shrimp risotto with bacon and corn

Back during the heat of summer I made this dish.  It was 101° and the heat index was 110°.  I hadn't been cooking much because I just didn't feel like it.  But this day I was hungry for something different and in the mood for rice.  I wanted to make a pot pie recipe I found but didn't have puff pastry on hand so I decided on this.  I had just bought some fresh local corn, and I had all the rest of the ingredients for this dish.  This turned out so good, will make it again, but maybe leave out the bacon.

INGREDIENTS

3 cups chicken broth (or as needed)

4 slices bacon, halved widthwise then lengthwise into 4 mini slices each (16 pieces)

12 jumbo shrimp (16-20 count), peeled, deveined and tails removed

salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

2 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons olive oil

1/2 medium onion, finely chopped

1/2 medium red bell pepper, finely chopped

4 cloves garlic, minced

2/3 cup Arborio rice

1/4 cup dry white wine

3/4 cup corn kernels, if fresh, blanched or thawed if frozen

1/4 cup heavy cream

Cayenne pepper, to taste

1/4 cup grated Asiago cheese, plus more for serving

2 tablespoons chopped parsley

INSTRUCTIONS

Place broth in a saucepan and bring to a simmer. Reduce heat to low and keep warm.

Cook bacon strips in a sauté, frying or other shallow pan over medium heat until crisp. Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate, reserving bacon drippings. Crumble half of the strips into small pieces. Reserve remaining strips for garnish.

Season shrimp with salt and black pepper. Add shrimp to bacon drippings and cook 1-2 minutes per side or until pink and firm. Transfer to the plate with the bacon. Wipe out pan.

Heat butter and olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the onion and reduce heat to medium-low. Cook the onion 4-5 minutes or until softened, being careful not to brown the onion. Add the red bell pepper and cook 2-3 more minutes.

Stir in the garlic and rice and cook 1-2 minutes, stirring slowly but constantly, until the rice is slightly translucent, being careful not to brown it. Add the wine and cook, stirring until evaporated. Add the chicken broth in stages, about a full soup ladle at a time and continuing to stir until the rice is creamy and has reached the al dente stage, about 18 to 20 minutes. (You may not need all the broth.)

Stir in the crumbled bacon, shrimp, corn kernels, heavy cream, cayenne pepper, cheese and parsley. Heat through. Adjust seasoning with salt and black pepper to taste. Garnish with bacon strips. Serve immediately with more grated cheese if desired.

Thanks for stopping by, have a wonderful week and Always Remember to Find the Time to Do ALL the things You L♥ve.
Donna

Arancini di Riso: Scilian Rice Balls

Last week my sister in law and I went to the movies and then after went to a new Pizza Place downtown.  Pizza was fabulous but we also tried two appetizers, one was just bread the other was these wonderful little rice balls with marinara sauce.  So after having them I of course went on a search for a good recipe.  I've adapted this one from here  .  I think these will become a staple around the holidays, the rice can be made the day ahead along with the sauce, so it would be just a matter of assembling and then frying.  I bet you could form the balls then just do the coating and they would stay together better.  Will try that and let you all know if that is a better way to do them.

3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2 cups (15 oz) Arborio rice (the best rice to use is Carnaroli, but it may be hard to find)
4 oz white wine
approximately 30 oz chicken stock
salt
1 egg

FILLING:
mozzarella, cut into ½″ to ¾″ cubes
marinara or bolognese sauce

BREADING:
all-purpose flour
2 eggs, beaten
breadcrumbs
more tomato sauce, to serve
basil leaves, for garnish

Instructions

1. Make the risotto by adding the rice to the heated oil in a large saute pan, and stirring quickly for one or two minutes. Quickly add the white wine while stirring. With the heat on medium high, begin adding the chicken stock a little at a time, and continuously stirring, until all the stock has been used and the rice is cooked, yet still al dente (I have a risotto recipe here on my blog). Taste; adding salt if necessary. Remove from heat and set aside to cool.
2. Add an egg to the risotto and mix well, then refrigerate for a few hours, or overnight.
3. To make the arancini:
4. Place some rice in your hand and flatten it into your cupped hand, but don’t make it too thin, or the filling will ooze out. Place a piece of mozzarella in the center of the cupped rice. Next, close the rice around the filling and shape into a ball.
5. If you’d like to make conical shapes, flatten the bottom of the ball, and make the top more pointed.
6. Now, roll the shaped arancini in flour, then roll them in the beaten egg, and finally the breadcrumbs. Set aside until all of the rice has been used.
7. Heat some oil in a deep fryer, pot or wok until it is very hot. Add the arancini, and cook quickly, turning often so they don’t brown too much on one side. If serving immediately, fry for a few minutes, so the cheese will melt in the center. Remove from oil and place on paper towel lined plate or tray. (If you’d like to serve them at a later time, remove them quickly after just browning; then, just before serving, place them on a baking sheet and re-heat in the oven at 400ºF for 5 to 10 minutes.)
8. Serve plain, or place on tray with a little tomato sauce and garnish with basil. You can also serve them with a little extra sauce on the side.

Here is a shot of the meal, it sure was yummy.  Something that I will make again.

 thanks for stopping by, have a wonderful day and Always Remember to Find the time to do ALL the things YOU love.
Donna

Risotto

This is the rice I made to go with the Ginger Plum Pork Chops.  It's hard sometimes to figure out what kind of sides to have with dishes you've never made before.  My first thought was to make Fried Rice, but my daughter said to make some risotto.
printable
Ingredients:
1 1/4 cup of
1/4 cup of shredded carrots
1/3 of a medium onion diced
1 clove garlic minced
1 1/2 stalks of celery diced
2 - 3 TBL diced mushrooms
2-3 strips of bacon
1/4 cup white wine
1 10.5 oz can of chicken stock
1/2 cup of water
3 TBL butter
1/4 cup shredded cheese *I used fontina and Romano*

In a medium sauce pan heat the chicken broth and water, keep warm.
In a skillet cook the bacon til crisp.  Drain on paper towel, chop.  Clean out skillet then  put 1 TBL butter and a couple of swirls of EVO, saute the onion, when translucent add garlic, bacon, celery and mushrooms.  Stir for 30 seconds, add the rice and cook for about a minute stirring constantly.  Add the wine and continue to stir until wine has evaporated.  Laddle warm chicken broth  into rice just to cover, stir and then let cook until broth has evaporated.  Continue to repeat this process with the broth until you have used it all, it should take about 20 minutes.  Be sure to stir vigorously when you add the broth so the rice forms it's gluten.  Taste for doneness after about 20 minutes, if you need a bit longer add a bit more water.
Remove from heat, add 2 TBL of butter and the cheese, stir until combined.  Serve

See how creamy it is, this is a great side dish.

 Thanks for stopping by, have a wonderful day and Remember to Find the Time to Do ALL the things YOU Love.
Donna

Spanish Rice

This is the side dish I had with the Mexican Chicken listed below. This is my daughters recipe. You can make this as hot or mild as you like. Hope you try it, it's a great go to side dish.
Printable
Ingredients:
1/2 to whole can rotel *(whichever one you like, reg., mild or hot, the more you add the spicier it will be)
1 cup uncooked rice (can use long grain, brown, or minute rice)
2 TBL brown sugar
1 1/2- 2 TBL Worcestershire sauce
4-5 slices bacon diced
1/2 red pepper (can also use yellow or orange or mix) diced
1/2 large onion diced
2 - 3 gloves garlic diced
1 can chicken broth (*or more, you need enough to cover rice)
2 - 3 tsp chilli powder
oil
salt and pepper
In a skillet saute the bacon and onion, add the garlic and peppers. Add half the chicken broth, rice, chilli powder, Worcestershire sauce, rotel, brown sugar and salt and pepper, stir well and cook for about 1 minute. Add remaining chicken broth to cover rice and simmer covered until rice is tender. Stir occasionally. Serve topped with some shredded cheese. Enjoy!
Thanks for stopping by, have a wonderful week and Remember to Find the Time to do ALL the things YOU love.
Donna

Shrimp Fried Rice

This is what I had the other night with my Shrimp Stir Fry.  I used brown rice, if the truth be told I like it better with white rice but ya know they say brown rice is better for you.  So guess the option would be up to you if you want to go healthy or not.

All you need is:
2 cups brown instant rice
1 3/4 cup water
2 TBL sesame oil
2-3 TBL soy sauce
3 eggs
3 green onions (you can use regular sweet onions but the green give it color)
oil for frying
*optional you could add peas and carrots if you like but I don't like them in my fried rice.

Cook the rice as per instructions
In skillet a heat oil add some onion cook for about 30-45 seconds.  Add beaten eggs and cook til firm, this picture shows them almost done.

Break up the egg so it looks like scrambled eggs, add the rest of the onion and then add the cooked rice.  Cook and stir for about a minute then add soy sauce, sesame oil and the cooked shrimp cook for about 2 or 3 minutes.
 Here it is ready to serve with the Shrimp Stir Fry.

 

Hope you try this one and add you own twist to it.  To me this is  a real comfort food.  Thanks for taking the time from you busy day to stop by.  Have a wonderful day and Remember to Find the Time to do ALL the things YOU love.

Donna