Risotto Relay!

Sathya & Liz of The Baker & The Curry Maker are hosting the Risotto Relay this month and since we love Risotto and make it very often we decided we HAD to do it! We made Abalone Mushroom Risotto for dinner last night. Abalone Mushrooms, you ask yourself, what is that? We had no idea until we hit the grocery store last weekend (they sell them at Wholefoods) & we still really did not have an idea even after bringing our prize home. Here is a description that I found online: "Abalone mushroom is a delicate white sphere with soft spines and no stem. It has a mild, sweet taste and pleasant texture that has been compared to lobster or very tender veal. It's appearance has earned it many interesting common names including Monkey's head, Lion's Mane, Bear's Head, Old Man's Beard, and Satyr's Beard. Among its other medicinal benefits pom pom is best known for its traditional use in treating ailments of the stomach and digestive tract, as well as nervous system disorders." I love abalone, L. has never had it and this mushroom was very much like the real thing. Same texture and the same flavor. The risotto was creamy (and I do not use cheese) and bursting full of flavor!

49 Days! 57 Days!

until we will be doing some serious beach time in Costa Rica. Serious beach time means serious swimsuit time, which in turns means some serious pushing back from the kitchen table! L. will be heading down before me for a big bike race - coast to coast and then I will join him a week later for some much needed R & R. Now a girl and guy can not live on carrots alone, so we are cutting back to smaller portions and many more veggies! I loaded up the old veggie bin with some great local things and will we will be hitting the stove big time! You can expect some new easy veggie recipes to be seen in the next few weeks! We got pretty excited about an Abalone mushroom we found, so we got it. Now, it pretty much smells, looks and even tastes like Abalone - weird! Sauteed it with some shallots, garlic, white wine, Meyer Lemon juice and made Risotto, served roasted asparagus on the side. I am a sucker for food packaged in interesting ways. I found, this Bubalus Bubalis Mozzarella and had to get it for two reasons: 1. I liked how it looked and 2. have heard how great it is! So, to finish off our meal, we had a mozzarella and tomato (these were from our garden - how much more local can you get) salad. Now, this Mozzarella, is outstanding - ultra creamy, smooth taste, mouth-watering goodness - would be fantastic on a grilled pizza as well!