Side Dish Shuffle

Wednesdays will be the food portion of the program. I love to cook and a lot of people ask me why. Well I love to eat. I used to be a lot pickier eater, but the key to trying new things is trusting the person preparing the food and utilizing fresh ingredients. If the ingredients aren't good to start with, no Julia Child, Emeril Lagasse, or Jeff Smith (Frugal Gourmet reference...anyone?) can make a great dish from them. The other key to branching out in food discovery is formatting dishes to fit your tastes. That is one of the things we'll try to tackle today.

I'm guessing that a fair bit of people struggle with putting together a full meal on a daily basis much like we do. There are a wide variety of meats to constantly interchange and also plenty of vegetables and fruits to throw on the side. The big stumper is that second side dish. We've all been patterned in this midwestern region to put together some sort of potato concoction. They're versatile, cheap, and tasty. The only problem is that unless your fitness goal is to become the stay-puff marshmallow man, you've got to switch it up. You're in luck today my friends.

Risotto will solve your problems. This dish is as versatile as the potato and just as tasty. All you need is some arborio rice (which you can find in any grocery store above a Casey's), butter, and broth. The directions for a simple risotto are directly on the back of the rice package, so I won't detail how the initial dish is created. A typical risotto also includes either onion/shallot/garlic and white wine. Those are really extras depending on what you add to your dish. Once you put together the gooey rice, the possibilities are endless.

My recipe for this week involves taking a seperate saute pan and creating a flavor combo in a creole style. Dice two strips of bacon, one small green pepper, one shallot (or some onion), and one rib of celery. On medium heat, slowly extract the fat from the bacon and crisp the meat. Once you have enough fat to use, toss in the shallot/onion and use your garlic press (a must have) to press in two cloves of garlic. Let this mix sweat for about two minutes, then add in the green pepper and celery. Give these ingredients another minute, then take 6 to 10 grape tomatoes cut in half and add them to the party. Now you can start to season your mixture with a teaspoon of chili powder, two teaspoons of paprika, salt and pepper to taste, and cayenne pepper to your desired heat level. Now add about 6 to 8 oz of tomato sauce, stir, then cover. You can do all this before you start your risotto rice. After a few minutes, the mixture should start to reduce and you can add whatever fresh herbs you have on hand like thyme, oregano, parsley, etc. Now you should taste the mixture as it reduces. You want the flavor to be very strong as it needs to flavor 1/2 a package of risotto rice. Once reduced into something similar to tomato paste, keep covered and remove from heat. When your rice is al dente, add the rice to the mixture in the pan, return to medium heat, and add one last bit of broth to stretch out the mixture. This will let the flavors extend throughout the dish and finish the rice to the proper texture. There is no need for any cheese in this dish as it has all the flavor and texture you need. If you're vegetarian, you could use vegetable broth and use butter instead of bacon. If you want to really amp up this jambalaya like concoction, chop in some spicy sausage. We served this dish with some grilled shrimp and scallops and it was excellent. I promise from here on out, I'll include pictures. This one was gone before the camera could come out.

That's your recipe of the week and food tip. Other variations that we enjoy include stirring in roasted red peppers, lemon juice, and lemon zest at the end of a risotto, substituting fresh mozzarella for the common parmesan and adding some fresh basil and prosciutto for a full meal in one pot, or utilizing red wine with beef broth to make a more wintery side dish for pot roast. The possibilities are endless. Once you give it a try, post some of your own variations and success stories. Have confidence and you'll produce good food. You can even laugh in the face of the Italians and use cheddar cheese instead of parmesan and toss in some pieces of ham or hot dog and do it up backwoods style. If it tastes good to you, that is all that counts. Quick FYI: throw away the Kraft parmesan that doesn't need to be refrigerated. A small hunk of parmesan is worthwhile and lasts over a month in the crisper.

Restaurant Recap

Every week I'll give you a restaurant pick from around all sorts of areas. As my first food post on the new blog, I would be remiss if I didn't use this space to pub Lou Malnati's. The one in downtown Naperville was the spot of my first date with my wife, and the pizza is the best money can buy in my opinion. The deep dish with the sausage patty uncut until you bring it home is the way to go. People love their house salad, and their baked mostaciolli is also a winner. If you're not a deep dish fan, the thin crust will suit your fancy. The cornmeal butter crust is heaven on earth and along with the chunky sauce put this pizza at the top of the Chicago food chain.

Busy day at the office today, but hopefully sometime in the near future I'll have some pictures loaded and be able to share the many stories from my adventures at the Big Ten Kickoff Luncheon yesterday in Chicago.