This One's For You Chalker

I was told that my blog was not Kosher friendly. Well I never intended it to be, but figured on behalf of a request, I could find a tasty dish that was Kosher. This was almost a year ago. It's not that its hard to cook Kosher, but I like meat, shrimp and also enjoy cheese, many times together! So this actually became quite a hard task for me, as I do think non-Kosher meals are much tastier. But the other night, I made Califlower Risotto with Brie and Almonds, which was delicious, and turns out its Kosher! :)

• 4 cups chicken or vegetable broth
• 2 1/2 cups water
• 3 thyme sprigs, plus 1 tsp leaves ( I used dried)
• 2 tbsp olive oil, divide
• 1/2 head califlower, cut into 1/2 inch florets (it probably could have used 3/4 head
• 1 1/2 cups Arborio rice, risotto
• 1/3 cups white wine
• 5 oz. brie, rind discarded and cut into small pieces
• 1/3 cup sliced almonds, toasted

Bring the broth, water and thyme sprigs to a simmer in medium saucepan.

Heat butter and 1 tbsp oil in a heavy saucepan over med-high heat till froth subsides, then saute the califlower with some salt until crisp and golden brown, about 6 minutes. Add thyme leaves and saute 1 min. Transfer to bowl.

Add the leftover oil to the pan, then add the rice and cook till opaque, stirring constantly. Add wine and simmer briskly, stirring, until the wine is absorbed. Add 2 ladles (1/2 c up) of broth and simmer, stirring until broth has been absorbed. Continue simmering and adding hot broth, 2 ladles at a time, stirring all the time until absorbed, then adding more. Do this till rice begins to get creamy, about 20 minutes. (There may be leftover broth).

Stir in cauliflower, Brie and s&p to taste. Thin with some broth if needed and sprikle the almonds on top!

4 yums. Makes 4 main course servings, about 45 minutes.

Then for dessert I made some Hershey Kisses Peanut Butter Blossoms. You can find the recipe on the back of a bag of Hershey's Kisses. The dough didn't form right at first, but I put the dough in the fridge overnight and the next night baked them, and they came out very chewy. The kiss begins to melt from the heat of the cookie and makes for a real good treat right out of the oven! 3.5 yums.