Bookkeeping and Risotto

It is late for me to start my blog – just got bogged down with all sorts of stuff tonight. I think I will now attempt to set a record for a speed blog.

I spent tonight catching up on bill payments and paperwork – no, I did not catch up but I made a start. With a bit of effort tomorrow night as well and I may even feel like I am getting on top of it – and I need to do that before I leave for Vegas on Sunday morning. Little matter of a GST return that needs to be filed and some stuff to put together for my accountant. So that is what is keeping me from doing a proper blog tonight and probably tomorrow night.

Just for good measure I will tell you about the wonderful risotto that I made for dinner last night when Jeff and Amanda came over. It was soooo tasty.

Mushroom Risotto

Begin by mincing a small onion and some portabella mushrooms.

• Sauté the mixture in 2 tbsp olive oil and 1 tbsp butter, and when it has browned remove it with a slotted spoon to a plate, leaving the drippings in the pot.


• Stir in 1 cup arboritto rice and sauté it too until it becomes translucent (this will take 7-10 minutes), stirring constantly to keep it from sticking.


• Return the onions and mushrooms to the pot and stir in a half of a cup of dry white that you have previously warmed (if it is cold you will shock the rice, which will flake on the outside and stay hard at the core).


• Once the wine has evaporated completely, add a ladle of simmering broth; stir in the next before all the liquid is absorbed, because if the grains get too dry they will flake.


• Continue cooking, stirring and adding broth as the rice absorbs it, until the rice barely reaches the al dente stage (if you want your risotto firm, time your additions of broth so that the rice will finish absorbing the broth when it reaches this stage; if you want it softer, time the additions so there will still be some liquid left). It takes about 3 cups of chicken broth.


• I add about ¾ cup of cooked peas.


• At this point stir in a half a cup of grated parmesan and cover the risotto, and turn off the heat. Let it sit, covered, for two to three minutes, and serve.