April 12, 2009

• Happy Easter!  I woke up early and took my dog through the driv-thru at Starbucks.  Only thing open at 5:30 and close enough that if the car broke down we could walk.  The floor guy got my old Blazer started again.  I don’t let Bridget ride in the Saab unless she’s in the crate, which is of little interest, so a ride in the front seat was like old times. 

  Last night I made risotto:

  1/2 lrg sweet onion

  2 stalks celery

  slightly less fennel

  1/2 carton crimini mushrooms

  two cloves of garlic

  2 T olive oil

  2 T butter

  1 C arborio rice

  1/2 C white wine

  1 bottle clam juice

  4 C chicken stock

  1/4 C half and half

  big pinch of salt

  Penzey’s Sunny Spain (pepper blend)

  Penzey’s Herbes de Provence (rosemary, fennel, savory, thyme, basil, tarragon, dill weed, oregano, lavender, chervil, and marjoram).

  1 bag of Trader Joe’s frozen seafood mix of shrimp, squid, etc.

       I diced everything the same size, kinda big to match the seafood.  I might have used too much oil and butter but by the time I sauted the vegies there was still enough to brown the rice.  Oh, and wait to add the garlic until just before you brown the rice.  Garlic burns fast.  I regret not using parsley and a little lemon zest.  Next time.

       I say brown the rice but golden is good.  Then start with the liquid.  This is no fail, as long as you are willing to stand there and add liquid, little by little.  And, if you have vegetable stock, that would probably be okay.

       When the rice is done add the seafood.  I just dumped the whole bag in, along with  the residual juice.  I was surprised at how much liquid it added.  You still need to add your cream so keep it dry enough to accomodate.  If you stir this long enough it will continue to soak it up.  It all depends on how soft you want your rice.

       All I had was half and half but if you have milk you could use more, say 1/2 C.  The arborio rice makes for a creamy dish.  The flavors in this were “out of this world” as the anorexic cook on TV likes to say.  But this was my recipe.   

  • 3:04 pm
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