Dinner today was risotto. As per request, I took pics again 
. They're kinda dark though, it was raining and overcast outside. I tried the flash, but that looked horrible at close range 
.
Ingredients:
2 tablespoons of olive oil
2-3 shallots
2-4 cloves of garlic
2 ribs of celery
2-4 cups of chicken stock (or fish/veg if you make something with seafood or vegetarian)
risotto rice (arborio for example)
some butter
parmesan cheese
whatever you have laying around to add
I used peas and scallions today, but you could also do peas and spinach, scallions and carrot, peas and mint. I've used cherry tomatoes in previous risottos, chicken breast, etc. The only limit is your imagination, and what you have laying around. It's originally a farmers' dish, meant to be filling, and something to put your leftovers in.
I served my risotto with some fillets of pork, as you can see in the pictures. But you could also used diced chicken breast, shrimp, scallops etc in the risotto itself. If you use fish or seafood, use fish stock instead of chicken.
Everything chopped up:
Put a deep skillet over medium heat. Add the oil, garlic, shallots, celery, and any vegetable that needs some time to cook (carrot for example if you're using that).
Stir untill soft. If you happen to have some dry white wine or vermouth laying around, you could add a glass to the pan for extra flavour. Wait untill the alcohol is evaporated (you can smell that), then add the rice.
Stir and let the rice absorb the flavours. Add some stock, enough to cover the rice. The stock should be warm when you add it, so if you use a jar or home made stock, heat it up first. I use a stock cube, so it's still hot from adding boiling water.
Let the stock reduce, then add some more. You want to repeat this untill the rice is almost done.
Give it a taste. If the rice is amost done (it should be soft, with a little bite in the middle), add the rest of the vegetables like the peas and scallions. They will only take a minute to warm up.
Give it a good stir.
The rice should be oozy. If it's too dry or firm, add a bit more stock (or some water), if it's too wet, let it reduce a bit more. Mix in some butter and cheese (leave cheese out if you use seafood), and plate up.
All gone:
Tomorrow I'm making lasagna. But the sauce is store bought, so not really worth taking pics.
I need to cut back on my expenses a bit. Fronting the money for the psychologist kinda makes a dent in the budget. Hopefully my health insurance will reimburse me soon. If not, I'll be broke for the next 2 weeks.
So the next few blogs will probably contain some simpler/cheaper recipes
.
Today was alright. Got a chance to catch up with Saveme, and had some fun in chat. Other than that, not much going on. Accounting is behind with the annual report, so we're kinda waiting on them before we can start our audits. Doing some other stuff in the mean time. It'll mean a lot more stress in 2-3 weeks though, because even though we're starting our audits later, the deadline will be the same.
. They're kinda dark though, it was raining and overcast outside. I tried the flash, but that looked horrible at close range .
Ingredients:
2 tablespoons of olive oil
2-3 shallots
2-4 cloves of garlic
2 ribs of celery
2-4 cups of chicken stock (or fish/veg if you make something with seafood or vegetarian)
risotto rice (arborio for example)
some butter
parmesan cheese
whatever you have laying around to add
I used peas and scallions today, but you could also do peas and spinach, scallions and carrot, peas and mint. I've used cherry tomatoes in previous risottos, chicken breast, etc. The only limit is your imagination, and what you have laying around. It's originally a farmers' dish, meant to be filling, and something to put your leftovers in.
I served my risotto with some fillets of pork, as you can see in the pictures. But you could also used diced chicken breast, shrimp, scallops etc in the risotto itself. If you use fish or seafood, use fish stock instead of chicken.
Everything chopped up:
Put a deep skillet over medium heat. Add the oil, garlic, shallots, celery, and any vegetable that needs some time to cook (carrot for example if you're using that).
Stir untill soft. If you happen to have some dry white wine or vermouth laying around, you could add a glass to the pan for extra flavour. Wait untill the alcohol is evaporated (you can smell that), then add the rice.
Stir and let the rice absorb the flavours. Add some stock, enough to cover the rice. The stock should be warm when you add it, so if you use a jar or home made stock, heat it up first. I use a stock cube, so it's still hot from adding boiling water.
Let the stock reduce, then add some more. You want to repeat this untill the rice is almost done.
Give it a taste. If the rice is amost done (it should be soft, with a little bite in the middle), add the rest of the vegetables like the peas and scallions. They will only take a minute to warm up.
Give it a good stir.
The rice should be oozy. If it's too dry or firm, add a bit more stock (or some water), if it's too wet, let it reduce a bit more. Mix in some butter and cheese (leave cheese out if you use seafood), and plate up.
All gone:
Tomorrow I'm making lasagna. But the sauce is store bought, so not really worth taking pics.
I need to cut back on my expenses a bit. Fronting the money for the psychologist kinda makes a dent in the budget. Hopefully my health insurance will reimburse me soon. If not, I'll be broke for the next 2 weeks.
So the next few blogs will probably contain some simpler/cheaper recipes
.
Today was alright. Got a chance to catch up with Saveme, and had some fun in chat
. Other than that, not much going on. Accounting is behind with the annual report, so we're kinda waiting on them before we can start our audits. Doing some other stuff in the mean time. It'll mean a lot more stress in 2-3 weeks though, because even though we're starting our audits later, the deadline will be the same.
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And thank-you, I hope that you have a happy birthday too.