Scallop Surprise

In the beginning, there was the olive oil. And the onion and the rice and the…

Well, mama was thinking of having this lunch party and unfroze some little bay scallops for seven people and then a large number of the seven got colds and sore throats (I hope they are better now!) and so mama started a risotto that night into which she put everything except my kibble.  But that’s how things get invented in our kitchen—leftovers for one thing get made into another thing and voilà, a new dish is created!

Just for fun I’m going to list in order how this risotto took shape:

Olive oil, then chopped sweet onion, then two cups of Arborio rice, then a little more than a cup of white wine, then mama started heating five cups of the DUCK broth she had made for ossobuco (remember that?), then when the wine was absorbed, in went the little bay scallops, about two cups, then in went a pinch of hot pepper, then she started adding the broth a cup at a time waiting each time for it to absorb, then in went fresh corn off of a large cob, then some long-grain, cooked rice that was leftover from a curry, then a few spoons of fresh tomato soup leftover from lunch, then a small carton of whole-milk plain yogurt, then a pinch of anise seed (actually, mama used wild fennel pollen but we won’t go there just yet!), then a bit of lemon zest and the juice of half a lemon and a spoon of butter and it was done, al dente and fragrant (well, I know what that means because I come down to my dinner as soon as I smell mama’s dinner getting started).  Oh, and a few fresh basil leaves, chopped to make the rice look pretty.

But mama’s cooking is evolutionary all the time.  Just like when you’re in love and out on a date with that special someone, one thing leads to another, haha.

But I have to say, even though I got only the scallops before they turned into risotto, the smells in the kitchen were pretty overwhelming.  But you know how pure I am—nothing with wine for me.

Unfortunately.

Lordy, I only smelled mama’s wine and…