Yesterday was perfect weather! Think it was high 70's or low 80's and I couldn't wait to sit on the patio with a glass of wine and just enjoy the sun. So I decided to have some friends over to enjoy some bbq'd rib eye, good wine and try a new risotto recipe. It was a perfect night and I was thrilled with how the food turned out...still not thrilled with hot the picture of the food turned out...but I wasn't about to let that ruin my evening.

So let me start by saying my cousin recommended this oven risotto recipe to me and I thought that is so weird and so cheating to make risotto in the oven. Holy heck was I wrong! It is so easy to throw everything into a pan and put it in the oven for 45 min and it turned out great....actually probably better than when I have made risotto on the stove and stirred it constantly for 45 min straight. So if you are looking for a good, super easy and low maintenance side dish recipe this is it. This recipe came from the Barefoot Contessa cookbook

Easy Parmesan Risotto

1 1/2 cups arborio rice
5 cups simmering chicken broth (of coarse they recommend homemade but seriously who has time for that)
1 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese (seriously grating your parmesan cheese truly does make a difference)
1/2 cup dry white wine
3 T unsalted butter, diced
2 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp freshly group pepper
1 cup frozen peas

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Place the rice and 4 cups of the chicken stock in a dutch oven. Cover and bake for 45 min until most of the liquid is absorbed and the rice is al dente. Remove from the oven, add the remaining cup of chicken stock, the parmesan, wine, butter, salt/pepper and stir vigorously for 2-3 min until the rice is thick and creamy. Add the peas and stir until heated through. Serve hot

And if anyone is wondering what type of white wine I used for the risotto here is the label and yes, I did buy this wine just for the label. It actually tasted fine but the label made me laugh so it came home with me.

I served the risotto with roasted asparagus which I just made in the oven. I put olive oil, salt and pepper on the asparagus and put them on the cookie sheet. Just roasted them at 350 degrees for 15-20 min and they were perfect.

Now for the rib eye...this is what I learned from the Cafe Firenze cookbook

1. Meat needs to be room temperature before you cook it so I took it out of the fridge for about an hour before I wanted to grill it.

2. Don't salt it ahead of time you should salt it as it cooks because the salt will absorb the juice of the meat and it could cause it to dry out.

3. After you cook it you should let the meat rest for approx 5 min before you serve it so the juices absorb back into the meat

4. Grilling lemon and serving it with the meat really adds a nice flavor and the acid of the lemon tastes really good

The rib eye I made last night had a rub on it made of black pepper, chopped rosemary and chopped sage...really nice. And it was served with an infused olive oil I made. You take a 1/2 cup of olive oil and throw 4 cloves of garlic in it with their skin on and a few sprigs of thyme. You cook it at low heat until the garlic has cooked enough that they are soft and then you strain the olive oil and serve it on the steak. You actually put it on the steak after it has been cooked....really nice flavor. Thank you Fabio Viviani!

Well I hope everyone has a wonderful Memorial Day Weekend...remember our troops and all that they are doing for us. Enjoy your families and friends and take a moment to be thankful for all that is special.