It's been a while and we have some catching up to do (I promise, we HAVE been eating for the past few months).
To make the Risotto, we sauteed diced onions and arborio rice until fragrant and then added warm chicken stock one cup at a time until the rice was tender and creamy. The kicker was what we did with the chicken stock. We boiled the chicken stock with 1/2 cup of annatto seeds, which are a poor man's version of saffron. It gives the chicken stock a deep red color and a warm, familiar aroma. It also makes some killer risotto.
We cheated with the Chicken Meatballs. They were Aidell's brand pre-made, pre-cooked meatballs from Costco. They were still really good though. Highly recommended.
The salad was inspired by the house salad at a restaurant in New Orleans called "Jacques-Imos". One of our classmates took us to Jacques' last year during a PT conference. It was the best everything we ever had ever. Our salad was pretty good, but you should still go Jacques' and try theirs.
-- Kevin and Jane
