Wednesday, January 28th - Eating in Finally!

Skipped breakfast today. I had a half cup of coffee at D's before walking to work. I had a banana work and really thought I'd be okay. I worked through and I started to drag by the end. When I got home, I did the typical handful of cashews. I think I have a cashew issue. With all that sugary gewurtztraminer and extra food at dinner, I wasn't hungry until the banana but then that wasn't enough.

For dinner, D and I made us all a risotto. Vaugh is still with us until tomorrow morning. I like having guests. It's fun. He spent the day boarding alone at Cypress so he offered to pick up a few things we were short on. He picked up some cheese and bread but forgot the broth. It worked out okay though. Oh and he picked up a few portobello mushrooms and a small bag full of button.
We usually use 1/2 cup arborio rice for the two of us but we used 2 cups as it seemed silly leaving half a cup in the bag and though Vaughn might eat alot.

D had some Sparwood or something wood. Party leftovers. They were all whites and terrible. The sauvignon blanc smelled like a wet sock.

We use 1litre of broth for every cup of rice Or more, depending on how much bite you like to your rice. You can go by taste or time. Or a combo of both.

Chop variety of mushrooms,... we had 3 fresh shitake, 1 portobello and 10 button.
Chop greenbeans in 1 inch lengths. We had them. Otherwise, we would have used frozen peas.

Bring the broth to a simmer. We had one box of Campbells low fat and low sodium. I added some water and later I added an organic vegan sea salt boullion cube. I added water to the cube by deglazing the pan we softened the mushrooms in.

Fry the mushrooms in butter until brown and set a side.
Fry 1-2 shallots in butter and olive oil until soft but not brown.
Add the rice and stir until all the rice is glistening. You may need to add some more oil.
Add a ladel of broth and stir until it is absorbed. Keep the heat on a bare simmer.
Keep adding and stirring. At about 20 minutes. Take a small sample with a teaspoon to see how far along the rice is. I like it a bit softer than D.
We used all the broth but about a ladel away, D added the green beans and the mushrooms. Add pepper. And salt only after tasting. The broth is often salty enough.
We had three large portions and then the guys had half seconds but D added more stock to and it didn't lose any thickness as a result and it still had bite, which it think goes to show you that D under 'waters' his rice and it could go further :-D But at his level, you'll probably stay full longer.

We both had good portions for lunch.

We had a small Panatone, the small dome shaped ones that sort of look like jello molds. They come with a small packed of icing sugar that you toss the cake around in to frost it like a mountain with snow. Panatone (which I know I've spelled wrong) is light and not sweet and great as a light dessert. It's slightly sweeter than a brioche. Vaughn bought Hagen Daaz carmel extras explosion. It was like taking a Cornetto and mincing it and mixing it into a vanilla ice cream. It was okay.

Had a half of D's port.