cheddar cheese risotto

i've never made risotto. i've heard of it, tasted it once, seen emeril make it on his show, but never prepared it myself. first of all, it took me a few trips to the grocery store to find it. the first time i printed off a recipe from food network, went looking for the ingredients, and found everything except arborio rice! the second time i was buying ingredients for other things to make but thought i saw the rice out of the corner of my eye in aisle number eight, which houses the "ethnic foods" and canned goods. yesterday i remembered the previous two trips and that i had clipped a recipe from the newspaper months ago. i went in hoping that the stars would align and i could once again locate the arborio rice, and i totally did!

cheddar cheese risotto
printed in the minneapolis star tribune (date unknown),
adapted from "nigella express" by nigella lawson

makes 4 servings

1 tbsp butter
1 tbsp vegetable oil
2 small leeks or 2 large green onions, finely sliced
1 1/2 cups arborio rice
1/2 cup white wine
1/2 tsp dijon mustard
3 cans (14 1/2 oz each) hot vegetable broth
1 cup grated cheddar cheese
2 tbsp chopped chives

to cook leeks: heat butter and oil in medium-sized saucepan over medium heat until butter melts. add leeks. cook for 5 minutes or until softened.

to cook rice: add rice. cook, stirring, for 1 minute. increase heat to high. stir in wine and mustard. cook, stirring, for 4 minutes or until wine is absorbed. add 1 ladle of hot broth. cook for 5 minutes or until broth is absorbed. repeat, adding broth and cooking, until rice is al dente, about 20 minutes.

to add cheese: stir in cheese until it melts. remove pan from heat, still stirring. spoon into warm dishes. garnish with chopped chives.



yummy! i didn't realize risotto was so easy to make until i made it myself. and now that i understand the process i'm excited to experiment with different flavor combinations. i feel like cheese risotto is kind of like an adult version of mac n cheese. gooey, hot, and comforting. why did it take me so long to make this?!

wild rice soup

i love soup. i sure do. unfortunately i'm without my cookbooks at the moment so i had to make do with what i have on hand right now. this recipe was a bit bland in my opinion but could be spruced up to be much better. also, it is hard to photograph this soup without making it look like a steaming bowl of vomit. D:


wild rice soup
from betty crocker's new cookbook
(my comments in italic)

prep: 20 min
cook: 25 min
makes 5 servings, ~1 cup each

2 tbsp margarine or butter
2 medium stalks celery, sliced (1 cup) i used 3
1 medium carrot, coarsely shredded (1 cup) even though i hate carrots i put in some anyway.
1 medium onion, chopped (1/2 cup)
1 small green bell pepper, chopped (1/2 cup) i omitted this because i hate cooked bell peppers more than i hate carrots.
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 1/2 cups cooked wild rice
1 cup water i used about half a cup of water
1 can (10 1/2 oz) condensed chicken broth i used uncondensed vegetable broth, about 14 oz
1 cup half-and-half
1/3 cup slivered almonds, toasted
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley

1. melt margarine in 3-quart saucepan over medium-high heat. cook celery, carrot, onion, and bell pepper in margarine about 4 minutes, stirring occasionally, until tender.
2. stir in flour and pepper. stir in wild rice, water, and broth. heat to boiling, reduce heat to low. cover and simmer 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. this seemed like too long so i only simmered for about 10.
3. stir in half-and-half, almonds, and parsley. heat just until hot (do not boil).
(i shredded some marble cheddar on top since i felt the flavor was lacking somewhat.)