Ceps risotto with French cheese, guinea fowl and sweet beetroot

One of the things I love about cooking is they way you can use your inventiveness to make subtle changes to existing recipes and use the seasons and products at hand instead of a list of prescribed ingredients.
So it is here. The ceps risotto is a nice savoury dish for cold days to start with. There are still some fresh ceps on the market but I decided to use the dried ones from the larder.

For the stock I used some of the beef broth I made the other day. Normally, you would use Parmesan cheese for risotto but I had some époisses and bleu d’Auvergne cheese left.

The sweet beetroot dish with onion and pear used up some of the syrup I made earlier this month.
It combined well for a nice meal with a glass of Nuits Saint Georges wine.

Ingredients
For the risotto

• 250 grammes of Arborio rice
• Three shallots
• Three cloves of garlic
• 50 grammes of dried ceps
• One litre of beef stock
• Some époisses and a chunk of blue cheese
• Olive oil

For the beetroot dish

• Two cooked beets
• One onion
• Two glasses of syrup with cinnamon (or water, sugar and cinnamon)
• 20 grammes of butter

For the poultry

• Two legs of guinea fowl
• 20 grammes of butter
• A cup of stock

Steps

1. Put the ceps in some water and let it stand overnight. Drain it through a sieve and keep the liquid. Cut up the mushrooms.
2. Clean and dice the shallots and garlic.
3. Put the stock in a pan and heat it up but do not take it to the boil.
4. Put some three table spoons of olive oil in a large heavy casserole, heat until it starts to smoke.
5. Add the shallots and garlic and stir.
6. Add the rice and stir.
7. Add the ceps liquid and stir, lower the heat. Stir regularly. When the liquid has evaporated add the stock, ladle by ladle, and continue stirring for 15 to 20 minutes depending on the rice and the bite. Test the rice.
8. Towards the end, add the mushrooms and the cheeses and continue stirring until it is creamy.

For the guinea fowl

1. Heat butter in a skillet, put in the meat and brown on both sides at high heat. Lower the temperature and continue cooking for 20 minutes, turning four times.
2. Add some broth and pepper, allow the liquid to evaporate almost completely. Turn off and set aside for a few minutes.

For the vegetables

1. Cut the beetroot in cubes.
2. Clean and slice the onion.
3. Put the butter in a pan, turn on the heat and let it melt until it sizzles.
4. Add the beet and onions and stir occasionally for five minutes.
5. Add the syrup (or water, sugar and cinnamon) and stir occasionally for five minutes more. Add the pear, stir and set aside.