Mushroom Spinach Risotto

Risotto has been the "it" food the last couple years for restaurants, gone are the rice pilafs of the 90s, they have been replaced by appetizer, small plate and dish variations of the creamy rice. I was first introduced to risotto by Chef Ramsey and his friends over at Hell's Kitchen. Every episode the contestants struggle to make a perfect risotto for the Hell's Kitchen customers. Why is it the professional chefs can't seem to master this dish? I don't get it, after watching 3 seasons, I know that all participants on a Ramsey show need to be able to cook a perfect risotto, a Wellington steak and scallops, other dishes rotate through, but those three are always a must. . .I digress. . .

Surprisingly, I haven't actually had a risotto in a restaurant yet, but I have made a couple variations of my own, and find it to be quite yummy. For today's recipe you will need the following:

Olive oil
1 lb mushrooms (stems removed and chopped in large pieces)
2 cups fresh spinach
1/4 cup finely chopped red onion
3 garlic cloves chopped
1.5 cups arbiorro rice
6 cups chicken or vegetable broth (I made mine with Better than Bouillon)
Salt

Start by heating a large saucepan on medium heat. Add some olive oil, when heated, add garlic and cook for a minute, or until fragrant, but not burned.

Then add the mushrooms and and cook until soft (only a few minutes).

 

 

Now, add the spinach, cook for 1 minute, then sit aside. The spinach will continue to wilt while it rests. Do NOT remove the flavorful mushroom juices, you will use those later.

Heat a large skillet over medium heat, then add some olive oil.


Once your oil is heated, add your onion (I opted for a red onion today) and cook until translucent.

When your onion is ready, add the rice to the pan, turning to coat in the oil, lightly toasting the rice.

You're not ready for the red-light green-light potion of the cooking. Start by adding 1 - 2 cups of the broth (green light), then wait (red light) for it to cook up. . .

Add another cup of broth (green light), then wait for it to cook up (red light). . .repeat this process until you have added all six cups of broth. Make sure you don't over cook it though, you want the risotto to have a creamy consistency, you'll see it begins to thicken the more broth that is added.

And, if you end up with an ill-behaved child that has to be put in baby time-out, make sure to add more broth before stepping away to ensure the risotto doesn't get too dry.

He really doesn't like being put in time out. . .go figure.

When time out is over, don't forget to salt throughout, you won't need a ton, but if you add a little throughout it really helps bring out the flavor as it gets absorbed into the rice.

Once you've added all the broth, and while it's still soupy, add the mushroom mixture (with juices).

(Notice, the now happy Little Guy who has been sprung from baby jail)

Back to dinner, this is what it should look like when you add the mushrooms, notice, the consistency.

 

 

Risotto should always be served right away, this is not a dish you can make and then wait for people who are late for dinner. Remove from the heat when you plate it so it doesn't continue to cook.

Moonstruck Chocolates

It's been a busy week here, sorry for the lack of posts, let's go back a few days to catch up. My chef food critic and I celebrated our sixth wedding anniversary over the weekend. I always go for a variation of the traditional gifts. Some years I have to be more creative than others. This year was an easy one, CANDY! So, I while I could have gone for something simple like a pre-set box from Godiva, but we have been fans of a company called Moonstruck for years. They are based out of Oregon, so it's not exactly close.

 

They used to have a location on Michigan Ave in Chicago, that's where we found them. . .they had the most amazing milkshakes. I chocolate peanut butter milkshake was by far the most amazing milkshake I have ever had, it was smooth, flavorful and it was a sad day when we discovered it was no longer available in Chicago. Is it odd that Moonstruck milkshakes were considered a highlight of a trip to Chicago on more than on occation. . .that alone should tell you how awesome these milkshakes were. . .anywyay, they're not longer there, but, if you call the nicec people in Oregon, they will send you a cute little cooler packed with dry ice and a box of chocolately goodness. 

 

Here's what the box looked like when it first arrived:

 

 

Most of the truffles I ordered fit in the box, but there was one gigantic one that was filled with peanut butter AND a carmel (sadly, it was not as good as it should have been given it's size and cost), but the rest were good.

 As you can see, there were a couple selected especially for our little friends, Little Girl devoured the duckie last night and this evening ate the face of the elephant. Here's a run down of the others we have tried so far:


Mayan Truffle (the one that looks kind of like a snickerdoodle), it's a special Mayan choco blend rolled in cinnamon and sugar, yum! They told me it was one of their top sellers when I ordered, and I understand why.

The ones in the opposite corners that aren't animals (with the red flower on top) are Dark chocolate chamboard filled truffles, extra yum!

 The one to the left of teh duckie is a salted carmel sea shell, the carmel was soft and flavorful.

The one pyramid with a white chocolate top had espresso in it, so I didn't bother with that one.

The white one is a pumpkin pie truffle, perfect for the season.

The one to the right of the pumpkin pie was a french mousse truffle, it was sadly a let down, it was a flat truffle instaed of the traditional round, so there wasn't enough filling for my liking, too much ganache, not enough mouse, but the little hearts on top were cute.

The one below that is called the pot of gold, I was out of town for work when it was consumed, but I heard it was the best one yet, so sad I missed it.

And finally, the third from the left on the bottom row was also consumed while I was away, it was described to me as poorly executed buckeye. Apparently Oregon candy makers don't make buckeyes as well as Ohioians, go figure. In the defense of the candy makers, they do not call this a buckeye, but most midwesterners presented with a peanut butter and chocolate truffle would expect a buckeye. . .

We still have a few more to try, but if you're ever in Oregon, or just looking for some unique chocolate option, check out Moonstruck.

Lemon Loaf

NOTE: This recipe was revised on 4/20/13.

A recent favorite at house has been a lemon blueberry pound cake, as you can see from the picture, there were no blueberries in the house today. . .but, I was still in the mood for something lemonany.  My personal food critic didn't agree with my choice though, and insist this should never be made without blueberries again. . .I'll leave it up to you, the recipe below is for a lemon pound cake, but if you want to add 1/2 of blueberries, it comes highly recommended.

What you'll need

1 cup of AP flour
1/2 cup almond flour
3/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
3/4 cup milk
Juice of 1 lemon
2 eggs
3/4 cup of sugar
1/3 cup of butter
1/2 cup blueberries (optional)

 

Start by combing your dry ingredient (flour, salt, powder and soda) and sitting aside. Then, measure out your wet ingredients and bring to room temperature.

 Use your mixer to cream the butter and sugar. Then, add eggs one at a time until well combined.

Next, I added the lemon zest, and half the milk, followed by a third of the flour. Add the rest of the milk, then another cup of flour, mix. Add your lemon juice, followed by the rest of your flour.

 

Pour the mixture into a loaf pan and bake for 50 minutes at 350 degrees.

Normally, I like to eat things straight out of the oven, cookie, brownies, muffins. . .I enjoy the warmth and freshness, but lemon treats are an exception. The heat hide some of the flavor, so it's important to let it cool sufficiently (about 30 minutes) before enjoying.

Stuffed Pepper

I love stuffed peppers, I have yet to find a combination that I don't like, they're easy, they're quick and it's a wonderful way to use miscellaneous vegetables sitting in your fridge. I wasn't originally planning on posting this, so I don't have a start picture will all the ingredients, but I'll walk you through with the pictures I was able to take.

Start off by cooking 2 cups of rice with broth (veggie or chicken), or with water and add some Better Than Bouillon. (Refer to the rice package for the appropriate amount of liquid, but typically it's the same amount of rice that you use).

 

While my rice was cooking, I chopped up a cup of fresh spinach. . . 

 

 

 

 

A half cup of mushrooms chopped. . .

 One carrot. . .

Half an ear of corn. . .

Once all the chopping was done I sauteed the mushrooms, corn and carrots. . .once they were soft, I added the spinach. When the rice is done, I added the veggie mixture along with a half cup of shredded cheddar.

Once the rice mixture is combined, fill four red peppers (with the tops and seeds removed). As you can see, I only had 2.5 peppers, so I had to use a ramekin. Place them in an oven heated to 350 degrees for 20 minutes.

They should come out looking something like this, the skin is really soft, and extra tasty.

 Enjoy!

Chocolate Chamboard Pudding

We  love pudding here. . .well, three of us love pudding, the Little Guy for some reason doesn't seem to be as fond of it as the rest of us, in fact, he typically just watches us eat it, which makes me feel bad, but its his choice not to eat it, maybe some day he will realize just how good it is.

This recipe is a variation of our normal, I typically use vanilla to season, but I thought it would be fun to try something different, so I substituted the vanilla with some chambord and topped with a raspberry, YUM! I'll definitely make it this way again.

 

What you need:

 

 

 

• 3 cups whole milk
• 3 oz dark chocolate
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 TBSP AP flour
• 2 TBSP cornstarch
• 2 TBSP Chambord

Begin by adding the milk, sugar, flour, cornstarch and salt to a saucepan, whisk until well combined.

Heat over a medium heat, stirring often, make sure you don't scaled the milk.

Break the chocolate bar into smaller pieces to help it melt quicker and add to the milk mixture has been thoroughly whisked together.

The choloate will begin to melt, and will look like this. . .

After more whisking and as it wams more, it will look more like this. . .

 

Once it comes to a boil, let it go for 1 minute, then add the Chambord, whisk, and boil for one more minute.

Let the pudding rest for a couple minutes before pouring. We typically end up with about 8 small juice glasses filled with pudding.

I topped each with one raspberry, but when we started eating them, we decided more raspberries were needed, I would recommend 3 -4 per cup. It's amazing warm, but you can also chill it and eat later.