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Sunday, May 11, 2008

Rarebit Risotto

Okay, so I'm putting up a quick post tonight so that I can keep to my promise/goal of doing at least one post per week, but I have to admit it's a struggle! It's been busy as usual and the next few weeks will be even busier. I'm so ready for school to be out and work to be over! I like my job and I only work part time, but I'm ready to have no schedule for a while. What can I say, I got spoiled being a SAHM for 10 years.......

Anyway, the recipe for tonight is one a tried a few weeks ago as I was trying to sneak in a cool weather recipe - I love risotto, but it's not something I look forward to making once the weather turns warm.

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This vegetarian risotto (from Simple Suppers) sounded comforting with the rice and cheddar cheese and interesting because of the use of beer. Most risottos call for wine; I don't recall ever seeing one that called for beer. And with the broccoli and tomatoes, one could almost pretend it's halfway healthy.

Overall I liked the risotto, but it's probably not going to be a repeater as there are so many other risottos that I like better. Though the beer was an interesting addition, I think it gave the risotto an off flavor that I had a hard time getting past. I do like beer, so that wasn't the problem, I guess I just didn't think it fit. I used a lager, so maybe it was just too strong a beer for this particular risotto. I might, however, be inclined to try it again using white wine and see how that goes.

The four cups of cheese seemed like overkill and I was afraid the risotto would be a gloppy mess, but it actually worked pretty well - perhaps because cheddar has a healthy amount of oil compared to other cheeses. Still, I'm sure that if you used a really good quality sharp cheddar, you could still get great flavor using less cheese.

I was happy to finally fit in a little broccoli into a meal. My oldest son really HATES broccoli so I don't fix it too often but I love it, especially in the main dish, but I snuck this one in while he was gone for the night. When the youngest is gone, I like to sneak goat cheese or other things that HE really doesn't like. Whatever works.

This may be the last post for another week but who knows, maybe I'll be able to sneak one in before then............

5 comments:

  1. What a yummee looking plate of grub!!!!I wonder,,if I could have this for breakfast.

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  2. It looks pretty and delicious. I don't always think of risotto as a cold weather dish. I made one just the other day with spring veggies in it!

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  3. Hi There

    I just stumbled upon your blog and think it is an excellent read for foodies and especially like the photos and design of the blog.I started off as a blogger myself and realise the importance of a good clean design like you have here. I have now bookmarked it for myself to read and have added you to our new list of "all the food blogs in the world" on www.ifoods.tv which we have been compiling for the last month! Hopefully it will send you some traffic in the long run. Looking forward to reading your thoughts on food so keep up the good work and talk soon. Cheers

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  4. Looks really good! So creamy !

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  5. Private Chef - Thanks for the link. That's quite a comprehensive list you have going!

    Sharona - It was definitely very creamy with all that cheddar cheese!

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