Happy Valentines Day To Me

Valentine's Day as a single person. What are you to do? spoil yourself silly of course.  I fully believe you have to treat yourself with love. You could sit and sulk on a night like tonight OR you could treat yourself the way you would like to be treated, or how you would treat a special someone if you had one. 

Valentine's Day has always been rough for me. I have never spent the evening with a date, even when I did have a boyfriend ( different work schedules, rehearsal, performance whatever). Also the fact that it's so close to my birthday has been a cause of contention. So many gifts growing up were obvious Valentine's Day leftovers... Which always rubbed in the fact that I was alone on the day. 

This last few years I have been lucky enough to either spoil myself or be with friends. Tonight, faced with being on my own again.. And Benedict Cumberpatch getting married today (I'm happy for him truly, but, you know...) I desided to be extra nice to myself. 

I got a nice bottle of wine (well 2 actually),  some really special ingredients, a box of chocolate covered marzipan, lit a candle, put on some electro swing (latest music discovery) and started cooking. 

(Pandora seeds if you want to listen: Beats Antique, Parav Stellar, Caravan Palace, Gramatik)

The menu:
- Beet and Leek Risotto with Romano Cheese
- Butter and Balsamic Sautéed Portobello Mushroom and Purple Kale
- Roasted Lamb Chop with Salt, Pepper and Rosemary 

Um yum! This turned out Amazing. I'm a great date! 

The lamb and mushroom Kale are pretty self explanatory and easy. Risotto though is a food of love and requires nurturing and attention. I don't make it often as it is  a bit more high maintenance than I like for a every day meal.

My Recipe Follows:

Beet, Leek and Romano Cheese Risotto 
1/2 tablespoon olive oil 
1 tablespoon butter
3/4 cup chopped Leek (white part only)
2 cloves garlic finely chopped
1 cup chopped red beet 
1/2 cup Arborio Rice 
1/2 cup good white wine ( I used Ribeiro Viña Reboreda- a gorgeous Spanish white)
2 1/2 cup Chicken Broth
1 cup Romano Cheese 

Chop your beet, leek and garlic. Beets can be a bit bigger but you want the leek and garlic pretty small. 

Oh by the way. Pour yourself a glass of wine. 

You want a nice white wine. I cannot stress the importance of this. The flavor of the wine gets condensed when you cook. Bad wine: Bad flavor, Good Wine: Good Flavor. This is true for every recipe! The Reboreda was only $8.99. good wines are out there at an affordable price, you just have to discover what they are. Become friends with a local wine steward and frequent a small specialty wine shop, they really are your best resource. Big grocery stores might be convenient but you won't get the personalized care. 

Ok got your wine? Good. Now we cook. Get ready for lots of stirring.

Combine the olive oil and butter in a pot over medium - med high heat, let the pan get hot (the butter will melt and start to bubble)

Add the leek and garlic and sautée and stir, cook till the leeks start to turn transparent. 

Add the beets, sautée and stir for a minute or two 

Add the rice and stir till well coated and sautée for a few minutes. This wakes the rice up, very important. 

Add the wine. Stir. Cook. Stir. Till the wine is absorbed. 

1/2 cup at a time add the chicken broth. Stir. cook. stir. Till the broth is absorbed. 

I found two and a half cups was enough for me, if you like it creamier add more, less creamy add less. 

Taste it at this point. Texture good? Add seasoning. All I added was a little pink Himalayan sea salt. 

Turn off heat stir in cheese till melted. 

It will look something like this:

Aww romantic and delicious!! 

Plate it up! 

Enjoy! 

I'm now enjoying chocolate covered marzipan and more Zinfandel for dessert 


Much love and light to all! Happy Valentines Day!