05-08-13-risotto

I’ve been thinking about risotto for a week. I finally decided to stop thinking about it and start making it.

I’m a broken record when it comes to me saying how easy it is to make risotto. It’s just so easy.

I made a chicken, shrimp, and mushroom version. It almost had some Mexican chorizo in it, as well, but I decided it just wasn’t necessary this time around. The beauty of risotto is you can put absolutely anything into it. It’s a great vehicle for cleaning out the refrigerator.

Chicken, Shrimp, and Mushroom Risotto

  • 1 mall onion, chopped
  • 2 cloves garlic. minced
  • 1 chicken breast, cubed
  • 4 oz shrimp
  • 4 oz assorted mushrooms
  • 1 cup arborio or other risotto rice
  • 3 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1/4 cup brandy
  • 6 cups chicken broth, hot
  • 2 oz granna padano, grated
  • 3 tbsp parsley, minced

Saute onion in a butter/olive oil mix. Add garlic and lightly cook.  Add chicken  and mushrooms. Cook until tender. Add rice and saute until edges are translucent.

Add brandy and cook until evaporated. Add broth 1/2 cup at a time, stirring until broth is absorbed before adding next ladle.

When rice is cooked, stir in shrimp and cook through – just a few minutes.

Add grated cheese and stir in parsley. Taste for seasoning and add salt and pepper, as desired.

Totally no brainer and it totally rocked!

And then, because I hadn’t made any in a while, I decided we needed corn muffins with dinner. Not exactly Italian, and probably would have been more fitting if I had used the chorizo in the risotto, but what the heck. No rules cooking at our house. Besides, the better restaurants do stuff like this and call it fusion and charge big bucks.

We’re so ahead of the curve…

05-08-13-corn-muffins

They were okay. Not stellar. I used yogurt instead of buttermilk because I had yogurt and didn’t have buttermilk. Good flavor, just a bit dry. I think they’ll actually be really good for cornbread dressing, so the leftovers went into the freezer. Waste not, want not, and all that…