My Philosophy on Cooking

If you use ingredients that you like, it's really hard to go wrong (unless, of course, you burn it, under cook it, or really think tuna and ice cream would go together on spaghetti). For example, the other night I was craving some sort of fresh, lemony, shrimp dish and decided to go with shrimp scampi (of which I don't have a particular recipe for but have made before). In looking through my kitchen, I decided the perfect pairing for my shrimp scampi craving would be a creamy lemon risotto. Not having recipes handy for either of these dishes, I decided to make it up as I went along. I like experimenting in the kitchen and since I do feel I have a basic knowledge of how things are made and what goes well together, I figured I have nothing to lose (and I also have a bunch of delivery options if this happens to be completely inedible). 

I apologize in advance as I do not have official recipes and am really bad at trying to figure out how much of everything I used, but I'll try since I received so many requests for my "recipe." So here we go...

Ingredients needed for lemon risotto (serving 2):
I used about 1 cup of sushi rice instead of arborio 
White Wine- about 1/2 cup
Chicken stock- about 2 cups
Garlic- 2 cloves or to your liking
1 large lemon or two
Parmesan cheese- about half a cup (or more depending on your liking)
Butter- approx. two tablespoons
Olive oil- approx. two tablespoons
salt and pepper to taste

In a deep skillet, I heated the olive oil and added the two cloves of finely minced garlic, which I sauteed for about a minute (or until you can start smelling the sweet fragrance of the garlic...but before it starts to turn brown!) and added the rice. 

I sauteed the rice and garlic mixture for a few minutes, adding the zest of a lemon. Then, I added the white wine and stirred until almost completely evaporated. I slowly started adding the chicken stock about 1/4 cup at a time letting the stock cook into the rice and evaporate before adding another ladle of stock. 


Once all the stock had been incorporated, and the rice was al dente, I added the juice of one lemon and let that cook into the rice. Then, I stirred in the butter, and added the parmesan cheese. 


Season to taste and serve!

For the shrimp scampi, you'll need similar ingredients (which is why this dish goes so well together):
A few tablespoons of olive oil
Two or so cloves of garlic
About 1/4 cup of white wine
A few tablespoons of chicken stock
1 lemon
salt and pepper
Optional: Parsley and my personal favorite, Cajun seasoning
About a pound of shrimp

I cooked the shrimp almost all the way through (you can also use already cooked frozen shrimp or whatever is easier for you). In the meantime, I sauteed the finely chopped garlic in the olive oil. When the garlic started to get fragrant, I added the white wine and chicken stock. Letting it simmer so it would thicken a little. I then added the lemon, parsley, and seasonings. Once the sauce was at a good thickness and taste, I added the shrimp to continue cooking in the liquid.


I poured the shrimp scampi over-top the risotto, added a side of greens with homemade balsamic vinaigrette and had a fabulous meal!


Now I hope that wasn't too confusing or un-followable (I don't even know if I could recreate this meal exactly the same), but the point is you can take ingredients you love and makeup some fabulous meals with a little creativity. Let me know how it goes! I'd love to hear more creative "recipes" and suggestions!