Roasted Tomato Risotto

Risotto can be somewhat time consuming (and daunting) the first couple times you make it, but once you become comfortable, it does not require any more effort than rice rice (slight exaggeration...), and risotto is absolutely incredible tasting. Risotto takes rice to a completely new level. Better yet, it is very adaptable and can therefore be made using many different ingredients. For this recipe, I simply used the Parmesan Risotto recipe from the New Best Recipe and added about a cup of roasted tomatoes and garlic about 15 minutes before the risotto was fully cooked. Next time I will definitely begin with more tomatoes as they cooked down tremendously. I also need ideas for a proper garnish for this dish. Any suggestions?

Grilled Quail with Red Pepper Risotto and Tomato and Sage Essence

This is a based on a recipe out of Not Afraid of Flavor: Recipes from Magnolia Grill (not including the risotto). It was ambitious (probably too ambitious) to even try to replicate one of the Barker's recipes, but I certainly tried. I used The Pioneer Women's Red Pepper Risotto recipe for the risotto. The risotto (which I have cooked before) turned out great, as usual, however the quail and tomato and sage essence  came out so-so, and was not really worth the effort that I put into it.
The cookbook is great for reading, however (especially after making this dish) I find most of the recipes to be too complicated. It is obviously composed of recipes from the Magnolia Grill  kitchen (which actually just closed its doors for good about a month ago), many of which include sauces, ingredients, and techniques that are either too time consuming or too expensive to make it worth making for one meal.

Old photos

Here are some miscellaneous photos of some food/dishes I have made over the past year:

First time cooking pizza on the Big Green Egg. Having grilled pizza on the BGE twice now, I have achieved maximum temperatures of around 675 F, more than 100 degrees hotter than my kitchen oven.

Hickory smoked salmon (on the BGE) with grilled vegetables (onion, red bell pepper and scallions) and romesco sauce (poblano pepper, tomato, garlic, parsley, cilantro, toasted almonds, toast, extra virgin olive oil, and red wine vinegar).

Red pepper parmesan risotto.

Pan-seared North Carolina flounder with a gazpacho garnish (red and yellow bell pepper, cucumber and blanched zucchini skin).

Sautéed asparagus.

Grilled bruschetta with homegrown heirloom tomatoes.

Kaiser rolls