Mexican Risotto!!!

Oh yes.  Perhaps the best fusion of cuisines I've ever had.  I often wonder why I don't see this dish EVERYWHERE.  It is the perfect creamy risotto texture with the flavors of your favorite mexican dish.  We chose to stick with our favorite chili ingredients for this first trial run, but you could do a simple cheese and shrimp or do a take on huevos rancheros with eggs and tomatillos.  You could deconstruct any of your favorite Mexican dishes and add it into the risotto and I guarantee it will taste amazing.  We served this with a tequila lime marinated tilapia, but the risotto overshot the fish so far that the fish would have been better off mixed into the risotto.

Ingredients
2 cups creamy tomato soup
2 cups vegetable broth
3 tbsps taco seasoning (we use the Trader Joe's brand)
1/4 cup unsalted butter
1 1/2 cup arborio or carnaroli rice
1 tbsp olive oil
5 cloves garlic, minced
1 onion, diced
1/3 cup tequila, ale or white wine
1 15 oz can of black beans
1 3-4 oz can of green chiles
1 cup corn kernels
6-8 oz aged, sharped cheddar, shredded or crumbled
3 tbsp chopped cilantro
chopped scallions for garnish
Salt and Pepper to taste
Cayenne Pepper and/or Hot Sauce to taste

Directions
Put the stock and tomato soup in a saucepan.  Bring to a low boil and then reduce the heat to keep it warm.  Heat the butter and oil in a pot and saute the onions for 1-2 minutes.  Add garlic and mix well.  Add the rice and stir with wooden spoon to coat all of the rice with fat.

Add taco seasoning and stir in. Saute the rice in the butter and seasoning for a few minutes and then add the tequila, ale or wine.  Stir until it is completely absorbed.  Add 1 ladle of liquid and stir until absorbed.  Continue to add the liquid in this manor until the liquied has been absorbed and the rice is al dente (~18-20 minutes).  Reserve the last ladle of stock.  Add the beans, chile, corn, cilantro, most of the cheese (save some for garnish) and the last ladle of stock.  Stir until all incorporated and cheese has melted.  Salt, Pepper and add hot sauce an/or cayenne to taste.  Remove from heat, serve with scallion garnish.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bread French Toast with Founders Breakfast Stout

Welcome to my first post from our new home in Somerville, Mass!  We have finally settled into the new digs and our going about business as usual.  My man has left the pizza business and is working with craft beers in a retail setting, so expect to see some more beer pairings as our refrigerator overfloweth.

Every fall I make Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bread.  So, our first settled weekend in town we wanted to celebrate with a warm, homey fall breakfast.  We tend to make French Toast a lot when we want to brunch at home, so this idea came together as something that was originally two separate recipes we wanted to make.  The pumpkin bread is a pretty simple quick-bread to assemble.  We made the french toast while it was still warm from the oven, and had to slice it a little thicker because it tends to be a bit crumbly when hot.  Also, we didn't have chocolate chips on hand so I chopped up a delicious Chocolove XOXO 70% Dark Chocolate bar instead - a definite improvement!

Ingredients

for bread

2/3 cup butter

2 cups sugar

4 eggs

2 cups canned pumpkin (1 lb can)

2/3 cup water

3 1/3 cup flour

3/4 tsp salt

1/2 tsp baking powder

2 tsp cinnamon and  1 tsp cloves mixed (or 3 tsps ground mulling spices)

6 ounces semisweet chocolate chips or a chopped chocolate bar of your choice

for French Toast

1-2 eggs

1/4 cup milk

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 tbsp sweetened cocoa powder

1 tbsp cinnamon and clove mix or mulling spice mix

Directions

To make the bread: Preheat oven to 350 F.  Cream the butter and gradually add sugar, beating well.  Add eggs one by one and beat mixture.  Stir in pumpkin and water.  Combine the rest of the ingredients and add to the creamed mixture.  Fold in the chocolate.

Spoon mixture into a greased 9 inch loaf pan and bake for about an hour or until a knife inserted into the middle of the bread comes out clean (except for maybe some melty chocolate).

To make the French Toast:
Slice the cooled bread into 1/2-1 inch slices.  In a bowl, mix together eggs, milk and vanilla extract.   Heat frying pan or griddle to Med-Low heat.  When pan is hot, melt the butter in it- enough to coat the bottom of the pan.  Dip each slice of bread, making sure to coat each side and the ends and place in pan.  Cook each side for about 5 minutes.  

You may need to reapply butter if you're working in smaller batches.  If you're making a lot at once, keep a ceramic plate in the oven @  200-250 F and store the cooked slice in there until you're ready to serve.  Mix together cocoa and spice mix, sift over plated bread.  Eat with maple syrup and a delicious breakfast beer like the Founders Breakfast Stout or your favorite fall seasonal beer.