but besides the pumpkin pie...

last night we had our friends ali and brandon over for dinner. for the occasion i made peasant bread, the same butternut/acorn squash soup as before, rosemary/mushroom risotto and pumpkin pie.

the dinner was great but the pie was less so. without the cinnamon whipped cream i made it would have been a disaster. maybe the pumpkin wasn't ripe enough. either way i'm not giving that recipe until i figure out why it did not taste good. my polite guests finished their slices regardless of the taste. i think they just liked the whipped cream.

rosemary and mushroom risotto.

this is a fancy dish that is not too hard to make, even though everyone thinks it is. so you will look like a star in the kitchen with minimal effort.

1 cup arborio rice
1 cup milk
1 tbs chopped parsley
1 medium yellow onion, minced (in culinary school the trick was the make the onion the same size as the rice so that you couldn't tell which was which until you ate it.)
chicken stock
mushrooms, chopped, any kind you like
two good sprinkles of dry rosemary
salt and pepper
1 tbs olive oil
1 clove of garlic, minced
1 cup parmesan cheese

in a sauce pan pour about 3-4 cups of chicken stock - save the container because you may have leftovers. heat it on low. have a small ladle near by for scooping. next to the sauce pan, in a skillet heat up olive oil. add garlic and onions. sautee until the garlic starts to brown a little and the onions are translucent. add parsley, rosemary and mushrooms. lower the heat to a simmer and cook until mushrooms are soft. season with salt and pepper. add milk and stir in rice. when milk is absorbed add one ladle of chicken stock. stir the rice until the stock is absorbed - this is called au sec or until it's dry. keep doing this until the rice is cooked. keep tasting it to make sure. while i a big supporter of al dente pasta i am not a fan of al dente rice. if it's not done add more stock. be patient. when you feel that rice is done, stir in the cheese. cook for a few more seconds and serve right away.

it can be kept warm for a little while but it starts to get gluey. our guests were late and the rice sat for a while so it wasn't the best. but straight out of the pan all gooey and creamy. i almost died it was so good.


peasant bread.
another fancy looking thing that's really simple to make.

i saw mark bittman do his thing for ny times and he visited a bakery that makes this bread. it's so easy a 6 year old can do it - they say this several times.

3 cups warm water (100 degrees)
1 1/2 tbs dry active yeast
1/2 tbs salt
6 1/2 cups flour (all purpose)

put all dry ingredients in large bowl. mix together loosely. add water. stir. when it gets dough-ish. cover with a towel and let it rest for about 2-3 hours.
when you come back it will be huge! and dough may or may not be on the towel. there was dough on my towel.
get a floured surface ready. flour your hands well. reach in a grab a big grapefruit sized ball of this dough (save the rest) it's very wet and sticky so just get ready. plop this glob on the floured surface.  sprinkle with flour and lightly stretch it into a ball, folding the sides under to create a smooth top. then put this ball into a pie plate or cake pan, cover and let it rest for 2 hours. preheat your oven at 500 degrees. place a bowl of ice cubes at the bottom of the oven. bake the bread for 10 minutes at 500. lower the temp to 450 for another 10 minutes. then take the bread out of the pan and put it directly on the rack. lower the temp again to 350 and bake for another 10 minutes. check to make sure it's the color you want and put it on a cooling rack. then eat it.

the dough recipe makes a ton of dough and you can save it in the 'fridge for up to 2 weeks!

there are other ways to make this bread like with a dutch oven like in the video. but i don't have one so i did it this way. it still turns out delish though. plus the great thing about bread is that it tastes like bread regardless of what it looks like.

as lisa would say, stay classy, chicago.

love,
keighty