Several months ago I began preparing risotto. i am a huge fan. Since then I have prepared all sorts of different risottos. While visiting my blue hairs (I affectionately refer to those on one of culinary boards as blue hairs. I am sure not a one of them even resembles my grandmother) yesterday it was asked What cooking fad are you now in? I responded risotto. And since it had been a little bit since I actually prepared one, became all excited. While I have several to try out, I had been putting off one that flowers22 had recommended. Her family has enjoyed Olive Garden’s Shrimp & Asparagus Risotto several times. I decided that would be last night’s dinner.
Of course, things happen and that wasn’t made last night after all. Not to worry, tonight was another opportunity. I quickly refreshed my memory on how to make this. I’ll hand it to Olive Garden for releasing the following video. What an awesome way of promoting its business. I do not normally advertise for companies, but I’ll gladly share this. Enjoy!
This was awesome! Of course, the butter and Parmesan cheese added plenty of richness to this.
Shrimp is really expensive locally right now. I opted for a bag of frozen shrimp. Unfortunately, I did not look well at the bag I gabbed as these were tiny cocktail shrimp. Blech! The shrimp became a nuisance. I gave most of mine to Gert.
I always use Carnaroli rice for risotto. I am not certain why, but that is what we always have on hand.
The asparagus at the market, despite it being asparagus season, was not the pencil-thin kind I love. Nevertheless, the asparagus was excellent. I shunned fresh tomatoes for canned. More and more I do this, although local tomatoes will be available soon. I find most market tomatoes to be hard and tasteless these days.
I used stock I had made a little while ago that I had frozen. Bagged in two-cup bags, this was a snap getting the correct volume needed. Freezing permits for a weekday risotto. I’ll have to make another stock this weekend.
I do not know how well this risotto will reheat. I suspect it will not be as great as others. I’ll know tomorrow at lunch as I have a nice container prepared.
Treat yourself to this wonderful meal. I have found risotto to be a most satisfying meal.
This recipe caught my eye when the ltest Cooking Light arrived. I am definitely in risotto mode and looked forward to preparing this.
I struggled finding fava beans. I suppose I could have asked Hannibel Lecter. There are no fresh fava beans around. I did find frozen ones, but passed in favor of edaname. I made the stock the other day. It makes a difference . . . a huge difference. My stock is so flavorful compared to the boxed stuff I bought last time. When I was grocery shopping I thought about making it easy and just buying the boxed stuff. But chicken was actually less than that would have been. With the vegetables I had on hand, it would be less expensive to make it and I would reap the benefit of having the chicken to use for salads and stor frys.
I heated the stock as I began prepping the ingredients. I steamed the asparagus. Folks know I prefer pencil-thin asparagus, but all I could find where some of the thicker variety. They were delicious nonetheless. Soon enough the onions and ham hitting the sizzling pan. Ah, that’s the sound of cooking. We had plenty of ham . . . I should have used a bit more. Once the kitchen was filled with that wonderful smell, it was time to get moving. Risotto requires constant attention. In went the rice and then the wine. Once the wine was incorporated, it was time to begin ladeling the stock into the rice to release its cream. Stir, ladel, stir, stir, stir. Repeat again and again. After about 25 minutes the rice was such a creamy consistency. Awesome!
In went the asparagus, peas, and edaname. I’ve never finished a risotto with cream. It feels like cheating. Sure, it tasted good. Frankly, I don’t think it needed it. The rice would have been fine without it.
I found this over at Group Recipes sometime ago. It has remained in my To-Try database since. A couple weeks ago I purchased a can of pineapple for this. The thing is Gert does not like fruit with her meat. Because of that, I have put this off for a while.
Today was the day. I prepared the sauce. That took a minute or two. I browned the beef and put it in the slow cooker. I cut the carrots and onion. I only had baby carrots, but they worked out well. In they went to the cooker and then I poured the sauce atop.
I opted for cooking on high for four hours. A little before it was through I began a batch of Jasmine rice. I cut up the pepper and added it and the pineapple along with the cornstarch to finish off the dish.
It tasted exactly as I expected. The round steak became tender after all that cooking. The dish was good, but not great. I like these dishes that combine a bunch of ingredients. Placed on top of hot rice made for a nice dinner. Much to my surprise, Miss Picky Eater liked it too save the peppers. Go figure.
The first time I had Spaghetti Carbonara was at my sister’s house years ago. Whether it was in Rhode Island or Iowa I do not recall, but I knew I really liked it. Pasta, bacon, and cream: what’s not to like.
At some point I asked for the recipe since it was something I would enjoy eating more frequently than I visit her. The thing is Gert is finicky. She doesn’t like bacon. She doesn’t like cream sauces. She doesn’t like onions. So, I had been hesitant to make the dish.
But I grow tired of working around all the food demands. I like good food so I plow ahead and fix some dishes that I like despite knowing I will hear about it. I did so with this back in November.
A funny thing happen: Gert loved it! As she should, mind you. Ever since I have been hounded to make this again. The thing is, there is nothing good for one with this dish outside the taste. There are 748 calories based on six portions. But we don’t get six portions out of this, so that means we are consuming more calories. There’s also 49g of fat (60% calories from fat). That’s not good either. I don’t shy away from calories and fat, but this cannot be a regular meal.
Nevertheless, as I planned the menu, I acquiesced to the request. It is spring break after all. I am in cooking mode right now. I had a chicken stock simmering all afternoon for a risotto. Once that finished, Gert and Beetle went to the pool, so Fritz and I fixed dinner.
When the girls came home, I was busy assembling everything. Beetle took it upon herself to set the table. She’s so cute when she does so. She put out paper plates (left over from Fritz’s birthday party) and filled paper cups with water for each of us. We even had plastic bowls for the salad. Rather than re-set everything with china, we used the paperware. The joy of having children.
I used almost a pound of bacon (I had used a couple slices for breakfast the other day). It was still not enough, imo. I again should have used a little more creamy Italian. But as before, it was very good. We have leftovers, but we did not get six servings . . . well, I guess we did, we each had two serving at dinner and there are two leftover. Oh, the calories!
This time, Fritz ate some (quite a bit, actually) and so did Beetle. She kept saying she didn’t like this, but once she ate some off of Gert’s plate, she requested more. I imagine this will be popular in a few years with the whole family. (more…)
I picked this recipe up on GroupRecipes.com a few months ago. This is a soup I enjoy very much and this looked easy enough to make.
As I have documented previously, I like to follow recipes the first time out. I did with this one. It quickly became apparent I was not making soup. As the tomatoes were cooking, I searched online to see how different this version was from traditional versions. In doing so I found this was originally published in 1990 in Bon Appétit. Further research revealed that this dish is a traditional peasant meal. As such, it varies greatly in how it is prepared. Many are soup or souplike where others are far more like a sauce/gravy. This is the latter.
I also went back and read the 70 reviews on Epicurious. Most of them were spot on: flavorful but dry. I had a 28oz. can of tomatoes but only used 16 oz. as the recipe called for. Next time, use the entire 28oz. Also, do not drain; use the liquid from the can. Further, 8oz. of elbow macaroni is far too much. I think 4 oz. would be more than enough.
Many added beef/sausage. I think that would be fine, but not necessary.
Adding stock would do this well, I suspect. Someone also mentioned adding the basil nearer the end. I think it would be more flavorful doing so.
So, here is the perfect dish in which to redefine. I look forward to it.
Tonight’s dinner was delicious!
I heated the stock as I began prepping the ingredients. I steamed the asparagus. Folks know I prefer pencil-thin asparagus, but all I could find where some of the thicker variety. They were delicious nonetheless. Soon enough the onions and ham hitting the sizzling pan. Ah, that’s the sound of cooking. We had plenty of ham . . . I should have used a bit more. Once the kitchen was filled with that wonderful smell, it was time to get moving. Risotto requires constant attention. In went the rice and then the wine. Once the wine was incorporated, it was time to begin ladeling the stock into the rice to release its cream. Stir, ladel, stir, stir, stir. Repeat again and again. After about 25 minutes the rice was such a creamy consistency. Awesome!
Recipe
But I grow tired of working around all the food demands. I like good food so I plow ahead and fix some dishes that I like despite knowing I will hear about it. I did so with this back in November.
When the girls came home, I was busy assembling everything. Beetle took it upon herself to set the table. She’s so cute when she does so. She put out paper plates (left over from Fritz’s birthday party) and filled paper cups with water for each of us. We even had plastic bowls for the salad. Rather than re-set everything with china, we used the paperware. The joy of having children.