Gee's Nuthorns

This year I participated in something amazing to get me into the holiday spirit: The Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap!  I knew the second I joined what cookies I would be making: nuthorns.  This is a very special cookie to me.  My grandmother used to make these every year when I was little.  She would send them to everyone in the extended family... and we are Italian, so let's be honest, big family.  She passed away a few years back and the cookies haven't been made in quite awhile.  So in her honor, I present to you, Gee's Nuthorns!

I would like to thank Lindsay from Love and Olive Oil and Julie from The Little Kitchen for planning this ridiculously awesome cookie extravaganza.  I would also really really like to thank the ladies that sent me cookies. :)  Kathia from Pink Little Cake sent me chocolate milk cookies, Mary from Passionate Perseverance sent me Specaltius cookies, and Julie from the semi-reformed nerd sent me cinnamon spice brown sugar cookies.  They were all quite delicious!

Chanterelle Truffle Risotto

Due to traveling and preparing for my office party, I have taken a brief hiatus from blogging, but alas, I am back.  This recipe is for chanterelle truffle risotto which is really a treat, you see.  The Green City Market continues throughout the winter at a mostly regular schedule (which is incredible if you ask me!), and I was able to get some beautiful dried chanterelle mushrooms for a very reasonable price.  I also managed to find a whole black truffle at Chelsea Market in New York.  Without question I bought it.  I have not been able to find any for sale here in Chicago, does anyone have any clever insights I am missing?  Anyway, these finds resulted in risotto.  I am obsessed with risotto because you can do anything with it.  You can turn leftover vegetables into creamy bliss.

So this is what I did!  First I soaked the dried chanterelle mushrooms in hot water for 30 minutes.  It's worth waiting to start on the dish for this because you can use the leftover liquid for your stock.  I chopped and sauteed some cremini mushrooms as well as the chanterelles.  Then I chopped a shallot, also from the people I got the mushrooms from, River Valley Ranch.  These shallots are monsters because they grow them in the compost from the mushrooms!  I sauteed it in some butter, then I added a cup of risotto to the pot and added more butter to get it nice and golden.

I add just a quarter of a cup of white wine for flavor and let it absorb.  Then you add whatever liquid you are using about 3/4 of a cup at a time.  You want to stir it constantly and don't add more liquid until everything has been absorbed.  I used about 2 and a half cups of that mushroom liquid (after straining) and 1 1/2 - 2 cups of beef stock.  You can use vegetable stock or chicken stock as well.  I added a teaspoon or so (maybe more, I am obsessed) of black truffle paste to the risotto to add an extra earthy layer to the dish.  When the risotto is done (25-30 minutes, taste test!), I add the mushrooms to it and let them soak up some flavor and reheat.  Then I topped with parmesan cheese and some of the black truffle.  It was hearty, and warm, and delightful in every way.  I wish I had more pictures to show you because it was incredible.

I hope everyone is enjoying the holiday season so far :)

Chanterelle Truffle Risotto

Dried Chanterelle mushrooms
Cremini mushrooms
1 cup of risotto
1/4 cup of white wine
1 shallot
Mushroom liquid from rehydrating chanterelles
2 cups of stock (I used beef)
black truffle paste (optional)*
butter
olive oil
parmesan cheese for topping
black truffle (optional)

*For those of you that are on stricter financial diets (such as myself), purchasing truffle in things like salts, oils, or paste is very economical.  It lasts for a very long time and it tastes very strongly of truffle.  If you are in the Chicago area, I suggest checking out Provenance because they are very choosy about their vendors and they sell very high quality products.

Minestrone

Do you ever see a cookbook and just have that feeling that it's going to be filled with sheer genius?  When I was at a book sale at the end of the summer, I saw Jamie Oliver's The Naked Chef and knew that there would be something special inside.  I find Jamie Oliver inspiring.  He makes these wonderfully hearty, healthy dishes in a sustainable way.  He has inspired me to be more conscious about my food consumption and purchases.  When I got this cookbook I read it in a night.  He is incredible.  He has a tomato soup recipe that doesn't require milk or cream and is out of this world.  I just want to cook my way through this entire book.  I know that every recipe will be incredible.  This particular recipe is his minestrone.  It is so hearty and satisfying.  It has become a staple in my freezer and I make it for everyone!

Beautiful Beets

A couple of posts back, I wrote about my Dad's incredible salad dressing.  I discussed what you should and shouldn't skimp on, and casually mentioned the joy of beets.  But I feel like I didn't do them justice.  You see, beets are brilliant.  They are healthy and they are filling.  They make salads worth eating.  They also make goat cheese taste better than I ever thought possible.  The craziest part about all of this is that until this summer, I was never even aware of how tasty beets are.  I don't have a genius recipe for you.  I just have a simple way of preparing them that I found in Mark Bittman's How to Eat Everything cookbook app.

Mediterranean Chicken

I think it's very important to always have several dishes that you can whip together in a pinch.  This is a wonderful dish that will forever be in my repertoire.  It's tasty, healthy, and you can personalize each piece of chicken to the eater's taste.  You could serve this to guests or eat it when you're home alone one night.  I am all about taking the time to cook a wonderfully delicious meal, but this is truly the best of both worlds.  And it's filling.  Throw a pot of chicken stock and quinoa on the stove and you've got yourself a very filling and satisfying supper!

The Bounty of the Squirrel

This summer I was accused of being a squirrel.  This is a true statement, indeed.  The way I made jam, canned tomatoes, and made pesto was most likely quite the spectacle.  It makes me happy that many of my favorite bloggers also participated in these endeavors, and now I'm quite happy to say that when I work late and I get home at night, I have my own personal stash of homemade pesto to turn to for a healthy, satisfying meal... although mine comes from the freezer not a tree.  Right.  Making pesto is easy, very cost effective, and tastes much better than store bought, I think.  You can buy basil in the store, but I am definitely partial to making this in season.  Farmers markets sell gigantic stems for $2.

CBN Tribute Party: Food Demonstration

The Chicago Blogger Network put on a wonderful event at Tribute on Wednesday.  It was my first CBN event and I had a lovely time.  My favorite part was a food demonstration that Chef Jared gave for some of the food bloggers!  He taught us how to make the most incredible dish: The Big Nasty.  Oh, yes.  The next time you are in the mood for some amazing down home cooking, order this!  It is a cheese biscuit with the most amazing fried chicken topped with homemade pork sausage gravy and the other side of the cheese biscuit.  Oof.

I met three wonderful women at this demonstration: Pilar, Lori, and Christina.  The photos I have posted aside from this first one, which is courtesy of Tyler from Darkroom Demons, are from Pilar.  Thank you!

This is Chef Jared!

And this is his head pastry chef showing us how to make some insane cheese biscuits!

This is homemade sage pork sausage gravy.  Lovely!

The assembly: the fried chicken is in place on the biscuit topped with the gorgeous gravy!

The final product. Beautiful!

The best part: Tasting!

This dish was paired with two incredible wines by Steve Cox at Tribute.  They were the 2006 Francine et Olivier, Savary Chablis from Burgundy and the 2011 Palmina Dolcetto from Santa Barbara.

This is my good friend Sara and my new friend Pilar!

This is Amy!

After this we went out to the party and met a bunch of bloggers.  I can't wait to get to know them all better!  We left with some really fun tote bags!  Thank you to Chicago Blogger network for the tote bags, sharpies, and putting on the event, and to those who supplied us with some really fun products: New Era Cap for the Chicago Blackhawks hat, Loopt for the bottle opener and sunglasses, Kind Bars for the snack bar, Pop Chips for the bag of chips, Freshii for the gift certificate, Tzar Ultra Lounge for the gift certificate, and Pink Papaya for the hand scrub and cream.  Thank you very much to Tribute for hosting the event, food, drinks, and the opportunity for everyone to receive 10% off if they show this photo while dining there!