking.
7. Bake for 25-30 minutes. Remove from the oven and let stand 5 minutes before serving. Enjoy!  😛

   

   

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

1. Remove the mushroom stems (put aside to chop for the filling) and place the mushrooms on a foil lined baking sheet. Drizzle 1 tbsp of the olive oil over the mushrooms. Sprinkle each one with a little kosher salt.

   

2. In a frypan on medium heat, add the remaining tbsp of olive oil and the whipper butter. Melt the butter. Sauté the sliced green onions, chopped garlic and chopped mushroom stems for 5 minutes. Add black pepper and kosher salt to season. Add the breadcrumbs and mix it into the mixture.

   

3. Take the frypan off the heat and stir in the shredded cheddar cheese. Mix to combine and to start to melt the cheese.

   

   

4. Spoon 2 tbsp of the mixture into the mushrooms. Fill them liberally at first to spread out the mixture and then pile on the remaining mixture to “beef” up their appearance. Top them with a drizzle of olive oil and a pinch of kosher salt. Bake for 12-15 minutes.

   

5. You can serve them anyway you like—on a platter or piled gloriously on top of each other in a serving dish. Either way, I guarantee they won’t last! Enjoy!!!  😀

   

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

1. In a saucepan over medium heat, add enough extra virgin olive oil to cover the bottom of the pan, about 2 tablespoons. Add the chopped mushroom stems (chop them pretty small) and saute for about 5 minutes until they are tender.

   

   

2. Add the chopped garlic, then the breadcrumbs. Mix together. Turn off the heat and add the cheese and mix through. The residual heat will melt the cheese. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Remove pan from the heat and set aside.

   

   

   

   

3. Butterfly your chicken breasts (cut them in half, without cutting all the way through). Cover your surface with plastic wrap and place a piece of plastic wrap on top of your butterflied chicken. Take the spiked side of your mallet and pound and simultaneously gently pull the chicken out to the side to flatten and create a bigger surface. Flip them skin side down (yes I know they are skinless, pretend there is skin) and put your stuffing on top a little away from the edge. Now roll the chicken, starting from the edge and tucking the stuffing in as you go. The rollups will be a little uneven but we will take care of that in step 4.

   

   

   

   

4. Take a piece of plastic wrap about 12′ by 12′ and lay it flat on your counter surface. Put your rollup on the edge, centered on the plastic wrap edge and roll it tight as you go in the plastic wrap. When your chicken is all rolled up. Twist the sides of the plastic wrap in opposite directions tightly. This will result in a uniformed size rollup. Tie off the ends. Put them in the refrigerator for 30 minutes or more to continue forming.

   

   

5. When ready to cook, remove rollups from the fridge and let set on the counter for about 5 minutes. Unwrap and salt and pepper rollups. In an oven safe fry pan add two tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil and 2 tablespoons of whipped butter, melt over medium heat. When butter is melted brown your chicken rollups on all sides. About 1 minute per side. Baste chicken with butter sauce as you turn. Finish cooking in the oven for about 20 minutes or until cooked all the way through. Remove from the oven, and put them on a plate and set aside to rest.

   

6. Put your fry pan back on the stove, be careful as the handle will still be really hot! Over medium heat, add two more tablespoons of whipped butter, the sherry, chicken stock and the mushrooms. Salt and pepper to taste. Cook until the mushrooms are to your desired texture and the sauce has reduced about half.

   

7. Slice your chicken rollups on a biased (diagonal) and feather them out on your plate. Pour a nice amount of reduction on top and serve with your favorite vegetable. Enjoy!!!  🙂

   

1. To make the “stuffing” sauté your chopped onion in olive oil on medium heat until they are translucent about 5 minutes. Add your chopped green olive and sauté for another 2 minutes to meld the flavors. Take your pan off the heat and add the breadcrumbs and mozzarella cheese. Combine and let the mozzarella slightly melt to bind the “stuffing” together and set aside. As always add pepper and salt to taste but be very careful with the salt because the green olives are very salty, that is why so few are used in this recipe. But the taste is incredible!!!

   

   

   

2. Butterfly your chicken breasts, or in other words slice them in half, being careful not to slice all the way through. Season them liberally with some pepper (remember what I said about the salt in step 1). Now stuff those babies with the stuffing. Bring the two edges together and insert 3 toothpicks into each breast to keep them together during the baking process. Lastly wrap those gorgeous breasts with the 2 slices of bacon to keep that outer chicken nice and juicy, the stuffing, believe me, will take care of the inside in just the same way! Bake in a preheated 400 degree oven for 20 minutes.

   

   

   

   

3. Time to get that glace ready! My demi-glace though not made with two different stocks as customary, is super easy and just as tasty in my humble opinion. In a pan, add 1/2 cup of the beef broth to start (add more if you like a wetter sauce) and turn the heat to medium. Add your mushrooms to cook for about 5 minutes and then turn the heat up just a bit to boil the broth and reduce it a little. When the sauce is reduced to your liking and the mushrooms to your desired consistency add the beautiful whipped butter and allow it to melt into the glace. This will create that ultra creamy, dreamy sauce to compliment that delicious moist chicken. Season with pepper to taste and a pinch of kosher salt (I did add salt to the glace) to elevate the flavor.

   

   

   

4. To crisp the bacon turn your broiler to high and broil on each side about 3-4 minutes or until desired bacon crispness. This step will not, I repeat will not dry out the chicken.

   

5. Finally plate those babies up! Remove the toothpicks from the chicken and discard. Pour some of that creamy mushroom glace over the top and add your desired vege on the side. So, So, So Tasty! Enjoy!  😀

   

   P.S. I also made chocolate chip cookies with a surprise filling. I used this Land O’ Lakes Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe, with a few tweaks. I used whipped Land O’ Lakes butter instead of regular and I also up the brown sugar portion to 1 cup and lower the regular sugar to 1/2 cup. It was a tip I tried one time and loved it so much I do it all the time. I also left out the nuts, that is your choice. I then took a portion of the dough flattened it out and added the Oreo cookie surprise, took another portion of dough and sandwiched it on top. I baked them about 14 minutes give or take and there is only one left!  😛

   

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