He's A Magic Man

Savannah enjoyed the snow days!

The great blizzard of 2011 hit Tulsa Oklahoma this week. If you aren’t from Tulsa, you should know that we usually shut down with a couple inches of snow. Almost 15? We are in crisis mode. We were in a state of emergency before you could muster out the word snowpocalypse.


My husband and I took heed to the warnings and prepped accordingly. Our pantry was stuffed to the brim, our refrigerator stocked with all the necessities, and our freezer was exploding with frozen veggies and gluten free breads. Looking at it all, I felt like we were prepared to not leave our house for about a month, but when the ravenous cabin fever hit us all at the third day I can assure you we made quite a dent in our stash. Yes, those mounds of silvery candy wrappers in the bin are mine. Don’t judge.

The plus side of the storm was that we set a delicious menu for the entire week together, picking warm, hearty, and time consuming dinners. It was so enjoyable smelling the 15 bean soup simmering on the stove, corn muffins basking in the oven light achieving the perfect lightly golden tan…rocking to jazz with a full bodied glass of cabernet sauvignon. Ah, this blizzard was bliss.

But it’s not the 15 bean soup that I am sharing with you today. It’s something my husband cooked up. One of my FAVORITE things he cooks up. Mushroom Risotto. Creamy Arborio rice oozing with freshly grated parmesan cheese and folded into plump cremini mushrooms. Decadent. Delicious. And, I am drooling on my keyboard.

I have prepared this dish before, but there is just some hint of little magic in my husband’s hands that make it that much more delicious. So, cheers to him! And cheers to me for having the sense to marry the ol' cook!

Mushroom Risotto

• 6 cups organic chicken broth

• 2 tbs EVOO

• 1 lb cremini mushrooms

• 1 ½ cups Arborio rice

• ½ cup white wine (we used sauvignon blanc)

• Salt & pepper to taste

• 1/3 cup freshly grated parmesan

In one pot warm broth over low heat. In another pot heat the olive oil and add your mushrooms and coat. Sautee until they are soft.

Remove the mushrooms and set aside. Add your rice to that pot. Pour in your white wine and let the rice absorb all the liquid. Add ½ cup chicken broth and stir until absorbed. Continue to add ½ cup chicken broth at a time and stir continuously until the rice is al dente, about 15-20 minutes.

Remove from heat and add your mushrooms and parmesan. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Plate and enjoy!!