Fridate, I'm in love: Steak and Risotto Night

August 12, 2011 - Steak and Risotto night at home

It's intimidating to follow a recipe at home especially if it's your first time to do it. This was how I felt when I made the mushroom risotto for the first time 2 days before our Fridate. I wanted to make sure I've got it perfect when it came to our date. At first I thought cooking risotto would be hard and special techniques will be needed. Not really!

Here's the recipe (Adapted from Recipes.com):

3 cups Chicken Broth

Olive Oil

Fresh Button Mushrooms - Thinly sliced (You can use canned if you like)

Shitake Mushrooms - Thinly sliced (if dried, submerge in hot water for 10 mins)

1 medium white onion

1 cup Arborio Rice

3/4 cup White Wine

Parsley (roughly chopped)

2 tablespoon Butter

Pepper

There aren't any fresh mushrooms in the supermarket near my house but I found these in Market Market where they have fresh veggies and produce. It's my first time to actually use fresh ones because canned ones are cheap and can be found in any supermarket. But fresh is always the best!

For Php 199, this Carlo Rossi white wine is good for cooking (and drinking too!). Remember when you cook risotto, you can't use any regular rice that you put in a rice cooker. It's a special starchy rice called ARBORIO rice. I found this at S&R for only Php 250. This container can make a lot of servings of risotto.

My favorite mushroom! I put this in practically any dish I can think of. I bought this big bag of dried sliced mushrooms in Pioneer Center Supermarket for Php 185. Remember to soak them in hot water before cooking.

PROCEDURE:

1. In a sauce pan, boil the chicken stock in medium heat. (If you can't find the ones in cartons, boil 1 Chicken Cube with the 3 cups of water)

2. In another pan, heat oil and a tablespoon of butter. Add the mushrooms (without water for the dried shitake) and saute until soft. Remove mushrooms from the pan (with the liquid) and set aside.

3. In the same pan, add a tablespoon of olive oil. Add onions and garlic until translucent. Add rice, stirring to coat with oil. When the rice has taken a pale golden color, pour wine stirring constantly until wine is fully absorbed.

4. Add 1/2 cup of hot broth at a time to the rice, and stir until fully absorbed. Continue adding broth 1/2 cup at a time, stirring continuously until rice is al dente. Around 15 mins. It's important that you do not leave the pan cooking without stirring, the rice might stick to the pan.

5. Taste rice to see if cooked and soft but still has a bite to it. Take out from the heat. Add 1 tablespoon butter, parsley and pepper. Add mushrooms on top of risotto when plating.

PAN FRIED STEAK: (Lj cooked this!haha)

These Angus Rib Eye steaks were bought from Market Market for Php 950 for 2 pcs. It was marinated with olive oil, garlic and pepper for 2 hours. Check out the marbling on those steaks!

Lightly coat the pan with oil and make sure the pan is super hot before placing the steaks to sear the outside. Give it 2 minutes per side.

After searing the outside of the steak, set aside first and move on to the next steak. Once that's done, put back in the pan on LOW heat to cook the inside of the steak. Around 2-3 mins or depending on how you like your steaks.