I came to a conclusion this weekend. I am terrible at keeping friends. It’s not that I am a mean or vile person. I am very personable and make friends quite easily, but I am terrible at keeping long term friendships alive. I have moved around alot in my life, both somewhat as a kid and more so as an adult and I have come to the realization that I tend to close out chapters of my life, when I move, to the point of letting old friendships fade away. You psychologist types out there would probably tell me that I do this to protect myself from the pain of leaving friends and loved ones behind as I move on with my life, and you’d probably be right. It’s a coping mechanism that has suited me well, in the short term, but I am now realizing that, in the long run, it wasn’t such a great thing.

So what has brought about this epiphany? Well, this weekend we got together with a couple of my old friends from culinary school, who are now married to each other. It was a fun time, hanging out, at the park, grilling out for Father’s Day, and enjoying the company of old friends, but as conversation turned to others we went to school with I realized I had pretty much lost touch with everyone and only knew about their lives by what they posted on Facebook. I then realized that it was the same with many other chapters in my life. I had made many wonderful friends, but, with a few exceptions, had allowed all those relationships to fade away.

Thanks to Facebook, I now have the chance to try and reestablish some of those friendships, but I wonder if that is even possible. I’m not the same person I was years ago and neither are they. We’ve had so many years to grow in different directions I wonder if there would even be any common ground any more. But even more importantly, I hope I have learned my lesson, and will not follow the same path as I have in the past.

But enough of my maudlin, introspective mood. That’s not what you came here for. You can to check out the new dishes I have created and the recipes I have come up with. Well, the next few posts will revolve around some of the food I prepared for our Father’s Day picnic/cook out.

These skewers that I am sharing with you today are pretty simple but require a little work the night before which leaves you with more time the day you are preparing them. Make sure, if you are using bamboo skewers that you start soaking them the night before you plan on cooking. If you don’t they will go up in flames and your skewers will fall part during cooking which is a pain!

Onion Balsamic Glaze
1 onion, large
1 Tbsp. olive oil
1/2 cup water
1 cup balsamic vinegar
1 cup granulated sugar

Peel and slice the onion. Place in a sauce pot along with the oil and saute until just starting to brown. Add the water and cook until almost all of the water has evaporated. Add the vinegar and sugar and cook until reduced by half. Remove from heat, allow to cool slightly then blend until almost smooth. Chill.

Beef and Mushroom Skewers with Onion Balsamic Glaze
makes 16 skewers-serves 6-8
3 pounds sirloin roast, trimmed of all fat and silver skin
24 cremini mushrooms, large
2 Tbsp. fresh rosemary, minced
5 cloves garlic, peeled, sliced and lightly crushed
1/4 cup olive oil
freshly ground black pepper
salt
Onion Balsamic Glaze
16 skewers (I use bamboo, but if you have metal skewers they can be used also)

Cut beef into cubes approximately 1-1 1/2″ square. You should end up with about 48 cubes. Place beef, rosemary, garlic, and olive oil in a zip lock bag. Sprinkle with black pepper to taste and close bag. Gently massage bag to evenly distribute oil and seasonings over beef. Place in fridge and marinate overnight. Soak skewers, overnight, in water.

The following day, cut mushrooms in half. Make skewers using 3 pieces of beef and 3 mushroom halves, starting with a mushroom half and alternating with the beef. The mushrooms will have a tendency to split apart when being skewered. To avoid this press them gently, but firmly down on the skewer while roating the skewer. This will prevent most of the mushrooms from splitting. Season with salt and more pepper, if desired and grill over medium high heat, trying to keep the bottom, exposed, part of the skewer from sitting directly over the coals.

Grill for 3-4 minutes then flip the skewers over to cook the other side. After 3-4 minutes longer brush with glaze and cook 2-3 minutes longer. Longer than that and the sugar in the glaze will have a tendency to burn. If you like your meat a little more done, cook longer before adding the glaze. When done remove from grill and allow to rest for about 5 minutes before serving.

This past Saturday my brother and his wife came up to spend the weekend. The plan was for them to arrive in time for dinner on Saturday and then they and I would head out and hit one of the local haunted houses for a good scare. The wife opted to stay home and take care of our daughter. She may love a good scary movie, but haunted houses, with all the loud noises and people jumping out, at her, just isn’t her idea of a fun time. The weather was cool, bordering on cold and just a little rainy so I was looking to make something that was warming, soul satisfying, but not overly heavy. I wasn’t in the mood for soup or chili and stew seemed a little too heavy when I remembered that it had been awhile since I had made risotto. Served with pan roasted chicken breast, it would be the perfect dish for the night; warm and comforting, yet it wouldn’t weigh us down as we ducked ghouls and ghosts and ran from bloodthirsty serial killers. Since it is Autumn, I decided to garnish the risotto with mushrooms and fresh sage, which also made a wonderful compliment to the simply pan roasted chicken breasts.

Mushroom Risotto
6 ounces Mushrooms (use a few varieties. I used white, shiitake and portobello mushrooms)
1 each Shallot, minced
2 cloves Garlic, minced
3 Tbsp. Olive Oil
1 1/4 cups Arborio rice (or other Italian rice normally used for risotto such as Carnaroli)
1/4 cup White Wine
4 cups Chicken Stock
2 tsp. Fresh Sage, minced
2 Tbsp. Fresh Chives, minced
4 Tbsp. Butter
1/4-1/3 cup Parmesan, grated
Salt
Pepper

Bring chicken broth to a boil, reduce heat and allow to stay at a simmer. Meanwhile heat a large pot over high heat and add 1 Tbsp. of the olive oil. Add mushrooms, season with salt and pepper and saute until golden brown. Add shallots and garlic and cook 1 minute longer. Add remaining olive oil, then the rice. Stir until the rice is coated with oil then add the wine. Stir the rice and cook until the wine is full absorbed. Turn heat down to medium high. Add about 1/2 cup of the stock and cook until absorbed, stirring the entire time. Add another 1/2 cup of stock, stirring and cooking until absorbed. Don’t stop stirring the risotto. The stirring is the key to a good, creamy risotto. Continue this process until the rice is al dente. Don’t over cook the rice or it will be too mushy. It may not take quite all the stock or it might take just a little more than the 4 cups depending on the rice and will take about 18 minutes to cook. Add the sage about 1/2 way through the cooking process. When done remove from heat and stir in the butter and Parmesan cheese.   Check the seasoning and season with salt and pepper, if necessary.  Have everything else, that you are serving, ready as risotto does not like to sit around and will continue to cook and get mushy if not served right away. When serving garnish with the fresh chives. This makes enough risotto for 4 generous side dishes.