Teaching Cooking
I had the pleasure of hosting a small cooking class on Saturday morning and it was great fun. Â I’d never done something quite like that before but my lovely guests made it such a cheery time. Â I served scones and coffee to start, then we made wild Mushroom Risotto, and ended the day with a delightful dessert called Pots de Creme. Â My friend Amy blogged about the class here. Â She asked that I post the recipes which I am happy to do.
Find the Vanilla Scones at my other (rarely updated) blog here.
Wild Mushroom Risotto
- 3&1/2 cups chicken or vegetable stock
- 2-3 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 small yellow onion, chopped
- 8 ounces Shitake or Cremini mushrooms (discard Shitake stems)
- 2 cloves chopped garlic
- 3/4 cups Arborio rice (use pearl rice if you can’t get Arborio)
- 1/2 cup dry white wine (if you don’t have wine on hand then use more stock)
- 2 cups diced carrots.
- 1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan
- 1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme
1. Bring the stock to a simmer and then turn to low and keep hot.
2. Heat the olive oil in a large heavy-bottomed saucepan on medium heat.  Add the onion and sauté, stirring frequently for about two minutes. Then add the mushrooms and cook for about another 8 minutes.  Add the garlic and cook for 2 more minutes.
3. Add the rice and stir well, about 30 seconds. Â Add the wine and simmer, stirring constantly, until the liquid is absorbed, 2-3 minutes. Â Add 3/4 cup of the hot stock, and cook, stirring frequently, until the stock is absorbed. Â Continue adding stock 3/4 cup, or so, at a time, stirring constantly and allowing each addition to be fully absorbed before adding more. Â Add the diced carrots about half-way through the cooking process. Â The rice should end up tender, and the risotto creamy. Â Cooking time is about 20-25 minutes total.
4. Stir in the cheese, the thyme, and a little butter to loosen the risotto if it seems too dry.
This recipe serves two people if it is the main, or only dish. Â It will serve four as a side dish. Â To serve more simply double or triple the recipe. Â I usually make a triple recipe so we can have a little leftover. Â The secret to really creamy risotto is the constant stirring.
Variations: To make a heartier main course add 1/3 pound cooked ground sausage just before adding the cheese, or the same amount of shredded cooked chicken. Â For a fully vegetarian version use only vegetable stock and skip the cheese (with plenty of stirring it will still be nice and creamy). Â If your family is anti-mushroom, just skip those and add a bit more garlic and thyme for extra flavor. Â Of course, gluten-free cooks will know to avoid the pasta-water variation for vegetable broths.
Basic Chicken Stock
- Leftover chicken bones and skin from a chicken carcass
- Odds and ends of veggies (carrot peelings and ends, onion scraps, garlic, parsley, celery, whatever is sitting in the fridge).
- Salt and pepper to taste (go easy on the salt as most of the flavor comes from the veggies and chicken).
1. Put the leftover bones and skin from a chicken carcass into a large stock pot and cover with cold water. Add veggies like celery, onion, carrots, parsley.
2. Add salt and pepper.
3. Bring to a boil and immediately reduce heat to bring the stock to barely a simmer.
4. Simmer uncovered at least 4 hours, occasionally skimming off the foam that comes to the surface.
5. Remove the bones and strain the stock.
6. If making stock for future use in soup you may want to reduce the stock by simmering a few hours longer to make it more concentrated and easier to store.
Basic Vegetable Stock
- 1 large onion
- Several stalks celery, including some leaves
- A few large carrots
- 1 bunch green onions
- 8 cloves garlic
- 8 sprigs fresh parsley
- 6 sprigs fresh thyme
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 4 quarts water (you can also use leftover water from boiling pasta or potatoes)
Directions
1. Chop vegetables into chunks.
2. Throw them in a large stock pot with the water, salt, and herbs.
3. Bring to a boil. Lower heat and simmer, uncovered, for one hour. Strain. Discard vegetables.
Other ingredients to consider: mushrooms, eggplant, asparagus (butt ends), corn cobs, fennel (stalks and trimmings), bell peppers, pea pods, chard (stems and leaves), celery root parings, marjoram (stems and leaves), basil, potato parings . . . Get the idea?
Basically the list of ingredients above should just be a starting point. Â I use whatever veggies I have on hand. Â When peeling carrots I always save the peels and ends in a bag in the freezer. Â Likewise I save pretty much all of my veggie scraps like ends of onions, asparagus ends, trimmings, odd bits of herbs, whatever isn’t going to be eaten. Â You don’t even really have to worry about proportions, peeling, or cleaning; the tiny bits of dirt on your onions just settles to the bottom where it can be left. Â I don’t even peel my garlic, just chop it roughly in half so the flavor is released. Â The only really important ingredient (besides the water and salt) is the garlic, which gives the stock it’s slightly sweet flavor.
Pots de Creme (Serves 4 to 6)
- One 11.5 or 12 ounce bag semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 3/4 cup whole milk
- 1/4 cup butter
1. Put the chocolate chips in your blender.
2. Heat the milk and butter over medium-high heat until the butter is melted – be careful not to let the milk boil or burn.
3. Pour the hot milk and butter over the chocolate chips, cover, and blend for about a minute.
4. Pour chocolate mixture into dessert cups and chill for at least an hour or two.
5. Serve with fresh whipped cream (one pint heavy whipping cream with about 3/4 cup powdered sugar in the mixer on high speed until stiff peaks form: ie the whipped cream should have plenty of texture and not be gloppy).
Variations:  You can add a few tablespoons of flavored liqueurs to the whipping cream for extra flavor.  Raspberry puree is another delicious topping with or without the whipped cream; just thaw a bag of frozen raspberries and throw them in the blender (after you clean out the chocolate) the tangier they are, the better they contrast with the sweet chocolate.