Oyster Mushroom Risotto and a Really Cool Giveaway Especially for Mushroom Lovers

It seems as if every food blogger and his or her cousin has a variation on a classic mushroom risotto recipe. Well, here's mine: I grew the mushrooms myself. And not in some damp forgotten corner of my basement or due to some shocking transgression in personal or domestic hygiene. I grew them in my own kitchen, on purpose! 

My little foray into urban farming is thanks to an innovative and earth-friendly company called Back to the Roots. (No, I am not being paid to say that.) Their grow-your-own mushroom kit, made out of recycled cardboard and coffee grounds, lets you grow up to 1 1/2 pounds of gourmet oyster mushrooms in your very own house. You don't usually find this type of mushroom fresh in stores because they are so perishable. Intrigued? So was I; that's why I told them I'd stop by their booth at the D.C. Fancy Foods show, only I over-scheduled myself and never made it.

I felt so bad I contacted the company to see if they'd like me to review their product on my blog, and they did me one better: They sent me one kit to review and one to giveaway. Lucky you! I'll choose one reader at random to win, and I'll tell you the rules at the end of this post.

Chicken & Pork Posole with Avocado, Radish, Cilantro & Lime for the International Incident Mexican Breakfast Party

Welcome to this month's  International Incident Party, hosted as ever by our plucky foundress, Penny aka Jeroxie.  Having recently posted machacado con huevos, or Mexican dried beef with egg, I felt a bit silly when I found out that the August theme is Mexican breakfast!  If only I had remembered, I would have saved that post, as that dish is one of my new favorite things. But no matter: That's why they call these things challenges, after all.

Zapiekanka: A Polish Street Food Goes Gourmet, with Swiss Chard Pesto, Sauteed Crimini Mushrooms, Oven Roasted Corn, and Garlic Aioli on a Fresh Homemade Baguette for the 5 Star Pizza Makeover

Imagine my surprise when the theme for this month's 5 Star Makeover - hosted as always by the prolific Natasha of 5 Star Foodie and Lazaro of Lazaro Cooks! - was announced. Pizza. But wait a minute. I just made a pizza for last month's 5 Star farmers market challenge: the glorious Tycoon, a manly pie dripping with steak and blue cheese and potatoes and quail eggs.

No matter - if there's one thing I love it's stuff on bread, and the possibilities are endless. And it seems I tend to get inspired by the various permutations of pizza  I encounter on my travels.  Last year I recreated (and created) a few versions of langos, Hungarian deep fried pizza, after visiting Budapest. So it seemed only fitting that for this pizza challenge I would create a gourmet version of zapiekanka, a  pizza-esqe Polish street food I enjoyed in Krakow. Remember?

Saffron & Cardamom Cheesecake with Rosewater Mascarpone and Pistachio Topping

Yes, kids, you read that right: I made a cheesecake. My very first. And not a savory one either. Nope, this was a bona fide sugar bomb:

Never fear -  your Trix has not been body snatched. I am still firmly in the savory camp. But recently Poppa Trix experienced an uncharacteristic desire for a homemade sweet treat. Strange times indeed! Like me, his illicit food cravings tend towards the salty, the fried, and, of course, pizza. Always pizza. We literally never eat dessert after dinner. In fact,  I only own one cake pan, which I have never used. 

Borscht, Beast, & Booze: The Many Culinary Faces of Krakow, Poland (And the Wine Giveaway Winner)

A piping hot bowl of borscht from a bar mlezny (milk bar)

Wild boar tenderloins in forest sauce from Pod Baranem

Miodowka honey vodka at Wódka Cafe Bar

When it comes to food, most people tend to associate Poland with two main things: kielbasa and pierogies. There's a lot more to Polish cuisine, as I learned firsthand on my trip, but these two items are undoubtedly ubiquitous staples.  I've already talked about the many excellent sausages to be had in Krakow, and Poppa Trix and I feasted on (more than) our fair share of pierogies on our trip. My favorites came from a cute place called Pierożki u Vincenta. This bright spot had a Vincent Van Gogh theme:

Sweet, Juicy, Spicy: Shrimp & Chicken Sausage Jambalaya

 Allright, everybody - show some love for Poppa Trix. He's been wanting to do another post here ever since he ate his way across Manhattan, his home town.  I could go on, but I don't want to be accused of Bogarting a post, so, without further ado ... give it up for Poppa Trix!!

About halfway through a recent spate of 100-degree days Trix declared that she was through with cooking. Hard to believe, but between the sweltering kitchen at home and the even hotter one at the cafe where she works she'd had enough. So it was decided that I would make our next blog-worthy meal and turn in one of my annual guest posts. But by the time I was ready to mise my place, Trix was back in business. It seems that even though she couldn't stand the heat you couldn't keep her out of the kitchen! So the following pile of Creole/Cajun goodness was truly a joint effort.

Machacado con Huevos: Mexican Drief Beef with Eggs ... My New Favorite Breakfast (and brunch, lunch, dinner, and snack)

 
Even though I freely admit that I have done it myself, I still always think it's kind of silly when food bloggers act like we've discovered some food or ingredient or dish  that's actually been around a really long time. You know what I mean : "Oh my gosh, look! It's mousse." Or "Did you know that you can actually make your own butter?" (I am guilty on both counts, by the way.)

And here I am ... about to do it again, with machacado con huevos. I discovered Mexican dried beef at the Fancy Food Show in D.C. - but not in the Christopher Columbus sense, mind you. I realize the stuff has been around long before I got to it, and I certainly don't seek to change it, colonize it, or alter its glorious essence in any way.

Indo-Chinese Sichuan Fusion: Spicy Mapo Paneer for the International Incident Sichuan Party, Plus a Dragon's Hollow Wine Giveaway!

I am a bit late to this month's Incident Party, as I honestly thought it wasn't happening. You see, our fearless foundress and hostess Penny aka Jeroxie recently lost her dad. My mom died in 2006, and I unfortunately know a thing or two about the grieving process: It's long, exhausting, unpredictable, and  utterly nauseating.

But then I found out the Incident gang was going ahead and posting in support of Penny, and I'm all for that. Watching someone grieve is a helpless feeling, because there is nothing at all you can do. That said, it's important to show your support, so if you have a moment please go stop by Penny's blog, check out her tribute to her father,  and give her some love. I know she will appreciate it. Penny - this post is for you.

Before I get to my dish, I've got a really cool giveaway at the end of this post. It's a bottle of Dragon's Hollow Chinese wine. As far as I know, it's the only fine wine produced in China - but it makes sense, as it's on the same parallel as Napa and Bordeaux. I met David Henderson, the company's founder,  at the Fancy Food Show, and after tasting his delicious wine (at 10 am!) I set this giveaway up. More 2 year blogoversary festivities! As always - you have to get to the end of this post to see the goods.

Nontraditional Naengmyeon: Spicy Cold Korean Noodles and the Gonchu Giveaway Winner

Necessity has driven us all to do it at some point in our cooking careers, but I am really not a fan of that whole "kitchen sink" school of making dinner. You know, that thing where you just sort of take every little odd and end in your fridge and throw it in a pot and call it Kitchen Sink Pasta or Kitchen Sink Soup or Kitchen Kink Surprise.

Kitchen Sink Mess is more like it.

That said, I did have to employ a bit of that approach here, as I wanted cold Korean noodles (like the ones I had at the Korean American Festival) but I was not equipped to make the real, authentic thing - my most egregious substitution in this dish is Japanese soba noodles instead of Korean buckwheat noodles. I think it worked, though, because I stuck to a theme and didn't just toss any random thing into the pot. This is truly a simple and refreshing dish with huge flavor, and it was just the thing Poppa Trix and I needed on a sweltering hot night.

The Tycoon: Steak, Fingerling Potato, Blue Cheese, Roasted Garlic & Quail Egg Flatbread Pizza for the 5 Star Farmers Market Makeover

 

A pizza so fancy ... so retro ... so rich ... so downright manly it must be named The Tycoon ... or so says Poppa Trix

For the  June/July 5 Star Makeover Challenge - hosted as always by the multi-talented Natasha of 5 Star Foodie and Lazaro of Lazaro Cooks! - we were tasked with creating a gourmet dish using only farmers market ingredients (except for pantry staples). Given the quality of ingredients and breadth of choice at the farmers markets I frequent, the possibilities here were practically endless.

I know that I haven't invented something new by making a pizza, and some may question a pizza's right to wear the "gourmet" mantle, but I couldn't get the idea of these flavors out of my head.  I wanted a souped-up version of a steak, egg, and cheese pizza - and momma gets what momma wants. And besides, I am calling it a flatbread pizza, which imparts a more ...  highbrow quality. Also, it's called the Tycoon, per Poppa Trix, who said that this was the best thing he has eaten in a very long time.