Fun Weekend Food - Gumbo Risotto

One of my favorite things that we got at the farmer's market the day we made quinoa salad was fresh okra.  I'd never cooked with it before, but my mom used frozen okra to make gumbo all the time when we were growing up, and it was one of my favorite things she made and I wanted to try to cook with fresh gumbo.

The inspiration for this particular dish came from asking Jay what he wanted for dinner, and suggesting "risotto, or we have fresh okra too."  Jay said "okra in rice sounds good," which was totally not what I meant, but when your man says he wants rice and okra, you make it.

Risotto takes about 40 minutes to make, but it is VERY simple and really just requires that you stir with one hand while you drink wine or scotch or beer or whiskey or moonshine with the other.  I'm basically helping you work on being ambidextrous, so you're welcome for that.

I love risotto of all forms, and this turned out even better than I thought!  Now, traditional gumbo usually has andouille sausage in it, and you could definitely add any kind of cooked sausage you like to this - yum!  I used just shrimp because, per usual, that's what I had.

For this dish, which serves four, you'll need:

• 1 cup arborio rice
• 2-3 cups liquid (I use half chicken stock, half water for money and salt content issues)
• 1 cup white wine
• 1 cup tomato juice or ½ cup crushed tomatoes
• fresh or frozen okra
• ½ chopped onion
• chopped tomatoes
• tomato paste
• crushed red pepper
• cajun/creole seasoning (we've discussed before that I don't know the difference)
• butter
• 2 cloves minced garlic
• cooked, chopped shrimp

For both the okra and the shrimp, I used about ½ cup each, chopped, because I really wanted the rice to shine through.  You can use more though if you want more veggies and protein or want this amount of rice to serve more people!

To brown the okra and veggies, the pan should be very hot.  Now, turn the heat to medium or medium low and chop the onion and mince the garlic while the pan cools down a little bit.

I hadn't chopped the shrimp yet.  I'm sorry.

Once the onion is translucent, add the garlic, 1 tablespoon tomato paste, and 1 tablespoon creole seasoning.

Stir this around for one more minute, then add the rice and stir so it is coated in oil.

Let the dry rice absorb the seasonings for about one minute, then add in the wine and stir until it is almost evaporated.

Now your house smells amazing.  You're welcome.  Observe at this point that you have three very cute doggies helping you cook, and be happy for your life. Or, shout at them for being underfoot, chug a glass of boxed wine, and swear never to have animals or dogsit ever again, it's really up to you!

Callie, like, doesn't even care that the kitchen smells like shrimp.  She prefers raw chicken, man.

s

Sometimes when I stir risotto for a long time Jay starts to get bored and do this:

So I make him chop stuff.  It frees me up to keep stirring and drink.

Stir everything together, and let it simmer for a minute or two to heat everything together.  While you're doing that, chop up some fresh parsley, if you have any!

Add the parsley and a pat of butter to the risotto, and stir everything together.

Ahhhhh...

Look how creamy and delicious this is!  When I make it again, I think I'll saute ½ chopped green pepper with the okra, and maybe add some sausage.