Life With….

Around Labor Day, I found myself in the mountains with my parents, grandfather, and younger brother.  My father called my mother’s house to inform me that he was on the way; and when he arrived after 5 pm we decided to run to the store to grab food for dinner for him, my 92 year old grandfather, and the brother – my mother was thankfully not coming as both my parents in the same room and no outsiders is not fun for anyone.

Being that it was late, but also knowing that my father knows nothing about stocking food (for example he did not realize that clam sauces should not come from cans as it becomes an oil sauce with some clam thrown in as opposed to a light clam sauce flavored with herbs, wine, tomato, and oil) I wanted to join him.   We picked up a simple meal that I could prepare quickly, and easily, without too much mess and that gave him and my brother something to do- beef (sadly not local as we were in the mountains and not at the market) with risotto, local organic corn, an organic salad and garlic bread.

The first thing I did was season the beef with pepper, garlic, and minced jalapeno mashed into all sides I then let it sit until we decided to start the grill.   As these were large cuts of meats, but my father’s is a hot grill we timed it for about 25 minutes before dinner.

I next shucked the corn and brushed each piece with a lime juice, Texas Pete, jalapeno and garlic.  The hot ingredients liberally added to my taste;this should truly by a liquid that is more clear than red (you can even omit the hot sauce and simply sprinkle it on briefly before wrapping and grilling.  After brushing the solution on the corn I wrapped in aluminum foil and set it aside to be place on the gril. The corn takes about 10 minutes to cook on the grill/

Washed the prepared salad and set it aside; and had my brother cut open the french bread smother it with butter and garlic, wrap it in foil,  and stick it into the over for 20 minutes or so while I made the risotto.

I heated about 5 cups of beef broth (I prefer low sodium, but this one was not – we were in the mtns) to a simmer.  In a pasta pot I put about two tablespoons olive oil and turned the heat on to med high.  While heating I interested about a cup of aborrio rice.  I also added a quarter of a red onion which I had diced.  When the rice was coated, and and become clear with a white dot in the middle, I added a half a glass of red wine and let that boil off.   (I know it is traditional to use white wine not red and butter not olive oil, but my father only had smart balance and I was unsure if it would work properly; additionally I simply prefer red wine, so sue me).  If I had added mushrooms I would have added two handfuls of quartered porcini at this stage.   Once the wine had boiled off I began to add ladelfuls of the beef broth.   You let one absorb, add then add the next ladelful.  Stop when the risotto has become creamy but is still vaguely al dtente – remember risottos continues to cook when removed from the heat.

After removing from the heat I added butter, stirred and served immediately with the beef, corn, salad and bread.  I did end up having to pull these off the grill and set the table as my family engaged in that other great vacation tradition – drinking whiskey and water and socializing until fed.

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Create Your Badge  All text and copyrights preserved by the author for words and original pictures and may not be used without author's permission. For more information visit http://www.peebesalgy.com Follow me on Twitter @ http://twitter.com/peebesalgy or contact me directly through http://www.peebesalgy.com/blog/contact-me/ Courtney Brown | Create Your Badge