Morel & Cognac Risotto

With the arrival of Mother's Day, brings another special item to celebrate. "Morel Mushrooms." This recipe is a great way accentuate and showcase the morel's earthy flavor. It's a very simple recipe that uses not only the exotic mushrooms, but also uses decadent cognac in place of wine for a wornderful flavoring agent to this spectacular risotto.

TT = to taste

Yield - serves 6-10

1. 4T Butter
2. 3-4 Shallots finely chopped
3. 1-1.5# fresh Morel mushrooms cleaned & halved
4. 2c Arborio or carnaroli rice
5. 1 c. Cognac (Courvoisier, Hennessy, Martell, etc.) or Brandy
6. 6-8 c. Brown Chicken Stock or Mushroom Stock
7. 6T raw Butter cut into small cubes
8. 1c + extra Parmesan
9. TT salt
10. TT fresh ground black pepper
11. 4 Lg. Sprigs fresh thyme

Method:
1. Melt 4 T butter in wide sauce pan
2. Make sure you use wooden spoon when stirring risotto
3. Add shallots, mushrooms & thyme, & sweat for 5-6 minutes until vegetables are soft
4. Remove Mushrooms, coarsely chop ½ - 2/3 (1in.dice) of them and keep warm
5. Add rice and toast for a couple minutes
6. Pull pan away from heat and add brandy and cook until almost absorbed into rice
7. Slowly add hot stock to rice about 4 fl. oz at a time
8. Add new ladle of stock when previous liquid has almost absorbed into rice
9. When all of the stock is added and mostly absorbed into rice
10. Add chopped mushrooms back to risotto
11. Stir in raw butter
12. Remove from heat
13. Add cheese, salt & pepper
14. Transfer Risotto to individual pasta bowls and garnish with a little more cheese & rest of mushrooms
15. Serve immediately