Sweet Baby Ray!

I just finished one of the best home-cooked meals of my married life. And, saying something is home-cooked is a big deal in the McReeder household where dinner often carries a color theme like the time we had orange Thursdays for awhile -- all you can eat cheez-its and carrots. But, one of the perks of my job is I get to attend cooking classes at the Publix Apron's Cooking School in Alpharetta -- the only of its kind in Georgia by the way. I recently took a travel writer to a class taught by the executive chef from Ray's on the River and tonight Dan and I tried a couple of the recipes at home. Here they are - but be warned, you will want to bathe yourself in this salad dressing and this is coming from a girl who generally despises salad dressing. And...I couldn't find orzo at the supermarket so we made the orzotto using mini alphabit pasta -- and truly, nothing sets off a deglazed wine sauce like biting into a capital J. Anyway you have it, these recipes spell Y-U-M.

Goat Cheese Vinaigrette

4 shallots, chopped

1/3 cup sugar

3/4 cup honey

1 1/3 cup cider vinegar

3/4 cup red wine vinegar

1 1/4 tsp black pepper

11 ounces goat cheese

2 1/2 cup olive oil

1/2 cup water

Method:

Combine vinegar, sugar, shallots, black pepper, and honey in a sauce pot. Bring to a boil and cook until reduced by 1/2. Cool slightly and mix in goat cheese until well combined. Place ingredients in blender. While blending, slowly add 1/2 of the olive oil to begin emulsification. Then add the water, while continuing to blend. Add the remaining olive oil to finish the dresssing. Chill immediately.

This makes a vat...so the whole bathing thing really isn't out of the question. It will keep for two weeks in the fridge. I served it over spinach (Dan ate something green!) and it's also good with spinach, strawberries and candied pecans (how it was served at the school).

Vegetable Orzotto

2 spring vidalia onions, chopped

1/4 cup olive oil

1 cloves garlic, minced

3/4 white wine

1 pound orzo (16 ounces)

1 qt chicken broth, warmed in a sauce pot

2 each fresh thyme sprigs, chopped

salt and pepper to taste

parmesan cheese

1/2 cup spring peas, blanched

Method:

Saute the spring onions and garlic in the olive oil until translucent. Add the orzo and saute (coating in the olive oil) on medium high heat for two minutes, stirring constantly. Deglaze the pan with the white wine. Saute until the wine evaporates (which should happen quickly). Slowly add the warm chicken broth 1/2 cup at a time, stirring constantly and letting the mixture absorb the stock until almost dry in between additions. After the orzotto is cooked (tender, but slightly chewy), remove from the heat and add the parmesan, blanch peas and/or other cooked vegetables of your choice. Serve immediately. Perfect with seafood!