Rosie Makes Youngest Hawthorne's Favorite Meal.

 

Youngest Hawthorne and Junior were home

last week for spring(?) break 

and I'm making his all-time favorite meal.

It's seared scallops atop a Parmesan crisp

 on a bed of spinach and sundried tomato risotto

topped with caramelized onions and pesto.

For the Parmesan crisps,

simply grate Parmesan cheese 

and scoop out about 1/4 cup for each round.

Bake in a 400° oven until bubbly and lightly browned,

about 8 minutes.

Please watch carefully, so you don't burn them.

Let drain on paper towels.

On to the risotto ...

You'll need:

1/2 cup arborio rice

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

4-5 sun-dried tomato pieces

1/2 bag fresh spinach

3 cups chicken broth

1/2 cup heavy cream

Cover the sun-dried tomatoes

in boiling water and let soften 15 minutes.

Heat one tablespoon each

olive oil and unsalted butter.

Add in 1/2 cup of arborio rice.

Cook and stir for a minute or so.

You want the rice to release a nutty aroma

but not to turn brown.

Have your chicken broth heated

and add in 1/4 cup hot broth at a time to the rice, 

stirring, over low heat,

and let the rice fully absorb the liquid.

Continue adding ladlefuls of hot stock,

stirring until the liquid gets absorbed.

You'll notice as the rice cooks, 

it will take on a creamy consistency

as it begins to release its natural starches.

In the meantime, I started on my caramelized onions.

Thinly slice an onion

and sauté in unsalted butter.

I like to add in a sprinkling of sugar to 

aid in the caramelization.

Give it a pinch of salt.

Cook over medium low heat until onions begin to brown.

Keep warm.

Now, back to the risotto.

Taste test.

You want tender grains, but still firm to the bite.

Takes about 30 minutes.

If you run out of stock,

simply add water, a ladleful at a time, 

stirring until absorbed.

A properly cooked risotto should form

a soft, creamy mound on your plate.

It shouldn't run or be stiff or gluey.

Add in the sun-dried tomatoes.

Coarse chop the spinach and ...

... add to the risotto. 

Let the spinach wilt.

Stir in the cream and ...

... the Parmesan.
Set aside and keep warm.

Now, for the scallops.

Rinse scallops and pat completely dry.

I season with freshly cracked pepper.

Doesn't need salt.

Heat a heavy skillet

and add about 2 TB each unsalted butter and oil.

Sear the scallops over medium high heat.

When you put the scallops in the pan,

leave them alone.

Don't try to push them around.

You'll tear them.

Wait until they naturally release themselves from the pan

to turn them over.

About 2 minutes each side.

I like to add in a splash of white wine at the end,

for de-glazing and extra flavor.

To serve,

mound risotto on your plate,

top with a Parmesan crisp,

and add scallops, caramelized onions, and pesto.

It doesn't get much better than this.

Rosie Makes A Cinnamon Crumble Coffee Cake For Youngest Hawthorne.

 
 Youngest Hawthorne and Junior showed up!

They're on "spring" break,

whatever that may be.

YH requested a cinnamon crumble coffee cake,

so Rosie got right on that.

Where did that come from?

Cinnamon Crumb Coffee Cake

1 TB flour for dusting the pan
butter for greasing the pan

2 cups flour

1 cup +2 TB sugar

1 tsp salt

10 TB unsalted butter, lightly softened

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

3/4 cup buttermilk, room temperature

1 large egg, room temperature

2 tsp vanilla extract

2/3 cup brown sugar

2 tsp ground cinnamon

Heat oven to 350°.

Butter a 9-inch springform pan.

Sprinkle the tablespoon of flour in the pan

and tap out the excess.

Whisk flour, sugar, and salt

 in a large mixing bowl until combined.

Cut in the butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.

Set aside one cup of the mixture for the crumb topping.

Mix in the baking powder and soda.

Add buttermilk, egg, and vanilla

and beat until mixture is smooth, fluffy,

and resembles frosting - about 2 minutes.

Spoon the batter into the prepared pan.

Add the brown sugar and cinnamon to the reserved flour mixture.

Blend well.

Sprinkle crumble mixture on top of the batter, pressingly lightly.

Bake until toothpick inserted in center comes clean - 50-55 minutes.

Allow to cool for 10 minutes, 

remove sides of springform pan and cool before serving.

 I love me some ice cream!

 If you'd like a little glaze,
simply mix together powdered sugar,
a little vanilla, a little milk, and some fresh orange juice
until you get the right consistency.
This doesn't take a lot of liquid.
Go easy.

 Drizzle over top of cake.

Rosie Makes A Sublime Wild Mushroom Soup. Is That A Shroup?

The Hawthornes had lunch out 

at a new restaurant the other day,
the Saltbox Café on Colington Road
(And I liked it!),

and I had the mushroom soup for starters.

Stay tuned for posts about our meals there.
Yes, meals.
Plural.
We liked it so much the first time for lunch
that we came back for the Sunday brunch.

Now, I have to make mushroom soup myself.

'twas that good!

 I've never made mushroom soup before,

but I'm starting out making a mushroom stock.

I've been saving mushroom stems

and odd pieces of shrooms in the freezer for just such a project.

 Mushroom Stock

1 TB unsalted butter

1 TB extra virgin olive oil

14.6 oz. mushroom pieces
That's the amount I happened to have in the freezer.
If you wanted to throw caution to the wind
and use an entire pound of mushrooms, please do so.

1 stalk celery

celery leaves
I always try to buy celery with leaves on it.
Excellent source of flavor.

1 carrot

1 onion

2 garlic cloves

3 fresh bay leaves
(One if dried.)

fresh thyme sprigs

2 quarts water

Kosher salt, to taste

(I started out with 1 teaspoon,

 then taste tested after it had cooked for a while,

and added in 2 more teaspoons.

1 TB peppercorns

 Heat the oil and unsalted butter

and add in the mushrooms.

 

 I had some dried mushrooms -

paddy straw and black fungus-

which I added in.

Sauté, stirring and squishing, about 5 minutes.

 I didn't bother to peel the carrot, onion, or garlic.

Just chop it up and add to the pan.
More flavor that way.

 

 Add two quarts cold water.

Bring to boil.

Reduce to simmer

and cook until reduced by half.

 Take a picture of Junior.

When the liquid has reduced by half ...

... pour the whole lot through a cheesecloth-lined chinois.

Let drain.

Then start squishing with the wood thingie
that came with the chinois..
You need to squish a lot
 to get all the flavor out of the vegetables.

Grab up all the vegetables in the cheesecloth
and squeeze all the flavors and liquid into the pan.

I made this the first day.
Ended up with 1 quart of mushroom broth.
Refrigerate.

Day 2.
I made the soup.

I have 4 ounces of "exotic mushroom blend."
And a tablespoon of chopped red onion.

I heated my pan and added 1 TB each
of unsalted butter and Olio Carli extra virgin olive oil.
Add in the mushrooms.

Sauté over medium high for about 2-3 minutes.
You want the mushrooms to brown a little.

Do NOT add salt.
Salt draws moisture out of the mushrooms,
causing them to steam, not brown.
Never salt mushrooms until they're already cooked.

Add in the chopped red onion
and a teaspoon or so of fresh thyme leaves.
Cook for a minute over medium low.

I added an extra tablespoon of butter
and a tablespoon of flour to the pan.
Cook the flour for a minute or two
to get the raw out.

Slowly add in a cup of mushroom broth,
stirring until thickened.

Add in 1/2 cup cream.

Bare simmer for 30 minutes.
Taste test and add Kosher salt
(about a teaspoon)
and freshly cracked pepper, to taste.

I pulled out some of the whole mushrooms to save for for toppings
and the rest of the soup, I pulsed in my Magic Bullet,
until nicely chunky.
Reheat through.

Cautionary note:  Never over-fill a blender with hot liquid.

While that was heating and imparting flavors,
 I assembled my accoutrements.

Fresh thyme.
Lemon zest.
Mere drops of black truffle oil.

Ladle soup into attractive bowls
and add the reserved mushrooms,
thyme, lemon zest, and truffle oil.

 Goodness, gracious.
This is some kinda good!

As good as the restaurant's soup was,
Mr. Hawthorne said he liked this better than theirs.

 Is he getting smarter?

Mine was different from theirs.
I gave it some fresh thyme greenery
and yellowey lemon zest on top.

I love thyme and lemon together.
They're made for each other.
I love the earthiness of mushrooms.
It's like walking through a forest
after a rain and the sun is just slanting and raying through the trees
and the steam is swirling off the ground.
It's umami.

Umami in the forest.
Umami in my bowl.
Bowl from a set I bought in Rawlins,WY.

Thank you, Saltbox Café,
for inspiring me.
I love it when a restaurant can do that!