We just returned from a relaxing weekend with friends in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware. Even though it rained 3 days straight, we managed to have a wonderful time. We laughed, ate, drank, and slept. Dianne and Phil have 2 new puppies, Nora and Lou, and they are just wonderful bundles of fluff. St Bernard puppies are adorable, but really HUGE! We got acquainted with Elle, Claire and Jon's St Bernard and it was a weekend of fluffiness.
The drive back wasn't bad, it was pretty quick, with stops, just under 4 hours, biggest delays were once we hit Staten Island and Brooklyn. Smooth sailing before that!
After communing with our kitties, who were delighted to see us, we returned to the daily grind of life in Brooklyn! Checking on the garden, watering the plants on the other terrace, removing weeds, planting new things, cleaning up after the cats and discovering more new toys. Up until now, they have been very content with cardboard toilet rolls, balls of tin foil, and pieces of string. I bought some catnip infused sticks that they are going ape for. We have dubbed them, Senor Stick. To distinguish it from Ropey.
Back to food, I lost myself for a second. I used a recipe from NYTCooking for Shrimp and Pea Risotto
The recipe called for shrimp stock, and the shrimp I had were shelled, so I couldn't make the stock, but I used a mixture of homemade and boxed chicken stocks that turned out great.
The saffron gave the rice a lovely yellow sun-shine-y hue.
I also used frozen shrimp, so sue me, and it turned out quite nice. The shrimp went into the pot just as the rice was almost finished cooking and I covered the pan and killed the heat. Peas went in at the same time on top of the still frozen shrimp. After 3 minutes, I uncovered the pan and flipped the shrimp over and recovered for another 3 minutes. It was perfectly done. The rice was firm, but not crunchy, the shrimp just cooked through and the green peas gave the yellow something to play against.
