Archives for posts with tag: shallots

baby romanesco

quick and delicious silky romanesco soup

A botanical dilemma, this gorgeous edible has caused much confusion about its true parentage. Sometimes called Romanesco broccoli and sometimes called Romanesco cauliflower in North America, the French call it Romanesco cabbage while the Italians refer to it as broccolo Romanesco.

Having a dense texture reminiscent to cauliflower, baby broccoli Romanesco has a crunchier bite. I substituted Romanesco for a  www.smittenkitchen.com recipe that called for cauliflower and was happy with this healthy dinner for girls night.

Eating is so much more than preparing and cooking food: it’s about giving, friendship, beauty, warmth, color, experience, fragrance, simplicity and of course company.

Serves 4 to 6

8 heads baby romanesco
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 shallots, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 quart low-sodium chicken stock or veggie stock
1/2 cup finely grated Parmesan
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Remove the leaves and thick core from the romanesco, coarsely chop, and reserve.

Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan or soup pot over medium heat and add the onion and garlic. Cook until softened, but not browned, about 5 minutes.

Add the romanesco and stock and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to a simmer, cover, and cook until the romanesco is very soft and falling apart, about 15 minutes.

Remove from heat and, using a hand held immersion blender, puree the soup, or puree in small batches in a blender and return it to the pot.

Add the Parmesan and stir until smooth.

Season, to taste, with salt and black pepper. Keep warm until ready to serve.

Now play with glitter with all your best friends because glitter makes everything better, and we were making Valentine’s Day cards for our loved ones. You should probably go make a card for your mom, sister, brother, nephew or niece, grandparents and best friends right now.

chantrelles

chanterelle + white wine + shallots + risotto

I went chanterelle mushroom hunting for the first time this week. It was amazing to be outside in the woods, everywhere you looked you saw beauty, unfortunately everywhere we looked we did not find any quality chanterelles. Next time. It was still a lovely day, in good spirits and luckily I was able to procure some excellent chanterelles from our mushroom vendor. These golden looking, golden tasting mushrooms also happen to be golden priced. While I am not hesitant to spend my money on high end, quality ingredients it is oh so much nicer to enjoy the perks of my profession.

I have never made risotto, I was always nervous to make it because of the dreaded mushy consistency it often becomes, and I shied away from this Italian style dish. It sounded like the perfect pairing and I know my man loves it, so it was just the right thing to try out for date night.

3 cups chicken stock
4 tbsp. butter
2 minced, peeled shallots
4 cups cleaned small chanterelles
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 cup arborio rice
1/2 cup grated parmigiano-reggiano

1. Bring chicken stock to a simmer in a saucepan over medium-high heat, then reduce heat to low to maintain simmer.

2. Melt 2 tbsp. butter in a medium deep pot over medium-high heat. Add shallots and cook for 1 minute. Add small chanterelles and sauté until tender, about 5 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper, then transfer to a bowl.

3. Melt 2 tbsp. additional butter in same pot over medium heat, add short-grain rice, and cook, stirring constantly, until lightly toasted, about 3 minutes. Stir in 1 cup of the hot stock and cook, stirring frequently, until liquid is almost absorbed. Continue adding stock, about 3/4 cup at a time, stirring frequently, until rice is tender but firm to the bite and mixture is creamy but not soupy, about 25 minutes. Add chanterelles just before last addition of stock. Stir in parmigiano-reggiano, adjust seasonings, and serve immediately.

We also baked chicken with white wine, spices, and parmesan to serve with our risotto as well as a simple baby kale and pomegranate seed salad. A perfect rustic meal.