Take Home Chef*

I made a roasted butternut squash & portabella mushroom risotto for Laura's Fall Potluck Extravaganza this evening. Judging by the results - a container with just a few grains of risotto remaining - it was very well-received. At the Goose they had a package of pre-cut organic squash. I tossed that with some olive oil and salt and pepper in a baking pan and roasted that at 400 for about an hour. In the meantime I prepared risotto as per usual, including adding red wine (Ruffino chianti this time, which worked very nicely). I mashed up the squash in a bowl after it was done roasting and then mixed it into the risotto toward the end of the broth-adding phase. It added a nice orange color and flavor in keeping with the fall theme of the event. I added a fair amount of turmeric (?!? not sure how this even got in our spice cabinet), mainly for color, as well as a bit of cinnamon and nutmeg. Boom.

I was standing at the sideboard, adding a bit of Caribbean delight to my hot mulled cider, when I overheard one young lady comment to another about how delicious and amazing my risotto was. So I pulled the old "take a long time making my drink while I shamelessly drink in praise from afar" bit. Also these people evidently had never heard of spiked cider before, so I also introduced that to the sober, thirsty, huddled masses.

The best part is that I have another big rig of the risotto left over, along with my baked cellentani. There's gonna be some good eatin' chez MRhé this week!

*That's me, ladies!