once a cheater...

My admission for the day: I'm a cheater. It's almost shameful. Almost.

This morning I decided to make something that I can take to work the next couple of days. Perusing the recipes on my "to make" pile, I saw that I actually had all the ingredients for one I had planned to make before Christmas, but didn't when socialising broke out. So I set to work.

I'm not sure where I got this recipe from, since I didn't reference it as I sometimes do. It's pretty simple: rice, chicken stock, mozzarella, egg yolks, parmesan, ham, parsley and salt & pepper. The thing that makes me a cheater is that it's called risotto, but I didn't make it even close to the traditional way. I added hot broth to the arborio rice, heated to boiling, and covered it like regular rice. Surprisingly, with everything else added when the rice was cooked, it had the same consistency as other yummy risottos I've had before. Start to finish, it was 20 minutes. My shame is exposed. Yet I will make this again, likely with variations.

This week I also have a book out from the library that I'm thinking of buying. "Casserole crazy" is pretty self-explanatory, full of one-dish baked things. I've always been a fan of casseroles, likely because my mom made a decent number when I was growing up, and I don't like dirtying numerous dishes for a meal. The one I had wanted to make today (before deciding on the risotto) was a mac & corn dish that sounded pretty decent and easy.

I think I like the idea of casseroles because there's usually enough food for a small commune of people, making them seem like a really social foodtype. I probably also like the book because it's written by a Brooklyn hipster-type who has weekly casserole parties with friends and an annual casserole competition. I often think I should have people over for dinner, but fear that whatever I make won't be enough or will be less than satisfactory to at least one, if not all, attendees. Will see.

Maybe if I liked wine more, this wouldn't be an issue.