Happy Christmas week! Although things are pretty bleak in California with the virus surging and everyone under stay-at-home orders, John and I are doing our best to keep things merry. We will be delivering presents, watching Christmas movies, listening to carols, and, of course, cooking! In addition our live-in daughter will be baking cookies, a panettone, and a lasagna!

Our weekly menu is already a bit mixed up and it is only Monday! We are still making mostly the same dishes but in a different order. To start off our cooking week we made pan-seared salmon, a porcini risotto from a mix, and green beans with mushrooms and shallots.

Pan-seared salmon, risotto con porcini funghi, and green beans with mushrooms and shallots

The risotto comes from a packet by Alessi and relieves you of standing and stirring. My sister sent it to me for my birthday. It is good although not quite like the real thing which I have eaten in Italy. Also it is kind of salty which means it must be very salty since I am a salt lover. We added additional mushrooms to the risotto and cooked it in lower sodium chicken stock instead of water.

Alessi mushroom risotto

John kept his eye on the risotto and, when it was almost done, pan-seared the salmon filets. They were done in less than 5 minutes. I took care of the green beans, sautéing the mushrooms and shallots first and then adding them back in at the end of the bean cooking. John said they were the star of the dinner (he is so nice!)

I think we are moving our sous vide classic chicken to Tuesday and repositioning our vegetarian dish to Wednesday before the heavier holiday fare. Eating reasonably is going to be a challenge. I have already eaten three cookies!