BB: Spring Green Risotto

Yesterday, I went to bed at 2:30 am. Another large project was finally finished and sent to the publisher. After a brief four hours of sleep, I was rudely awakened by the sound of the dog horking up something at the base of the stairs. It's amazing how fast you can move when you hear that sound.

I booted the dog outside, went back upstairs to wake up and prepare myself for cleanup duties. Not too bad, but the resulting wet spot was in the shape of a perfect heart. As my daughter phrased it, the dog left me a "barf of love."

What has this to do with risotto?

Absolutely nothing.

Except I had made the risotto on Tuesday night and had to postpone posting about it until now due to deadlines and a lack of sleep.



I only made half a recipe and tried to limit myself to eating just half of the half. I used red wine instead of white, since it was already open, which is why the risotto looks a bit pinkish. I thought it was very good, indeed, and was looking forward to consuming the remaining half on Wednesday.


But, my dear daughter asked if she could take it for lunch. How could I refuse?

Her verdict was that this is truly a delicious risotto. Now I know for sure it's a winner!



I still have half the raw ingredients in the fridge, so I think I will make it again this weekend.


Thanks to Kimberly from Indulge & Enjoy for another great Ina Garten recipe. Stop by the Barefoot Blogger site for more recipes and comments.

The Spring Green Risotto recipe is here.

TWD: Cherry-Cherry Bread Pudding

I confess.

I like bread pudding.

I like apples, cooked or raw.

This week's Tuesdays with Dorie recipe was Apple-Apple Bread Pudding. Sounds like a great fit, right?


The thing is, I have a daughter who doesn't like cooked apples and I had no apple butter in the pantry.

So, I checked the Playing Around section and discovered cherries. Yes. I did have cherry jam in the pantry, the first cherries of the season were beginning to appear in the markets, and we all like cherries.


I sent my daughter out to buy cherries. She came home with a big bag of beautiful cherries.

They cost $17.

Were they made of gold?

No. She didn't realize I had a grocery club card, so she paid full price.

A lesson learned.




I only needed a small amount, since I was thirding the recipe.



I spread the brioche slices with cherry jam, placed them in the cooking vessel, added the sauteed cherries, then the remaining brioche.


I heated the milk/cream in the measuring cup (to eliminate one extra pan), then added it to the beaten egg and sugar mixture. Instead of vanilla, I used almond extract. It was then poured over the brioche/cherry layers and allowed to rest.



After baking for nearly an hour and a half, the bread pudding was ready to cool down a bit.




Finally, it was ready to eat. Oh. Yum. This bread pudding is so delicious! Even my daughter devoured it. Perhaps I should have only halved it.



Luckily, I still have a large bag of cherries and half a loaf of brioche. Once I find some more cherry jam (soon), I will make this again.


This bread pudding was brought to by Elizabeth of Cake or Death? Marvelous choice. If you want to try the recipe yourself, go to Elizabeth's blog. For more bread pudding comments and variations, head over to the TWD blog.

Daring Cooks: Stacked Green Chile and Chicken Enchiladas

Our hosts this month, Barbara of Barbara Bakes and Bunnee of Anna+Food have chosen a delicious Stacked Green Chile & Grilled Chicken Enchilada recipe in celebration of Cinco de Mayo! The recipe, featuring a homemade enchilada sauce was found on www.finecooking.com and written by Robb Walsh.

Enchiladas are just about my most favorite meal. They are my benchmark for any new restaurant I try.



I've been making stacked ones for years and years, but usually with a red chile sauce. My challenge for this event was to make a green enchilada sauce. I've been looking for an easy and tasty one for a long time, and I believe I've finally found the right green sauce.



After cleaning the chiles and the tomatillos, I broiled them to remove skins and bring out flavor. When these were done, I tossed in the chicken breasts and broiled them as well.


While the green veggies cooled, I brought out the hardware to make the corn tortillas.



Even though I always have regular tortillas on hand, I decided to make some blue corn tortillas for a change. Definitely more rustic than store-bought, but that's the point.




The sauce simmered merrily away, looking and smelling terrific.




Finally, it was assembly time. The best baking container I found was my 9x5 bread pan. It held two stacks of enchiladas very nicely.



Ready to bake.




Fresh out of the oven.




Ready to eat.




One stack left. My daughter wasn't home for dinner and she forgot to take it for lunch today, so I get to treat myself again!




I will be making this green enchilada sauce again. It was easy and had great flavor. The tomatillos were so soft after broiling that I did not blend them. Instead, I just used my knife to finely chop them; basically, they disintegrated. One less item to clean!

Head over to the Daring Kitchen to see what the other Daring Cooks did and to see the sauce recipe.


Soon I'm planning on making a mole sauce -- I almost made one for this challenge, but decided on the green sauce instead. I'm looking forward to having a larger repertoire of sauces.

TWD: Strawberry fields close by

It's strawberry season here. This year the berries are as sweet as can be.

I stopped by a local stand on Saturday, and taste-tested five different varieties. My favorite one (Alyssa) was sold out, so I bought the Gaviota instead. They were incredibly sweet as well.



Because this week's Tuesday with Dorie choice was a fresh berry tart, I knew that fresh, fresh strawberries were the only way to go.


Sunday, I made three small tarts for Mother's day.


One for my daughter, who treated me to a one-hour hot stone massage. Aaaahh. Feel that tension melt right away.




One for my neighbor, who is a good friend, and, who I felt needed something special for the day.




One for me.



Even with three small tarts, I had leftover pie crust, pastry cream, and strawberries. So, today, I made four little bite-sized tarts.



What a treat!



For the recipe, go to Cristine's blog, Cooking with Cristine. She is responsible for this yummy dessert.



To see more Quick Classic Berry Tarts, head over to the TWD blog.

TWD: Burnt Sugar Ice Cream

Since the weather is beginning to warm up here, ice cream was the perfect choice for this week's Tuesdays with Dorie adventure. Becky, of Project Domestication, chose Burnt Sugar Ice Cream.

It reminds me of Dulce de Leche, or Caramel, ice cream, either of which is fine with me.



First, you start by caramelizing some sugar until it is a deep amber. Then you pour in the milk and cream mixture, stirring continuously until the caramel eventually melts and is incorporated. Egg yolks are added next, carefully, so they don't scramble. The final mixture is heated to 170 degrees, which took me less than a minute. I did strain the base into a bowl, just in case, but there were no eggy bits left behind.


While the base was chilling, I remembered that I hadn't place the ice cream maker canister back into the freezer after its last use. Shoot. That meant no ice cream for Sunday dessert. So, the ice cream was made on Monday afternoon after all components were thoroughly chilled.



It was a big hit! While you could top it with sauce or other sweet bits, it is really delicious as is. This is certainly an ice cream flavor that I will make again.

TWD: Sweet Cream Biscuits

This catch-up post will be short and sweet, just like these biscuits.


Truly quick to make, they rose beautifully while baking and came out with a natural splitting point. I ate the last two this morning for breakfast, drizzled with honey.




The biscuits are reminiscent of my favorite scone recipe, made with heavy cream instead of butter.




Since I always have heavy cream on hand, I'm sure these biscuits will become part of my baking repertoire.

Melissa of Love At First Bite chose this week's recipe, which can be found on her blog. And, when you have a spare moment, stop by the TWD blog for more challenges and comments.

BB: Jam & Coconut Thumbprint Cookies

I should be working right now. I should be catching up on all my unfinished tasks. But I'm not.

Instead, I'm working at catching up on baking. Infinitely more fun and rewarding than anything else.


First up are the jam thumbprint cookies for Barefoot Bloggers. I only made one third of the recipe, but I wish I'd made more. These are truly delicious. I used some boysenberry jam for the centers and unsweetened coconut for rolling. I believe you could substitute finely ground nuts for the coconut. The basic cookie part is just a butter cookie, a really scrumptious butter cookie.

Here's the baking progression.





Over 300 recommendations can't be wrong. These cookies would be perfect for any party or function as well as for just plain cookie-eating. They are lovely to behold and have that wonderful buttery-goodness taste. Thanks to Cassandra of Foodie with Little Thyme for a great choice.