Turkey Mushroom Risotto and the Giveaway Winner!

I have to say, if feels kind of surreal to be back home, writing up a recipe for the first time in over 2 weeks!  Honestly though, as much fun as we had, it’s nice to finally be back in Charlotte (can you believe we drove over 2,300 miles??) and best of all, back to the blog and my awesome bloggy friends.

The first piece of business I need to attend to this morning is the giveaway winner!  I have to say, it was hard to pick a winner for this contest.  There were so many amazing comments and I loved reading each and every one of them.  I even discovered a few new blogs from the whole experience that I already know I’m going to love – yay!  I had planned on using random.org to pick the winner, but being the blonde that I am, I paid with an e-check which takes a few days to clear, so I had to move on to option two (no option two is not closing my eyes and pointing at a name on the computer screen although the thought did cross my mind).  I created a random number generator in Excel and went from there.

Ok, are you ready to hear the winner?  I have to say, I was thrilled this follower was picked.  She never missed a day to check out the blog and always wrote to most thoughtful and interesting comments.  Can we have a drumroll please?

The winner of the very first Mommie Cooks giveaway is……..

MARANDA!!!

Cue the corny music and we’ll tell her what she’s won! Maranda, as the winner of this contest you have won a $25 gift card to Barnes and Noble.  In addition, I’m throwing in some maple apple pie sugar that I picked up at Carmen Brook Farms in Vermont and some maple pepper seasoning that I picked up from Marche Du Vieux in Montreal, Canada! And let me tell ya, you will LOVE the maple pepper seasoning.  I had a small spoonful to taste when I was there and whoooooo-weee!  it’s some good stuff!  I left with two buckets for myself as well.  Email me at mommie_cooks@yahoo.com and let me know where I can send it and I’ll get it out to you asap!  A big round of applause for Maranda!

Alright, now that we’ve got that taken care of, let’s move on to today’s recipe.  I’ve been excited to share this one for weeks now.  I kind of just created it on a whim with stuff I had in the house and it turned out so delicious!  I honestly think it would be even one step better with sausage instead of turkey, but we were trying to be a bit healthier that night so ground turkey it was.  Also, I didn’t use authentic risotto rice, but a three grain blend from Trader Joes instead.  Hence, if you use actual risotto rice, just be sure you use the correct cooking and stirring times based on the package directions.  Ok, here’s what you’ll need to create this super tasty dinner:

Ingredients Needed:

1 Pound of Ground Turkey
1 Medium Diced Onion
3 Cloves of Minced Garlic
1 Small Pack of Chopped Mushrooms
2 Tbsp of Fresh Tarragon
6 Cups of Chicken Broth
1 Cup of White Wine
21/4 Cups Three Grain Blend (or arborrio rice)
2 Tbsp of Butter
1/4 Cup of Parmesan Cheese

To get started, cook up your pound of turkey on medium high heat.  When the turkey is about 3/4 cooked, add in your diced onion and garlic.

Cook the mixture for 1 to 2 more minutes and then add in your mushrooms.

Continue to cook for and additional minute or two and then add in your fresh tarragon.

Let your meat cook for a final minute or two and remove the meat from the heat and set it aside.

To the same pan the turkey was cooked in, add your broth and wine.  Bring the liquid to a boil and then add in the risotto rice and stir continuously for the first 2 to 3 minutes.  If you’re using the three grains blend, you can stir every few minutes from there on out until all the water’s absorbed.

When the water’s 3/4 of the way absorbed (about 20 minutes) add your turkey mixture back in and continue to cook and stir until the water is absorbed and the pasta/grain mix is creamy.

Remove your mixture from the heat and stir in your butter and cheese.

And just like that you have a delicious (and I do mean delicious!) risotto that will leave everyone at the dinner table licking their plates and asking for more (yes, one of my children actually “licked” their plate clean of this dinner!).

I hope everyone had a wonderful 4th of July holiday!