That’s Not Risotto!

I find really irritating to see recipes for risotto that tell you to put all the ingredients in a pan bring it to a boil put the lid on and just cook it for fifteen minutes. Or put everything in a crokpot and let it cook all day. You can call it some kind of rice dish but that is not risotto.

This afternoon I was trying to figure out what to fix my wife for dinner tonight. Her and my daughter had a meeting to go to tonight and I want something warm and comforting for them on this wet stormy day.

I found a package of ground beef, some turkey stock and some Arborio rice (from Bob’s Red Mill). Add onion, garlic and some white wine and you have a risotto in the making.

This ground beef risotto took a little over an hour to cook.?(Would have taken longer if I had some mushrooms. Toss them with some salt and olive oil. Then roast them in the oven at 350 for fifteen to twenty minutes to bring out more of the flavors of the mushrooms.)

You can’t rush a risotto. It takes time for the rice to release some of its starch and creates that velvety creamy texture.

Almost done!

I wish I had taken more pictures of the process. It is really amazing how it goes from just rice cooking to this creamy velvety rich oh so good dish!

1 pound ground beef

1 yellow onion

4 cloves of garlic

2/3 cube of butter

2 Tbsp olive oil

2 cups arborio rice

8 cups stock (I used turkey I made from our thanksgiving turkey leftovers)

3 cups white wine

A slash of Worcestershire sauce

A handful of Italian parsley

1/2 cup parmigiano reggiano

Dice the onion and mince the garlic and parsley. Grate the cheese. Measure the liquids and mix together in a saucepan. Place on the stove over low heat to warm.

Brown the ground beef in a large frying pan over medium heat. Drain the fat. Add the butter and olive oil. Sauté the onion and garlic until translucent. Add the rice and toast it for a few minutes. Add about 1 1/2 cups liquid to the rice. Reduce the heat to to a low simmer. Stirring frequently adding liquid 1/2-3/4 cup at a time only when most of the liquid has been absorbed. Once all the liquid has been added stir in the parsley and the cheese. Serve emediatly with some nice fresh steamed veggies. (Makes 6 servings)

What a risotto should look like!

It was a hit. Everyone seemed to like it. I thought it was awesome.

Ps: If you are ever in Seattle find “The Pink Door“. The chef there makes the best crab risotto!

Why I Attend IFBC

  I would like to say it was the classes or the food. I would even like to say the excursions. Unfortunately all that would be a lie.  

While I get a lot of education from the classes especially being a new blogger/ writer. The “What Do You Do After You Hit Publish” class was great. So many things I need to learn to do.  

  
So the food was pretty good.  The oysters were awesome! 

 This year I had the pleasure of going to the Sanaire excursion. I love the science of Sous Vide cooking.  Scott Heimendinger has great passion to share this incredible cooking method. He has put together a great staff that shares his passion.  I am definitely going to need one of their searing kits.  

 
Now the real reason I go to IFBC. The people! My good friend and partner in crime Perry. Dr. Jean Layton who is an incredible person that has always been very encouraging to a newbee blogger. Tiffany Haugen who I have been a fan of since long before I started blogging. Her and her husband Scott have had outdoor shows for years. Sarah Kirkonnell, Bee Tangsurat, Alina ferguson and so many more who have welcomed me into this great group.  

 I am already looking forward to next year. Someplace new with exciting. Uncharted places to eat, drink and share with friends! 

Ps. Already researching places to try. Planning at least one extra day.

IFBC here again already!

We are only a week away from the International Food Bloggers Conference! Wow this year has gone by so fast. Life has been so busy. 

My wife and celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary. My son graduated from high school. My baby girl turned 14. I worked an average of 60 hours a week. So I haven’t had time to do half of the things I wanted to. Seems like the longer I live the more life gets in the way. 

I left IFBC with every intention of writing more. So many ideas in my head and so little time. Topics I want to research but no time to do so. 

I guess that’s what happens when you take on a bigger responsibility at work, have a small business on the side and two teenagers that are going in different directions. My wife is awesome! She helps me keep my head on straight. She keeps the calendar up to date (as long as I give her the days I have events).  

So enough excuses. I promise this next year I will do better. 

I did do one thing I planned. I love food but you have to have something to wash it down with. So I stared my beer blog. Mymugofbeer is alive. This blog will be about what I like about beer. The many different beers, the places and people that serve beer. I have met some of the most incredible people while sipping on a barley soda.

My cooking partners and I are doing our first “Pop Up” restaurant this weekend. It is a fund raising event to help us feed kids and teach them to cook through our “My Kitchen Outreach.” We will be serving up like fifteen courses of great food to about sixty awesome people. 

I need to go now and get things prepped for tomorrow’s dinner. 

Next week look out Seattle!!!

Le Couteaux Trois

So we are just a couple of weeks away from our pop up restaurant “Le Couteaux Trois.” A fund raiser for “My Kitchen”. A program we started a few years back to help people(mainly at risk youth) learn how to cook.

Last night we had a little planning meet at the venue where it will be held. This thing is getting way to real! I am getting a bit nervous. What were we thinking?! Is there anyway we will get all the food done on time? All these kind of questions going through my head! I don’t why I worry so much things always work out.

The menu has been figured out. The dishes have been tested and tasted. Just need to figure out the timing. The food will be awesome.

We are known for our BBQ, but we cook so much more. I will be serving up some seared Ahi tuna salad and a flank steak with roasted root veggies. Chef Terry Will be serving up a lamb Wellington and a French onion soup and Salad. Now chef Perry has some Prawns with mushroom risotto and some incredible Sake soy clams in the plan. That doesn’t include the awesome appetizers and desserts. My dessert will be a little recipe we picked up at last years International Food Bloggers Conference.

There will a raffle table and a silent auction with some great items.

Some great speakers will be there as well!

I feel better now. Just had to get a few things worked out in my head.

Best pizza ever

A post from my new beer blog.

Best Pizza ever!

New Friends at Pike Place Market

What can be better than sharing food with friends!

Friday morning Perry and I hit Top Pot doughnuts for some great doughnuts and coffee. I had a maple bar and a apple fritter. They were oh so good.

We headed over to the Weston where a group of IFBC attendees were meeting up. From there we split up into smaller groups and headed out for breakfast and to explore Seattle.

Our group of Perry P Perkins, Sarah Kirkconnell, Jana Seitzer, Alina Ferguson and myself headed towards Pike Place Market. We meandered through the market finding breakfast and coffee.

After breakfast we did more wandering stopping here and there tasting the many different sweet pastries and savory treats. We stopped at The Truffle Cafe. We tasted some wonderful wines served to us by Rei Hanscomb. She was very knowledgeable and a great hostess. She kept us entertained and made us feel at home. This little shop has a great selection of wines as well as oils, salts, pastas and fresh black truffles. The Lemon Curd that we tasted with the Prosecco was incredible. A great little shop.

At this point Sarah and Alina left our little group due to other obligations. Jana Perry and I made our way down to Sur La Table. This is a cooks dream. So many cooking utensils and kitchen gadgets. It was a good thing I had a stroked budget. I don’t know how long we were there. I lost track of time.

I love sharing food and drink with people. It is why I do what I do. There is nothing better than spending time with friends and making new ones over good food and drink.

Thank you Sarah, Jana and Alina for keeping us company!

Chef Chris

SimplySmartDinnerPlans.com

Good Food with Old Friends and New!

The Elvis Room

So my good friend Perry and I started our IFBC weekend on Thursday. Getting into Seattle around 2:00 in the afternoon. We found our hotel then walked around town to find someplace for lunch. So many so little time.

We settled on “Mamma’s Mexican Kitchen”. We were seated in the Elvis room. The room is covered with Elvis memorabilia from top to bottom. We ordered a couple of burritos and a beer. I had the  “Nolasco” and Perry had “The Elvis Presley”. Both burritos were enough to feed two people. We would regret not splitting one later in the evening.

We then walked our way down to “Pike Place Market” where we rket” where we where we ended up at “Pike Brewing“.  We tasted a couple of their beers including “Space Needle Golden IPA” and “Kilt Lifter” scotch ale. Both were good beers but the “Kilt Lifter” was the winner.

It was now time to start our mini food crawl. We had made arrangements to meet up with our high school friend Amy (Movie producer of  “Pearl” the movie) and IFBC Vickie Winters (the Vickie Winters Show) and Dr Jean Layton (the Gluten Free Dr)at “Pintxo“. We had a great time tasting some of their great tapas and drinks. I had a “Moscow Mule” and some bacon wrapped dates(oh so good!).

Patatas Bravas

Jean and Vickie had other obligations so we parted ways. Perry Amy and I headed to “Andaluca” another topas restaurant. This place was a little bit more upscale than Pintxo. Chef Sarah Lorenzen has created an incredible menu. We had the Patatas Bravas, the Harissa Roasted Root, the Lamb Kofta and the Braised Lamb Sugo. Everything was incredible and perfectly cooked. The roasted veggies that quite often get soft and mushy still had a nice bite to them. And the braised lamb Sugo was as my friend Amy (who made a very rookie food blogger mistake digging in before the pictures were taken)put it was “get a room good”! We were all very impressed and will return for another visit.

We then made our way up to the “Knee High Stocking Co.” Where we met up with Dr Jean, Bee Tangsurat (a freelance editor and book designer), Janelle Maiocco (CEO at Farmstr) and Liz Hunt (CPO/CTO at Farmstr). This “little prohibition themed speakeasy” (and yes this is a “speakeasy”. If you don’t have a password you don’t get in.) is a really fun place to get great cocktails. Nice and cozy there is only enough room for maybe 25-30 people. We sat talked and just had a great time while sipping on some great drinks. Unfortunately no pictures from inside as they don’t allow flash photography and it was quite dark.

This is why I go to the IFBC. Having great food and drink with old friends and getting to know some new ones.

Thank you everyone! I had a great time!

Chef Chris

www.simplysmartdinnerplans.com

I Need To Change My Path

As I am writing this I am sitting in a hospital waiting area where my dad is being treated for problems associated with diabetes. It is slowly killing him. This strong I can do anything man I knew as dad has turned into a shell of who he once was. He has to have help getting up out of his chair to use the toilet. His body not doing what he wants it to. The loss of feeling and strength in his hand and feet. A mild stroke taking his balance and some of his sharp mind. It is heart breaking.

Sometimes the lowest times in your life can be life changing. I don’t want my children and grandchildren to go through what my brothers and I are now. I am making a vow to my kids to change and not become my dad. Not that he was a bad father but because he should have taken better care of himself.

Our society is addicted to processed foods with little real nutritional value. I am one of those addicts. While I know how to cook. Some would say(my family) that I am a really good cook. I know what real food is and what real fresh food should taste like. After working all day I t is so easy to grab burger in the drive through or order take-out.

My good friends chef Perry, chef Terry and I have been working together at Hautemealz.com and our SimplySmartDinnerPlans on helping people get back to cooking for ourselves. I now need to take my own advice and quit using the excuse of I’m to busy or to tired. My life and the life of my family depend on it.

I want to be around to see my great grandchildren and that means I need to get more in control of my health. I know that it won’t be an overnight change as habits are harder to break than they are to form. I am determined to make changes that will benefit me and my children. I need to lead by example. My example up to now has been how not to live just like my dad was to me(as far as health was concerned). I will be better! I will change for my kids!

Breakside Brewery

Had the opportunity to stop in at the Breakside Brewery and tasting room. It was around 4:00 in the afternoon while waiting to pick my wife up from work. It was a busy place that day.

The taproom had a nice sized bar and whiskey barrels for tables. The brewery was active. You could see and here the work going on in the back.

I had a couple of nice IPA’s. The first was their Ales for ALS Double IPA. A very nice hoppy IPA. It was just what I was looking for in a beer that afternoon. The second was Aquavit Barrel Aged IPA. I enjoy this beer. It was quite a different take on an IPA than I am accustom to. Lots of citrus but not at all bitter. Both beers hit the spot on a warm afternoon.

My only complaint is parking is limited that time of day. It is situated in an industrial area with lots of other businesses. I had to park a little farther away than I would have like but it was worth it.

This is a place I will return to. They have many more beers to try.

“Made a difference to that one”

My good friends Perry, Terry and I recently had the opportunity to teach some cooking classes at a summer camp run by Sparks of Hope. We were invited by our friends Lee Ann and Chris Mead the founders of this incredible group of people. Their mission is to empower children who are survivors of physical or sexual abuse to thrive. That is what these camps are all about. The staff and volunteers for Sparks of Hope give their all to these children. I feel privileged for the opportunity to work with them.

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One of our missions at Hautemealz.com is helping people learn to cook for themselves. We believe in the “give a man a fish he eats for a day, Teach a man to fish he eats for a life time”. The problem with this is if he doesn’t know how to cook all those fish it is a moot point. This is when we started a program called “My Kitchen“. It is geared towards teaching youth to cook for themselves. So earlier this year we started working with Impact NW’s independent living program teaching nutrition, shopping and basic cooking to youth coming out of the foster care system. Teaching these kids that dinner doesn’t have to come out of the drive-thru, a box or a can. As they progressed through the classes their confidence and their willingness to try new things grew.

Now fast forward a few months to the Sparks of Hope camps. Watching a child over the course of a few days go from “I can’t do it”, to “look at what I can do”.

Teaching these wonderful little ones how to cook a basic French omelet and a fresh Pomodoro sauce with penne pasta. Watching them flip that first omelet and encourage their class mates as they tried to do the same. Or seeing their confidence grow as they learned to dice tomatoes and make a sauce that is simple fast and way better tasting than what comes out of a can. They wanted everyone who was nearby to taste what they had just created.

Chris, Lee Ann and all of the other volunteers are incredible. They work day and night to make sure these kids have a safe fun place to learn that they are more than victims.

While our part of of the Sparks of Hope camps is just a small part of what these kids learn. I hope we can add a one more thing that these kids can grab ahold of to help them succeed in life.

There is a story about a an old man on the beach throwing starfish back into the ocean one at a time. Some one tells him there are to many and he can’t make a difference. The old man listened calmly and then bent down to pick up another starfish and threw it into the sea. “It made a difference to that one.”

Somedays the work can get to you but if we can make a difference for just one kid it has all been worth it.

PS. Everyone has something to give. I cook, that is what I can give. What is something you can give? If everyone gave just a little our world would be a much better place.