Shrimp and Mussel Risotto

rice and fish.

1 pound shrimp, in shells, raw.
1 pound mussels
1 large shallot
10 mushrooms, chopped
2 cups abrorio rice
6-8 cups broth (recipe below)
3 tbsp butter
salt and pepper, to taste

Broth
shrimp shells from your shrimp
clean mussel shells
2 jars clam juice
1/2 onion, chopped
2 cloved garlic

boil all these together, along with 6 cups water, about 45 minutes. add salt if needed.

for the risotto

melt the butter in a pan, add a little oil to keep from burning. chop the mushrooms and add to the oil, chop shallots and do the same, slice garlic and do the same. cook until soft. add rice and enough water to cover it. stir regularly, never leave the risotto's side. as the rice absorbs the broth, keep adding more broth until the rice is soft and there is a creamy sauce surrounding it. add the fish. cook 5-10 minutes, or until shrimp is pink and no longer translucent. do not overcook. season with salt and pepper, to your taste. this process is easy but attention is needed at all times. make sure you dont have distractions and keep stirring all the time. you can substitute any other seafood. if i was rich i would have made this with crab, shrimp, mussels, and and a lobster tail.

by the way i served this with fresh corn off the cob and tomato from my garden. deeeeeelicious.

Steamed Crab And Shrimp Dumpling Goodness

Everyone was thrilled with dinner tonight. I mean we went crazy. The hard to please husband who will eat anything but praise nothing even got wide eyed....then proceeded to dissect. But that's just the way he is. And the baby? He couldn't stuff bites in his mouth fast enough.

This is the recipe for from scratch potstickers suffed with a slightly spicy crab and shrimp stuffing. you can cheat and use small wonton skins instead, the round ones. but from scratch is.... different. Make sure you roll out the dough super super thin, and try to avoid holes, because they with make the oil attack you.

For the Dough

4 cups flour
2 tsp salt
2 eggs
cold water

measure out flour on the table, add salt. make a well in the center and add eggs to the well. add a little water and break the yolks. mix. keep adding water a little at a time until the dough starts to stick together, knead the dough until you have a soft but not stick dough. place in a bowl and cover. prepare the filling.

Filling

1 large can of good quality crab (about 2 cups)
1 lb raw shrimps, chopped into very small pieces, almost pasty
two green onions, chopped small
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 inch fresh ginger, grated
1 tsp chile paste
3 tbsp soy sauce

mix all the ingredients well. take a walnut sized ball of dough and roll out into a very flat disc. place 1 tbsp filling in the middle. fold over into a half moon shape. pinch the edges tightly. repeat until all is done.

in a large frying pan add just enough oil to cover the pan. in batches, brown the potstickers on one side only in the oil. remove. after all is browned, add them all back to the pan, add one cup water, and cover. steam until the dough is cooked through.

a filling variation would be ground pork or chicken in place of crab.