Risotto 101

It's Up! I finally did it! The Recipe Box is now open for business. Well, I'm not making any money and this isn't really a business, but, well, it's open. Woo! Hoo!

:-)

I stressed and belabored over the name of this blog and then once I chose a name I liked, I couldn't find a URL to match it and my husband said this just wouldn't do. I ended up choosing my name to be "The Recipe Box" because it seemed to fit what I was wanting to accomplish on here. I want to share recipes that will be so easy and yummy and a little more fun than your average casserole - that you'll want to add them to your own Recipe Box in your own kitchen.

Let me start by clarifying that I am not a food snob (usually) and I am just as happy to serve my kids mac-n-cheese from a box once in awhile as I am to make chicken stir fry with a foo-foo dessert. I love to cook. I love to eat. I also love to be healthy. Sometimes those groups don't combine, so I have to just be happy to find a balance. I love to cook fancy foods and I also have a few box mixes that I have come to enjoy on a busy night and are actually quite yummy. Crock pot meals that you toss in 5 ingredients and call it a day are also some of my bestest friends. So, let this blog just be fun and a way for me to share the things I cook and you share back. I would love to have special times where you all post a fun recipe on here to share as well. Wouldn't that be fun? I am a recipe stealer. I basically scope out other cooking blogs and the internet and other people's facebook pages to find what I want to cook for the week. Trying new recipes is very fun for me - especially ones off of blogs that I know other real moms have tried and enjoyed.

I typically like to plan out my menus if I have time and then make my grocery list off of that. It makes my weeks go so much better and then I don't have the desire to order the kids and us pizza so many times if I already have a plan in place.

So, here's my first recipe to share. Back in the day when David and I were newly married and we lived in California for a whole year - the hubs surprised me with a 12 week French Based Cooking School called "Home Chef". It was Valentines Day and we were poor, so my stellar man had saved all of his birthday money and Christmas money and several other things to get me this gift. I totally flipped out!! It was seriously one of the most fun things i have ever done. I went every Monday night for 3 hours each week, and he also signed me up to be the Prep Assistant (we got a discount) and I would help the chef chop and prep the food before class. It was awesome because I got to ask a lot of questions and tell them how my recipes from that week went and stuff like that. I learned SO MUCH in those few weeks. I never realized I loved to cook so much. I kind of got hooked.

One of the recipes we did during "Stocks and Broths" week was we made Risotto. It basically is this creamy rice concoction that you make with Arborio Rice and a little wine (love it), a little cream (yummo) and a few other things. It's certainly not hard, but you do have to stay close to it and keep adding your chicken stock in as the rice absorbs it. I made this last night and it took me back to my class nearly 11 years ago when I made it for the first time and fell in love.

I actually didn't use my Home Chef book, but I did follow the recipe on the back of my Trader Joe's Arborio Rice box, because frankly, I think it was pretty similar to what I had done in class. The only difference was I think I added leeks and bell peppers to mine back then, and this one just started out with some chopped onions as the base. It turned out so good.

O.K. - Here's the recipe from the back of the box (you could use any arborio rice - it doesn't have to be from TJ's).

Risotto:

12 oz. Arborio Rice
4 cups Heated Stock (vegetable, chicken or beef)
1 chopped onion
1/2 Tbsp. Butter
parmesan or other grated cheese
4 oz dry white wine
1/4 cup cream
Salt to taste

1. In a medium sized saucepan, saute the onion in butter until golden, along with any additional ingredients (mushrooms, etc.). Add the rice and stir until well-coated and translucent.

2. Add the wine and cook until evaporated. Stir in 1 cup of hot stock and simmer gently.

3. When the stock has been absorbed, add another cup, and continue this way through the 18-20 min. of cooking time.

4. Stir in the cream and cheese (I just grated like 1/4 - 1/2 Cup in there of parmesan reggiano). Salt to taste. Remove from heat, cover and set aside for 2 minutes before serving.

Terrible, Terrible Photo. Food tastes way better than this photographer can show you. Sorry for this rookie shot.

Here's how I serve it up to the kiddos

They like everything plain and separated like this. No mixy-mixy.

Here are our plates. Again, the color combos on the plate aren't super flattering, but trust me - the food was delish!


If you are wanting to just jazz up your dinner with something a little extra special, and your kids are adventurous in the taste department - try this Risotto. You can do a ton of different flavors with it too, but we opted to make the plain variety with just some parmesan cheese and heavy cream. I served roasted chicken and some frozen corn with ours and it was perfect.

Parent reviews: 2 thumbs way up.
Kid reviews: Little Girl snubbed it completely and Baby Boy ate several bites which is a score in my book!