Our New Website!

It's here! Our newly designed website, http://www.acooksplace.com/, went live last week. You'll find all our blog news there under the tab "About Us" and of course our recipes you can access under the new "Recipe" tab. We'll be moving all our recipes from this blog to that one over the next few weeks.

New class schedules along with our holiday events are logged into our calendar and very soon you'll be able to register for cooking classes online. For a quick look, you can see events on the right hand column of our site.

We are super excited to present all our information (recipes, cooking tips, events, products) all in one easy to access location. So that means, we'll no longer be updating this blog. So if you've landed here or bookmarked this site, head on over to our new site and bookmark that one. We know you'll love the new look as much as we do. If you have questions, just click on the "Contact Us" tab to submit those and our blogs still have space for comments or questions below.

Happy Cooking!

Recipe Wednesday: Classic Risotto

Sometimes a little classic cooking is in order. Today's recipe comes from our Italian Night with A Cook's Place own Jody Lehman.

Classic Risotto


Ingredients
2 T. olive oil

2- ½ T. unsalted butter, divided
½ c. minced onion
1 c. uncooked Arborio rice
½ c. dry white wine
3 c. warm chicken broth
¼ c. grated parmesan
Salt and pepper
8 oz. sliced mushrooms
2-4 T. butter
Directions

In a large pan over medium heat, sauté onion in olive oil and 1 1/2 T. butter until translucent, about 3-4 minutes. Add rice and stir constantly for 2-3 minutes, or until well blended. Add wine and continue stirring until incorporated. Slowly stir in 1 ladle (1/2 c.) chicken broth, stirring frequently until all the broth is absorbed. Repeat this process one ladle at a time until all the broth has been absorbed and the risotto has reached a creamy, yet al dente consistency, usually 22-25 minutes. Remove rice from heat and stir in remaining butter and Parmesan. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Meanwhile, sauté mushrooms in 2T. butter, adding butter as needed. Serve a large spoonful of mushrooms over each serving of risotto.
4 side dish servings

Coming soon: our new website

For the last couple of weeks we have been working diligently to put together a new website that will include the best aspects of all our online work: the blog, our current site, our class schedules and our social media outlets. We are super excited about being able to offer you, our customers and friends, all this great content in one location.

Because of that, our blog posts here have slowed to just our Recipe Wednesday posts. As we move everything over to the new site (which will be at our current location http://www.acooksplace.com/) we will add back our Cooking Tips posts and some other post of interest to our foodie readers.

So keep checking our blog here and watch our Facebook page for the announcement of the launch of our new website. And if you have any cooking or food questions, please comment here or on our Facebook page or send us an email. We might just use it as one of our first Cooking Tips on the new site!

Happy Cooking!

Recipe Wednesday: Pan-Roasted Chicken Breast With Red Wine Vinegar, Mustard and Tarragon

We are still five months away from Valentines Day, but this recipe comes from the My Valentine's class led by Chef Joshua Simpson in February of 2009. And there's no reason you have to save a great recipe like this for Valentine's Day. Serve it this week to make your whole family feel special!

Pan-Roasted Chicken Breast
 With Red Wine Vinegar, Mustard and Tarragon

4 skin on chicken breast
Salt and pepper

Need a new skillet in your kitchen?
Check out our selection online or in our store.

2 tbsp olive oil

1 cup chicken stock 6 tbsp red wine vinegar
2 tbsp butter softened
2 tsp Dijon mustard
2 tsp chopped tarragon
2 tsp chopped fresh chives
3 cups wild rice

Preheat oven to 325

Season the chicken with salt and pepper. Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium high heat, and when it’s almost smoking, add the chicken breasts, skin side down. Lower the temp. Cook 6-7 minutes and turn them continue to cook until done.

When chicken is fully cooked remove and put on a platter and keep warm in the oven. Remove excess grease from the pan and add the chicken stock, add the vinegar, whisking to scrape the bottom of the pan. Let the liquid bubble briskly in the pan, whisking, until it’s reduced to about ½ cup, then whisk the butter, tarragon and mustard.

Recipe Wednesday: Cheese Soup

The first cool days of fall and we just couldn't resist offering a great soup recipe this week. Thanks to 

Twana Crenshaw for the great recipe.

Cheese Soup



Need a great new saucepan for fall soups?
Check out our selection of Le Creuset.



4 small carrots cut into 1” matchsticks

3 celery stalks, cut into 1” matchsticks

1 ½ c. chicken stock – Swanson’s regular

2 T. unsalted butter

2 T. finely chopped onion

¼ c. flour

3 c. hot chicken stock

1 c. shredded sharp cheddar cheese

1 can (8 ¾ oz.)Whole tomatoes, undrained and chopped

10 drops Tabasco

1/8 tsp. nutmeg

Salt to taste

¼ c. dry white wine (optional)

1 ½ c. whipping cream

Add celery and carrots to 1 ½ c. chicken stock in 2 qt. saucepan. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer about 15 minutes. Set aside. Melt butter in 4-5 qt. saucepan over medium heat. Add onion and sauté until transparent. Add flour, blend well and cook

5-7 minutes, stirring continuously. Slowly stir 3 c. hot stock into flour mixture. Cook over low heat, whisking until sauce thickens. Blend in cheese and stir until cheese melts.

Add celery and carrot mixture and undrained tomatoes. Season with Tabasco, nutmeg, salt, and wine. Just before serving, stir in hot cream.