Coq Au Vin, Mushroom Risotto, glazed turnips/carrots and Tres Leches

Dutchess' grandmother and aunt came to visit so I pulled out some

recipe cards from culinary school to impress them.  

The first day I made chicken caesar salad and key lime pie.  For day 2

I made coq au vin, mushroom risotto, glazed turnips and tres leches cake (not pictured).

I originally was going to just do glazed turnips, but Aunt Susan mentioned

that she did not like turnips, so I added the carrots.

At dinner, we served family style (I normally plate up, but 

for some reason I brought the food to the table for serving), aunt susan

took some of both onto her plate.  I noticed at the end that even the

turnips were gone.  I take this as a huge compliment, and I appreciate

her adventurousness to try them.

Coq Au Vin is chicken braised in red wine with mushroom,

pearl onions and croutons.  The taste is amazing.  The chicken was tender and juicy

and the red wine sauce with the veggies was absolutely delicious.

While risotto is a bit time consuming, it is so worth it.

It turned out rich and creamy.  I used a combination of button and baby bella 

mushys.  Risotto is one of those dishes that tastes even better the next

day after it sits and the flavors meld.  

I'm not sure why I always choose to tournee veggies.

It's also a bit time consuming and by the end my fingers are normally

throbbing, cause its intricate work.  It is supposed to look like a 7 sided football.

I'm still working on perfecting this shape.

The veggies turned out great.  I started their cooking in the microwave,

then put them in a saute pan with butter, chicken stock and parsley.

Texture was fork tender and perfect, not too mushy and not too hard, but just right.

I'm proud to say that with the pressure on, this meal turned out great.

The expanded flock was well fed!