Happy New Year!

Well, it’s now 2005, so Happy New Year to all! I don’t know if anyone has made any new year resolutions but, whatever they may be I hope you follow through. I myself have made some resolution but do not want to dump them onto you (at least not now).

We had a nice little potluck party here and had some nice food. There were savoury crepes with sauteed mushrooms and peppers and gouda cheese; a variety of cheeses with crackers and bread; and fruit. I made sea scallops and asparagus risotto, french fries with homemade ketchup and an avocado cucumber dill salad with smoked trout and of course lots of wine and other spirits! Which brings me to my first posting of a recipe of mine: The Sea Scallop and Asparagus Risotto. I’ve never done this before. I’ve always just made the recipe from the top of my head without specific measurements, so for anyone who tries this please keep in mind that things can be adjusted according to your taste. I’ve received a lot of compliments on this dish so hopefully it will work out for you too.

Sea Scallops and Asparagus Risotto

Ingredients:

1/2 lbs of sea scallops (small or large, if large, cut into smaller pieces)
5-8 asparagus (depending on how large they are you can use more) cut 1 inch in length
1 small onion chopped
2 Tbl sp Olive oil
1 Tbl sp butter
1/2 cup white wine (dry)
3 cups of chicken stock (heated)
1 cup arborio rice
1/4 cup of grate parmesan cheese
salt and pepper to taste

Preparation:

Put oil and butter into medium sauce pan and saute onions on medium high heat till soft and translucent (approx 5 min?). Add rice and stir till rice is coated with the butter, oil and onions. Add wine and stir till the wine is absorbed into rice. Add a cup of stock to rice and stir until absorbed. Continue adding a cup of stock to the rice until absorbed. You may add more stock to your risotto if you want it to be creamier. After the last cup of stock is poured stir until liquid is almost aborbed and then add the scallops to cook for another 2-3 minutes. Turn off heat and add the parmesan, stir in till melted and then add asparagus (the heat from the risotto will cook your asparagus). Add salt and pepper to taste.
Serves 4 as a side dish

Enjoy!