The 2010 March Daring Cooks challenge was hosted by Eleanor of MelbournefoodGeek and Jess of Jessthebaker. They chose to challenge Daring Cooks to make risotto. The various components of their challenge recipe are based on input from the Australian Masterchef cookbook and the cookbook Moorish by Greg Malouf.

Creamy Risotto made with Mushrooms, Champagne and topped with Lobster and Proscuitto – think of anything better!

I have made risotto several times before and one of my favorites is one of Giadas” for Champagne Risotto. I decided to add the mushrooms and lobster and use a seafood stock instead of chicken stock. Riscotto could possibly be my all time best comfort food. And while it is still cool here at nights here in Texas I thought we needed a little comforting tonight.

I first had risotto on our trip to Italy. I had a shrimp risotto that was so delicious but I always laugh thinking about it. If you have ever seen the movie “Big Night” you know the scene I’m talking about where this lady orders shrimp risotto but she can’t really see any shrimp in it and ask the chef to bring her another dish to go along with her risotto. The chef refuses to bring her what she wanted because he said “it did not go with HIS risotto”.

My son, Scott, made a risotto once when he was visiting us that had a grilled, then crumbled Monkfish on top. It was delicious and that’s where I got the idea for the lobster garnish. I had a hard time finding a 4 oz. lobster tail and I would have rather had a 2-3 oz. tail but couldn’t find one. I guess I could have gotten some crawfish since they kind of look like lobsters.

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Bacon and Eggs – Sausage and Eggs, however you see it!

Ok, ok, so it isn’t really bacon and eggs. But, (my husband says I say BUTTTTT, way too much) it makes a cute breakfast/brunch amuse bouche.

Who doesn’t love bacon and eggs or sausage and eggs? Makes a great breakfast, lunch or dinner. If you are vegan then these little tidbits will satisfy you quickly. Meatless, egg less, but not sugarless!

I first saw this in a magazine at least 15 years ago. I cut the picture out, saved it for years, and have made it several times. This little “thing” (not really sure what to call it) makes a great little conversation piece for a brunch or breakfast.

I did a kids class one year at Williams Sonoma and showed the little ones how to make this along with my pear “rudolph”. They loved the bacon and egg snacks.

It’s simply pretzels, white chocolate and yellow M&M’s.

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You will want to do more than window shop these windows! You get to eat these.

I have done a “One Potato, Two Potato, Three Potato” blog entry where I posted three of my favorite baked potato recipes. This has to be “four”.

It was really nice here in our part of Texas today and I should have been out surveying all of our dead plants that we lost during the winter this year. But, my husband has already cut back and pulled up every dead thing in our yard and right now it is looking like a pretty naked yard. You get him going with a chain saw or pruners and watch out. No such thing as ”take a little” off with him.  I can put off taking a look until tomorrow. Today, I decided to just practice bridge and play around with making these little potato delicacies

I saw this recipe years ago in a cookbook and recently I was searching for how to make them and and came across this site. A couple of weeks ago I did a little cooking demonstration for our garden club on herbs. We had one member talking about the herbs and then I showed them how to make somethings using that particular herb. I did a cucumber soup, my Rosemary and the Goat appetizer, Lavender scones, a lemon basil/mint sorbet and these Potato Window Panes.

I love potatoes. Even though we don’t eat them often, I’m always looking for new recipes. Last summer I found this recipe using potatoes and arugula  and after tweaking it I came up with my Potato and Arugula Salad using purple and white new potatoes. I think potatoes are one of the most versatile vegetables. They can be part of a meal or the meal itself. You can grate them and use for a potato bread sour dough starter. I remember as a kid we cut them and made designs and used ink pads to stamp out designs with the potatoes. I also remember playing a shower game where you put the potato in a panty hose leg, tied it around your waist and tried to knock a ball across the room (some game huh).

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Little clouds of souffle you won’t soon forget!

This week I’m teaching a class on souffles at Williams Sonoma.  Up until about 2 years ago I had never made a souffle of any type before (I thought). I have always been afraid to attempt making something so fragile that if you breath on it it might fall.

I don’t know why after being married for 40 years and catering for 20 years I would be afraid to attempt anything. I just don’t like failures and I guess I have envisioned pulling out a beautiful souffle to serve to guest and having it fall right before my eyes.

A few years ago on a mother/daughter trip we took with a friend and her daughter we had dinner at the Culinary Institute in Napa. We had two souffles that night. The dessert souffle was to die for and what they did was bring it to the table, inserted a spoon in the middle to collapse it and then poured a pitcher of cream angalise over it. Delicious!

But, before dessert arrived we started the meal with this huge bowl of French Onion Soup topped with Cheese Souffle. My version, Souffled Onion Soup is fantastic. I knew after enjoying this soup that I was going to have to make it. I went to work one day hoping to get someone to tell me how they made a souffle and I couldn’t find anyone who had made one before. Guess I wasn’t the only one who feared making a souffle. So, I bought The Joy of Cooking (can’t believe that wasn’t in my cookbook library) and set about making my version of the Soup. You simply make your favorite (or my recipe) of French Onion Soup, top it with a cheese souffle and bake in the oven. I serve this in my little lion head soup bowls and I really think that the steam from the hot soup keeps the souffle from falling. In fact, it doesn’t fall the whole time you are eating the soup.

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Bakalava, Chocolava, anything made with phyllo dough is fantastic!

I have been making bakalava since the early 70’s and I can’t believe I have never been intimidated by working with phyllo dough.  I love making anything with the stuff.  I have made little baskets to use as vessels for different appetizers. I have roll it up into roses to use for platter garnishes. It is great to make asparagus cigars (asparagus, wrapped with prosciutto and rolled in phyllo). Spanakopitas, of course, are wonder.  I have a delicious recipe for Chicken in Phyllo with a Lemon Veloute Sauce that is outstanding (will post this soon).

Baklava is a rich, sweet pastry made of layers of phyllo dough filled with chopped nuts and a sweetened honey/lemon syrup that is poured over the freshly baked baklava. This recipe has chocolate chips mixed in with the nuts and has melted chocolate drizzled over the top.

When we lived in Iowa back in the 70’s, I knew a girl who was Greek and she gave me a recipe for Baklava which I no longer have. But I remember her recipe had a mixture of walnuts, pecans and almonds and also used nutmeg and cloves with the cinnamon. My twin sister shared this chocolava  recipe with me years ago. Her recipe uses orange and lemon juice for the drizzle. I made a few changes to her recipe using the extra spices and nuts I mentioned above. Hope you will try this version and it will be come a favorite.

Delicious! If I do say so myself.

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