Posts Tagged "risotto"
Weekend Dinner #4: Shrimp and Asparagus Risotto
I am so glad I followed my gut and went with the Shrimp and Asparagus risotto instead of trying to find something else my dad may or may not eat. This meal was totally about me and my tummy and I’m going to be patting my tummy well into the night. It’s not the best picture but hey, it was a lot tasty.
Unfortunately I couldn’t find the original recipe I wanted to use but just adapted this one I did find. Yes I did cheat and make a dish I previously made but I always wanted to try new combinations. Anywho, risotto sounds difficult but it really isn’t. It’s just time consuming. You can’t rush it if you want it done right but all you have to do is pour and stir. Pour in a ladle of chicken broth, stir until the rice absorbs the broth, and then ladle on some more.
I made a few adjustments [as always huh?] but here’s the recipe in it’s original format. Below is my rendition.
Shrimp and Asparagus Risotto
adapted from Olive Garden via Recipezaar.com
serves 2
8 shrimp, shelled and deveined
2 2/3 + 1/4 cups chicken broth
2/3 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil (colaviata or or your choice)
1/4 cup butter
1/2 cup parmesan cheese
salt & pepper to taste
1/4 lb asparagus spear, fresh stemmed and cut into 1-inch pieces
1/2 a roma tomato, diced
1/4 cup yellow onion
1/2 tsp minced garlic
2/3 cup arborio rice
Directions
1. Simmer chicken broth on low heat until needed.
2. Heat oil in a saucepan over medium heat.
3. Saute onions and garlic and cook until onions are translucent. Add diced tomatoes
4. Stir in rice to coat and then add 1/4 cup of chicken broth
5. Stir until completely absorbed
6. Repeat, adding 1/2 cup of broth at a time and stirring until desired creaminess is reached
7. Stir in butter and cheese. Salt and pepper to taste.
8. Add asparagus and shrimp, stirring until shrimp is pink, about 2 minutes
Remember, shrimp doesn’t take too long to cook so it’s really easy to overcook them, like I did [but that’s probably because I decided to wash dishes before eating. The shrimp should curl slightly into a ‘c’, not into tight little circles.
Read MoreIs jumbo shrimp an oxymoron?
I can’t wait for this weekend. There’s nothing special going on but a ton of studying and catching up on accounting homework but I’m actually looking forward to making dinner. I know, weird huh?
But a craving is a craving is a craving and I gotta satisfy it. I know my mom would prefer that I make something my dad could possibly eat as well, thus saving her time in the kitchen, but I can’t think of anything that I want to eat besides what I want to eat. And this weekend I want to eat shrimp and asparagus risotto.
It’s been a while since I last had risotto and I actually kind of forgot about it until I was out with the bf trying to come up with something to make for dinner for his mom. We didn’t make risotto [maybe next time] but I’ve been thinking about it ever since. And since we’re celebrating the nephew’s birthday on Sunday [yikes…am I supposed to get him a gift? CRAP!] I don’t need to make too much of anything really since we’ll have plenty of pizza and stuff at the house.
Besides, I really REALLY want shrimp risotto. And we all know what happens when you don’t bow to The Craving: you eat more than you would have. I’m just trying to make sure I don’t overeat and waste food.
The best part is I have most of the ingredients at home. All I have to do is buy asparagus and shrimp and I’m done! There’s no way I’ll be able to make something else now, I’m way too geeked over the risotto to turn back. At least not without disastrous results.
There will also be some baking coming along for some upcoming weekends. Pictures when that happens.
Read MoreJust one standard deviation away from sanity…
This weekend was somewhat relaxing. Saturday was full of being lazy, though I did get dressed [but opted for my “swishy” track pants instead of real jeans] eventually. My mom popped into my room around 9 that morning and then I was still in bed when she came back around noon. Yup. The most productive thing I did all day [aside from going grocery shopping] was making portabella mushroom risotto to go with the grilled salmon my mom made me for dinner. Oh my lord it was so cheesy and creamy and delicious. That was pretty much the highlight of my day. I mean, come on…I was impressed that I changed out of my pajamas! Never mind the fact that what I wore essentially became pajamas later that night but whatever. That doesn’t count.
My mom gave me a fleece blanket to sleep with…oh dear. Boy did that make waking up and getting out of bed on Sunday so incredibly impossible. It was so nice and cozy in my bed that I didn’t ever want to leave which did not bode well since I needed to be at church early to set up for Sunday school. The church recently changed the times of service so while Sunday school still starts at 9, our regular church service doesn’t start until 10 [there is adult Sunday school at 9] so we have compacted our Sunday school services to an hour meaning everyone needs to be on top of things. Anyway, I did eventually manage to pull myself out of my bed and off I went to church.
Tami and the kids came by that afternoon to spend the rest of the holiday weekend with us. They were running around like they were insane. Man the house was so loud. Anyway, I spent the rest of the night hanging out with the fam and talking to the bf and scooping out hotels for my weekend trip to Vegas with Jacki. Oooh I’m so excited. This will be my first time in Vegas and yes I’m going without the bf, which apparently has not gone unnoticed and raised a couple of eyebrows. If I had my way I’d be going somewhere with the bf but unfortunately that’s just not how the planets aligned themselves this time so I went with the auxiliary back up plan. And no worries, Jacki is well aware that this is a back up plan. But what a fantastic back up plan it turned out to be. We plan on going out for one night, which is enough time for us. We don’t really gamble so we’d spend most of the time just wandering around the strip checking things out, don’t need too many days for that. Plus, with the bf’s very gracious offer to help pay for our hotel room to ensure that we stay someplace nice [not average but nice, as he explained] and to allay some of his concerns about my general safety, we can afford to stay someplace nicer. Too bad Mandalay Bay didn’t allow us to check in on a Saturday. It was his first choice. But hey, there are plenty of other hotels to check out.
I don’t think I’d stay at the Palms either. Why not? Well that just sounds way too busy for me. Maybe because it’s MTV’s go-to hotel. I don’t know. But I can’t help but picture a bunch of Real World wannabes hanging out there and wondering if Trichelle did something dirty with Steven in the very corner I’m standing in and quite frankly, I just don’t want to deal with thoughts like that.
We have a nice general plan of what we want to do, which includes checking out the Bellagio fountain show. A must see on any trip to Vegas. I’ll be using this as Jacki’s birthday make up present since I won’t be able to head up to Sacramento for her party at Harlowe’s this Saturday [yup, the same one we had our cars towed from during the bf’s first visit – good times!].
Read MoreHow do you set your watch to “near future”?
Lately I’ve taken to not playing my DS [probably because I have no new games…yes, I already played AND beat the Simpsons game I picked up before Christmas] or listening to my iPod even with the new songs I added or even reading even though there is a book I want to go pick up…eventually. And so I spend the ride to work thinking about a lot of different things.
Like how I hate it when the weather is drizzly because it’s not raining enough to support using an umbrella without looking silly but it’s still enough to do potential damage to my hair. Yes I worry about my hair. I worry about it a lot actually because it’s a temperamental baby. There, I said it. So if you see me wearing a hat tomorrow you know it’s because my hair realized I was being mean to it and decided to rebel in petty retaliation.
Or how I’m unsure whether or not I really want to get a dog when the bf and I get married and get a house. The house was my prerequisite because dogs need yard to run around in. Now my reluctance comes from the actual maintenance said dog will require. Feeding and bathing will be no issue and taking the dog out to walk shouldn’t be unless it’s cold and rainy but cleaning up after him? Eww. Even with a pooper-scooper. Plus, then we’ll have to constantly find someone to watch our dog whenever we go away. And I don’t know if I’m up to that kind of responsibility.
Until I remember that that would pretty much be what we’ll need to do when we start a family but kids I can handle. At least I don’t have to go outside in the cold to make sure they poop. I’ll just live vicariously through my friends who do have dogs.
I wonder if the bf will let me go ring shopping with him or if he’ll want to go and hunt down the perfect engagement ring completely on his own. I’ll need to bring this up to him sometime. It’d be nice, even if its just once, to go and try rings on. Then I’d be able to see what really looks nice and he’ll know exactly what I like plus it’d be the perfect opportunity to get properly sized for said ring. It could be fun too, shopping for a ring. It’ll be just like how we pretended to pick things for our registry at Macy’s during our last visit. No floral prints. Heavens to Betsy if we end up with a bedroom that looks like our grandparents’.
He doesn’t need to buy it right there if he finds the one that’s perfect if we happen upon it. He can come back and buy it [which was one of the points I made when he first refused to go into Tiffany’s with me]. As long as he plays it cool I won’t have a clue. And that’s the point, as long as I don’t know it’s coming I’ll be fine. Just don’t give me any hints because once I know that something is up and I have to wait for it then the anticipation drives me completely batty.
I’m thinking about making a savory crepe this weekend. I don’t know if I will but the thought is out there. Crepes Florentine sounds delish. I can practically taste the spinach, cheese and mushroom [cuz that’s what I plan on using] right now. Duuuuude, I can even one day make a creamy mushroom risotto. Granted, I’ll be the only one eating said risotto since my dad doesn’t like mushrooms but that’s okay. I also want to make something with tilapia. Ever since the dinner at Red Lobster I’ve been craving some more. I wonder what else I can dream up to try cooking.
It’s easy to dream up ideas, it’s another matter to go and make them. Especially if I end up making tilapia. I’ll be relegated to cooking in the garage since dad does not like fish [or any kind of seafood for that matter] and the smell bothers him. Can you imagine me, squatting in front of the hot plate my mom has set up [for making fish when dad is at home] cooking fish? Hilarity.
I also wonder if the strange older couple that sat next to me lives in a tiny house filled to the brim with old newspapers. I don’t know why but for some reason I was convinced that they do.
And I was very disappointed with Christian last night on Project Runway. I am a fan of his ego but I was very sad to see just how quickly he folded when the pressure was on and his design didn’t work. And okay, the girl totally ruined it for him. Never literally follow the whims of your client. It will be no good. Didn’t you learn from the first season and the wedding dress? Especially if your client is 17 years old [the model from season one was 18, I think…see, there’s an established pattern here]! Now that I know his ego is easily trashed, well, I don’t know what I think about him anymore. It’s like finding out Umpaa Lumpaas don’t really exist.
And I so wished Ricky would have been sent home instead of my pick, Kevin. Stupid Ricky and his stupid dress that made that poor girl look practically invisible.
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Maybe I should rebuke that sweater vest…
After all is said and done, I’m sad to see Coach Carr go…thanks for all the hard work and the memories Carr. It was nice having you coach us. Just wish it could have ended a lot better than it did. I have to tip my hat to a very classy guy; so classy that he worked to have his assistants sign two-year extensions last year while redoing his own contract. Way to look out for them.
It’ll be interesting how the search for the new head coach goes. So long as they can beat Ohio State I’m completely game.
Friday was a fun way to kick off the weekend. After work, a group of us went to check out the ice skating rink that was put in at AT&T Park and went skating. We were invited to check it out before it opened to the public on Saturday. It was so much fun. There were only a few of us but we had a great time skating. It took me a moment or two to fully readjust to being on ice skates but I soon acclimated myself fairly well. I had enough time to skate and make it to church on time! That was quite the feat because I always feel bad when I’m late for church. I’m on time for practically everything else but church, which is really, really bad. I’ve been working on that though.
I came home and started working on a new fudge flavor and unfortunately it didn’t come out the way I had hoped. I’ll have to go back and rework it but until then I’ll move on to the next flavor. I also have another idea for another flavor as well. Yum. I just need to work on the execution.
Saturday was pretty busy. I woke up and took myself to the hospital to have my blood drawn for my tests and all the other sample stuff. I was so in a hurry to just get it done so I could go home and eat [I had to fast for 12 hours] and when I got home I had a pretty good grilled ham and cheese sandwich with tomato soup; not as good as the last one but it was up there. I was distressed to find a rather unsightly bruise on my arm where they withdrew the blood. You can even see the injection point but the bruise. I hate the bruise. It made my arm hurt [and yeah, I was way sleepy but I’m always sleepy and draggy after donating blood anyway]. I’m wondering what that woman did to my arm to make it bruise like that; the only other time I bruised was that time I met Barry Zito the first time but that was after the lady had repeatedly jabbed at my arm in a failed attempt to reach my vein. OUCH.
You know what else hurt? Watching Michigan lose to Ohio State AGAIN. I mean, COME ON!
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