It really is the little things that came sometimes make the biggest difference.  Take Hollandaise Sauce.  There aren’t all that many variations.  There is of course those that *add* things to the recipe like  hot sauce (which is good), cayenne pepper, white pepper and recipe I found, orange juice (which I really must try), but in general there aren’t that many that futz with the base components of lemon juice, egg yolks, melted butter, water and salt.

I was making sauce last week for my Eggs Benny and as I was plating it hit me; what if I stripped it down to the basics and tweaked the core ingredients a bit rather than try to add something to it.  As I was looking over the list of things that go in Hollandaise the one thing i noticed that could be tweaked the easiest was the butter.  It could clarify it, flavor it (garlic, horseradish, etc) or I could even brown it.  Brown butter in my Hollandaise actually sounded good and I could barely wait until today to try it!

Let me tell you, it was so worth it!  I will never, ever again make hollandaise without brown butter!  Just that simple change made all the difference.

The other thing I wanted to tell you about was that I got a copy of Jamie Olivers Food Revolution cook book (seriously, why do they change the names of books when they are brought to the US?)  and I plan to cook my way through it and will post the results here.  So expect some more good stuff soon.

Oh, and in case you were wondering about chili night last week, let me to bring you up to speed.  It stunk.  It was good to eat, just taste bland.  Allow me to explain how bland it was, even BeckBeck herself said it was very bland.  If you know her at all you’ll realize how bland that would make this dish.  Cereal has occasionally been to spicy for her (Hi hon! :)   At least it was edible (and no, the flavor didn’t get better the next day).

Ingredients

2 egg yolks
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
2 teaspoons cold water
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 stick unsalted butter

Directions

In a small pan melt the butter.  Once melted begin stirring constantly until the butter begins to turn a a light tan color. Remove the pan from the heat.  The butter will continue to cook and darken resulting in a nut-brown color with a toasty aroma.

In a stainless steel bowl set over a pot of simmering water, being careful not to let the bowl actually touch the water, whisk the egg yolks with the lemon juice, and water, until they start to thicken and double in size.  Remove the bowl from the pot and whisking vigorously and season with salt and pepper, slowly add the butter, 1 teaspoon at a time, whisking constantly until all is incorporated.

I.  Love.  Mushrooms. Every type of mushroom, be it chanterelles, shiitake, black trumpet, portabella, porcini or oyster.  I’m okay with button or cremini mushrooms, but only as a very, very last resort. They always taste bland and leave me feeling like I forgot something.

I also love Jamie Oliver which is where the inspiration for this recipe came from. I love the fact he has his own garden and even raises his own chickens.  Something I’ve been doing the last year or two.  Well, not the chickens.

I needed to make this because a.) the mushrooms I got at Whole Foods last week are starting to dry out and 2.) I needed lunch for today.  It’s tweaked a good bit, some things are taken out (I don’t have any more wine to cook with.  In fact I never buy wine because I can’t stand to drink it.  I just use what people give as gifts :) and some things are added in like bleu cheese.  I realize it might seem odd to have a little bleu chees in a risotto dish like this, but to me the slight tang offsets the meaty texture of the mushrooms nicely.

I’m actually quite proud of this because Beckers actually like it!  My Becky tasted and LIKE mushrooms!  If nothing else I call that an accomplishment!

UPDATE: This this is just as good reheated in the microwave.  I had it with a little spinach salad with bleu cheese and a simple balsamic vinaigrette.  Oh, and I (on a whim) poured some of the dressing over the risotto… sweet banana that was good!  I can’t wait to get home and eat it again!  But I can’t.  Tonight is chili night :)

Ingredients:

4  cups chicken/vegetable/mushroom stock

2 Tbsp Canola oil

1/2 small onion, peeled and finely chopped

1 stick celery, trimmed and finely chopped

8 ounces Arborio rice

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

2 large handfuls wild mushrooms (no button/crimini mushrooms!), cleaned and sliced

1 Tbsp fresh Thyme leaves

1 Tbsp good Bleu Cheese

1 Tbsp butter

Freshly grated Parmesan, plus extra for serving

Extra-virgin olive oil

Directions:

Heat the stock in a saucepan and keep it on a low simmer.

In a large pan, heat canola oil and add the onion and celery. Soften the veggies and then turn the heat up and add slightly brown them.  While the celery and onions are browning, heat a separate pan and lightly toast the Arborio Rice.  Yes, I said toast them.  It won’t change the taste but it will help open up the rice kernel and help it absorb the liquid.  At least I think it does. When the veggies are slightly brown add the rice  and give it a stir. Now add your first ladle of hot stock. Turn the heat down to a simmer and keep adding ladlefuls of stock, stirring and massaging the starch out of the rice, allowing each ladleful to be absorbed before adding the next. Carry on adding stock until the rice is soft but with a slight bite.

Take the risotto off the heat, add the lemon juice and thyme and check the seasoning, adding salt and pepper to taste.

Meanwhile, get a dry griddle pan hot and grill the wild mushrooms until soft. You can also lightly saute them if you don’t have a grill pan.  Just don’t brown them.

Take the risotto off the heat and check the seasoning. Stir in the butter, bleu cheese and the Parmesan. Add a little drizzle of Extra-Virgin Olive Oil as well as the mushrooms and give it a good mix.

Taste your risotto and add a little more seasoning or Parmesan if you like.