Portobello-Shiitaki-Oyster Mushroom Risotto

You may be thinking - didn't she already write about a mushroom risotto (porcini risotto)? Well, yes, I did... but this one is very different. For one, I use different mushrooms in this recipe. I also use red wine instead of white, and I use pecorino instead of parmigiano. There are a few other slight differences as well, but both are very delicious.  I made this risotto because I purchased a gourmet mushroom mix pack, including Oyster, Portobello, and Shiitaki mushrooms. Originally thinking I would make it for a pasta dish...but then I decided to go with Risotto because the mushroom dish I was thinking about includes pancetta, and I didn't have any handy (so TBA on this recipe one day!).  We enjoyed this risotto with a glass (or two) of our homemade Cabernet Sauvignon. I recommend finding good wine to drink with this, as well as use in the recipe.

Ingredients: Serves 4

• 6-7 cups chicken broth, as needed
• 1 tablespoons butter
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 shallot, chopped
• 1.5-2 cups Arborio rice
• 1/2 cup Red Wine
• 3 sprigs of thyme, pricked off the sprig
• 1 sprig of Fresh Rosemary, pricked off the sprig
• 4oz Mushroom mix: Oyster, Portobello, Shiitaki 
• 1/3 cup Pecorino cheese, grated
• Pinch of Crush Red Pepper
• Salt and pepper, to taste

Heat the chicken broth in a medium sauce pan. Keep warm over low heat.

In a medium skillet, melt half the butter over medium heat and add the olive oil. Add half the onion and garlic. Once translucent, add the mushrooms. Mix well and cook over medium heat. Season with a little salt and pepper. Once they start to get soft, turn off heat and set aside. You don't want to over cook them as they will continue cooking in the risotto.

In the mean time, in a separate, large saucepan, melt the rest of the butter over medium heat and add in olive oil. Add in remaining onion, garlic, a pinch of crushed red pepper. Cook until translucent. Add rice and cook for 2 minutes, stirring to coat each grain. When the rice begins to make a crackling sound, add the red wine. Stir constantly, letting the red wine cook off and the rice absorb the wine.

After about 90 seconds, add in 1 ladle of the warm broth and stir until the rice has absorbed the liquid. Repeat this process, adding the remaining broth, one ladle at a time. Continue to stir, allowing the rice to absorb each addition of broth before adding more.  About midway, add the mushroom mix along with the rosemary and thyme.

Test the rice to see if it is done. It should be slightly al dente, but creamy.  Add additional salt and pepper as needed.  After you add in your final ladle of broth, add in the grated pecorino cheese and stir well until cheese is blended. 

Plate in a bowl and garnish with fresh rosemary.

Heirloom Tomato and Balsamic Reduction

There's just something about biting into an heirloom tomato that makes it special, compared to a normal tomato. When you are making a salad or an appetizer where tomato is the focal point, I recommend looking for the heirlooms.There are a few different types of heirloom tomatoes...The kind in this post is a cross-pollination hybrid. Yes, we can cross-breed tomatoes just like we do dogs ... use two different parents! That's how we get the marble colors, stripes, and multi-colored tomatoes.

I used a few ingredients to create this masterpiece. First, I found an amazing extra large tomato, but you can find perfectly good heirlooms smaller in sizes. With that, you just need some olive oil, sea salt, cracked pepper, balsamic, honey, sugar, and some really darn good cheese. The cheese I picked here is called Roncal - a creamy sheep's milk cheese from Spain. It was a perfect pick to pair with the tomato and balsamic reduction...not too mild, but not too stinky. This simple appetizer was so fantastic, easy to prepare and looked beautiful!

Balsamic Reduction: For 1 Large Tomato

• 4 tbs Balsamic Vinegar
• 1 tsp Honey (I used Lavender Honey to give an extra kick)
• 1/2 tsp Sugar

Tomato Salad:

• Extra Large Heirloom Tomato, thickly sliced
• Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• Sea Salt
• Cracked Black Pepper
• Roncal Cheese, sliced

For the balsamic reduction - heat the balsamic in a small pot until it comes to a boil. Lower heat and add the honey and sugar. Mix until it is fully dissolved. Once the balsamic cooks down and thickens remove from heat. That's it!

Slice the tomato like so.

To plate, first drizzle a little olive oil on the bottom of your plate. Add the largest layer of tomato slices on the bottom base. Add another drizzle of oil on top and some sea salt and cracked pepper. Repeat layers, largest to smallest. Drizzle a little of the balsamic reduction on the side for display, and put the remainder in a small dish for additional use. Add the Roncal on the side.

Dip a piece of tomato and cheese into the balsamic reduction - and enjoy!

Warm Calamari Salad

This ties into my post about Chilean Sea Bass ... this was the appetizer for the main course! It was a night full of seafood goodness. I randomly got some whole calamari from the fish section while I was at Whole Foods. Figured I can't go wrong with it.

There are so many ways to prepare calamari, other than the classic (and delicious) deep frying. Doing a deep fry with the flour and oil was way too messy for a Friday night - so I went with something light and simple.

Ingredients: For 2

• 3 Whole Calamari, cleaned and cut into rings.
• 3 tbs Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 1 Garlic Glove
• 1/2 Lemon, juiced
• 1 tbs Parsley, chopped
• Salt and Pepper to taste

Clean and cut the calamari into rings. If you have tentacles, just rinse them and pat dry.


Before

After

Toss everything with the olive oil in a bowl. Add the garlic, salt, and pepper - toss again.  Heat a frying pan, and add the calamari so that everything is evenly spread in a single layer. Flip all pieces a couple times, cooking for about 5-7 minutes. The calamari will turn white and the tentacle legs will curl up and shrink. They will cook fast, so make sure not to over cook them or they will be chewy and rubbery.

Once done, plate them, squeeze the lemon on top and toss with the fresh parsley. Garnish with extra parsley and a lemon wedge in case you need more.

Chilean Sea Bass with Garlic Mustard Crust

It was Friday evening after work and I had to stop into Whole Foods on my way home to grab groceries for dinner. I knew I was making seafood, so I headed straight for the fish department. Going back and forth between Halibut, Tuna, and Chilean Sea Bass, I chose the Sea Bass because it looked the freshest...and not to mention it is my favorite. Even though all these steak like fish filets can run up your grocery bill, making these at home will save you about half the price!

So, I have this Chilean Sea Bass and no idea what to do with it. I originally was going to just season it with salt and pepper and sear it in olive oil... but I wanted to add something to it ... something a little more interesting. I made this absolutely delicious crust which included Djion Mustard, Fresh Garlic, and Thyme. It was super simple and tasted like it came from a 5 star restaurant - I swear. Buon Appetito!

Ingredients: for 2

• 2 Chilean Sea Bass Filets, cut 2 inches thick. Skin on.
• Olive Oil
• 2 Lemon Slices (one for each filet)
• 1 1/2 tbs Djion Mustard (I use Grey Poupon)
• 2 tsp Red Wine Vinegar
• 2 Garlic Cloves, minced
• 4 Sprigs of Fresh Thyme, removed from sprigs and chopped
• Pinch of Salt and Cracked Pepper

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spread some olive oil on the bottom of your baking pan (about 3 tbs). Put the Sea Bass in the pan, skin side down. Drizzle some Olive Oil on top.

Combine the mustard, minced garlic, vinegar, salt, and pepper in a bowl - mix well.

Spread this evenly on top of each Filet. Drizzle additional olive oil on top (about 1 tbs each). Top off with a slice of lemon on each filet.

Cook for about 25-30 minutes, until Sea Bass is fully cooked through. Remove from oven and let sit for about 1-2 minutes before eating/serving.

The Sea Bass will peal right off the skin when you fork out a piece. My Sea Bass was served with a side of red romaine lettuce, dressed with fresh lemon juice, onion, oregano, salt and pepper. A nice and light side for a hearty, buttery fish.

Espresso Chocolate Cake with Peanut Butter Filling

Today is my Brother's Birthday, so I wanted to bring something home as my contribution to the big feast. I decided to make a dessert - bake a cake (slash looked for an excuse to use my Kichenaid Mixer).

I wanted to do a peanut butter and chocolate combination because I know he likes that as do many others who will be joining the party ... so I thought making peanut butter filling was a good idea since I had cream cheese handy. Then I spotted the espresso and took a spin off the generic chocolate cake by incorporating it into the batter.

Buon Compleanno!








Ingredients:
Cake:
1 cup of Milk
2/3 cup Vegetable Oil
1 cup of Water
2 Eggs
2 cups Flour
2 cups Granulated Sugar
1 1/2 tbs Ground Espresso
1/2 tsp Salt
1 tsp Baking Soda
1/2 tsp Baking Powder
3/4 cup Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
1/2 tsp Vanilla Extract

Peanut Butter Filling:
8oz package of Cream Cheese, at room temperature (Philadelphia)
1 cup Smooth Peanut Butter (jiffy)
1/2 cup Powdered Sugar
1/2 tsp Vanilla Extract

Peanut Butter Chocolate Ganache Topping:
1/2 cup Heavy Cream or Milk
5 oz Semisweet Chocolate Chips
1 tbs Peanut Butter

Cake:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease two 9 inch cake pans. You can line the bottom with parchment paper if you have it, so that it is easier to remove from pan. Set aside.

In your standing mixer or in a large bowl with a hand mixer, combine the sugar, milk, oil, vanilla extract and eggs. Mix well.  Next, add the flour, espresso, cocoa, salt, baking powder and baking soda. Mix together to combine all ingredients.

Pour the cake batter evenly between the 2 greased cake pans.

Bake for 35 minutes, or until a toothpick poked in the middle comes out clean. Allow the cakes to cool completely before combining with the filling.

Peanut Butter Filling:
In a large bowl mix together the cream cheese, peanut butter, powdered sugar and vanilla. Put in refrigerator until ready to prepare the cake layers.

Ganache:
Heat the heavy cream or milk in small saucepan to boil. Turn off the heat, add the chocolate and peanut butter, and let sit. Once the chocolate and peanut butter have melted (about 5 min) whisk until smooth. Set aside to cool and thicken for at least 15+ minutes. You can speed up the process by putting it in the refrigerator.

Finish: Place one cake layer on a serving plate. If the layers baked unevenly, slice off the top until it is even so that the cake isn't lop-sided. Spread the filling on top the first layer. Add the second cake layer.

 Spoon the ganache over the cake letting it drip over the sides.