Creamy White Chocolate and Bourbon Risotto & Giveaway!

This luscious and indulgent sweet risotto is the perfect way to launch our 6th year and celebrate the new version of The Heritage Cook. It is a unique and delicious chocolate treat, the risotto of your dreams! This reminds me of the flavor of a bread pudding, but is totally gluten-free for those of us who can no longer indulge in the traditional dessert. 

When I was looking for a special recipe to celebrate with today, I wanted a different way to look at chocolate. I found Camilla’s beautiful recipe and was thrilled. Her version is made with dark chocolate, but I thought it would be fun to spin it toward a vanilla/caramel flavor and used white chocolate instead. I think both versions, side by side, would make a fantastic dessert buffet.

I have many reasons for appreciating my membership in IACP (International Association of Culinary Professionals) … the friends I’ve made, information garnered from webinars and sessions, the ability to explore different cities around the country each year during the annual conference, and perhaps most importantly, the impetus to start this blog. Following the Portland conference, I was so enthusiastic and excited, that I went home and created The Heritage Cook in two weeks!

It is almost incomprehensible to me that it has been five years since I built and launched The Heritage Cook. The years have flown by, my writing and photography skills have improved (thank goodness!), and through the blog I have a new career that I love.

The small black vanilla seeds come from using vanilla paste instead of extract – one of my secret weapons!

As with all things, it was time for a bit of new paint and some behind the scenes improvements to the blog. Blogging has evolved and more people are using mobile devices to access webpages. We all need to have the technology to support this and that prompted me to refresh my own website. I am excited to share the new look, which will go live in a week or two, and I know you will love it as much as I do! It has been exciting watching it come to life and take on a new clean and professional look and responsive format.

All this is thanks to the creative energy of Kristy Gardner, the brains and beauty behind Peppercorn Creative! Several of my friends have worked with Kristy on their own blogs and she came highly recommended. Now that I’ve had the pleasure of working with her myself, I understand why she got the high praise. She is a delight to work with, the consummate professional, and fun ~ my kind of gal! She is so generous, when she heard I was doing a month of giveaways to celebrate the blog’s anniversary, she generously offered a prize – you won’t want to miss it! Please take a minute to head over to Kristy’s site and see the beautiful work she does. If you are looking for someone to refresh your blog or help you design one from scratch, I hope you consider hiring Kristy and have as much fun as I have had!

Thank you for your support over the past five years. Each one of you is special to me and I wouldn’t be where I am without you. It is my pleasure to write for you and to share my recipes and experiences. I hope they have helped you and possibly helped improve your own kitchen adventures.

I especially appreciate you staying with me when I had to transition to my gluten-free lifestyle. It was challenging, but forcing myself to create (or recreate) recipes with gluten-free ingredients to share with you helped me learn along with you. I hope you continue to follow my adventures and enjoy Chocolate Mondays. There is no better way to start our week!

And now let’s kick off the next chapter of The Heritage Cook. I am excited to see what the future holds!

Don’t forget to enter today’s new contest. The details are below the recipe … we have 3 more fabulous prizes today for you to win!

Gluten-Free Tips:

If you are cooking for someone with celiac or severe reactions to gluten, they may have issues with bourbon. I can use it in my cooking and baking with no repercussions. But if you cannot, feel free to substitute vodka mixed with brown sugar. It isn’t exactly the same, but it is pretty close and a good option for gluten-free uses.

Creamy White Chocolate and Bourbon Risotto

2015-06-16 20:01:23

Yields 4

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Ingredients

1. 3-1/2 cups (28 fl oz) half and half or 2 (13.66 fl oz) cans unsweetened coconut milk
2. 3 tsp vanilla paste or organic vanilla extract
3. 1/4 cup granulated sugar
4. Pinch kosher or fine sea salt
5. 1 tbsp butter
6. 1 cup arborio rice
7. 2 tbsp bourbon (for gluten-free use 2 tbsp potato vodka + 2 tsp brown sugar) or water
8. 3 oz (about 1/2 cup) white chocolate, very finely chopped
9. Lightly sweetened whipped cream, if desired

Instructions

1. In a medium saucepan, combine the half and half, vanilla paste, sugar, and salt. Stirring with a flexible spatula until thoroughly blended (it will be a pale mocha color due to the vanilla) and the sugar is dissolved. Warm over medium-low heat to just below a simmer (small bubbles around the edge of the pan and steam coming off the surface), stirring often to keep the milk solids from sticking to the bottom of the pan. Do Not Boil. Cover the pan, move off the heat and let steep for 10 minutes. This infuses the vanilla flavor throughout the milk.
2. In a 12-inch nonstick sauté pan with 2-inch tall straight sides or a very large saucepan, melt the butter over low heat. Swirl the melted butter to coat the bottom of the pan. When completely melted, add the rice and stir until all the grains are coated with the butter. Add the bourbon to the rice and cook, stirring, until the liquid is absorbed. (NOTE: If you are using a gas stove, move the pan off the heat, away from the flame before adding the alcohol.)
3. Bring the heat up to medium-low and add 1/2 cup of the hot milk to the rice. Cook, stirring often, until nearly all of it has been absorbed by the rice. Continue adding the hot milk, about a cup at a time, stirring regularly (don’t walk away for more than a minute), cooking until it is nearly all absorbed before adding more. Keep the rice moving, allowing all of it to absorb the milk. Stirring the rice also helps release the starch from the rice, turning the mixture even more creamy. The color will deepen as it cooks, turning a beautiful caramel color.
4. Taste little bits occasionally so you can tell when it is close to being done. You want the rice to be creamy with just a hint of texture when you take a bite, but not chewy. This should take about 20 to 30 minutes. Even if you think the rice is done, there is probably a touch of crunchiness left in the very center of the kernel. Make sure it is done before stopping cooking.
5. When done, stir in the chopped white chocolate. Turn off the heat but leave the pan on the burner. Stir until the chocolate is melted and the mixture is smooth. Scoop into bowls, top with a dollop of whipped cream if desired, serving while still warm.

Notes

1. Camilla has the loveliest food blog and recipes you will swoon over. Make sure you pop over and give her some blog love too - you won’t regret it! 🙂

Adapted from Culinary Adventures with Camilla

Adapted from Culinary Adventures with Camilla

The Heritage Cook ® https://theheritagecook.com/

Now, for today’s Prize Package …

How fitting that on Chocolate Monday we have a baking centric prize package! Starting with the Duchess Bake Shop Cookbook, a lovely bakery in Canada, is a book that will take you from beginner to expert, with amazing recipes and techniques to share. And if you dream of eating slabs of pie every night, you will drool over The Southern Pie Book. It is packed with recipes and photos that will make it hard to pick which one you want to make first. And to make it a little easier for you to get all this baking done, the good folks at Cake Boss have given us an adorable 3-piece mixing bowl set and a covered cupcake/muffin pan that will make it easy to transport your beautiful creations to a friend’s house, potluck supper, or progressive dinner party. If this selection of prizes doesn’t put you in the mood to bake, I don’t know what would! 😉 With a value of over $100, you will be well on your way to baking stardom!

Enter the Rafflecopter drawing below. The more Facebook pages you like, tweets you send, and Pinterest pages you follow, the more chances you have to win. Good luck!

Prize Details:

Duchess Bake Shop Cookbook by Giselle Courteau:

The Duchess Bake Shop is one of Edmonton, Canada’s most revered bakeries. It opened in the fall of 2009 and their patrons flock to select their delectable macarons, galettes, and eclairs. This book is a collection of 80 recipes of the bakery’s most beloved pastries written so that they can be made at home. All the French classics that you love like buttery brioche, naturally gluten-free macarons, showy mille-feuilles, and the show-stopper St. Honore cake are here for you to try. In addition to this book (and many others) Provisions by Duchess, also has a wide variety of ingredients, foods, and equipment that will have me coming back time after time, trying to resist temptation!

The Southern Pie Book by Jan Moon:

Jan Moon, author of The Southern Pie Book, shares her collection of pies, tarts, cobblers, and more that have been perfected in her own Dreamcakes Bakery. Over 150 recipes are included with gorgeous full-color images all in clearly defined categories so readers can easily navigate this book to find the recipes that inspire them. A chapter devoted to baking equipment and basic techniques gives beginning bakers a head start, while Baker’s Secrets and Simple Switches are sprinkled throughout to give even the more experienced pie-baker a new tip or twist. With a varied selection of recipes from elegant tarts and rustic galettes to familiar meringue pies and comforting fried pies, readers will pour over the dozens of possibilities to wow family and friends.

From Cake Boss Baking: 3-Piece “Icing” Mixing Bowl Set and 12-Cup Covered Muffin Pan

Bake like the Boss with premium-quality Professional Bakeware, designed by celebrity baker Bartolo “Buddy” Valastro and star of Cake Boss on TLC. The CakeBoss products with their quilted interiors with long-lasting nonstick coating makes for easy cleanup. With Folded walls and reinforced rims crafted from aluminized steel, these pans deliver superior heat distribution for exceptional baking results. I have had the pleasure of reviewing several of the CakeBoss baking pans and am very impressed with their high quality and performance. They bake beautifully, creating perfectly cooked cakes every time.

 This Contest has ended. Congratulations to Winner Sarah K! 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Contest Housekeeping

After each drawing, the non-winning entries will be added to the next prize set so that each entry makes you a candidate for all the giveaways! Apologies to my wonderful international friends, but these giveaways are limited to USA and Canadian readers. Each entry period will last 10 days. Winners will be randomly picked and notified by email. The winner has 48 hours to contact me with their shipping information. If I do not hear from them, another winner will be picked and contacted. Prizes will be shipped out about 10 days after we receive your address. All cookbooks provided by The Heritage Cook.

Create a New Tradition Today!

Let’s connect! If you ever need any entertaining or cooking advice, need to alter a recipe for gluten-free, or want recipe suggestions, don’t hesitate to contact me. Thanks for joining the Heritage Cook Family!

Unauthorized use, distribution, and/or duplication of proprietary material from The Heritage Cook without prior approval is prohibited. This includes copying and reprinting content and photographs. If you have any questions or would like permission, I can be contacted via email. Feel free to quote me, just give credit where credit is due, link to the recipe, and please send people to my website, www.theheritagecook.com. Please see the Disclaimers page for additional details.

This site is not intended to provide medical advice. The suggestions here are not intended as dietary advice or as a substitute for consulting a dietician, physician, or other medical professional. It is the reader’s sole responsibility to determine which foods are appropriate and safe for their family to consume. Always consult your doctor. The author makes no claims regarding the presence of food allergens and disclaims all liability in connection with the use of this site.

Thank You!