ny strip steak with spring risotto and tomato blue cheese salad

ok so it is week two with no oven.......have to be creative with what to make for saturday dinner (this works for dinner on the weekend or during the week)....gotta get to a menu that works all on the stove top or gas grill.....so what to do, what to do?  brit and kelsey are both home for easter weekend...so lots of cooking and easter egg crafts are on the agenda.  first a trip to the butcher....picked up some beautiful ny strip steaks (among other things) then on to the grocery store to check out the choices.  brit and i had done some research with the ina cookbooks and decided on some dishes that would work together and be oven free.  brit picked out some nice leeks, a variety of herbs, blue cheese, fennel.....a nice wheat ciabatta bread....back home and start prepping.

oven free blue plate special

we took the steaks out and seasoned with salt and pepper and left at room temp while we got to the risotto. the spring green risotto is from ina garten's back to basics cookbook (this one is my favorites of all of her cookbook ......i have made many of these recipes multiple times. ) i have made this recipe about 5 times...i always leave out the white wine and add the parmesan on the individual plates.

recipes after the jump

for the risotto:
1 1/2 tablespoons good olive oil
1 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter
3 cups chopped leeks
1 cup chopped fennel
1 1/2 cups arborio rice (i used the rice found on the food adventure to Eataly)
6 cups simmering chicken stock
1 lb thin asparagus
10 oz frozen peas (defrosted)
1 tablespoon freshly grated lemon zest ( 2 lemons)
kosher salt, freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/3 cup mascarpone cheese (italian)
grated parmesan cheese (to taste)
3 tablespoons minced fresh chives (parsley is pretty good here too if you can not find chives)

get out a big deep saute pan and add the olive oil and butter....on medium heat....dump in the leeks and fennel and saute for 5-7 minutes.  add the rice and stir it around for about a minute to coat all of the grains with the butter and oil.  then add in the simmering chicken stock  (a cup at at time) each time waiting for the liquid to be absorbed by the rice before adding another cup.  i do this over medium heat and it takes about 30 minutes.   while this is working slice the asparagus diagonally into one inch pieces and cook in boiling water for 5 minutes then shock in ice water to keep it green.   when the risotto has been cooking about 20 minutes add in the asparagus and the peas along with the lemon zest salt and pepper and let it cook  ......continue to add the chicken stock (if the risotto looks little dry it is ok to add bit more stock...it will keep absorbing the rice should be tender with a little firmness  not crunchy)  next take the mascarpone and drop it in a small bowl and whisk in the lemon juice.  take the risotto off the heat and and whisk in the mascarpone lemon juice mixture.....add the chive or parsley and your done.

a big pot of spring veggie risotto goodness

for the steaks throw them on the grill and cook the way you like them.  i sauteed some sweet onions in butter and topped the steaks with them and added a drizzle of aged balsamic vinegar.

fresh grape tomatoes with blue cheese chunks

cut tomatoes in half and crumble some nice blue cheese (we used stella blue cheese) .  brit made the vinaigrette from the ina how easy is that book.  ( 1/8 cup red wine vinegar, 1 minced garlic clove, 1/2 teaspoon crushed dry oregano, 1/4 teaspoon dijon mustard, 1/4 cup olive oil) this was a fresh and very yummy salad and paired really nicely with the other items on the plate.  we had some cupcake cabernet sauvignon.   wow.....who needs an oven?