Sausage, Mushroom and Red Wine Risotto
By: Katie Lerum Zeller
Published: Saturday, February 27, 2010 - 2:29am

Ingredients




2/3 cup  Arborio rice (or other rice specifically for risotto - 
1/2 cup red wine
2 cups beef broth
1 medium onion, chopped
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese - freshly grated
6 ounces sausages, cut into 1 inch pieces
4 ounces mushrooms, trimmed and sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 medium carrot, peeled and chopped
2 teaspoons oregano

Preparation

1 Heat beef broth and keep hot over low heat. 2 In medium saucepan heat oil over medium heat. Add half of the onion and sauté until transparent. 3 Add rice and sauté stirring, for 2 - 3 minutes until rice has white center. 4 Add red wine and stir well. 5 Start condimenti: Sauté sausages in skillet over medium heat until browned and cooked through. 6 When rice has almost absorbed wine add a 1/3 cup of broth, stir well. 7 Remove sausages from skillet. Add onion and carrot; sauté 5 minutes. 8 When rice has almost absorbed broth add another 1/3 cup and stir well. Continue adding 1/3 cup at a time and stirring well. 9 Add garlic, mushrooms to skillet and sauté until mushrooms are nicely browned. Turn heat to low, return sausages to skillet, stir in oregano, cover and keep warm until needed. 10 Before adding  the last 1/3 cup of broth to rice, taste a few kernels. They should be just 'al dente' - slightly resistant to the tooth but fully cooked. If more broth is needed add it 1/6 cup at a time and waiting until almost completely absorbed. 11 At this point risotto will be thick but not stiff - there will still be visible liquid and it will not hold its shape on a plate. If too stiff, add more broth or water. 12 Stir in the Parmesan and condimenti (sausage and vegetables), pour into a bowl or risotto platter and serve immediately. It will continue to absorb liquid and the leftovers (if any) will be very stiff.

About


My cook top is not working.... Again.
This is the third time in less than one year of use that a burner has ceased to function as the French so nicely say.
It's the same one that 'ceased to function' last summer.
I am not happy.
Je ne suis pas content.
The problem I have is twofold:
    First, my command of the language is not sufficient to vent my anger.
    Second, even if it was I couldn't.
That's not how it's done here.  One does not get angry and stomp one's feet and shake one's fist and swear loudly.
One is not happy.
In order to express my unhappiness as clearly as possible, I wrote a letter. 
My thinking was that the person at the service desk, that I expressed my profound unhappiness to, would not be the person who could make me happy.  He would have to go to a higher authority.
I am asking to have it replaced.  I believe it's defective.  It shouldn't have broken three times in 10 months. 
I wrote the letter, then had the ladies in my conversation class correct it, then asked a friend who is both fluent in French and knowledgeable in business correct it.
To give you an example of how very polite a letter of complaint is, this is the closing, rather than the common American phrase of Regards or Sincerely:
    En attente d’une réponse favorable et rapide de votre part, nous vous adressons nos salutations.
Basically it says we respectfully await your pleasure and a favorable decision.
It's not exactly the sentiment that I wanted to express - but, when in France.....
I was trying to get a decision before I took the cook top in so I wouldn't be without if for a month again... I thought it was a reasonable request - order a new one, when it arrives I'll bring the broken one in, the tech can verify it's broken and I leave with the new one. 
Simple and logical.
I failed.
It would appear that the French don't work that way. 
It's going in on Monday.  The saga continues.....
Anyone with 'oven only' recipes please send my way - remember, oven only....
That means no browning of anything!
That means no risotto for the foreseeable future!
I like red wine.  I also like white and rosado but that's another post.
Nowhere is it written that risotto must be made with white wine and chicken broth.
This has a heartier flavor than typical risotto, made with red wine and beef stock. It works well with the sausages and mushrooms.