Ah, the last post of 2008. See you, 2008! There were a few really good things about this year, a few really annoying things, and a few things things that mostly stayed the same. What will 2009 bring? Well, hopefully more of really good things! Already, I am looking forward to Ashland/California in May and Montana in August. But most definitely, 2009 will bring more risotto!

This was influenced by a risotto recipe in the cookbook, Big Night In. But mainly, that’s just the prosecco part. My seafood here was about 1 pound of shrimp and 1/2 a pound of cubed, cooked halibut. But you could totally skip the halibut — I just added it because I had 2 small, frozen halibut steaks in the fridge that I wanted to use. I cubed and cooked it first, because I wanted a little crusty, cooked goodness on the fish surface.

Risotto recipe is first, quick seafood stock recipe follows.

Seafood Risotto with Prosecco
This will feed about 4-5 people
1 tbsp olive oil
1 small onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 bell pepper, diced
2 cups arborio rice
1/2 cup prosecco (or champagne)
6 - 7 cups seafood stock (see below)
1 lb raw shrimp (shells, used for stock and shrimp cut into bite-sized pieces)
Optional: 1/2 pound cooked halibut, cubed (I cubed raw halibut, salted and peppered it, and seared it nicely before using, carry-over finished cooking it mostly all the way through)
1/2 - 1 cup Parmesan cheese
salt & pepper

Okay, make your quick and easy fish stock (see below). Keep that warm in your handy stock pot.

In a big pot, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the onion, garlic and bell pepper and let cook about 3-4 minutes. Add the rice next and stir to coat in the oil.

Next comes the prosecco or champagne. Stir until and stir until it is mostly absorbed. Then, start adding the simmering broth (about 1/2 a cup at a time), stirring, adding more when the liquid in the risotto pot is almost absorbed.

When you’ve gone through about 3/4 of the broth and the risotto is almost done (give it a taste, it should be slightly al dente but close to done), add the shrimp and continue to add more broth as it cooks for 3-4 minutes.

On your last addition of broth, add the cheese and halibut if you are using it. Stir while the cheese gets all melt-y and creamy and the halibut rewarms (1-2 minutes). Taste and salt and pepper as needed.

Serve in bowls with some chopped parsley if desired. Bread on the side is good. Leftovers saved well for me. I had about 1/2 cup of both left and I poured that into the leftover risotto before putting away in the fridge.

Quick Seafood Stock
Adapted from the Web site New Italian Recipes
1 tbsp olive oil
raw shrimp shells and tails from 1 pound of shrimp
Scraps from your 1 medium onion and bell pepper
1 stalk celery, chopped
1 small carrot, chopped
1 small handful of fresh parsley leaves
2 garlic cloves, peeled and cracked open
7 cups water
2 tbsp tomato paste
1 tbsp lemon juice
pinch of salt and pepper

Heat the olive oil over medium-low heat and then add the vegetables (onion, bell pepper, carrot, celery) and parsley.

Cover the pan and cook 10 minutes. Add the raw shrimp shells and tomato paste. Cook until shells turn pink. Add water and simmer for about 30 minutes.

Strain out vegetable scraps and shrimp shells. Add lemon juice and a pinch of salt and pepper.

Pour stock back into the pan and keep at a simmer while you make the risotto.

Oh yeah. Drink the rest of the prosecco with dinner!

Happy Holidays! I hope everyone had nice meals, presents and what-not. We did. On Christmas we had Beef Wellingtons — thank you cow, again, you were delicious!, this awesome cauliflower gratin and some braised brussels sprouts. Our snow is almost melted now, which is good as I really need to go to work Monday!

Okay, so the cauliflower recipe is based on one by Bobby Flay, but I changed some stuff. Also, our head of cauliflower was on the small side. Adjust amounts as needed for your amount of cauliflower.

Cauliflower Goat Cheese Gratin
Adapted from Bobby Flay
1 head cauliflower, cut into florets
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 clove garlic, peeled, cut in half
1/2 tsp lemon zest
1 cup Monterey Jack cheese, coarsely grated
1/2 cup grated Parmesan
2 green onion, chopped
3 ounces goat cheese, cut into small pieces
Salt and freshly ground pepper

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Add the cream to a small pot with the garlic and bring to a simmer. Turn off heat and let the cream infuse and cool for about 15 minutes.

Toss the cauliflower, Monterey Jack, parmesan, green onion and lemon zest in a shallow casserole dish. Season with salt and pepper. Strain the cream over the cauliflower and top with the pieces of goat cheese. Add another grind or two of pepper to the top.

Roast for 20 to 30 minutes or until the cauliflower is soft and the sauce has thickened slightly and become golden around the edges. Remove from the oven and let rest for 5-10 minutes before serving.

Assorted Christmas Dinner Images — (Beef Wellington recipe here)

Dinner wine, a Christmas gift from jwa’s parents

Beef Wellington with a “pastry bot” on top

Mmmmmmm! Beeeeeeeef!

Pastry bot must be eaten!

We’re getting the promised snow. Winter-Arctic-Blasta-Pooloza! We ventured out to the closest fancy store (Zupans beat New Seasons by about 5 blocks each way) to get Pork Tenderloin and Brussels sprouts for dinner…

I think this is SE 32nd Ave a couple of blocks from our house

Snow blowing off a roof by SE Belmont

More snow

Me, snow, colorful, Belmont-y house

Off of SE Hawthorne

jwa walking…in snow

More snow, another house

No market this Saturday because of the STOOPID SNOW!!@!@

More info at Lemon Basil.

This was such a great meal. Plus, it’s fish, olive oil and broccoli rabe so it’s even healthy!

Honestly, I was a little skeptical about: 1. poaching in olive oil and 2. the broccoli rabe not being bitter. But both issues were non-issues, actually. The fish was flaky and wonderful and the pesto was just delicious. I’ve made two batches of pesto so far — jwa likes to eat it on crackers.

Olive Oil Poached Halibut
Adapted from Gourmet Magazine — this is a halved version of the original recipe
2 (6-8 ounce) Halibut fillets
3/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
2 tbsp capers (preferably in salt), rinsed
1 lemon large lemons, thinly sliced crosswise
2 tbsp fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves or tarragon leaves (I used tarragon)
1 cup extra-virgin olive oil

Preheat oven to 250 degrees F. Pat the fish dry. Sprinkle the fish with 1 1/2 teaspoons salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper and let stand 10 minutes at room temperature.

Arrange half of lemon slices in 1 layer in a small baking dish and arrange fish fillets in a single layer over the lemon slices. Top with the capers, remaining lemon slices, and half the parsley or tarragon, then pour oil over fish.

Bake in middle of oven, uncovered, until fish just flakes and is cooked through, about 1 to 1 1/4 hours.

Broccoli Rabe Pesto
Adapted from Giada De Laurentiis
8 ounces broccoli rabe (about 1/2 a bunch)
2 cloves garlic
1 cup toasted pecans (you can also use walnuts)
1 -2 tbsp honey
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 cup grated Parmesan

Bring a small pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the broccoli rabe and cook until tender, about 5 minutes.

Transfer the cooked broccoli rabe to an ice bath and let cool, about 3 minutes. Shake off the excess water and transfer to a food processor.

Add the garlic, walnuts, honey, salt, and pepper process until smooth. With the machine running gradually pour in the extra-virgin olive oil. Transfer the pesto to a small bowl and stir in the Parmesan. Cover and set aside.

Put It All Together

Place a scoop of pesto on each plate and top with a piece of fish, capers, lemons and a little of the olive oil. Sprinkle with a little parsley/tarragon. We had this with a little whole wheat couscous.

Save any leftovers of the pesto for pasta. You won’t be sorry!