Special of the Day - Sweet, Hard-Boiled Risotto


I was talking to one of my regulars today and wondered if they wouldn't mind me jumping off the reservation and doing something surprisingly simple. It had been one of those days when you don't know what to make for the folks and you stand there looking at what's around and you know that if you tried to be "new and innovative" that it would fail like pug trying to not eat chocolate?

Well thankfully I got a "yeah sure whatever" response and got a chance to shake my head again and look freshly at the fridge and cupboards. What was there and what would fit my mood...there wasn't much left as we'd been throwing together some mean dishes lately -- tamales, red and bell pepper tofu tosses, asparagus cheese bombs, etc, and I felt that I should go the opposite way entirely.

I thought breakfast for dinner! Chicken and Mexican Cheese omelets....naw, but chicken and something I was sure. Then I glanced up and saw that tin of rice and it clicked. Risotto with a hard boiled egg. It felt like I would be missing something and then I tried thinking like a chicken...what would a chicken want with this dish? Sweet corn!

That was it and now I just had to throw it all together as I was sure that the egg would match the creaminess of the non dairy risotto and the sweet corn kernels would be a wonderful compliment to the soft saltiness.

Suffice it to say it was a success. Sometimes simple is really the way to go.

Let's get down to the process no?

Ingredients:
1 cup risotto rice
3 cups chicken broth (you can substitute veggie just as easily)
2 tbls butter (unsalted)
2 tbls Olive Oil
1-2 cloves of garlic (diced)
1 egg
1 can of sweet corn

Dice the garlic and toss in a medium sized sauce pan with the olive oil and butter. Saute over a medium heat. Just as the garlic pieces start to turn lightly brown, pour in the risotto rice.

Reduce the heat to low and cook the rice for four to five minutes. Just as the rice becomes translucent, pour half a cup of the broth into the sauce pan and begin slowly stirring. Once the broth is absorbed, pour another half cup in.

Continue this process of stirring and half cup of broth at a time until all of the broth is gone. (Should take ~30 minutes)

In the meantime, hard boil your egg and get your can of corn open. Drain the corn if needed and slice the egg thinly for plating.

Serve immediately or cover and let rest.