Risotto Revisited

I'm reposting this from 2016 because I want to make it again soon!

by Missy Tippens

This past Sunday after the Atlanta Falcons game (way to go Falcons!), my husband said he wanted to take me out to dinner--my choice of places. I decided to call Pappadeaux to find out if they had a wait. When I looked up the phone number, I saw this amazing looking dish on their home page. I immediately decided that was where we would go for dinner whether they had a wait or not!

The scallops and risotto ended up being very, very good. And because it's such a simple dish, I decided to make it so I could share it with y'all!

Here's the dish from the restaurant. Let's see if I can make mine look as good!

So I went looking at Food Network. I found almost the exact recipe for Sweet Pea and Scallop Risotto from Tyler Florence. (Click here for the recipe.) I based my recipe on his (making some slight variations like leaving out celery for my husband's taste).

Sweet Pea Risotto with Scallops

1 pound large scallops (I bought some really nice ones at Wilkes Meat Market with a gift certificate)
2 cups frozen green peas (thawed)
8 cups heated chicken stock
2 TBS Penzey's dried shallots (I didn't have any fresh on hand)
2 cups Arborio rice
1 cup white wine (I only had sweet wine but used it anyway)
3 TBS butter (room temp)
5 TBS olive oil (divided)
1/2 cup fresh grated parmesan
salt and pepper


Mix 1 cup peas (reserving the other 1 cup for later) and 1/3 cup chicken stock in blender. Set to the side.

Heat 3 TBS oil and add shallots. Allow them to soften for a couple of minutes.

Add the rice and stir until coated well. Add the wine and cook until most of it is evaporated. Add a ladle full of the hot stock. Stir gently until mostly absorbed.

This is the part where you're kind of tied to the stove, stirring! Keep adding stock a cup (ladle full) at a time and stirring until each is absorbed.

After about 15 minutes, the rice should be getting creamy and still have a little bite to it. Don't worry if you didn't use all the chicken stock. You may not need it all. (Actually, this step took more like 30 minutes for me.) One thing that Tyler's recipe included was the direction to stir with a wooden spoon. I was using my silicone coated spoon and realized that the reason for the wooden one is probably to help rough up the grains some to release the starch. Once I switched over, the rice started to look creamier.

Season with salt and pepper. Add 1 TBS butter and parmesan.  Then gently stir in the pea mixture plus the last cup of whole peas. Remove from the burner and cover to keep warm.

Now it's time to cook the scallops. You can click here because I've shared seared scallops here at the blog before. The main thing you want to do is rinse them so they're not gritty, and then dry them well so you can get a good caramelized sear. You'll be using 2 TBS extra virgin olive oil plus the last tablespoon or two of butter. Cook for about 2 minutes on each side (depending on the size of the scallops). You don't want rubber scallops! You can gently press them with your finger and tell if they're getting cooked through without getting too firm.

Serve the gorgeous scallops on top of the beautiful green risotto! A very spring-looking dish that I'm sharing in the fall. Go figure. :)

Okay, drumroll, please... Does my dish look as good as the original? :)

www.missytippens.com

Another Kitchen Fail

Missy Tippens

It's March, which means Speedbo month at the Seekerville blog (our home blog). Plus, this month I've had my normal family commitments multiplied by about a thousand. So not much time for cooking new recipes. Rather than share the same things I've shared in the past, I thought you might enjoy laughing at me for another kitchen fail.

So maybe this doesn't look so disastrous on the surface. But I messed up twice.

First, I forgot to rinse the beautiful scallops I had bought. ALWAYS RINSE SCALLOPS BEFORE COOKING.

You know why? Because they can have grit in them. Yes, you guessed it. Our scallops that night would sometimes crunch.

Yuk.

And if you look closely at those carrots, you'll see I roasted them way too long. I was in a hurry so cut them small so they'd cook quickly. Then I proceeded to cook them for the regular length of time!

You know how beef jerky feels when you eat it???

These were carrot jerky. Oh my goodness, they were awful to eat. I told my husband they reminded me of dried apricots, too. I could barely chew them.

So, the moral of this story is that even when you're in a hurry to throw together dinner, make sure you slow down long enough to do it carefully.

Yesterday, my son came for lunch. He's on spring break, and we had been dog sitting for them while he and his wife took a day trip. So he came to pick up the fur babies, and I cooked for him. This time I made sure to cut the carrots just the right size so they would roast nicely. And they were wonderful! :)

And so I can leave you with a beautiful photo of food, this is the dish my husband ordered at a new Thai restaurant we love, Fresh Bowl Thai Cuisine. Now, that's how vegetables should look. :)

www..missytippens.com

Sweet Pea Risotto with Scallops

by Missy Tippens

This past Sunday after the Atlanta Falcons game (way to go Falcons!), my husband said he wanted to take me out to dinner--my choice of places. I decided to call Pappadeaux to find out if they had a wait. When I looked up the phone number, I saw this amazing looking dish on their home page. I immediately decided that was where we would go for dinner whether they had a wait or not!

The scallops and risotto ended up being very, very good. And because it's such a simple dish, I decided to make it so I could share it with y'all!

Here's the dish from the restaurant. Let's see if I can make mine look as good!

So I went looking at Food Network. I found almost the exact recipe for Sweet Pea and Scallop Risotto from Tyler Florence. (Click here for the recipe.) I based my recipe on his (making some slight variations like leaving out celery for my husband's taste).

Sweet Pea Risotto with Scallops

1 pound large scallops (I bought some really nice ones at Wilkes Meat Market with a gift certificate)
2 cups frozen green peas (thawed)
8 cups heated chicken stock
2 TBS Penzey's dried shallots (I didn't have any fresh on hand)
2 cups Arborio rice
1 cup white wine (I only had sweet wine but used it anyway)
3 TBS butter (room temp)
5 TBS olive oil (divided)
1/2 cup fresh grated parmesan
salt and pepper


Mix 1 cup peas (reserving the other 1 cup for later) and 1/3 cup chicken stock in blender. Set to the side.

Heat 3 TBS oil and add shallots. Allow them to soften for a couple of minutes.

Add the rice and stir until coated well. Add the wine and cook until most of it is evaporated. Add a ladle full of the hot stock. Stir gently until mostly absorbed.

This is the part where you're kind of tied to the stove, stirring! Keep adding stock a cup (ladle full) at a time and stirring until each is absorbed.

After about 15 minutes, the rice should be getting creamy and still have a little bite to it. Don't worry if you didn't use all the chicken stock. You may not need it all. (Actually, this step took more like 30 minutes for me.) One thing that Tyler's recipe included was the direction to stir with a wooden spoon. I was using my silicone coated spoon and realized that the reason for the wooden one is probably to help rough up the grains some to release the starch. Once I switched over, the rice started to look creamier.

Season with salt and pepper. Add 1 TBS butter and parmesan.  Then gently stir in the pea mixture plus the last cup of whole peas. Remove from the burner and cover to keep warm.

Now it's time to cook the scallops. You can click here because I've shared seared scallops here at the blog before. The main thing you want to do is rinse them so they're not gritty, and then dry them well so you can get a good caramelized sear. You'll be using 2 TBS extra virgin olive oil plus the last tablespoon or two of butter. Cook for about 2 minutes on each side (depending on the size of the scallops). You don't want rubber scallops! You can gently press them with your finger and tell if they're getting cooked through without getting too firm.

Serve the gorgeous scallops on top of the beautiful green risotto! A very spring-looking dish that I'm sharing in the fall. Go figure. :)

Okay, drumroll, please... Does my dish look as good as the original? :)

www.missytippens.com