Dinner for two tonight

Mushroom risotto + Grill Salmon + Baked Vegetables

It's a sunny Fall Tuesday.

My plan is to draft the menu and grocery list for this week. And bike 40mins to Chapters and browse a book I like to buy- On Food & Cooking: the Science and Lore of the Kitchen. I noticed although my job had absolutely nothing to do with Food Science, my major in university, I'm still interested in the science part about cooking. After that, I can bike back home and maybe take some pictures on the way.

However, shortly after I made plan for this week menu, Kirk called and suggested to see 'the Social Network' tonight.

With the movie plan jumped in, this leisure plan suddenly became a mission to complete in limited time. (the mood is totally different)

With that rush, I manage to get the dinner done within a hour but I think if risotto is one of the dish that better not prepare in rush. If there's limited time, maybe switch the risotto to Uncle Ben to make things easier.

Mushroom Risotto

adapted from allrecipes.com

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cup chicken broth

300g Mushroom, thinly sliced(suggested half portobello kind of mushroom and half white mushroom)

1 tbs olive oil

1/2 tbs onions or shallots

1/2 Arborio rice

1/3-1/2 cup dry white wine (I like strong wine flavour)

2 tbs finely chopped parsley & rosemary

1 tbs butter or margarine

1.5 tbs freshly grated Parmesan cheese

salt & pepper for taste

Steps:

Total use- 3 sauce pan

No.1 pan(pot): Heat chicken broth to boil then turn the heat down to remain it hot

No.2 small pan: Add 1/2 tbs Olive oil in over medium high heat. Stir in mushroom till it's soft. Keep aside.

No.3 large pan: Add 1/2 tbs Olive oil in medium heat, fry onions for 1-2mins then add rice, let the rice coated with oil for about 3mins. Through in 1tbs of rosemary & parsley in.

Turn down the heat to simmer heat, add white wine (I added red wine once and it gave the risotto a light purple colour to go well with the pumpkin shell). **If the pot is too hot, the wine will disappear right away. So must turn the heat down before adding the wine.

Let it simmer till the wine is all absorbed by the rice, add 1/2 cup of chicken broth, stir constantly. Wait till the rice absorb the broth, add another 1/2 cup chicken broth a time. Separate to about 4-5 times by adding the broth. It takes about 25-30mins. Taste the rice while all the broth is done. If it's still hard, get more chicken broth to add in, it should not take more than 1 cup. If you need more, maybe means you turned the heat too high.

Once the rice is soft, turn off the heat, add the butter, rest herbs, parmesan cheese. Stir evenly and close pan cover let it set for 2mins before serving.

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