Tomorrow is my four-week follow-up appointment with the VA about my new hip.

I’d love to say I’m waltzing across the dance floor and ready to hike Kilimanjaro, but I’m not quite there… The new hip is doing pretty good – it’s the other parts that are out of warranty and keeping me from disco dancing the night away.

Tomorrow we will discuss the future. Right now, I’m happy to be able to get back into the kitchen!

First and foremost – thank the gods I married a man who can cook! And knows how to shop, figure out meals, utilize leftovers… all those fun things that so many people really are clueless about.

The amount of work involved in taking care of someone is phenomenal. Helping me get in and out of bed the first week, Putting on socks, carrying food from point A to Point B – and cleaning up after. All the laundry, taking out the trash, It’s a pretty endless list…

And he did it all and still had time to cook excellent meals every day! Yes, I am lucky, I am fortunate, and I am also truly grateful.

What I didn’t do was take a lot of pictures of the dinners Victor was creating. Actually, what I didn’t do was take any good pictures of the dinners… I’m going to blame prescription medication, but the few pictures I did take came out really poor.  Definitely my bad. And the drugs.

I’m off the drugs and walking without assistance, so I thought it time to cook a meal. We had just received a new pan I had ordered from Milk Street back in March – they said it was shipping in June – so I thought I would break it in. It’s called an “Everything Pan” – a cast iron braising pan with a glass lid and a magnetic wood trivet. I’m a member, but paid a lot less than the current member price listed. I got it to give our poor 45 year old Le Creuset braising pan a bit of a rest. That poor thing is really showing its age and getting more and more difficult to keep clean… I had to replace the lid knob a few years ago when it cracked in half and fell off…

It will now come out for special occasions…

 

 

Chicken and Mushroom Risotto

  • 1 shallot, chopped
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 4 oz mushrooms, chopped
  • 3/4  lb chicken, cut into small chunks
  • 1 cup carnaroli rice – or arborio, vialone nano…
  • dried oregano
  • 1 cup white wine
  • 4 cups hot chicken broth
  • 1/2 cup peas
  • 2 tbsp butter
  • 1/2 cup shredded pecorino romano cheese
  • salt and pepper, to taste

Saute  chicken in a bit of butter and olive oil. Add shallot, garlic, and mushrooms. Saute until vegetables are limp.  Add rice and cook about 1 minute. Add oregano and a bit of salt & pepper. Add wine and cook, stirring often, until it is absorbed.

Begin to add broth by the ladle, stirring continually.  Continue adding ladles of broth as the last one is absorbed, until rice is just tender. Add the peas.

At this point, stir in  butter, and then cheese.

Taste for seasoning and add additional salt and pepper, as desired.

 

On the healing road and the road to getting back into the kitchen a bit.

Life is good…