My Yummy Dinner

[katallison]

So my friend Karen was coming over for dinner tonight, and I felt like cooking an actual nutritious good-tasting dinner, for the first time all week. Steps involved in producing a perfectly wonderful meal:

On the way home from work, stop at the store and purchase a pound of fresh shrimp in the shell (medium sized, not the little bitty ones); arborio rice; a fresh lemon; fresh garlic; bottle of Pinot Grigio; some nice firm little zucchini and a red pepper.

Upon getting home, put some nice bouncy music on the CD player, and shell and devein the shrimp. The shells go into a saucepan with maybe three cups of water and are set to simmer, with a bay leaf and some tarragon tossed in. Set the shrimp aside. Open the Pinot Grigio and have a nice little snort.

Then, fire up the deLonghi grill, oil it, and while it's heating, slice the zucchini thickly on an acute diagonal and chunk up the red pepper. (I adore my deLonghi grill, and am gradually learning the management of it. The secret, if one does not [as I do not] have a good vent fan in the kitchen, is to oil it lightly *before* it gets really hot.) Put the zucchini and pepper on the grill and let them sizzle.

Drain and save the shrimp stock, adding water if necessary to bring the total liquid up to roughly 3 cups, and put it back in the saucepan at the lowest possible simmer. Execute a few graceful dance steps around the kitchen, as the music (and the Pinot) dictate.

In another (heavy-duty) saucepan, melt a big knob of butter along with some olive oil. Mince either a couple of shallots or a small onion, toss them in to saute briefly, then throw in a cup of arborio rice. Stir around and let it all cook until the rice is beginning to turn vaguely translucent. Then add a half-cup or so of the shrimp stock, and stir until it's mostly absorbed.

From here on the trick is to keep adding stock in small increments to the risotto, just enough to keep it constantly veiled with liquid, and stirring as much as possible. In an ideal world a risotto is stirred constantly, but in reality one has other things to be cooking, and crap to clear off the dining table, and napkins to locate in the linen cabinet, and so on.

Turn the vegetables on the grill when they're starting to blacken on one side. Ladle more stock on the risotto, and stir. Put some olive oil in the bottom of an ovenproof bowl, and heat the oven to 250 or so. Light candles, clean toothpaste smears out of bathroom sink, set table. Ladle stock, stir risotto.

Wash the lemon well and remove the zest. This can be done carefully with a potato peeler (in which case one then minces the zest finely) or, ideally, with a microplane, which shreds the zest to an exquisite fineness. Juice the lemon, put zest and lemon juice in a small bowl or cup, set aside. Shred a quantity of good parmesan (the microplane is perfect for this as well) and also set aside. Ladle stock, stir arborio.

The vegetables are likely to be blackening on the outside before the insides are quite done, so pile them into the ovenproof dish with the olive oil, add a good deal of black pepper and a little thyme, stir well, and put them in the oven to finish slowly cooking. Add stock, stir risotto. Mince several cloves of garlic. Set out some Gaeta olives and brie and crackers for guest to munch on. Keep adding stock and stirring the risotto.

About five minutes before one is ready to start eating, pour a good dollop of olive oil in a skillet, heat it, and add the garlic. Give it a couple of minutes to saute and then toss in the shrimp. Allow a minute or two to cook per side. Slosh in a little of the Pinot Grigio after turning them, to help cook them through and give a little oomph to the proceedings. Haul the vegetables out of the oven and put them on the table. Stir the lemon juice and zest and the parmesan into the risotto, and dish it up, along with the shrimp. Pour wine.

Accompany the ensuing rapturous eating with good conversation and scurrilous gossip about mutual old friends. An excellent end to a crappy week, and no more than 60 minutes start to finish.

Comments

[wickdzoot.livejournal.com]

Sounds lovely, lovely, and what a nice change after the week.

[ardent-muses.livejournal.com]

Sounds fantastic. Risotto and pinot grigio -- a perfect match. If only you were here to cook for me. *G*

[laurashapiro.livejournal.com]

I'm all inspired now! I make risotto, but I've never tried shrimp before -- and I know they make bisques out of lobster shells, but the idea of making stock this way never occurred to me. I'm all bouncy!

My most recent risotto was prosciutto, peas, and asparagus. Very springtime. Yours sounds divine, though. Can't wait to try it.

[the-star-fish.livejournal.com]

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.

(I like your cooking show better than any of the ones on TV.)

[the-shoshanna.livejournal.com]

Oh, that sounds wonderful. I'm so glad you managed to have a nice evening after such a crappy week.

[beledibabe.livejournal.com]

Dear lord! I think you have single-handedly rekindled my interest in cooking! (After 27 years of family dinners, my patience with the stove and skillet has waned to almost nothing.)

Off to place this entry in my memories, so that I can try it out soon...

[brynwulf]

I love when you talk all sexy.

[planetalyx.livejournal.com]

Mmmmmm, foodporn! And I was already hungry.

[kadymae.livejournal.com]

So, when are you coming to my house to do this? ;)

(I don't know what I enjoyed more -- the thought of eating such a meal, or the sensual wealth of detail in the writing.)

more food pron, please!

[nagasvoice.livejournal.com]

You're as bad as reading the Penzey's catalog, you shameless thing you.