I couldn’t get dinner on the table fast enough, tonight.   And I tell ya – I have found my new favorite bread.  It’s unbelievable.

The crust is crunchy, crusty, chewy, rich, dark, with a powerful flavor.  The crumb is soft, chewy, spongy.  And it all hints of sourdough.  That yeasty smell of my youth.  Seriously, it”s my new favorite bread.

The Pseudo Risotto was a chicken and rice casserole baked in the oven.  I actually hadn’t thought risotto until plating it up.  Pseudo.  Definitely not the real thing.  But good.  Wintertime comfort food – even if it’s 60° outside.

I boiled down last nights chicken carcass and pulled off all the meat.  I then thickened the broth using the chicken fat from the pot mixed with flour.  (I wasn’t about to skim off all that flavor just to add fat to thicken it.)

I saved some of the chicken for sandwiches and the rest went into  bowl with cooked rice and frozen mixed vegetables.  I stirred in the gravy, put it all in a casserole (actually, I split it into two casseroles – one went in the freezer) and into a 350° oven for an hour.

It was very risotto-like.  Smooth, creamy, and just the right comfort-food feel.

But the star of tonight’s dinner really was the bread.

Yum.