Risotto with Mixed Seafood

Don't get me wrong, I love a nice piece of steak, and a nice piece of boneless, skinless chicken breast. But this past week while meal planning, the thought of meat made my stomach turn. Let's face it, even the biggest meat lover has a limit on the amount of meat they could eat. Hence the reason I needed to change things up and add some seafood to our diet =)

With that said, this has to be the best risotto we have ever had! The fact that you do not use cream, but you use the actual lobster stock makes the risotto that much more savory. Another bonus us the fact that you're not using any strong cheese is wonderful, because not only are you saving on calories, but you're also not masking the sweet flavor of the fresh seafood. This is surely a wonderful option when you are sick of meats. I hope you all enjoy this as much as we have.

Inspired by Mario Batali http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/mario-batali/risotto-with-mixed-seafood-risotto-alla-chioggiotta-recipe/index.html

WHAT YOU'LL NEED:

1 red onion, coarsely chopped and divided
1/2 carrot, coarsely chopped
1 medium bell pepper sliced thin
2 lbs lobsters
1 lb bay scallops
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
2 heaping tablespoons tomato paste
2 cups arborio rice
1 cup dry white wine
about 16 little neck clams, scrubbed
1/2 lb shrimp
1/2 lb crab meat
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 bunch Italian parsley

WHAT YOU'LL NEED TO DO:


Bring 3 quarts water to boil with half the coarsely chopped onion, carrot, and bay leaf.

Prepare the ice bath.

Plunge the lobsters into the boiling water and cook for 2 minutes.

Remove with tongs and submerge in ice water 1 minute. Drain and set aside.

In a 12 to 14-inch frying pan with 3-inch sides, heat the olive oil, onion, red pepper, and tomato paste over medium heat until softened but not brown, about 8 minutes.

Add the rice and, stirring constantly, about 2 minutes.

Add the white wine, then the lobster cooking liquid, ladle by ladle, until the rice is covered.

Turn the heat to high and, stirring constantly, continue to cook, maintaining the level of liquid just above the level of rice, for 10 minutes.

Add clams and continue cooking 5 minutes.

Remove the lobsters from it's shell, chop the meat into 1-inch pieces, and toss into rice,

Add in shrimp, scallops and crab.

Continue cooking until rice is soft.

Season with salt and pepper, remove from heat and stir in butter and parsley.

Serve immediately.

Portuguese Style Rice (Rice w/ Veggies)

So seeing that I'm Portuguese no meal was ever complete in my mother's house without having this rice. In my parents house it was a staple side and my mother would make it 1 to 2 times a week. It was something that we had so often that when I just assumed that everyone knew how to make it, so I never thought about blogging it until one day someone asked how I make it taste so good.

So seeing that I was making it for Mother's Day as one of our sides I decided that now would be as good as time ever to post the recipe. I have to admit, it's so basic and yet so delicious. This pairs well with just about any main course, from fish to pork, to steak, to lamb...It's a keeper. I hope you all enjoy this recipe and like always if you do make this I would love to hear your reviews afterward. Happy cooking!

Source of recipe...My mom's kitchen which mostly came form her mother's kitchen which came from her mother's...and so on....


WHAT YOU WILL NEED:

1 small red onion minced
1 large carrot finely chopped
1/2 a red pepper finely chopped
1 clove of garlic
3-4 Tablespoons of GOOD olive oil (I just eyeball this)
2 Tablespoons of tomato paste
1 chicken bouillon
3 cups of water
1 1/2 cup of rice (I use Uncle Ben's)
salt and fresh ground pepper to taste
1/2 teaspoon of crushed red peppers (not the dry kind)

In a stock pot heat olive oil over a medium high heat.

Add onion, carrots, red pepper, garlic, tomato paste, and bouillon, and cook until all the veggies seem to become soft.

At this point add 2 cups of water reserving the other 1 cup for later.

Let everything come to a boil and let cook for another 5 minutes. Then add additional cup of water and allow to come a boil again.

Once it has home to a complete boil add rice and reduce heat to medium heat season with salt and black pepper to suit your taste.

Allow rice to cook for about 15- 20 minutes stirring frequently. As the rice cooks the water will be absorbed into the rice.

If rice is still undercooked and liquid as been absorbed add small intervals of water until rice reaches desired doneness .

Serve hot!

Caramelized Red Onion, and Broccoli Risotto

I have to admit, I'm now on a new risotto kick. Tonight for dinner I made grilled flank steak and I wanted to make a nice risotto to go with it. So I decided that I would try to make a new risotto dish with some of the ingredients I had on hand. The end product was yummy and I will for sure make this again.



WHAT YOU WILL NEED:

1 large onion sliced thin (I like red onions but can be made with any kind)
3 cloves raw garlic minced
4 tablespoons of unsalted butter (2 tbsp for the risotto and 2 for the onions)
1/4 cup dry white wine
3 cups low sodium chicken broth, warmed (I use homemade broth, but you can use canned)
1 cup of milk (I use 2%)
half a lemon zest
1 cup arborio rice
1 cup of fresh chopped broccoli
1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
Salt and pepper to taste

WHAT YOU NEED TO DO:

Caramelize the onions with butter in a pan over medium heat.

Stir until golden brown, and then add your minced garlic, be careful not to burn the onions nor the garlic.

Add the rice; stir for 1-2 minutes.

Add the white wine and stir until it is absorbed.

Add the chicken broth 1 ladle-full at a time, letting it fully absorb before adding more.

When the rice is 75% the way cooked add your broccoli crowns and the lemon zest.

Add milk and once milk is halfway absorbed, add the cheese and the two tablespoons of butter one tablespoon at a time.

Season with salt and fresh ground pepper to taste.

Enjoy!

Caramelized Onions and Spinach Risotto

So this is my second time making Risotto and this recipe was even better than that first. NOT to say that the first recipe wasn't good... if you ask my husband and son they would say they liked both recipes. I'm just partial to caramelized onions.

Last night I was planning on making baked Mac and Cheese to go with Pork-Chops I had taken out, but to be honest I wasn't in the mood for Mac and Cheese, nor was I in the mood to wash a million dishes. This recipe only took the pot where I cooked the risotto and the sauce pan to heat the chicken broth. Which saved me a lot of clean up time.

Thanks to Mary Ellen for sharing this recipe with me. Link to her amazing food blog below.

http://mecookingcreations.blogspot.com

WHAT YOU WILL NEED:

1 large onion sliced thin (I like red onions but can be made with any kind)
3 cloves raw garlic minced
4 tablespoons of unsalted butter (2 tbsp for the risotto and 2 for the onions)
1/4 cup dry white wine
5 cups low sodium chicken broth, warmed (I use homemade broth, but you can use canned)
1 cup arborio rice
1 cup fresh chopped spinach (I use less ONLY 1/2 cup because I don't care for it and my husband can't have too much because of his gout)
1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese (I ended up using about 1/4 C Parmesan because I ran out of... but it still came out creamy.)
Salt and pepper to taste

WHAT YOU NEED TO DO:

Caramelize the onions with butter in a pan over medium heat.

Stir until golden brown, and then add your minced garlic, be careful not to ot to burn the onions.

Add the rice; stir for 1-2 minutes.

Add the white wine and stir until it is absorbed.

Add the chicken broth 1 ladle-full at a time, letting it fully absorb before adding more.

When your final ladle of broth is halfway absorbed, add the cheese and the two tablespoons of butter one tablespoon at a time.

Season with salt and fresh ground pepper to taste.

The final result is you have a yummy Risotto that will go well with just about anything. I think Risotto is slowly becoming one of my favorite sides.

Lemon Parsley Rissoto

I have never, ever made a risotto, nor have I ever had a "true" risotto for that matter. I have always wanted to make it, and this passed week I finally found the rice in my local grocery store and picked up a box to make at a later date.

Last night my plan was to make a roasted chicken and roasted potatoes, when my husband called stating that he had just bought red snappers for Monday night's dinner (which I always make roasted potatoes as a side.) So I had to find another side dish to go with my chicken. I was not about to make roasted potatoes 2 night in a row.

Luckily enough I remembered that I had just bought the rice and I could make a risotto and I turned to the wonderful ladies on What's Cooking, MaryEllen was wonderful enough to share her risotto tag with me. She has so many different risottos in her blog that I had a hard time picking one to make. I finally decided to go with her lemon and parsley risotto because it sounded easy enough for a first timer, I also thought it would be a nice earthy flavor to go with my roasted chicken.

Needless to say it was a hit with my husband he must have told me at least 2 to 3 times that the risotto excellent. My son who is 20 months old, had leftovers for lunch today and liked it so much that he kept asking for "more".

Adapted for MaryEllen's food blog. Thanks MaryEllen for saving my dinner. Link to MaryEllen's blog is below.

http://mecookingcreations.blogspot.com

The whole process should take about 20-25 minutes.


WHAT YOU WILL NEED:

3 tbsp unsalted butter (divided into 1 tbsp each, you will have 3 pieces)
3 cloves garlic, chopped
2 Cups of Arborio rice
3 Cups chicken broth (I make my own broth but you can also use any canned broth)
1.5 tbsp freshly ground black pepper
1/2 c shredded Parmesan cheese
Handful chopped fresh parsley
about 3 tbsp lemon juice
Lemon zest from half a lemon

WHAT YOU WILL HAVE TO DO:

Heat chicken broth in sauce pan

In another pot add about 4 cups of water (I kinda just eye balled it). Let come to a boil. Once the water is boiling add salt and your Arborio rice.

In a small bowl zest half a lemon and then juice the lemon to get about 3tbsp of lemon juice, add garlic, add your fresh ground pepper and set aside.

Let Rice cook, you will notice that the rice is soaking up the water, at this time use ladle and add one ladle of broth.

Continue to stir rice, as rice soaks up fluid add another ladle of broth. (It should take 3-3.5 ladles of broth.)

Add 1 piece of butter at a time and continue to stir your rice.

Once you have added all your butter, add your lemon pepper mixture and stir. Once well incorporated add parsley stir and serve right away.