Dinner Party Worthy, Shrimp and Artichoke Risotto

I made this recently and it was such a big hit I wanted to share!  Succulent tiger shrimp with fresh artichoke hearts, sitting on a bed of creamy risotto.
The flavor was super enhanced by this fabulous roasted garlic olive oil I received from Colavita. I love their olive oils but I never tried their roasted garlic version, all I can say is you need a bottle of this in your kitchen! I had a few fresh artichokes ( you could use frozen, I wouldn’t use canned) that I cut, quartered and steamed, then tossed them into the garlic oil and placed them in a 375 degree oven for 10 minutes, the flavor is addicting!
I did the same thing with the shrimp, tossing them into the roasted garlic oil, sprinkling them with salt, pepper and a little peperoncino. I roasted the shrimp Ina’s way on a baking sheet for 5 or 6 minutes at 400 until the shrimp are cooked through. This method is full proof, cooks perfect every time!
The risotto itself was made with 1 box of chicken stock that was warmed in a pot on my stove and
 1 1/2 cups of arborio rice.
In a heavy bottomed pan heat 1 tablespoon of butter and 1 tablespoon of olive oil, sweat 1/2 diced onion. Add the rice, stirring and coating it with the butter and oil. Saute for a couple of minutes but don’t brown it, then add 1/2 cup of white wine and let it absorb. Add a ladle of hot chicken stock to the rice and let all the liquid absorb, then add another ladle and repeat the process stirring constantly.
I tossed in a handful of frozen peas along the way, added fresh snipped basil and parsley and a touch more butter in the end.
Pour your creamy warm risotto on a nice big platter and lay your roasted artichokes and shrimp all around.
The roasted garlic flavor took the risotto to another level, there wasn’t one grain of rice left!

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Scenes from Seattle

I just returned from my Seattle vacation and since I don’t have a stitch of food in my house or any desire to cook right now I thought I’d share some highlights of my trip.
The weather was beautiful all week, it only rained once for just 15 minutes.
We took a cruise all over Elliott Bay and Puget Sound.
No wonder why they call Pike Place Market the “soul of Seattle”, aisles and aisles of the most beautiful local produce, flowers, artisan vendors and hand crafted gifts, over 100 places to indulge when hungry, and the most gorgeous fish this Midwesterner has ever seen!
And yes, they do throw fish there, in fact my husband caught a 20lb salmon that was thrown to him, thank goodness he caught it!
I’m a big fan of Dale Chihuly and couldn’t wait to visit Chihuly Garden and Glass to see his work up close. Glass artist extraordinaire, Chihuly is known for his large architectural installations, you might have seen the ceiling in the hotel Bellagio in Vegas where he installed over 2000 hand-blown glass elements.
One of my favorite exhibits he did was Chihuly over Venice, where he hung the most amazing glass chandeliers over the canals and piazzas in Venice, breathtaking! 
The picture really doesn’t do this justice, this boat was over 10ft long filled with magnificent glass works!
The museum has his works inside and outside in a garden and it’s located right near the Space Needle as you can see in the picture.
His colors are just amazing!
We went to wineries and waterfalls and visited the the beautiful Washington coast.
You know what I love about Seattle and the state of Washington? They’re coffee obsessed! Everywhere you look, virtually every corner you’ll see a coffee shop or hut like this one. We grabbed a cup and headed right down on to the sandy beach with our rental car gazing at the pacific and watching this couple make gigantic bubbles.
And how could I not talk about the food! This IS a food blog after all! Here’s a small glimpse of some of the food we consumed.
Fresh wild salmon, amazing halibut, ling cod, crab cakes, clams, fish and chips, fabulous crab sandwiches on sourdough, chowder, chowder and more chowder, marionberry pies, we even stopped in at Salumi and had porchetta sandwiches, but mainly we were all about the fish.
Would I visit Seattle again? Most definitely!

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What I did on my Thanksgiving week vacation!

I had a wonderful dinner with family!

I attended afternoon tea at the Peninsula Chicago in honor of my niece.

The setting was gorgeous, the minute you walk in you feel the elegance!
It was especially beautiful because of all the Christmas decorations they had up, the tree was stunning in warm colors of reds and golds.

Live music filled the air as we sipped on our teas and

ate our goodies. The service was wonderful and they were happy to replenish our plates!
A great experience and a fun thing to do if you’re in Chicago with your girlfriends.

I learned how to make Bietole from a master, my daughter -in -laws nana.
This woman is well into her 80’s and shes a spitfire in the kitchen, she puts us all to shame!
Bietole is basically swiss chard that is sauteed with lots of garlic and oil.

The sauteed chard is then placed on a pasta dough with enormous amounts of Pecorino romano, more garlic and olive oil then rolled up jelly roll style and baked. It’s so simple with just a few ingredients but the taste is out of this world!

Then to top off the week I spent a day at my house making ravioli with my cousin and sister-in-law for a party we’re having this weekend, the music was blasting, there was flour everywhere! We were even going to crack open a bottle of wine but opted for coffee instead since it was only 9:00 in the morning!

We ended up making 200 total, a combination of both meat and cheese.
I highly recommend a day of pasta making with family or friends, it’s a great way to spend a day!
Buon Appetito!

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