I have a weakness for amazing risotto, it’s hard for me to resist ordering it when I see it on a menu. This is my husband’s favorite dish to pair with lamb and a nice glass of wine. It’s rich, creamy and full of flavor. Giada De Laurentiis has a fabulous fool proof recipe that everybody should try. Patience is needed to master the delicious flavor and texture of a great risotto. This dish needs to be constantly stirred and requires a lot of attention – it is definitely cooked with love and is pure comfort on a plate.
I’ve made this for numerous dinner parties and there are never any left overs. It is also the side dish that my husband request every Valentine’s Day and birthday. (Although this year he has requested Osso Bucco and Saffron Risotto – so my recipe search begins!) The mushrooms give the risotto a woodsy color and nutty taste. You can’t go wrong with this dish…it looks and taste amazing!
Mushroom Risotto with Peas
adapted from Giada De Laurentiis’ recipe
Ingredients:
8 cups canned chicken broth
½ ounce dried wild mushrooms
¼ cup regular salted butter
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 large onion, finely chopped
10 ounces crimini mushrooms, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 ½ cups Arborio rice or short-grain white rice
2/3 cup dry white wine
¾ cup frozen peas
1 cup grated Parmesan
freshly ground black pepper
Directions:
Pour chicken broth into a heavy medium saucepan. Bring broth to a simmer, add the wild mushrooms. Let the mushrooms reconstitute for about 5 minutes. Lower the heat and keep the broth warm.
In a heavy large pan, melt better over medium heat. Then add olive oil and onions. Saute onions until tender and translucent. Add crimini mushrooms and garlic. Using a slotted spoon, remove the wild mushrooms from the broth. Place on a cutting board and finely chop the mushrooms. Add the chopped wild mushrooms to the saucepan. Saute until the mushrooms are soft and the juices have evaporated. Add the rice and let it toast for a few minutes then add the white wine and cook until the liquid is absorbed. Make sure to stir often to prevent burning. Add 1 cup of hot broth and turn the heat down to medium low. Allow rice to simmer until the liquid has be absorbed. Continue to stir often. Keep cooking and stirring, adding more broth by the cupfuls until the rice is tender and risotto is creamy. Stir in the frozen peas when you are down to your last 1 or 2 cups of chicken broth. Once the rice is tender and creamy, add the Parmesan. Season with pepper, to taste. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and serve immediately.
Note, if your risotto is not tender or creamy after absorbing 8 cups of broth, continue to add warm water or broth until you achieve the desired consistency. 8 cups should be plenty though if you cook it over medium-low heat. The key is the rice has to absorb the liquid at a slow pace to become tender and creamy.
Enjoy!
I just hosted my first Annual Cookie Exchange. It was a great way to get together with the girls and swap recipes! Even though I’ve never participated in a cookie exchange – I have seen pictures of them where a table is covered with waxed paper and the cookies are just dumped on to the table. That is not what I envisioned my cookie exchange to be. If you’ve spent hours picking out a recipe, shopping for the ingredients and then mixing, rolling, shaping, baking and decorating your cookies – they deserve to be show cased on a pedestal. I’m just saying!
The cookies needed a special place to sit pretty before we devoured them. First – the table cloth. I’ve never ironed my table cloth before…but boy does it make a big difference. So if you have time before throwing a party – I highly recommend ironing your table cloth before hand. Trust me…it never made sense to me before I tried it myself!
Next, I set out pretty and functional dishes. I kept the serving trays and platters simple. I know it’s tempting to use all fun holiday inspired plates and such, but I really wanted to keep it sophisticated and I didn’t want the dishes to compete with the cookies. The cookies were the main focus after all. Add some elements to create a festive atmosphere. Keep it simple. I covered some empty soup cans with wrapping paper and crumpled up some foil to put in the bottom. Then filled them with an assortment of candy canes. I also placed bows and other holiday decorations around the table to tie it all together. It was just stuff that I had in my Christmas box that I’ve saved from gift baskets and presents. Also – tall vases are perfect for tall flowers such as gladiolas. It was easy, trim the bottoms and stick them in a tall vase. I actually wanted to fill the vase with cranberries, but I couldn’t find any cranberries anywhere! Maybe next year.
Here are some of the cookies that we got to sample: YUM!
Barefoot Contessa’s Jam Thumbprint Cookies
Nestle’s Yuletide Layered Bars
Even Bakerella’s Cake Pops made an appearance…
Molasses Spice Cookies
Cowboy Cookies
Martha Stewart’s Kitchen Sink Cookies
I truly believe that it’s the little details that make your gatherings, party or event stand out. The mini ornament place card holders were so cute and I got so many compliments on them! I got a set of 6 at Michael’s with my 40% off coupon for less than $3.00. The great part is you can reuse them year after year. I printed up every one’s names and their cookies. It was a fun way to label every one’s creations.
and…here’s the best part of the night…actually getting to eat the goods! Clearly, my plate is too small!
(Molasses Spice, Better Home & Garden’s Snickerdoodles, Toffee Cookies, Cowboy Cookie, Chocolate Mousse cup & Pumpkin Bar with Cream Cheese Frosting) Can we say delish?!
This past Tuesday was my office’s first annual Holiday Bake Off. What a fun way to gain a couple extra pounds for the winter! It was pretty cool seeing the goods that everyone brought in and the history behind the recipes. There were four categories to compete in: Best Tasting, Most Festive/Holiday Inspired, Most Creative/Original and Best Decorated.
Guess what….to my suprise…I WON for Most Festive/Holiday Inspired. My red velvet mini cupcake bites took the prize. The “cupcake liner” was milk chocolate and the “frosting” was white chocolate topped with sprinkles and a M&M.
Here’s what it looked like on the inside…
I was definitely inspired by Bakerella…I’ve attempted her cake balls recipe for my husband’s birthday this year and while they tasted delicious…my presentation needed some work. I was very happy about my results from round two! This time I tried my hand at her Cupcake Bites instead of the balls. It took a few extra steps but it was worth it! They were just so darn cute!
Here are the other winners:
Best Tasting: Cherry Cheesecake Bars
Best Decorated: Red Velvet Cake with White Chocolate Ribbons
Most Creative/Original: Sugar Cookies & Biscotti Skewers
I do want to give a very honorable mention to the fabulous pie shown below. It may not be displayed with all of the bells and whistles…but the flavor speaks for itself!
Eggnog Pie…it was light and creamy and gave you a burst of the holidays in every bite!
Thank you everyone for sharing their baked goods…my waist line appreciated every bite!
For the past couple of years I have been posting pictures and recipes of my cooking and photos of parties that I hosted on my Facebook page. With the encouragement and support from my husband and friends I have finally decided to take the next step. This is for you guys! Thank you for believing in me. I hope that you find inspiration in the things I love and enjoy on a daily basis.
Kitchen Runway will be a place where you will find ideas for intimate dinners to fun and exciting cocktail parties, comforting baked goods to decadent desserts, and simple and easy weeknight meals to elegant and elaborate dinner menus.
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