Risotto Dinner

I think I have featured risotto here once before only briefly, but it is worth another mention. Risotto is one of my signature dishes, one I can now make without the recipe, and using my own senses to judge cooking times and ingredient amounts. It is also always a hit with my family. We like to enjoy it as a main course sometimes, but it also goes well with a variety of dishes including salmon, chicken, and stir-fry. I usually just make plain risotto, but it can be varied in an endless number of ways from this simple recipe. I know I have added fresh peas, caramelized onion, lobster, and Parmesan cheese to my risotto before, but there are many more common recipes out there that I would like to try, such as butternut squash risotto. Risotto has a reputation of a time-consuming, difficult dish, but it really isn't, especially once you have made it as many times as I have. It does require a lot of stirring and constant attention, but this allows you to get other things in the kitchen done as well. This time, I made risotto to go with our salmon. Our salmon was smoked on the barbecue, just the way we like it, despite the fact it is nearly December! (Remember my September 18th post entitled "Last Barbecue Of The Season?", it definitely wasn't true). We also had a nice stir-fry with our meal as well. This is one of my favorite meal combinations; salmon, stir-fry, and either risotto or homemade hashbrowns.