Happy Friday, Y’all! Before we get into all that I have to ramble on about tell you, I have to explain that I’ve got a bit behind on things with this here website – I’m looking at you, Jennifer – after all you are my most loyal stalker friend!
The truth of the matter is we’ve had a bit of family troubles. Chris’s dad has been in the hospital. He’s a widower and lives alone now. We’ve spent a lot of time in the evenings driving 45 minutes to his house to take care of things and check the mail, then going 1.5 hours away on the weekends to visit. The good news is that there is some progress, and hopefully he’ll be home soon. And I’m kind of exhausted.
My public service announcement here is: please get your estate planning documents in place. That’s it.From your friendly neighborhood attorney.
So, moving on to Pumpkin Beer Risotto! We are just hours away from Halloween, so pumpkin is required. However…..
I have to confess and do the FULL DISCLOSURE here…
I actually do not like Halloween. It’s creepy. I can’t stand the Monster Mash and scary movies make me suck my thumb and hide under the covers. Don’t even ask me about that dang clown from Poltergeist. The original one.
Call me a buzz kill or a party pooper, but I’m totally afraid of the dark and I DO NOT like scary stuff. Seriously, that stuff keeps me awake for months! Sometimes years! Ok. We’ll talk about it. Poltergeist clown – I’m so scared of you! I can’t get out of my bed in the middle of the night without thinking about that murderous clown under the bed. I used to do a run-fly-jump into the bed when I had to get up in the night. Chris would fly 2 feet into the air and be all “damn chick!” but now I have a flashlight. Just like Jennifer’s 8 year old son. Yay me!
I’ve talked about this ridiculousness before, but it was back when only my mom and Jennifer were reading this here website. So, y’all probably are not quite as informed as they are about my hot mess issues sensitivities.
Seriously, the only things about Halloween I like are the candy, pumpkins, and Hocus Pocus! Amuk! Amuk! Amuk!
Pumpkin Beer Risotto
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 shallot diced
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1 cup arborio rice
- 1 12 ounce bottle pumpkin ale - I used Southern Tier Pumpking
- 4 cups chicken stock
- 1/2 can 15 ounce can of pure pumpkin puree
- 1 cup grated parmesan additional for topping
Instructions
-
Melt butter into olive oil over medium heat
-
Pour chicken stock into a pot and heat on low, keep warm
-
Add shallot, cook for 1-2 minutes
-
Add garlic, cook another 1 minute
-
Add rice, cook and stir until coated, and cook another 2 minutes
-
Pour in beer and cook until absorbed, about 1 - 2 - minutes
-
Add chicken stock 1/2 cup at a time, make sure absorbed before next addition, before last 2 additions, add pumpkin and stir until combined. Keep adding chicken stock until all is absorbed and rice is creamy
-
Stir in parmesan
-
Garnish with parmesan