Thursday, January 27, 2011

cold weather cooking


Ahhhh, old man Winter. You are so harshing my mellow! However not to be completely outdone by cold and ice this past weekend, the gentleman and I decided to have a little fun in the kitchen. Making good on my promise to to be more adventurous on the fungi front, I bought a box of mushrooms at the market on sunday. And the gentleman turned it into wild mushroom risotto. Divine! We served it up with a salad of delicate Boston lettuce and fresh Texas grapefruit, dressed with a simple vinaigrette. Then paired it with a good Italian Pinot Grigio. Yummmmm.

Some other culinary inspiration:

* a rosé in winter (yes!)
* beets and blood orange
* and tomato jam from The Blue Chair Jam Cookbook (this is what I am going to do with next summer's tomato harvest)

And before I forget, Chris Storb's wonderful blog about Mount Pleasant has moved here!

From my igloo to yours ~ cheers!

6 comments:

Gretchen said...

Oh, how fun. Making the best of the cold weather. Do you know what kinds of mushrooms were in your box?

home before dark said...

Because you like spice, here's my latest winter obsession: baked cake doughnuts. Recipe here: http://allrecipes.com//Recipe/baked-doughnuts/Detail.aspx To this I add: 2 t. vanilla and 1 t. ginger. I am also very fond of Penzeys Vietnamese cinnamon which I use with sugar to sprinkle the little warm darlings. I bought 2 donut pans (the recipe makes 12). And presto-chango, you have dessert or breakfast (they keep rather well, I think. My husband keep eating them before I have a true sense of that.) Haven't tried but I JUST KNOW these warm would be ravishing with a ginger-cinnamon ice cream. Stay warm!

ArchitectDesign™ said...

my favorite -mushroom risotto!
And I just have to say -rose is for YEAR ROUND. It's my favorite wine after all -i had some last night (ok ok, i killed the entire bottle off watching the tudors on netflix -embaressing on both fronts!)

Style Court said...

I've been so concerned about you (visualizing you trapped in a snowbank or something) so I'm glad to know you're both making the best of it. Sounds like Stefan is, too :)

Janet said...

G ~ I am ashamed to say I do not know my mushrooms. If you can determine from the photo, you have your answer! Otherwise, we'll have to ask the gentleman. . .

hbd ~ your recipe is like a beacon of warm sugary light on a grey day! I wonder if these would work in my mini-Bundt pans? I received not one, but TWO boxes of Penzey's spices for Christmas last year, and admit I have yet to try the cinnamon. Though I can vouch for the cracked Spanish rosemary and rubbed sage.

Stefan ~ I think we'll have to have you over for wild mushroom risotto. And a bottle of rosé (there's one chilling in the fridge as I write).

Courtney ~ you are so sweet. Have not felt much like blogging this past week. But admit that the risotto pulled me out of the doldrums. xo

home before dark said...

I think the mini bundt would be great. These don't have yeast, but remind me a bit of baba ah rhums. By not having the "hole" in the cake, better to hold ice cream, no? Just hit the pans with a little Pam. Even with the nonstick surfaces they need a little help to release evenly. Oh, I use yogurt instead of buttermilk...makes a softer crumb I think. Let me know if you spice up your weekend!