Two nights ago, I made a butternut squash risotto. Now, I have to admit, I'm a bit of a late-comer to the risotto train. Not the eating of risotto; the making of it. For some reason, risotto seems to hold this mythical place in cuisine -- it's seen as so demanding and difficult to make, I honestly had never tried to make it until a few months ago. Turns out, it's not really that hard to make. It's just time consuming and requires attention.
Until this week. Based on a recipe by Donna Hay, I made what had to be the simplest risotto ever. To begin, I diced a butternut squash and put that in a dish with 2 cups of the rice plus butter:
That baked in the oven for about 40 minutes. When it was getting close, I browned some chicken, cut it up, and then threw in some mushrooms:
I stirred that for a few minutes and suddenly it became a wonderful little dish:
And here it is plated:
This, I have to say, was a pretty awesome recipe. If on Top Chef, I'm afraid I would have been eliminated because the risotto was not as "runny" as traditionally made (or so they say). To counteract that next time, I'll have some warm broth on hand to stir into the mixture so that it doesn't become too dry. The other reason I would have gotten eliminated is that I think I needed to dice the squash a little bit smaller. Some of the larger pieces were not completely cooked. I think if they had been smaller, there would have been more consistency and they would all have been cooked the same. All in all, though, a really great recipe that makes a delicious risotto -- and one you don't even have to sit there and stir!!
Last night, since the weather has been so wonderful, I decided to grill some bison and corn. So onto the grill I threw corn, onions, and the buffalo burgers:
A little bit later, and the burgers are cooked (and now topped with cheese), the onions are nicely caramelized, the corn is looking wonderful, and the buns are toasted:
For the burger, I topped it with the onions, cheese, tomato, and lettuce. I served it with the grilled corn, which I cut off the cob and mixed with butter. The great thing about grilled corn, I think, is that it tastes so good, I never feel the urge to add salt and I barely add any butter (and it's yogurt butter at that!). I also served it with a little of the leftover risotto from the night before:
I have to admit, I like buffalo more than cow. The texture and taste are both different. It's also supposed to be a lot healthier, though I can't really talk too much about that.
Back to work, but I wanted to let you know what's been going on the table lately.
Happy Eating!
